New build experiment

[reverendrally]

Thanks to @ctmullins for linking me into this build thread. @mark5009 seems like we're brothers from another mother! Nice to see another Aussie than isn't obsessed with Fenders.

I'm interested in knowing what the 'substructure' you're attaching the neck to is made of. Will it be timber or metal?

 

[mark5009]

Thanks to @ctmullins for linking me into this build thread. @mark5009 seems like we're brothers from another mother! Nice to see another Aussie than isn't obsessed with Fenders.

I'm interested in knowing what the 'substructure' you're attaching the neck to is made of. Will it be timber or metal?

Funnily enough I've never owned a Fender. The closest I came was my first bass, an Ibanez Silver Series P-Bass, which I sold off in a move. Big mistake, but them's the breaks, right?

The body is going to be a reclaimed amalgam that I'm going to attempt to blend into something that is both pleasing and functional. I'm thinking a triple decker of old floor boards: white cypress at the bottom, jarrah in the middle, hoop pine at the top. Given they are about 17mm thick when cleaned, this puts me into the right kind of overall thickness. I am going to have to do something funky with the middle layer (the neck attaches as to the tuners) which probably means I'm going to have to use some of the reclaimed jarrah for that bit, make it thicker, shape it more -- like that.

My original thinking was going to have brass highlights, but I am starting to get back to wood. Some of these things become more obvious once I get the build happening. But there will certainly be brass in the headstock to give it some weight and to act as a zero-fret kind of thing.

Where in Sydney are you? I tend to lurk around the Inner West. Yup. One of them ;-)

.. m.

 

[reverendrally]

I think I'd enjoy the inner west, but I'm at the western end of Mt Druitt. Not so ritzy.

I like the cut of your jib. Most of mine are made of reclaimed or locally grown timbers. How good is Jarrah right?! I did another fretless with Cooktown Ironwood fingerboard. Also pretty awesome. I can't bear to pay for the OS stuff and I can't see the sense in encouraging poachers and bad governments. Sorry, that sounded a little ranty. I guess I'm a little 'g' greeny. Look up some of my past projects and you'll see just the sort of crazy you enjoy. Like this headless, multiscale, fretless, 4 string.

I wouldn't add any extra weight to your headstock. No need. You can use a regular fret for a zero fret. I just put mine in after I've installed and leveled all the other frets. Then give it a light polish.

 

[WardEarth]

Here is my last build, sometimes no controls is the way to go. And she's a long horn.

 

[mark5009]

I think I'd enjoy the inner west, but I'm at the western end of Mt Druitt. Not so ritzy.

I like the cut of your jib. Most of mine are made of reclaimed or locally grown timbers. How good is Jarrah right?! I did another fretless with Cooktown Ironwood fingerboard. Also pretty awesome. I can't bear to pay for the OS stuff and I can't see the sense in encouraging poachers and bad governments. Sorry, that sounded a little ranty. I guess I'm a little 'g' greeny. Look up some of my past projects and you'll see just the sort of crazy you enjoy. Like this headless, multiscale, fretless, 4 string.

I wouldn't add any extra weight to your headstock. No need. You can use a regular fret for a zero fret. I just put mine in after I've installed and leveled all the other frets. Then give it a light polish.

Ritz in this town is what it is. I grew up in Castle Hill (back in the day before all the McMansions), had lots of friends in the Blacktown-area, and family at Emu Plains. Though, I did discover at a recent auction in our street that we are at the "aspiration end of Leichhardt." Sydney real-estate! ;-)

And I love jarrah, just have to not over use it, and it can be a touch hard on the tooling. However, when I got a carbide blade for the bandsaw, I was off. Hooray!

Wow! I'll check out some of your stuff. That multi-scale is something else! So you marked the frets, but didn't install them? Without coffee my brain is hurting even trying to figure out how I'd do that. How does it work as a bass?

Wonderful stuff! I have such a long way to go... Hooray!

.. mark.

 

[mark5009]

Here is my last build, sometimes no controls is the way to go. And she's a long horn.

