P5 build build for my friend

[Dark Horse]

I was hoping to be able to participate in this year’s winter build off, but with my health, I just have to prioritize my time. My primary priority is building a bass for one of my best friends. He’s an awesome person, and if this is the last thing I build before I become worm food, then I will be proud of it!

So here goes ….this is the progress so far….

It’s my Precision-ish 5 string shape. It will have Nordstrand pickups, hipshot hardware. Highly figured ambrosia top, walnut accent line, and swamp ash back. The neck is flame maple with a mun ebony fretboard.

Here are some progression photos of the progress so far…. Note that I routed wiring channels (and weight relief) prior to glueing up the top. I find this method much neater, and there’s less chance of having a drilling accident mess up the build.

Body and neck templates :

Gluing up the swamp ash body blank ..,

Swamp ash blank out of clamps and rough cut to shape ….

A small amount of weight relief and wiring channels routed. I don’t want to remove too much material, as that can cause a poorly balanced instrument. This one should wind up in the 8.5-9lb range. That will balance on a strap nicely, and not fatigue the player.

Here is the walnut accent veneer, ready to be glued to the blank…

Gluing up the walnut veneer and the ambrosia top….

Here’s the body, glued up and out of clamps, routed to shape..,,

There are worm holes to be filled on the top. I taped these off and am filling them with black starbond glue. Once filled, I’ll sand it back flat.

That’s it for now. Progress has been slow, but I’m doing what I can, when I can. This bass is going to be a beauty, and I think Mike is gonna love it !!!

Love y’all…. Please be kind to each other!

 

[JRA]

Love y’all….

right back atcha!

Please be kind to each other!

 

[Dust2Dust]

Subbed

 

[scuzzy]

I just wanna say that you are an awesome person

 

[murphy]

I just wanna say that you are an awesome person

That was what I came in to say.
Thank God that the world has such kind people as yourself.
Thank you for being yourself and an inspiration.

 

[Dark Horse]

Sneak peek at the body …. Long way to go, but she’s gonna be a looker !

 

[Dark Horse]

I just wanna say that you are an awesome person

That was what I came in to say.
Thank God that the world has such kind people as yourself.
Thank you for being yourself and an inspiration.

Thank you so much for the kind words, it means the world to me!

I’m just a guy trying to make the most with whatever time he has… If it’s one day or 20 years, I want to maximize my enjoyment and minimize my regrets

 

[joeLowB]

Subbed!

Good to hear from you, @Dark Horse !

 

[definenredefine]

This is gonna look killer!

 

[NKBassman]

following

 

[BishopJP]

Sneak peek at the body …. Long way to go, but she’s gonna be a looker !

View attachment 7457691View attachment 7457692

Hot damn! Someone is gonna get one helluva good looking bass!

 

[P. Aaron]

Very cool.

 

[Dark Horse]

Hoping I can get feeling better and make some progress on this. Sorry about the snails pace progress, everyone…

 

[joeLowB]

Hoping I can get feeling better and make some progress on this. Sorry about the snails pace progress, everyone…

Dude! You owe nothing to any of us! Take care of yourself! That's what truly matters!

Let the bass play and the bass bite!

.

 

[Dark Horse]

Been working slowly on this …

Got the neck picked out, fretboard radiused and slotted, truss rod and carbon fiber rod channels routed, neck assembled glued and clamped…. It’s out of clamps now, so I’ll try to get it trimmed up in the next few days.

My friend Mike that I’m building this for stopped by here and stayed a couple days, so I enlisted him to help. He wants to learn, so I have been teaching him. He routed the carbon fiber channels, radiused the board, and even cut some of the fret slots ! I taught him a few tricks like pinning the fretboard for gluing, using bike innertubes for clamping, etc .

It was a fun and productive, though slow moving, weekend ! Here are some pics. Don’t mind the messy shop and my amazing chemo hair

 

[Dark Horse]

A couple pics of my currently messy shop. I’m still trying to build and find storage for a lot of things, and that’s taking a bit. But overall, the workability and layout I’m really liking.

 

[joeLowB]

How cool you two could work together on this! Guessing the conversation was good as you did that precise work.

One of the home improvement shows we like has a sign in their shop: "There is no such thing as ' too many clamps' " !

Like the look of that shop!

.

 

[murphy]

All I can say is "Wow!!!"

 

[Gary_M]

Amazing job, the bass is looking great and I love your shop!

 

[Dark Horse]

While I’m waiting I took the time to draw up a design so that I can make templates for a different build idea.

Obviously Jag influenced. I actually started with a Torino, then added elements of one of my other body designs, a jag, and even some Thunderbird influence for the pickguard.

My hope was to get a Jag look, but a bit more streamlined and modernized. Even up the lines a little, almost like marrying a 51 slab p with a jaguar.

At least that’s what I was “going for”..,

This is how I do all my designs …, pencil in hand, draw a center line, use a known reference like a precision shape or whatever, and sketch from there. I’m definitely old school ….

Here’s a working pic.

When I put on the neck template, the body Feels perhaps a touch small, though it’s 13.5” at its widest, so it’s not a small body at all. This is with a 34” scale neck. Short scale may not feel like the body looks small , not sure .

Here’s the mockup with a neck template … I will be changing the headstock shape a little as well.
Thoughts ?

Here’s a comparison of the Jaguar Bass outline with this one . I randomly am calling it the Streamliner Bass, but that’s just so I have some kind of name for it