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SBO 2022 The 5 string Late-comer

Flying B

Flying B

Apr 29, 2018
1,781
5,814
#1
To be honest there's little chance of me finishing this inside the deadline. But since I'm starting this now anyway I may as well enter.
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Body will be poplar with a flame maple cap, and will be chambered a bit too keep the weight down. I think I'll be attempting some kind of burst finish. Neck will be cherry with holly stringers and a faux rosewood fretboard (sundari). I'll be doing a scarf joint this time just to try something new.
Pickups I have a pair of big old seymour Duncan humbuckers so the wiring will be a step up for me from the old single pickup passive setup.
 
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#3
Forgot to say the body will be based loosely on the nr t-bird shape I used on my last build, but I've tweaked the curves here and there. Most notably extending the upper horn a little. Starting to look a little like a jaguar too.
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Here's the headstock as it stands at the moment. Really hard to come up with an original shape that nobody else has already done!
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#7
Bit more progress today. Took the top out the clamps and flattened it with the wide belt sander.
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Then glued it down to the body using West systems epoxy and the vac bag.

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Also cleaned up the neck blank, and made a simple jig to cut the scarf joint. I went with 12°.

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Scarf joint glued up.

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I also made a fret slotting jig for my chopsaw, I've had the blade for ages but not got round to using it. Didn't get any pics but I got the board slotted.
 
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#11
I had today off for various reasons but I managed to sneak into work for a couple of hours. I cut the body out and the bandsaw and then routed the shape with a template cutter on the router table.
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Unfortunately this happened when I stopped paying attention for a second. I definitely need a new cutter, this one is getting blunt.
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I reckon 80% of that will be lost in the roundovers, and the burst will be going to black on the edges so should be easy enough to hide.
I got the neck pocket routed too.
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I also got the truss rod routed in. I can't remember where I saw it but someone had a little piece of the end of the fretboard removable on magnets to hide the truss rod access, I might try something like that.

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That's enough for today, enjoy your weekends everyone. Temperatures heading into high thirties (centigrade) here in the UK I'm off to lay in my kids paddling pool.
 
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#16
Might be a long time before I get to finish this bass. I lost my job today. The company I worked for has gone under so bye bye massive workshop and big boy machines :bawl:

I do have a small workshop of my own which actually would be perfect for guitar building but I'm subletting it at the moment as I haven't used it for so long so there's no room for me at the moment. I'm on good terms with the two guys in there, so hopefully we might be able to carve out a corner for me to tinker with bass guitars. Better start working on my cv. :crying:
 
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#18
Sorry to hear the news, brother. Having been there myself in the no-so-recent past, I can sympathize. I believe a man of your talents is going to land on his feet, though; it's only a matter of time.

Prayers, best wishes, and kind thoughts headed your way.

Best regards,
John
 
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