Practice build plans

[b_jim_mack]

Hello all,

I'm brand new here. I've been reading the forums for years now, but I've just been a lurker.

I'm a pretty handy fellow, worked as a general auto mechanic for several years; but now I'm in the medical field and have been for about 18 years. I know my way around most wood working tools though I wouldn't call myself an expert by any means; and I've got a garage filled with all manner of implements of destruction (files, rasps, wood planes, a router, hand and power saws, etc.). I do have what seems to be the requisite patience and mild OCD that the top builders in this forum have and hopefully when/if I pull the trigger on this project that will help hide the mistakes that I will make.

Additionally, I'm overseas right now with LOTS of time on my hands to plan this out before I can actually start doing anything with these wild ideas. My brain is going bananas with ideas that I'd like to attempt. All of this is kind of a "get my feet wet" with bass building to see if I like it, if I could be good at it, and maybe get something fun out of it.

First, I'm planning of starting with a donor bass. I've got a cheap P-bass knockoff that I'd like to use as the donor because I think it will save some time and maybe money.

Here's the random insanity that I'm thinking:
1) Router plane the top of the body down, chamber the body and glue a cap on (possibly with F-hole). I'm not looking for any fancy wood, probably just poplar since I'm not looking for aesthetics, just practice.

2) Carve (concave?) the rear of the body, I think the Warwick Steamer basses were like this, maybe not. I could be crazy. I think this can be pulled off with a router sled or TONS of good 'ol fashioned sanding.

3) Radius the top similar to what I'm thinking about above for the back. This may end up being weird especially with a chambered body and an F-hole. I'm torn between the radius or a flat top with binding, but binding looks really hard.

4) Slim the neck down to a Jazz width. This is the most important because it's the thing that got this whole thought-train running and I prefer the Jazz neck. I know I could just buy a J neck that fits in the neck pocket, but this isn't about buying parts and bolting them together. This is a journey of discovery... It's also the thing that I'm having the hardest time wrapping my my around. Would the best or easiest way to do this just go to town with a rasp; or would pulling the frets, making a template and using a router be a better way to go? Recommendations for neck refinishing since it would likely still have some finish left behind?

5) I've got a ton of spare pickups and pickguards and pots and tuners, so all that can get upgraded with stuff that I've got lying around. As far as measuring for bridge holes and tuning machine holes and such, I'm not terribly worried about that right now because all of that will sort of fall together as it happens.

6) I'll paint it. I've painted stuff before. Not really worried about this part.

That's what my evil brain has put together so far... Now, aside for all the questions I've already posed, what am I missing? Am I biting off too much for a "get-my-feet-wet" build? All the ideas I'm spouting off are all just to get some practice and learn some techniques before jumping into a scratch build so I'm not really worried about the overall end product as far as playability, but am I proposing anything that just plain won't work or is impossible?

All you seasoned pros please let me have it with your replies. I've got loads of time to plan this thing and procure tools or equipment that I may be lacking before I'll be home to start messing with this project, so things and probably will change drastically before I any sawdust is created.

Thanks!

 

[dwizum]

It's hard to pass judgement on if you're biting off too much because that really depends as much on your tolerance as anything else! Some people start small and get overwhelmed. Others dive in with a complicated scratch build and do fine.

Overall I think your plan will depend on you deciding what you want to accomplish and how you want to get there. Once you know those things, you can fill in by educating yourself on the processes and skills you need to reach your plan.

Personally, your approach of starting with a donor bass makes sense from a certain perspective but also has some downsides. All plans will have upsides and downsides though. Based on how different you want the end result to be from where you're starting, you might find it's easier to just keep your donor bass as a "full sized plan" and use it for measurements and reference, then build from scratch. A bunch of people in this forum have done chambered bodies and concave/convex carves like you're discussing, so there's good notes to copy from. Doing that much work on an existing body will probably be harder (or, more effort) than starting with a body blank and cutting the overall shape and other details yourself as part of the process.

Similar for the neck - starting with a P neck and slimming it to a J profile is going to be a challenge, since you're going to end up having to deal with the fretwork. I think @Beej once mentioned that he had essentially done that by filing the edges of the neck, frets and all, until it was the desired width. For me, I would just use the existing neck to practice fretwork - do a level/crown/polish job even if it doesn't need it! Then, go buy a nice neck blank, a preslotted and pre-radiused fretboard, and make your own neck from scratch. That'll give you the hands-on "I did it myself" satisfaction (versus buying a J neck) without having to deal with the complications of modifying an existing neck.

Good luck, welcome to the forum, and no matter what you do, be sure to take lots of photos and share it all here, so we can laugh and cry along with you as you make progress.

 

[dwizum]

And since you mentioned being overseas and having lots of time to plan - now is a good time to be browsing the forum, since the winter buildoff is happening. There are dozens of great build threads to catch up on!

Otherwise, I would use your planning time to "practice" virtually by drawing everything out. Either on a computer, or on paper. Get a roll of parchment paper, cut off a 4' piece, and draw the entire instrument. Print and trace plans from the internet to give yourself a starting point, then lay out the changes you want to make. You can use the paper bass as your "practice" and work through problems you may have (how big to make the chambers, keeping the concave/convex carves from interfering with the neck pocket and chambers, etc etc). It's easier, cheaper, and faster to make mistakes on a paper drawing - then when you go to cut wood, you'll have confidence from working through it all ahead of time! These days, when I work through a new design, I essentially do it three times. Once on paper. Then I make MDF templates of all parts, whether I intend to use them as actual templates or not. Then I go make the bass for real. I find this to be a great way to work through all the steps prior to touching anything real.

