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LowDown Basses #7,8 and 9. First builds from lumber.
- Thread starter Tslicebass
- Start date
Checking in now 4 months later... geeeeeez.
So been swamped trying to finish these up and balance a full gig schedule.
Roughed up some wood control cavity covers. Glued the maple veneers to some thick maple scrap I had laying around. Thinned all the covers with a jig for my router. The redwood cover ended up cracking but I was able to glue it quick and salvage it for the most part. The covers I glued the maple veneers too ended up warping so I glued some veneers to the underside and they mostly straightened out. Had to scrap one of them because I sanded to far down on the edge and it cracked when I was attempting the screw head recess.
Here they are in the bodies
A detail of the veneers covering the scarf joint. Had to scrap the one on the back of the fretless wenge neck because the veneers were not far enough past the joint. Had the same problem on the redwood fretless but ended up leaving it uncovered because the scarf joint is barely noticeable
Necks carved
Headstocks final shaped. Recessed tuner holes carved. Had to recess the tuners because I left the headstocks pretty thick. Next time I will take the thickness down even more. The veneers on the back added 1/16th" plus on their own. Ebony nut blanks rough shaped. I will probably end up using bone on the fretted necks. Was able to find 1/4" bone blanks on buzzards site.
Threaded inserts for all the necks care of Chet Johnson. I ordered a bunch of sets from him... didn't have the patience to find/order the parts myself and this saved me a ton of time. Here they are installed on the back of the redwood bass
Also did control holes. Here is the wenge bass put together with holes out. Carved away the ugly veneer at the neck joint and made a truss rod cover with wenge and bl;ack/white/red veneer.
Had to route out a channel for the Ghost bridge on the redwood bass. Did it free had with my precision dremel base. It's about 1/4" deep and mimics the shape of the module at the end of the channel.
Got all the pickup cavities and battery boxes routed out. Put them together and did a test install with all the hardware. Wanted to make sure all my center line measurements were on and double check everything before finish. Fretless basses got fingerboard extension/truss covers and fretted basses are getting wood pickguards.
Then I got to sanding... which was way more of a process than I could have ever imagined. Learning a lot about hand sanding technique. Here are some sanding shots
Annoying multi directional end grain... I'll never make this mistake again
Black and Bloodwood veneer lines under the Birdseye maple board
Headstock veneers and accents on the fretless wenge headstock
Wenge contours. Didn't know Wenge had stringy cracks deep in the grain on the wide sections. Contouring brought these out unfortunately. Was able to sand most of them back but they are still noticeable. Lesson learned... put the tight grain on the contour side next time.
Then I got to put some oil on em!
1 coat
Multiple coats
After a little buffing
Hand carved and inlayed crushed turquoise emblem
Should have some finished fretless basses by the end of the week. Hoping to start fretwork next week.
In the meantime have also been getting this bass caught up with my Zebra 6 string so I can finish them at the same time.
Rough idea of what it will look like... Pistachio is some awesome stuff!
Body rough carved. Core is 3 piece. Alder center, Poplar wings. Mahogany and Black veneer accents.
So been swamped trying to finish these up and balance a full gig schedule.
Roughed up some wood control cavity covers. Glued the maple veneers to some thick maple scrap I had laying around. Thinned all the covers with a jig for my router. The redwood cover ended up cracking but I was able to glue it quick and salvage it for the most part. The covers I glued the maple veneers too ended up warping so I glued some veneers to the underside and they mostly straightened out. Had to scrap one of them because I sanded to far down on the edge and it cracked when I was attempting the screw head recess.
Here they are in the bodies
A detail of the veneers covering the scarf joint. Had to scrap the one on the back of the fretless wenge neck because the veneers were not far enough past the joint. Had the same problem on the redwood fretless but ended up leaving it uncovered because the scarf joint is barely noticeable
Necks carved
Headstocks final shaped. Recessed tuner holes carved. Had to recess the tuners because I left the headstocks pretty thick. Next time I will take the thickness down even more. The veneers on the back added 1/16th" plus on their own. Ebony nut blanks rough shaped. I will probably end up using bone on the fretted necks. Was able to find 1/4" bone blanks on buzzards site.
Threaded inserts for all the necks care of Chet Johnson. I ordered a bunch of sets from him... didn't have the patience to find/order the parts myself and this saved me a ton of time. Here they are installed on the back of the redwood bass
Also did control holes. Here is the wenge bass put together with holes out. Carved away the ugly veneer at the neck joint and made a truss rod cover with wenge and bl;ack/white/red veneer.
Had to route out a channel for the Ghost bridge on the redwood bass. Did it free had with my precision dremel base. It's about 1/4" deep and mimics the shape of the module at the end of the channel.
Got all the pickup cavities and battery boxes routed out. Put them together and did a test install with all the hardware. Wanted to make sure all my center line measurements were on and double check everything before finish. Fretless basses got fingerboard extension/truss covers and fretted basses are getting wood pickguards.
Then I got to sanding... which was way more of a process than I could have ever imagined. Learning a lot about hand sanding technique. Here are some sanding shots
Annoying multi directional end grain... I'll never make this mistake again
Black and Bloodwood veneer lines under the Birdseye maple board
Headstock veneers and accents on the fretless wenge headstock
Wenge contours. Didn't know Wenge had stringy cracks deep in the grain on the wide sections. Contouring brought these out unfortunately. Was able to sand most of them back but they are still noticeable. Lesson learned... put the tight grain on the contour side next time.
