Mahogany/Butternut Neck–Through build

[J.L.S.]

This is the monumental 'First Build' for me, and I'm pretty stoked at how things are coming along! I thought I might share this project, though, sad to say, in my concentration on not making a mistake while working, I've forgotten to take pictures a lot of the time. Anyway, the specs are as follows:

Neck–through
34" scale, 24 frets
Five piece mahogany/bloodwood/wenge neck
Indeterminate fretboard
Butternut body wings
(Probably) Black hardware

Here you can see the neck woods (already cut for laminating) on the left, body wood on the right. (Sorry—the pictures are a little dark.)

Next, the neck was prepped and glued, and I cut out the body wings on the bandsaw, smoothing them on a spindle sander. Here's the body shape:

And to get a rough idea with the neck (it's a little too wide right now):

Overall, things are going well. Nothing has gone seriously wrong so far!

I was originally planning on putting a darker, more decorative top on top of the butternut wings, but I eventually backed down for this first build. Hopefully next time...

I haven't decided on a pickup/preamp combination yet, but I did just grab a lightly used Duncan SB-3 Quarter Pound the other day... perhaps it'll end up being used here.


I'll update as soon as I have anything more. Thanks for reading!

 

[Jared Lash]

Looking good.

Interested to see how this one turns out.

 

[Rodent]

Butternut is super great to carve, glues easily, and is an overall pleasure to work with - but make certain your tools are sharp to avoid 'fuzzies' on your edges

all the best,

R

 

[roberthabraken]

Nice one! Looks promising . Subscribed

 

[El Kabong]

I dig the shape, Its kinda like a softer rounder version of a Ric.

 

[vbasscustom]

nice wood choices, i especially like the neck.

 

[J.L.S.]

Thank you for the complements, TheBigO! roberthabraken, it's an honor to have one's work followed!


Rodent: I appreciate the advice. It's good to know, as I'm planning on hand carving! (For the fun of it.)


El Kabong: Thanks a lot—since pretty much all designs have some inspiration, I'll credit scottyd for his great Scroll bass. I love that shape! =)


vbasscustom: I've been liking the woods too. At first, I wasn't completely happy with the direct proximity of the mahogany/butternut, and I've decided to slip a thin stripe of bloodwood veneer between the wings and neck, which will add a nice bit of contrast. Woods often have an uncanny way of harmonizing nicely, though.