Planning and design for a first build...

[JanVanHove]

Thanks for the advice, Jordan!

I think I'm pretty close to the "simple an inexpensive": Single-piece maple neck, single pickup, wooden bridge, fingerboard made of a merbau floorboard... I look forward to the lessons I'm gonna learn on this first build...

 

[tdogg]

lessons i learned from my first:
make templates for EVERYTHING
make sure the truss rod is in the right way (dammit)
check everything with a good straight edge before you glue (even if you planed it)
-buy a calipers and a decent router

 

[JanVanHove]

make templates for EVERYTHING

sounds like I'll be getting a sheet of 8mm MDF next weekend!

I'm already working on carboard templates for the body and neck, But I'll be waiting for my tuning machines to arrive so I can validate my headstock design...

 

[roberthabraken]

sounds like I'll be getting a sheet of 8mm MDF next weekend!

I'm already working on carboard templates for the body and neck, But I'll be waiting for my tuning machines to arrive so I can validate my headstock design...

Nice! Let me give you one advise: I (personally) prefer multiplex instead of MDF. It is a lot less soft than MDF and therefore your template we'll stay in shape better. Even more important if you want to use your template again and don't want to make all templates again for each guitar!

 

[JanVanHove]

robert, thanks for the advice, I'll get some plywood for the templates!

And then I'll need to find a place to store the templates in my tiny garage... time to go to IKEA again to buy some shelves?

 

[jordan_frerichs]

robert, thanks for the advice, I'll get some plywood for the templates!

And then I'll need to find a place to store the templates in my tiny garage... time to go to IKEA again to buy some shelves?

birch is best imo if you do plywood.

 

[JanVanHove]

I got a sheet of MDF in the end... and cut out the body template...
Next will be the neck / fingerboard template

I should get my Cherry wood for the body this week, so this is going to start moving soon!

 

[knuckle_head]

Nice!!

 

[JanVanHove]

Thanks Skip ! means a lot to me coming from you!

 

[JanVanHove]

Well, I got the Cherry, I got the hardware...

Now, to make a bass out of this...

 

[JanVanHove]

And the work has begun!

 

[JanVanHove]

starting to look like something!

 

[LCW]

I like it for some reason i think it resembles a rick call me crazy maybe its the horns

 

[ClaytonH]

Your right LCW, but onlu if the upper hor was thicker and the top was curled in a bit more

 

[vbasscustom]

whats the slot in the body for? are ou going to anchor your strings in it or something?

 

[tdogg]

whats the slot in the body for? are ou going to anchor your strings in it or something?

im curioous about that too. im guessing a string anchor of some sort

 

[JanVanHove]

That's exactly it: string anchoring... I'm gonna carve some slots and put a metal plate to hook the strings in... It's very "prototype-ish" at this stage, so despite the planning a lot of it comes down to trial and realizing possibilities as I go...

 

[notforrobots]

im interested in seeing the finished product. cant wait

 

[JanVanHove]

I got some walnut for a strip in the neck and the fingerboard... this is gonna be sweet...

I'm not sure about the walnut strip on the control plate... I thought about using a bit from the back of the neck, but I feel it's a bit too much...

 

[JanVanHove]

Tonight I routed the spaces in the body for the maple "Racing stripes"...

Now I have a bit of a dilemma...

Do I go with maple for both stripes?

Or do I make the smaller stripe Walnut?

What do you guys think?