Then I got to put some oil on em!
1 coat
Multiple coats
After a little buffing
Hand carved and inlayed crushed turquoise emblem
Should have some finished fretless basses by the end of the week. Hoping to start fretwork next week.
In the meantime have also been getting this bass caught up with my Zebra 6 string so I can finish them at the same time.
Rough idea of what it will look like... Pistachio is some awesome stuff!
Body rough carved. Core is 3 piece. Alder center, Poplar wings. Mahogany and Black veneer accents.
Thanks guys. It definitely is not easy. Getting real close to having some finished basses. Definitely starts to make all the hard work seek worthwhile. Still need some minor tweaks but the fretless basses are almost there.
More progress. Finally have some finished instruments. Proper final pics coming soon.
Here is the fretless 5 string I am keeping for myself during final assembly
And the 5 string fretless wenge bass all strung up. Have it strung up with flats but might switch to tapewounds... not sold on the D'Addario chromes.
And the 4 string fretted basses have entered the finish stage
Here is the Claro Walnut top/Swamp Ash body after the first coat of oil
And the neck that goes with this one. Pau Ferro fretboard leveled and oiled. Ready for frets.
And the 2 4 string necks with frets installed. My buddy Carl suggested the open fret slot seated with epoxy approach but I decided to just hammer these in and set them with medium viscosity CA. We will see how that works. Used CA as the coating for the birdseye maple fretboard. Not too happy with the way it turned out but I will try to even out the finish with some scotchbrite and wax.
And the Birdseye maple cavity cover for the Limba 4 string after some oil. The walnut 4 string will get a plastic cavity cover. Anybody have any suggestions for properly countersinking #4 screws? I've been using a straight drill bit and finesse but the 1/8th cavity cover wood wants to chip and tear out.
Here is a 5 string jazz bass I'm working on as well for New York City bassist Emma Dayhuff.
Here is the fretless 5 string I am keeping for myself during final assembly
And the 5 string fretless wenge bass all strung up. Have it strung up with flats but might switch to tapewounds... not sold on the D'Addario chromes.
And the 4 string fretted basses have entered the finish stage
Here is the Claro Walnut top/Swamp Ash body after the first coat of oil
And the neck that goes with this one. Pau Ferro fretboard leveled and oiled. Ready for frets.
And the 2 4 string necks with frets installed. My buddy Carl suggested the open fret slot seated with epoxy approach but I decided to just hammer these in and set them with medium viscosity CA. We will see how that works. Used CA as the coating for the birdseye maple fretboard. Not too happy with the way it turned out but I will try to even out the finish with some scotchbrite and wax.
And the Birdseye maple cavity cover for the Limba 4 string after some oil. The walnut 4 string will get a plastic cavity cover. Anybody have any suggestions for properly countersinking #4 screws? I've been using a straight drill bit and finesse but the 1/8th cavity cover wood wants to chip and tear out.
Here is a 5 string jazz bass I'm working on as well for New York City bassist Emma Dayhuff.
I can't say I'm in love with the shapes of these instruments, but your choice of wood, finish and level of craftsmanship are really unbelievable.
Thank you! The shape is definitely more along the "boutique" lines. The design allows for easy access to the 24th fret on a bolt on and balance on a strap or sitting. But I am also focusing on offering traditional shapes with my CNC supplier. As a full time bass player in Chicago for the past 10 years, I know there are times when a P bass or J bass are just what the doctor ordered.
Also ordered black washers and nuts for the output jacks. Can't stand seeing the chrome standing out.
I'm assuming you are selling some of these basses... how can we find out about pricing, ordering, etc? I'm not personally in the market right now but if I was, I'd be interested in learning more.
Since your posts contain multiple bass pictures, I can't "like" individual basses ... oh wait, it doesn't matter ... I like them all! Beautiful work, great wood choices and combinations!
Beautiful wood and very nice combinations. I particularly like some of your work with the veneer under the BE maple fretboard.
Final pics
There are a bunch more pics over at my new website. Been playing the first batch on a couple gigs just trying to figure out what needs to be tweaked in a live situation. The Birdseye maple fretboard on the Limba 4 string ended up not working out the way I wanted. So I'm gonna sand off all the finished try coating it with a wipe on satin poly and refret it with the epoxied in fret method. Pickguard on the Walnut 4 needs to be screwed in. But overall I am really happy with the way these all turned out.
At the sanding phase with the next batch. They should be going into finish next weekend.
Pistachio top
There are a bunch more pics over at my new website. Been playing the first batch on a couple gigs just trying to figure out what needs to be tweaked in a live situation. The Birdseye maple fretboard on the Limba 4 string ended up not working out the way I wanted. So I'm gonna sand off all the finished try coating it with a wipe on satin poly and refret it with the epoxied in fret method. Pickguard on the Walnut 4 needs to be screwed in. But overall I am really happy with the way these all turned out.
At the sanding phase with the next batch. They should be going into finish next weekend.
Pistachio top
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