New build! another pine body/ oak neck!

[dave-chaulk]

So, I'm starting another build with a 2-piece pine body and an oak neck, maybe chestnut fingerboard, maybe lacewood? I don't know yet.

specs:
-Fretless
-4 string
-ebay low quality top-loading bridge
-mid-quality (probably wilkinson) split-coil P pickup (maybe a telebass pickup)
-2x2 headstock
-volume/tone controls (simple)


modeled after Yamaha RBX170 ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed])
in body and neck shaping, but not pickups.

My uncle has one of these basses (it's on my lap right now) and they are very comfortable, cool looking, cool feeling instruments.

I know, I know "No pics, no bass", but I'll take some tomorrow. the neck shaping is done (pre-fingerboard) and the 2-piece body blank is drying as we speak.
cool.

 

[dave-chaulk]

early (very low quality) pictures!

you can vaguely see the sketch-lines on the pine, and the colours are really off.
atleast you can see my inspiration!

 

[LGT]

Cool! The sound should be pretty interesting! What happened to the driftwood?

 

[kuso]

How does pine hold up as a body material? Wouldn't it be too soft?

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

How does pine hold up as a body material? Wouldn't it be too soft?

Of course it would be... but I think that's the point: Make a bass using Home Depot materials and see how good/bad it plays/sounds...

I'll bet if this guy has skills, the bass will be at least as good as half of the off-shored basses folks buy now.

 

[Dr. Love]

I know there are different types of pine, but the early Fender teles (and the recent CV 50's tele) are pine bodies. Should work...

 

[kuso]

Hm. I'm thinking a neck-thru with pine body and a hardwood neck would be nice.

 

[dave-chaulk]

I actually just recently finished a pine body - it's physically holding up fine because of the hard finish I applied, and it sounds surprisingly good.
the driftwood is still in my shed, I'm just kinda' waiting to see what happens, hah. I don't have any spare parts lying around, but when the parts pile reforms itself the project will be renewed.

 

[HogieWan]

basswood is quite soft and is used by many manufacturers

 

[taviswardlaw]

body shape kinda looks like one of the old yamaha rbx's to me

 

[dave-chaulk]

It is - modeled after Yamaha RBX170.
more pictures tonight - body is shaped.

 

[dave-chaulk]

 

[dave-chaulk]

pretty colour-inacurate pictures, but the pine is beautiful. the back of the body has one large knot, but I don't mind - I think it's rather fetching. I love pine..

so far this bass has cost me a total of about 18 dollars, and the body and neck are almost done. I'd say it'll only run me about 70 more to finish, not including strings.

 

[Diogenes]

How does pine hold up as a body material? Wouldn't it be too soft?

... the bass will be at least as good as half of the off-shored basses folks buy now.

Yes pine is soft but from my experience poly, shellac and tung oil seeps into the wood and hardens to a pretty resilient finish. As for tone, I get overwhelmingly favorable comments about my pine/red oak basses based solely on sound. Only after I divulge the species of wood I used do they begin to talk about how much better the tone would be had I used "tonewoods".

 

[dave-chaulk]

Diogenes, some people just need to learn to get over the "facts" and try something old! (normally it'd be try something new, but pine seems to be the "original" for electric guitars)

 

[Basshappi]

I've seen pine used for Telecaster builds by a surprising number of hobby builders. Should be just fine, looking forward to see how this turns out.

 

[dave-chaulk]

Basshappi, a couple threads ago I went through the process of building a pine/oak Jazz.

 

[HogieWan]

I'm planning a pine or cypress body, oak neck, pecan fretboard build right now.

 

[Basshappi]

Basshappi, a couple threads ago I went through the process of building a pine/oak Jazz.

Cool, I'll look it up.

 

[dave-chaulk]

So, I'm back-routing this one, but I don't know what size drillbit to use for the pots and input.. any help?