Very nice! What kind of wood you got there? I'd guess the voids are natural ones you've filled? And you're right about the controls. Something else to factor in a little further down the road

 

[WardEarth]

Very nice! What kind of wood you got there? I'd guess the voids are natural ones you've filled? And you're right about the controls. Something else to factor in a little further down the road

100% Maple. No real voids except a knot on the back of the body. I burnt in the black lightning pattern with a "fracking device" that creates the lichtenberg figure effect.
The bass sings. Only real issue I'm having is with shielding. But I may be just playing with too much gain, not sure.

 

[reverendrally]

Ritz in this town is what it is. I grew up in Castle Hill (back in the day before all the McMansions), had lots of friends in the Blacktown-area, and family at Emu Plains. Though, I did discover at a recent auction in our street that we are at the "aspiration end of Leichhardt." Sydney real-estate! ;-)

And I love jarrah, just have to not over use it, and it can be a touch hard on the tooling. However, when I got a carbide blade for the bandsaw, I was off. Hooray!

Wow! I'll check out some of your stuff. That multi-scale is something else! So you marked the frets, but didn't install them? Without coffee my brain is hurting even trying to figure out how I'd do that. How does it work as a bass?

Wonderful stuff! I have such a long way to go... Hooray!

.. mark.

Pretty much. In retrospect, not a fantastic idea. Very hard to play in tune, even with 20 years of upright experience. I just realized all my photosucket pics are gone. Here's a few things I've built...

As you can see, it's got a little more stayed recently. But I'm working to get back to the crazier stuff. Nearly all of it is recycled and local. Vic ash necks, Jarrah boards, Kauri pine bodies and bits from trees from my yard or my parents. Much cheaper than buying a custom bass... least that's my justification. LOL

 

[mark5009]

As you can see, it's got a little more stayed recently. But I'm working to get back to the crazier stuff. Nearly all of it is recycled and local. Vic ash necks, Jarrah boards, Kauri pine bodies and bits from trees from my yard or my parents. Much cheaper than buying a custom bass... least that's my justification. LOL

Lovely instruments. And no justification needed here I've got access to Inner West junk days (picked up some very nice stuff people were dumping, including a 1930s oak teacher's desk that my wife is now happily using) and some of the timber recyclers (Ironwood in Annandale is a favourite). Something very satisfying for me about using stuff other people throw away. And lots of fun.

But you have inspired me to think about the next project. Some kind of EUB I suspect...

 

[mark5009]

100% Maple. No real voids except a knot on the back of the body. I burnt in the black lightning pattern with a "fracking device" that creates the lichtenberg figure effect.
The bass sings. Only real issue I'm having is with shielding. But I may be just playing with too much gain, not sure.

I like that effect. And good luck with the shielding ;-)

 

[mark5009]

Time for some "here goes the build" progress pics:

Smoothing the face of the neck and the fretboard, then marking both with reference marks;

Cutting the scarf joint. Best to use a jig...

...otherwise out-of-square happens

when it comes to gluing-time;

I cut out some body templates it looks like the shape will work...

Back to the neck. I thought of adding some carbon but then decided to try some internal laminations of merbau (the same wood I'm using for the regular laminations and the fretboard. The theory being they'll all expand at similar rates and stop the neck wood, which has more susceptibility to movement, from moving too far. We'll see, I suppose

Installed now...

Back to the body. I'm using old floorboards and have to be careful of hidden metalware. Sometimes they're easy to spot...

like here, other times, not so much.

One of the reasons I use like using carbide-tipped tools

And there then there is the electronics. My bench in operation testing the basic output buffer. This will continue to evolve over the next while

Back to the neck. Install the truss rod...

and start work on the fretboard...

24-frets, 12" radius etc. Just about ready for gluing...

More to follow.

 

[mark5009]

Plus ca change. I was cleaning my bicycle when I noticed some old planks I'd stored away in a corner. It was old, pine, and it looked like it might work for this build. But first it needed some cleanup, get rid of those thick layers of paint

through the thickness jig

shape it up

and after a quick run through the real thicknesses, this pops out. Not quite sure of the species here, though it is unusual for Oz. I suspect it is Sumatran pine, but it maybe be some old building pine someone imported back in the day (we called it Oregon, and it could be any west coast grown tree). Still, the grain is pretty funky...

Time enough to glue up the fretboard. Thought I'd mix it up and use liquid hide glue. Fun and sticky!