 

[b_jim_mack]

And since you mentioned being overseas and having lots of time to plan - now is a good time to be browsing the forum, since the winter buildoff is happening.

Believe me, this forum is my wife's worst nightmare. I've done a DEEP dive into the buildoff's of years past looking at all the different basses that have been built. Without TV, this years buildoff is like a daily sitcom that I get to tune into each night.

Otherwise, I would use your planning time to "practice" virtually by drawing everything out.

I like the paper plan idea, I'm pretty sure I can wrestle some butcher paper up somewhere around here. I won't have access to the donor; so I can see that turning into a full custom body though... You might be getting me deeper into the rabbit hole. Same goes for the recommendation of carving a neck, slowly leading me towards the dark side of a full scratch build. Maybe posting on here was a bad idea since you're going to be a bad influence.
I could add that doing the fretwork on the donor neck isn't too intimidating, I've done a decent amount of fretwork on guitars and basses over the years and have the tools to pull all that off fairly well.

Thank you so much for the quick reply!

 

[b_jim_mack]

I do think I need to buy an orbital sander... I don't think my workspace would support a drum sander, but those look really useful.

 

[RichterScale]

-I've got a garage filled with all manner of implements of destruction (files, rasps, wood planes, a router, hand and power saws, etc.)
-patience and mild OCD
-bananas with ideas
-random insanity
-evil brain

You satisfy all the prerequisites.

 

[rudy4444]

I do think I need to buy an orbital sander... I don't think my workspace would support a drum sander, but those look really useful.

Hi b_jim_mack,

The whole thing sounds reasonably OK to me. It would be one of many ways for you to dip your toe in the bass building waters.

I have a a couple of build topics featuring chambered bodies with carved tops and backs if you care to go through them.

It is possible to narrow a neck without doing fret work. I did that exact same thing to narrow a mini-strat neck to make it into an electric octave mandolin.

 

[dwizum]

I like the paper plan idea, I'm pretty sure I can wrestle some butcher paper up somewhere around here. I won't have access to the donor; so I can see that turning into a full custom body though... You might be getting me deeper into the rabbit hole. Same goes for the recommendation of carving a neck, slowly leading me towards the dark side of a full scratch build.

Even if you stick with your donor bass plan, drawing it all out would be a useful thought exercise. For me at least! You could even find a P bass diagram online and draw or print that first, then essentially draw in all your modification plans.

I do think I need to buy an orbital sander... I don't think my workspace would support a drum sander, but those look really useful.

An orbital sander is handy for finish prep. I own a drum sander and while I do get a lot of use, I'd say it's far down the list for most solid body instrument building work. Really, a router can be the cornerstone of an amateur shop. Just build fixtures and it can do about anything. You can thickness and joint with one, so it can take the place of a planer, jointer, and drum sander (at least from a thicknessing perspective).

 

[Beej]

It's hard to pass judgement on if you're biting off too much because that really depends as much on your tolerance as anything else! Some people start small and get overwhelmed. Others dive in with a complicated scratch build and do fine.

Overall I think your plan will depend on you deciding what you want to accomplish and how you want to get there. Once you know those things, you can fill in by educating yourself on the processes and skills you need to reach your plan.

Personally, your approach of starting with a donor bass makes sense from a certain perspective but also has some downsides. All plans will have upsides and downsides though. Based on how different you want the end result to be from where you're starting, you might find it's easier to just keep your donor bass as a "full sized plan" and use it for measurements and reference, then build from scratch. A bunch of people in this forum have done chambered bodies and concave/convex carves like you're discussing, so there's good notes to copy from. Doing that much work on an existing body will probably be harder (or, more effort) than starting with a body blank and cutting the overall shape and other details yourself as part of the process.

Similar for the neck - starting with a P neck and slimming it to a J profile is going to be a challenge, since you're going to end up having to deal with the fretwork. I think @Beej once mentioned that he had essentially done that by filing the edges of the neck, frets and all, until it was the desired width. For me, I would just use the existing neck to practice fretwork - do a level/crown/polish job even if it doesn't need it! Then, go buy a nice neck blank, a preslotted and pre-radiused fretboard, and make your own neck from scratch. That'll give you the hands-on "I did it myself" satisfaction (versus buying a J neck) without having to deal with the complications of modifying an existing neck.

Good luck, welcome to the forum, and no matter what you do, be sure to take lots of photos and share it all here, so we can laugh and cry along with you as you make progress.

I did file one down to jazz width frets and all. It's only around 1/16" per side at the nut, so it fades in easily by the 12th fret. Not a bound neck, I wouldn't try to do this to a bound neck.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

You sound like you have the skills, so have at it. And don't count on the first couple being perfect, because they won't be.
But having to improvise around problems will build your skills to a great place.

Yeah I do love my drum sander, but a ROS works great for a lot of purposes. And certainly beats hand sanding.

If you do neck thru, you can do concave back by just angling the body wings.
More of a challenge during glue up, but saves tons of manual/tool wood removal.

Good luck,
Dirk

 

[mrperkolator]

here's my thoughts... as we learned in Frozen 2, know yourself. Sorry... I have young girls. Seriously though, know how you function. I'm refinishing a junker, and it's killing me because my brain says, "well it had value." Every time I try to refinish things, it bothers me because I hit a point where I feel I just destroyed something. For some reason that doesn't happen when building something from scratch. I guess because it wasn't functional as raw materials. This is purely a mental thing on my part. Aaaand back to singing that stupid song because it's in my head now......

...."you are the one you've been waiting for, all of your liiiiife"

and now I'm over quota for the amount of allowable dumb things said in a day.