I bet it sounds really good. I like your pickup and electronics choices, and the ric-esque fingerboard.
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I had this built by a luthier friend. What do you think?
- Thread starter Valvehead
- Start date
when does it go into production?
seriously though, really nice. ive been looking into double J's, and they seem to be popping up more. id love to hear a recording of the different modes!
but, seriously, ill take one. in red
seriously though, really nice. ive been looking into double J's, and they seem to be popping up more. id love to hear a recording of the different modes!
but, seriously, ill take one. in red
Looks great and I like the different controls. I've seen this before though, a while back - is this another copy?
I was just informed one of the rules of this forum section is images of the build process have to be included.
My apologies for breaking any rules, I should have been aware.
So fasten your seatbelts ladies and gents... I am about to comply.
My apologies for breaking any rules, I should have been aware.
So fasten your seatbelts ladies and gents... I am about to comply.
This seems a common complaint. I respectfully disagree - it will (dependent on light exposure and finish, to some extent) turn brown eventually. Much like walnut, but hard as nails. Nobody seems to mind walnut being brown (and it is sometimes a bit purple, if you get it before the steamers try to turn the sapwood brown - which is a horrible thing to do to a lovely contrast.)
Ok here we go...
It all started in my head. So I made a concept image in Photoshop to convey my thoughts to the builder Vincent.
After discussing how to go about things, he immediately started work on the custom pickups as we hadn't been shopping for woods yet. I ordered the beautiful ABM bridge directly through their website.
Shortly after we drove through half our tiny country (we live all the way north, woodshop is all the way south) and picked up these nice pieces. We ended up not doing anything with the big slab of IPE standing at the back in the middle so I ordered the piece of black walnut pictured underneath instead for the top and headstock.
Knowing what I knew then, I finalized the concept picture to work from:
From that point on it was all Vincent calling the shots with me making some further suggestions.
In the next message the images of the actual building process will be posted.
It all started in my head. So I made a concept image in Photoshop to convey my thoughts to the builder Vincent.
After discussing how to go about things, he immediately started work on the custom pickups as we hadn't been shopping for woods yet. I ordered the beautiful ABM bridge directly through their website.
Shortly after we drove through half our tiny country (we live all the way north, woodshop is all the way south) and picked up these nice pieces. We ended up not doing anything with the big slab of IPE standing at the back in the middle so I ordered the piece of black walnut pictured underneath instead for the top and headstock.
Knowing what I knew then, I finalized the concept picture to work from:
From that point on it was all Vincent calling the shots with me making some further suggestions.
In the next message the images of the actual building process will be posted.
Construction on the neck started by glueing the laminates together.
Checking dimensions of the total neck, maple veneer in between the bubinga and purpleheart.
Somewhere at this time I was done designing the wiring scheme and handed the Visio file to Vincent.
Trussrod being put in place.
Here you see the challenge of applying the walnut top on that headstock. Part of it is curved...
But you know, there's always a fix.
Walnut now glued on and needing time to dry it was time to start work on the body. Here's the templates for that.
Will you look at how sexy that maple veneer sits underneath the fretboard? Things started really taking shape here.
Bubinga is GLORIOUS
So with the neck sort of complete, we got curious and sprayed some lacquer on the walnut to see how this would affect its grain and colour.
Checking dimensions of the total neck, maple veneer in between the bubinga and purpleheart.
Somewhere at this time I was done designing the wiring scheme and handed the Visio file to Vincent.
Trussrod being put in place.
Here you see the challenge of applying the walnut top on that headstock. Part of it is curved...
But you know, there's always a fix.
Walnut now glued on and needing time to dry it was time to start work on the body. Here's the templates for that.
Will you look at how sexy that maple veneer sits underneath the fretboard? Things started really taking shape here.
Bubinga is GLORIOUS
So with the neck sort of complete, we got curious and sprayed some lacquer on the walnut to see how this would affect its grain and colour.
Body routed and sanded.
Neck shaved (by hand) and sanded
For a tight fit.
With the woodwork done it was time to apply a few coats of lacquer to the neck and body.
And here we see just how sexy that neck turned out. Have I mentioned bubinga being GLORIOUS?
Neck shaved (by hand) and sanded
For a tight fit.
With the woodwork done it was time to apply a few coats of lacquer to the neck and body.
And here we see just how sexy that neck turned out. Have I mentioned bubinga being GLORIOUS?
Fitting the hardware and finally the neck to body. When I received these photos I was IN AWE.
On these final two images you can see that the top is not only figured but also flamed. I got extremely lucky with this particular piece of european black walnut - it turned out beau-ti-ful once the lacquer was on.
On these final two images you can see that the top is not only figured but also flamed. I got extremely lucky with this particular piece of european black walnut - it turned out beau-ti-ful once the lacquer was on.
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Nope, same bass. You saw it on another forum. I just posted it here because I want opinions from the luthiers. Somehow the thread caught on fire though - people seem to like my ideas of what makes a bass nice. Maybe I should come up with some more designs? I have so many more ideas...
I've often wondered if it depends on the variety of purpleheart. Or some other factor. People do complain about it turning brown but I've never actually had that happen. I have pieces (including some bass fretboards) that are decades old and still really intensely purple. I've always finished purpleheart with polyurethane. On my most recent build where I used it (the Air Jazz I built for the spring buildoff) I just used stewmac's fretboard finishing oil. I want to see if it turns brown on me with less protection. Granted it's only 6 or 8 months old but it's still as vibrant as the day it was new.
The lucky thing about instruments (as opposed to, say, furniture, jewelry boxes, cutting boards, etc) is that they usually spend their lives in a case, which IME pretty much negates the normal UV damage other wood products might experience.
If I can get over whatever problem I'm having with posting pictures lately I'll put some up. I did a clever (evidently too clever by half - idiots couldn't make it work) keyboard case that was also a keyboard stand (sliding dovetails rock - unless you're an idiot) from PH & Maple - it spent time in the sun and turned brown. Probably Minwax Polycrylic.
Last I looked the brown paper bag of purple planer shavings I saved were still purple (same board, no finish.)
