SBO 2022 - Cheaper by the Dozen - 12 String Bass

[TFM94]

This is such a better way to apply veneers to large flat surfaces. If I do more volume of bass construction in the future...I'll need to invest in something similar. Thank you for sharing.

Yup, vacuum bagging is great for tops, fretboards etc, espceially when the surfaces are not flat. I bought a used vacuum pump a year ago and it has greatly improved my lutherie life.

@Gary_M is a pro when it comes to vacuum bagging, this setup is much more advanced than mine.

 

[Gary_M]

I'm jelly of the vac bag. I only have one big enough to do a couple steaks.

 

[Gary_M]

Are the bags disposable? Or can/do you clean them out and reuse?

Yep, as @boxerrider mentioned, they are reusable. I bought the heaviest one that they offered in the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. It has been great. The glue that gets on the inside of the bag just flakes off. Every so often I open the end and shake out the glue flakes.

 

[Gary_M]

This is such a better way to apply veneers to large flat surfaces. If I do more volume of bass construction in the future...I'll need to invest in something similar. Thank you for sharing. I also really like your approach to fingerboard radius cutting...I think I need to investigate this approach further once my current build is complete.

I think the bag is really easy to use and give me very consistent results. One of the main reasons that I jumped into it was that the pin router that I bought several years ago came with a very nice vacuum pump that was used for vacuum clamping at the pin router. So, I just had to make the investment in the bag.

Definitely give the fretboard bits a try. Once you get used to the process, it's very fast and accurate with very little cleanup needed.

 

[Gary_M]

Yup, vacuum bagging is great for tops, fretboards etc, espceially when the surfaces are not flat. I bought a used vacuum pump a year ago and it has greatly improved my lutherie life.

@Gary_M is a pro when it comes to vacuum bagging, this setup is much more advanced than mine.

I'm a pro at gluing one flat board to another flat board, that's for sure.

I really want to look into a shutoff valve where the line enters the bag. My pump is rated for continuous operation, so I just leave it run for the duration of the glue up. This is normally only required for a few hours. But, if I could pull a vacuum, then close a valve and hold that vacuum, I'd be in heaven and it would be quieter in the shop while bagging.

 

[TerribleTim68]

...Definitely give the fretboard bits a try. Once you get used to the process, it's very fast and accurate with very little cleanup needed.

Yeah, I placed them in my Amazon list of "things I'd love to own if I ever win the lottery". Every once in a while I get to splurge and buy something from that list, but mostly it's a list of things I drool over but never get to buy.

 

[Gary_M]

I spent some time cleaning up the garage today. Things were getting a little messy out there, and someone noted that I may or may not have been dragging wood chips into the house.

Next, I buckled down and finalized my headstock shape. I wanted to keep as many of the aspects of the original design as possible that I had used on my previous bass builds. Here's the one that I'm talking about.

I had laid out the tuners and string paths previously sometime back in June, which was a major undertaking. The problem that I ran into was that I couldn't keep the "wing" curves in the same orientation as the original because of the way I had laid out the tuners. So, here is what I came up with. I pretty much just reversed the design on the treble side of the headstock. It's growing on me and I think that it will work. (Apparently, I thought that today was August 8...)

I cut the templates from hardboard at the band saw, then cleaned them up with files.

Here are both templates stacked up. Still need a little tweaking, but you get the idea.

And here it is next the the one used on the 5 string. Obviously the 12er headstock is yuuuge, but I feel like it is in keeping with the aesthetic.

Thoughts?

 

[TerribleTim68]

I think it's perfect!
It's an amazing nod to the original while being slightly different making the 12 string unique. Don't change a thing!

 

[NKBassman]

I spent some time cleaning up the garage today. Things were getting a little messy out there, and someone noted that I may or may not have been dragging wood chips into the house.

Next, I buckled down and finalized my headstock shape. I wanted to keep as many of the aspects of the original design as possible that I had used on my previous bass builds. Here's the one that I'm talking about.

I had laid out the tuners and string paths previously sometime back in June, which was a major undertaking. The problem that I ran into was that I couldn't keep the "wing" curves in the same orientation as the original because of the way I had laid out the tuners. So, here is what I came up with. I pretty much just reversed the design on the treble side of the headstock. It's growing on me and I think that it will work. (Apparently, I thought that today was August 8...)

I cut the templates from hardboard at the band saw, then cleaned them up with files.

Here are both templates stacked up. Still need a little tweaking, but you get the idea.

And here it is next the the one used on the 5 string. Obviously the 12er headstock is yuuuge, but I feel like it is in keeping with the aesthetic.

Thoughts?

Looks great! For me headstock aesthetics are usually pretty important to whether I’ll like the look of a bass overall, and what you’ve got there definitely works! It’ll be nice to see it in context to the body of course, but on its own it looks really good.

 

[definenredefine]

I think it's perfect!
It's an amazing nod to the original while being slightly different making the 12 string unique. Don't change a thing!

Yup. Love it! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[RichterScale]

That looks great. I don't see how you can make a foot-1/2 long headstock look any better.
But making it look good doesn't make it any less scary. 12 strings?

 

[TerribleTim68]

That looks great. I don't see how you can make a foot-1/2 long headstock look any better.
But making it look good doesn't make it any less scary. 12 strings?

His next build will be 24!

 

[Crawforde]

Yea. that 5 string is beautiful, I think the 12 will look cool as well, and it could easily have been a complete mess. Your planning and design are well thought out and clean.
the idea of 12 strings on one bass just makes my hands shake. Or maybe I slammed my coffee too quickly.
anyway I think this build is very cool and hope it sounds as good as it going to look.

 

[definenredefine]

Yea. that 5 string is beautiful, I think the 12 will look cool as well, and it could easily have been a complete mess. Your planning and design are well thought out and clean.
the idea of 12 strings on one bass just makes my hands shake. Or maybe I slammed my coffee too quickly.
anyway I think this build is very cool and hope it sounds as good as it going to look.

Dude, I can barely get my head around having more than 4 strings...

 

[RichterScale]

Seeing the headstock design with all the tuners, made it real.

 

[Crawforde]

That vise and workbench are really nice too.
When I have a chance that’s where my shop improvements will start.
a solid well designed bench and a solid vise. More Tools can come later.

 

[Beej]

Nice job on the headstock I think a lot of builders would agree that the headstock is tricky to nail down.

 

[Gary_M]

Wow, thanks for the feedback, everyone. I think I'll go with that design with a few minor tweaks to some curves here and there.

 

[Gary_M]

That looks great. I don't see how you can make a foot-1/2 long headstock look any better.
But making it look good doesn't make it any less scary. 12 strings?

Thanks! And yeah, you're not kidding about being a little scary. I pulled out a pack of strings today... the tension is nearly 420lbs!! Wowsers.

 

[Gary_M]

Time for (headstock) wings.

Got all pieces prepped, glue mixed and neck in position.

Gluing in progress.

Clamping.

And more clamps. I had to straighten up that clamp on the end after I took this picture. I couldn't take it.