And then there was the "That Shouldn't Happen" moment. Shaping the body and tack-tack-BANG! The bandsaw blade let go. Sigh. Not at the weld, just some random spot on the blade. Hate it when that happens, and it was an expensive CT blade too. Not too much damage to the saw, just a broken guide to replace. New blade on order...

 

[ctmullins]

Sounds like an exciting day!

 

[Slidlow]

Plus cest la meme chose!

 

[mark5009]

Sounds like an exciting day!

It was fun, and quite busy, and I just hate it when something breaks. Still, not too much harm done.

 

[mark5009]

Plus cest la meme chose!

Ain't that the truth!

 

[mark5009]

More stuff from this build, including an oopsie. Don't you hate it when they happen. So I glued the fretboard with cold hide glue (for fun) and I was using my new(-ish) cam-clamps, and I hadn't properly located the fretboard brads, and I then didn't check the alignment, and I let it all dry. Yup, the fb is out of kilter. Spit! On the upside I got to check out how well hide glue comes apart (hooray! it does!). Next time around I put in some dowels (from the back) and it hasn't moved since

Here it is out of alignment,

.. now pulled apart without much damage at all

.. and back together with some locating pins. Probably won't go down this route in the future (I know Peter Malinowski did this for some time, maybe still does) but it was cool to work out how to do it correctly

The replacement bandsaw blade arrived (see previous post). Who knew you could fit a 1" Woodmaster CT onto a Laguna 14/12? The answer is "just" but man does this thing resaw Oz hardwoods well! A bitch to change out though...

First hack at a bridge. Okay, sort of, but I think I'll shift the design for the next attempt

This next set are detailing the neck-body join. I've decided to go a little fancy and make a double-ended lap joint. This the is first time I've tried this for a guitar and I'm going to be interested in how it pans out in the end. Given the joint is going to be bolted and glued, and there's lots of contact area, I suspect it will work pretty well and be reasonably strong. Suspect being the operative word.

Routing the body pocket (gotta clean some of the crud off that bench!)

Then do the neck side and fit 'em together. I haven't done any cleaning up of the joint yet, but it looks like it'll work out okay

All in all, a fun job, though there is (obviously) some fine tuning to do. More importantly, I managed to get both joints in pretty much the same alignment to the neck is straight! Always a win when that happens! Hooray!

And that's all for now. More soon, I hope.

 

[mark5009]

Another update, post-Easter singing time (Hooray!). Anyhow, things have started to come together a little, along with a few mistakes, but I'm starting to get an idea of what the bass will actually look like. Here are some of the progress pics with brief notes:

After some more thinking I've redesigned the bridge. My thinking is it's going to have a piezo underneath it so let's try using a single mass of brass, and then isolate it from the rest of the body. This should maximise the string energy going into the sensor and minimise the amount lost banging around the wood of the body. It's a thought...

Right, back to the neck joint. Time to add the steel inserts...

but I got the placing wrong. Spit! Okay. Time to get my patch-and-fill on. I do love my little dowel making swage plate!

Now that I have them in the right place, I need to make sure I torque them up in the right order. Not a big thing but I feel happier knowing this

Time for the headstock. Because of the materials I'm using, the size, and just because, I decided to get a little funky with some brass. Cutting the 3mm brass on a scroll-saw is fun! Slow, but fun. There are also going to be ferrules on the backside (it's a mess right now so I'll leave it hidden ;-) )

The last missing part I need before I can work out the height of the bridge (it's not adjustable so working out the height is important) is the tuners in their proper place. Some careful measurement and a sharp 14mm drill were in order

And here they are. Getting them to fit with the body is going to be another challenge, but that's for another day

Oh! Forgot to add the frets... First up is putting some wire through the bend-o-matic

Then into the press-o-matic...

Snip the ends and the fretboard is getting close to needing some serious finishing work. Okay, maybe after carving the back. Another job awaiting...

was the nut. More brass happiness...

And now I get to string it up and work out some string heights and the like. Here is a pic of it mocked up, wearing its to-be strings (D'Addario tape-wounds). Got a bit of slip bass-side in this shot but that'll be gone when I get the bridge block done and in place.

And, to warp it up for now, a closer look at the messy end.

So, lots of work remaining, but it's coming along.

 

[ctmullins]

Loving it!

 

[mark5009]

Loving it!

Thank you!