Hello all,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster! I joined several months ago, but just haven't posted anything — until today that is. I was nudged to post this project here so I thought, "what the heck?" and just went with it. Thanks, JIO.
What you are about to see is my first attempt at a DIY bass. This is not just any bass, though; it's a left-handed fretless. Being a lefty, my options for "cool guitars" has always been pretty limited, as music shops usually only have a small collection of lefty axes that are off in a corner and probably get more attention from dust mites than customers. I've seen the occasional lefty fretless on eBay, but it seems as though something about whatever I see just isn't what I want — be it a crappy brand, the wrong finish, etc. As such, I decided that I would quit messing around with trying to find a fretless and just build one of my own.
I hooked up with a machinist who runs a storefront on eBay. He offered to cut me a blank Fender Jazz Bass style body and neck for a very reasonable price. Here are a few of the first images I ever saw of my new project, which were taken at his shop:
The body is ash, and the neck and fretboard are both maple. The block inlays are made of pearloid.
Turnaround time was pretty quick, and the bass was made just how I asked. There were a couple little issues here and there, but overall I am pleased with the product he puts out, and I'm already thinking of a new project — for which I will be having him cut me the neck. That will come later, though, so back to this build…
My initial inspiration came from the Larry Graham Moon bass, which you can [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], or here:
From that initial design concept, the project kind of went in a few different directions and has had some influences along the way. The Marcus Miller Jazz bass with its maple neck and pearl block inlays is a look I definitely like:
I also found via Google Image search that someone had taken a Marcus Miller Jazz bass and pulled the frets:
Once I saw that, I was hooked and I knew this is what I wanted for this project.
When I first conceptualized the guitar, I originally had gold hardware in mind, which was largely inspired by Verdine White of Earth, Wind, and Fire (as well as the Larry Graham Moon bass) — even though generally speaking I am not a fan of gold:
That bass looks pretty rad, but I ended up scrapping the gold hardware idea and went with traditional chrome for everything, as seen in this final render:
I essentially combined the design concepts of what you see in the JJ4 Moon bass with the Marcus Miller Jazz bass. I probably have about 50 renders or so, so I've spent some serious time on this thing. It's going to be Fender Olympic white on the body with matching paint for the headstock. The knobs as seen in the render above are just kind of placeholders for now. I'm thinking I might go with a Telecaster or Stratocaster style knob, but I just haven't decided yet. That'll be a finishing touch for later on.
I have already prepared the body for finishing, but here are a few progress pictures taken along the way...
Sanding:
More sanding (with semi-mock):
As of last night, I applied grain filler to the back of the body:
After a little bit of a wait time (maybe 30 minutes or so) I went ahead and scraped off the excess:
(note: this is the most I've used my Albertson's club card since I signed up for the membership)
I am not 100% sure whether I'm doing this right, but after researching a ton on the subject, I think I am close. I am extremely anal with these types of things, so I'll make sure that it is right in the end. This is actually my second attempt at grain filling, as the first time I did it I just know that I applied it incorrectly. I sanded off that coat and started anew last night, which is what you see in the pics above. I definitely feel better about this attempt.
Tonight I sanded this side and I think it's coming along well:
I thought the bass was smooth before the grain filler, but after I sanded this puppy to 400 grit smoothness, the thing is like glass. I think it's working out. In some of the pics directly above, you can see some of the rougher spots that required a bit more grain filler; this is particularly apparent in the belly cut. When I first received the bass, this area was ROUGH. The luthier who gave me pointers really stressed that I needed to work on that area. Nailed it! (fingers crossed)
Feeling pretty good about the way the back came out, I took a stab at the front. Here she is, post-scraping:
I'll sand it tomorrow. One area of concern that I didn't really capture really well in these images is the tail of the body, near where the strap button will go. I believe I will need to be careful around there, too.
Long-time lurker, first-time poster! I joined several months ago, but just haven't posted anything — until today that is. I was nudged to post this project here so I thought, "what the heck?" and just went with it. Thanks, JIO.
What you are about to see is my first attempt at a DIY bass. This is not just any bass, though; it's a left-handed fretless. Being a lefty, my options for "cool guitars" has always been pretty limited, as music shops usually only have a small collection of lefty axes that are off in a corner and probably get more attention from dust mites than customers. I've seen the occasional lefty fretless on eBay, but it seems as though something about whatever I see just isn't what I want — be it a crappy brand, the wrong finish, etc. As such, I decided that I would quit messing around with trying to find a fretless and just build one of my own.
I hooked up with a machinist who runs a storefront on eBay. He offered to cut me a blank Fender Jazz Bass style body and neck for a very reasonable price. Here are a few of the first images I ever saw of my new project, which were taken at his shop:
The body is ash, and the neck and fretboard are both maple. The block inlays are made of pearloid.
Turnaround time was pretty quick, and the bass was made just how I asked. There were a couple little issues here and there, but overall I am pleased with the product he puts out, and I'm already thinking of a new project — for which I will be having him cut me the neck. That will come later, though, so back to this build…
My initial inspiration came from the Larry Graham Moon bass, which you can [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], or here:
From that initial design concept, the project kind of went in a few different directions and has had some influences along the way. The Marcus Miller Jazz bass with its maple neck and pearl block inlays is a look I definitely like:
I also found via Google Image search that someone had taken a Marcus Miller Jazz bass and pulled the frets:
Once I saw that, I was hooked and I knew this is what I wanted for this project.
When I first conceptualized the guitar, I originally had gold hardware in mind, which was largely inspired by Verdine White of Earth, Wind, and Fire (as well as the Larry Graham Moon bass) — even though generally speaking I am not a fan of gold:
That bass looks pretty rad, but I ended up scrapping the gold hardware idea and went with traditional chrome for everything, as seen in this final render:
I essentially combined the design concepts of what you see in the JJ4 Moon bass with the Marcus Miller Jazz bass. I probably have about 50 renders or so, so I've spent some serious time on this thing. It's going to be Fender Olympic white on the body with matching paint for the headstock. The knobs as seen in the render above are just kind of placeholders for now. I'm thinking I might go with a Telecaster or Stratocaster style knob, but I just haven't decided yet. That'll be a finishing touch for later on.
I have already prepared the body for finishing, but here are a few progress pictures taken along the way...
Sanding:
More sanding (with semi-mock):
As of last night, I applied grain filler to the back of the body:
After a little bit of a wait time (maybe 30 minutes or so) I went ahead and scraped off the excess:
(note: this is the most I've used my Albertson's club card since I signed up for the membership)
I am not 100% sure whether I'm doing this right, but after researching a ton on the subject, I think I am close. I am extremely anal with these types of things, so I'll make sure that it is right in the end. This is actually my second attempt at grain filling, as the first time I did it I just know that I applied it incorrectly. I sanded off that coat and started anew last night, which is what you see in the pics above. I definitely feel better about this attempt.
Tonight I sanded this side and I think it's coming along well:
I thought the bass was smooth before the grain filler, but after I sanded this puppy to 400 grit smoothness, the thing is like glass. I think it's working out. In some of the pics directly above, you can see some of the rougher spots that required a bit more grain filler; this is particularly apparent in the belly cut. When I first received the bass, this area was ROUGH. The luthier who gave me pointers really stressed that I needed to work on that area. Nailed it! (fingers crossed)
Feeling pretty good about the way the back came out, I took a stab at the front. Here she is, post-scraping:
I'll sand it tomorrow. One area of concern that I didn't really capture really well in these images is the tail of the body, near where the strap button will go. I believe I will need to be careful around there, too.
