Latest build

[Yvarg]

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

gfried is right about the binding; I had just finished gluing in the binding in that picture and today I scraped the top lip of binding flush with the top and sanded the sides down to the binding's edge. I wasn't exactly careful of scratching up the binding; I just figured that I'd sand it down really fine before we spray lacquer.

...are those Ric pickups?

No, they're TV Jones Thundertrons; Ric pickups are rather hard to get ahold of and Roberto Venn is pretty specific about what pickups you can and can't use (especially on basses); I'm just really lucky that they had a set of TV Jones sitting around in their shed. I figure that if I don't like the sound of the Jones then I can go back later on down the road and put some real Ric pickups in.

Not too much left to do on this bass. The neck is glued in now; just waiting on routing for the neck pickup, fretting, and finish sanding before we start spraying lacquer.

 

[gfried84]

They spray nitro and between the final sanding and the solvents in the lacquer it melts the edge a little bit making the scratches disappear.

 

[Yvarg]

I made a recessed trussrod cover today that is held on by a magnet:

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It's ebony with my name inlaid in pearl. Also, I have some real pictures of the body as it was this last weekend (when a family member with a camera was around).

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[Stealth]

No, they're TV Jones Thundertrons; Ric pickups are rather hard to get ahold of and Roberto Venn is pretty specific about what pickups you can and can't use (especially on basses); I'm just really lucky that they had a set of TV Jones sitting around in their shed. I figure that if I don't like the sound of the Jones then I can go back later on down the road and put some real Ric pickups in.

Gotcha; it was the general shape and the "toaster"-y looks that confused me. I've never heard Thundertrons in action, I'm most interested in how they sound.

 

[XylemBassGuitar]

That thing is progressing along really nicely Yvarg! I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[RAHAZ]

Looking good man. Do you have any shots of your magnetic cover setups? I'm getting ready to start in on my build again now that it's cooling off and would like to see how you did yours.

-RAHAZ

 

[Yvarg]

Thanks for the kind words!

Stealth - I'll be sure to get some soundclips when this is done; I'm pretty interested myself as to how those pickups will sound.

Rahaz - I can take some pictures for you tomorrow. It's pretty straight forward; I glue the wood to some 26 gage mild steel and cut it out so that it sits in the recessed area, then I drill some holes in the cavity ledge so that I can epoxy some small rare earth magnets in.

 

[bowflex]

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Control cavity with magnets epoxied in

hey, jw, but how do the magnets work? are they strong enough to hold the control cavity guard in place? where did you get them?

 

[Yvarg]

Sorry about the unanswered questions, I've been dealing with a bunch of computer and internet problems. The magnets are more than strong enough to hold the cover in. You can buy them at Radioshack or Michael's. Michael's smallest ones are 1/4" around, an 1/8" thick and have a shiny nickel finish. Radioshack sells dull, unfinished ones in sizes that go down to 1/8" around and 1/16" thick (all rough numbers, but they should be pretty close).

The bass is currently in the middle of the finishing process. I've stained the wood a dark red color on the back and edges of the instrument and the top has a light red burst around the edges, much like Ric's fireglo finish. I'd take some pictures right now but when I tried earlier they just looked like total crap, so I'm going to hold out until I have access to a real camera again.

 

[Yvarg]

I now have access to a good camera until the end of my course, so no more nasty camera-phone pictures! Here's how the bass looks after all the coats of lacquer, before the final sanding and buffing:

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The back is actually much more red than it appears, but the picture was taken indoors and at night, so it looks pretty dark. In the sunlight the back turns into this beautifully deep, fire red.

 

[Darkstrike]

Lookin' awesome.

 

[RAHAZ]

Lookin good man. That figure is pretty interesting.

 

[Yvarg]

I've finally finished the bass! I'll probably be tweaking the electronics a bit after the teachers grade it, and possibly swapping out the pickups but for now here it is:

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[theophilus762]

gorgeous!!!

 

[BassCactus]

Man, I'm not usually a fan of burled maple, but damn, that looks good. Love the finish.

My jaw is on the floor at the moment. I'm not even usually fan of Ricks either!

 

[lousybassist]

Very nice! The burst finish looks exquisite.

 

[joeyl]

that's some excellent work,it looks great. how does it play and sound?

 

[vbasscustom]

thats very nicely done, i really want to go to a luthier school after im done high school, ive always been interested in woodworking and bass, so why not make it a profession right?

 

[Yvarg]

Thanks for all the compliments, everyone! It plays pretty nicely (especially for my first fretjob!), and the tone is pretty Ric-like; bright and punchy. Even the neck pickup, which is right about where the 24th fret would be, is pretty bright.

Vbass, if you're seriously interested in getting into the field, I would definitely recommend a trade school like Roberto Venn. The information I've gathered here has been priceless and it really shows you the standard of quality you have to live up to if you ever hope to make it in the real world.

 

[Stealth]

Awesome work, Yvarg. The bass looks really amazing.

Now... how does it sound? TTIWWC! (This thread is worthless without clips)