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My bass

budman

budman

Commercial User
Oct 7, 2004
1,785
106
62
Fredericksburg, TX
www.lecomptebass.com
Disclosures
Owner/Builder of LeCompte Electric Bass
#1
My very own LeCompte...:hyper:

I've been kicking around some ideas for awhile and figured it was time to build something for myself. It's also a good time to use up some leftovers and do some experimenting. I've decide to go with one of my new designs, the BRN.

The main body wood is ash, which I didn't think was good enough for a customer's bass, but is fine for me. It wasn't quite thick enough so I used a little leftover Ponderosa pine for the accent, which doesn't show up that well. I'm hoping it'll develop some contrast when I do the finish work. The entire body will probably get a black dye job or a trans-black tint. The dark wood used for the top will remain a secret for now (part of my experimenting). I'll be using the same wood for the fingerboard. Some guys here know what is is, but if you can keep it a secret for now I'd appreciate it. I'll blurb when the fingerboard is glued on. The light stripes on the top are some leftover maple.

I'll also be trying out some uncoventional neck material. If it works out I'll let the cat out of the bag.

The bass will get a single jazz pickup under a wood cover and be wired up passive.

That's it for now...

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#9
Cerb said:
Your headstock just kills me. It's the headstock that I wish I had designed.
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+1

bud's got one of the best looking headstocks in the industry, IMO...and it gets better! you turn it over and get that sexy volute!


and, if i may be so bold...i noticed that the cut on this headstock is a little different than the ones i've seen in the past...the part that is cut into the end of the headstock seems to be inverted on this bass you're building for yourself :hmm: tricky tricky!
 
#13
pilotjones said:
And it looks pretty glued on to me...
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;)

The dark wood is a product call Alowood. It's a hardened and dyed pine product. It's being marketed as a hardwood alternative. I first saw it in a Rockler catalog I got in the mail. I got curious and ran down to my local Rockler store. It was on sale, so I decided to give it a try. It comes in several different colors. The stuff I used is call "Black Ebony", though as you can see it's not really black. It's sold in 1x6 dimensions. I bought mine by the foot, but you can buy it online in 4 foot lengths. I also picked up some of the "Brazilian Rosewood" color, but haven't used any of it yet. Yes, it's much harder than untreated pine. From working with it it feels a little softer than maple. I'm going to spray the fingerboard when I shoot the neck, like I normally do for necks with maple fingerboard. I suspect it will work fine.
 
#19
budman said:
The additive is "agriculturally grown", whatever that means. There's all the usual CYA stuff on the website.
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I found this...

Everdex-Enhanced Alowood
Deforestation of old-growth forests and rainforests is of growing concern given the farranging
debates today on climate change. Consumers, however, still want the look of exotic
hardwoods in products such as flooring and furniture. Alowood offers an environmentally
friendly alternative: the opportunity to get an exotic look and performance using fastgrowing
plantation softwoods as the base wood impregnated with an innovative green
chemistry, the Everdex formulation.
Everdex is a polymeric formulation made from urea, glyoxal, and starch in water; it does
not contain any formaldehyde. Softwoods, particularly sustainably grown, plantation softwoods,
are immersed in dilute solutions of Everdex and subjected to a vacuum and pressure
treatment to impregnate them with Everdex. Next, the impregnated wood is heated, causing
the starch polymer to cross-link with the wood cellulose through the urea-glyoxal
groups. This creates Alowood, a denser, harder, more workable wood product akin to a natural
hardwood.
EverTech is currently selling Everdex-enhanced Alowood to the building industry segment
as an alternative to natural hardwood. This innovative product is making a significant
positive environmental impact in that every piece of Alowood sold replaces a piece of hardwood
lumber or exotic wood that can remain a part of the ecosystem. Alowood made from
plantation wood grown in about 30 years is preferable to exotic hardwoods that often take
hundreds of years to grow.
 
#20
Here's the latest. The pickup cover is going to get painted black. It houses a single coil jazz pickup. I thought a single jazz pickup would look too thin on its own with just the standard plastic cover.

When it comes time for the finish work the ash back and pine accent will get some black grain enhancement then the whole thing, top and all, will get a couple of light coats of trans. black tint. I want the maple stripes to look ghosted. That's what I'm shooting for anyway.

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