SBO 23 - All Spruced Up

[smart51]

I've not been feeling the love on this project so it's been sat around for a while. Today I got round to doing something and routed the neck pocket a little deeper. I can now get the action high enough that it doesn't buzz on the frets. It sound's nice. It has an EMG 35TW which I haven't liked in the past two basses I've had it in. It suits this one though.

I've finally made a bass with enough offset to suit the way I play, left hand up. it is very comfortable to wear because the belly carve is in the right place.

 

[NKBassman]

I've not been feeling the love on this project so it's been sat around for a while. Today I got round to doing something and routed the neck pocket a little deeper. I can now get the action high enough that it doesn't buzz on the frets. It sound's nice. It has an EMG 35TW which I haven't liked in the past two basses I've had it in. It suits this one though.

I've finally made a bass with enough offset to suit the way I play, left hand up. it is very comfortable to wear because the belly carve is in the right place.

Is the EMGTW the one that offers some coil switching options?
What are you using for a preamp?

 

[smart51]

Is the EMGTW the one that offers some coil switching options?
What are you using for a preamp?

Yes, it switches between single coil and humbucker, but it has steel slugs to mute the high end. I like high end.

 

[smart51]

This is my view right now. What is it that people have against lacquered fretboards? I think this looks good.

 

[smart51]

Here's a strange thing. I've bonded with every bass I've made so far, the silly ones and the serious ones. Each one was the one I picked up first for a while after I'd made it. Not this one. It fits really well, it is very comfortable. It plays really nicely. It sounds good too, which was a surprise. The slap tone is very good, the finger tone is full without being dull and bright without being thin. It plays really well, yet I don't care. It's probably why I haven't finished it yet. I will, of course, but I suspect it will just gather dust afterwards. I've no idea why.

 

[smart51]

I'm reusing the tuners off an old bass but that one had concentric intonation screws. I solved that with a pair of turned inserts to hold the brass screw that pulls the strings to tension.

The bass is now "built". I still have to crown and polish the frets and buff the lacquer, but otherwise it is pretty much done.

 

[smart51]

This is my submission to the scratch build category of Summer Build Off 2023

I built this bass expecting to show why you can't make a bass out of construction lumber and ended up proving that you can and it will work. This is a build made entirely out of used parts and offcuts. What I've made is a surprisingly playable instrument.

The spruce is the leftovers from an acoustic bass I made a few months ago. The finger board is from a left over corner from a log of Laburnum.

All the hardware is stuff I made for a bass I took apart at the beginning of the year. Even the fret wire was reused, though from experience I don't recommend that.

Specs

30" scale headless 4 string with bolt on neck
Spruce neck with Laburnum fretboard
Spruce body with heavy offset to suit my playing style
African Blackwood control knobs and tuner keys
EMG 35TW pickup
blue burst paint with a dayglo centre
total weight 2.479kg or 5.5 lbs

This has been my daily player for a couple of months now and it feels really good to use. I've used the 35TW on two other basses previously and not liked it at all. The TW has a deliberately muted top end where I like some sparkle in my tone. In this installation, it works.

So should you use spruce? No, maybe. It dents really easily. Just putting it down on a work surface seemed to knock it about. I had to steam out or fill more dents than I really care to. The hard-and-soft grain pattern of softwood is hard to get a smooth surface on. Lots of filler primer sanded back did a reasonable job, but hold it up to the light and the grain pattern telegraphs through. I'm not a fan of the look of spruce, but the quarter sawn neck is quite nice.

I switched to using native wood this year. Wilder species can look really great, there are a few local timbers that look good. I'm particularly fond of this laburnum.

 

[JFlo]

Very cool body shape!

 

[JRA]

This is my submission to the scratch build category of Summer Build Off 2023

too cool! it's gotta be a "comfy" ax to play, standing or sitting. killer!