SBO 2024 - First Fretless

[ddm0502]

I've been wanting to do this project since before the last winter build off, so its been a long time planning and finally here! I've never had a real fretless unless you count an old project bass I defretted once. This will be my second scratch build ever and my first fretless build.

My neck will be a nine piece bubinga, purpleheart, and maple. The stringers need a little work before I'm ready to glue up but here's a mock up.

The body wings are a lovely piece of ribbon sapele. You won't see it from the front, but the back deserves to look nice too. My piece is thicker than it needs to be so I can try my hand at a seamless rear control cover

Top wood is Pau Ferro. I'll also have a matching headstock face plate.

Finally, the fingerboard is bloodwood. I have two pieces I'm considering. I think I like the lighter colored one better. It's hard to tell in the picture but I think it looks better in person.

The only thing that is undecided is what pickup to use. I definitely want a single p style, but which one I don't know. I have a Fralin in my fretted and like it, but am considering trying something different. Maybe a Duncan SPB4 Steve Harris for more midrange but I don't know yet.

As always, more to come as the build progresses!

 

[Crawforde]

That light board should have a lot of chatoyance with some oil in/on it. I used a similar piece a few years ago.

 

[gormsby]

So much beautiful wood! I typically try to limit my basses to maybe three woods each, worried about clashes or busyness. But those all look like they'll complement each other wonderfully.

 

[ddm0502]

That light board should have a lot of chatoyance with some oil in/on it. I used a similar piece a few years ago.

That's part of why I like that one better, you can see a bit of it in person, even without a finish. I was also thinking the light board would contrast the dark woods on the front of the body.

So much beautiful wood! I typically try to limit my basses to maybe three woods each, worried about clashes or busyness. But those all look like they'll complement each other wonderfully.

Part of the reason for my choices is I wanted to build mostly from stash. The only pieces I bought for this project is the sapele (I was going to use a piece of sapele from my stash but it wasn't big enough) and bloodwood. I originally had a concern about too many different colors clashing, but once I got the rough wood in a pile before dimensioning, i thought it would work. I think it works because everything except the maple has a bit (or more) of a reddish tint to tie it together. Or, if we're sticking to the wrestling catch phrases from the announcement post, All Red Everything (there's an obscure one)

A few things I didn't cover in my original post. Bridge is a hipshot A style. Tuners are gotoh in a 3+1 configuration. This will be my first build with a scarf joint headstock, although I did make a practice scarf joint already. Shown in my parts pile picture but not mentioned are some maple and purpleheart veneers, I'll be using these between body layers.

One thing that I had planned that may change is to make custom wood pickup covers. I had originally planned on using leftover bloodwood to make a pickup cover to match the fingerboard, but the bloodwood did not like being bandsawn. I'm concerned about being able to saw it thin enough to make a cover without it shattering. I have plenty of leftover pieces of all my woods, so I can always change plans and make it out of something else if the bloodwood fails.

 

[ddm0502]

First glue up! I didn't like my clamp setup so I made some spool clamps. I don't trust my alignment if I glue the whole thing at once so I'm doing it in stages.

 

[ddm0502]

Final stage for my neck glue up. I used more traditional clamps this time. It seems easier now that I had a wider surface to work with.

As usual in woodworking, I spent about an hour making custom cauls, 30 minutes test fitting to be sure its right and then ten minutes on the actual glue up.

I needed special cauls because my bubinga is just barely thicker than I want my final neck thickness (minus the fingerboard of course) but the maple/purpleheart is significantly thicker than they need to be. I'm using bubinga from my wood stash that was already dimensioned but the rest of the wood is rough sawn and quite a bit thicker. The cauls keep the pieces of bubinga flush with each other and allow the maple/purpleheart room to overhang the bubinga. If everything works as planned, I'll be able to plane the maple and purpleheart flush with the bubinga and have a perfectly dimensioned neck.

I used the word bubinga so many times in the previous paragraph, it doesn't sound like a word anymore. Bubinga.

 

[ddm0502]

Here's a picture of the caul. Just a few grooves to allow for the wider pieces.

 

[ddm0502]

My neck glue up looks good. Here it is roughly hand planes. I still need to run it through my power planer but my shop vac died and I know better than to run the planer without any dust collection. My cauls worked perfectly, I probably won't need to take off more than 1/32 of bubinga per side, which will put the thickness right where I want it.

Today's task, I cut my body wings to dimension and started glueing on my decorative veneers. First, a strip of purpleheart to frame the sapele.

 

[ddm0502]

Today's work is gluing up my body laminates. I don't have enough clamps to do both the upper and lower wings at the same time so I'll do the other side tomorrow. I used dowels in the off cut area to keep them aligned while I get all my layers and clamps in place. The bulk of the body is sapele with purpleheart and maple laminates and a pau ferro top.

In the background you can see the oldest tool in my shop; a drill press that I think is is older then I am that I inherited from my grandfather. I remember playing with it as a little kid and now I used it for real.

 

[ddm0502]

Testing, I had issues with uploading pictures I had previously saved.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Puppy!

 

[ddm0502]

Second stage of the body glue up. This one took most of my clamps.

The most used jig in my shop is this piece of MDF with things taped to it in various combinations. It's my combination planer sled, straight edge, table saw rip jig, router jointer, sanding surface, and now scarf joint jig.

Unfortunately, it didn't do so well this time, the cut wasn't quite straight, something must have been out of alignment.

That's ok, nothing a few minutes on the belt sander won't take care of.

Much better. A few surfaces need a bit more work, but they're surfaces that will need sanding anyway after the glue up so it can wait. I forgot to take a picture, but I also resawn the headstock down to thickness. As for the glue up, I don't have enough clamps so that will have to wait for tomorrow.

 

[ddm0502]

No real progress updates today but with the major components together and the clamps off, we finally have an idea how the final project will look.

 

[JRA]

beauty and fretless-ness! wow!

 

[ddm0502]

Ok guys, I need you to talk me in to something. My original plan was for a lined fretless, but the more I look at the mock up, the more I like the look of the unlimited board. I've never really played fretless bass so I wanted the training wheels of lines, but I have played fretless bass adjacent instruments so I think I can handle it. I played trombone for a long time and played a little cello. Plus I'm just a couch player so who cared if my intonation is a little off? I think I'm talking myself in to unlined...

Who what's your opinion, lined or unlined?

 

[MonetBass]

Since you play cello and trombone (the fretless of the brass world), you should be fine with unlined. I prefer it myself. Add side markers and you're golden.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Side markers or partial lines. The last fretless I did the lines are visible on the side and extend about 1/2-3/4” on the face of the board. I don’t have a picture on my phone, I can take one later.

 

[Mickey666]

I started on an unlined fretless (72 p), so that would be my vote... but I do see the usefulness of the lines to someone new to the instrument.

 

[ardgedee]

I mostly play without looking but still like having some kind of marks, especially for positions farther up the neck. The Ibanez SRF700 has marks that just barely go over the top of the fingerboard and I've found that's pretty effective when I tried it out in stores.

You could also do ghost lines -- same or nearly the same color as the wood. The player can see them but they blend into the grain from a distance. Usually made from veneer of the same wood as the fingerboard, or from the fingerboard's sawdust mixed with epoxy. Might be too subtle for some players, but I've been happy with it on my fretless conversion. Or I guess you could combine both of these approaches.

 

[smart51]

I never look at the face of the fingerboard when playing, so I have no need for a lined board. But I look at the little lines along the edge all the time. You get the look of an unlined board, but with a clue where to put your fingers.