I am titling my SBO22 entry "Building a Bass Is Easy" for a simple reason - I have never build an instrument, I have next to no woodworking skills, this is all extremely new to me, I am expecting many questions, mistakes, general frustrations, plan changes, and I might not even complete it... so maybe starting out with some positivity will put me in the right mindset.
The plan and specs:
* Non-reverse Thunderbird-inspired Jaguar body - rear routed Jaguar shape, with t-bird inspired pickguard, with pots and jack in a horizontal line, finished in Pelham blue automotive rattle cans
* Neck made of canarywood and padauk, finish TBD. 1.75" nut width, probably a tele-bass style headstock
* Fretless ebony board, pre-radiused from LMII (think I went 9.5")
* Pickups TBD, most likely these from Pegcity Pickups
* Passive electronics, controls TBD but probably a vol/vol stack and single tone, but maybe two stacks. Output jack will probably be on the front of the bass, but if I am feeling adventurous I might try a side jack with an electrosocket plate
* Other hardware TBD - I have a box of junk kicking around, for sure with a through body bridge and some grover machine heads that have seen better days. It'll come down to budget, but most likely I'll toss on whatever I have and replace later
Goals/what I want to get out of this:
Honestly, at the end of this if I have a bass that plays and makes sound, I'll be stoked. I know nothing, don't even do my own setups if I can avoid it, so this is all learning. I have done two refinishes with "good enough" results, and am just starting to learn my way around a router.
Potential hangups and issues:
Lack of knowledge, lack of tools. I have wanted to do this forever but lack of tools has been the big kicker for me. Last week I found out that there is a local wood shop I can use, just have to take a safety course which runs once a month, then can do drop-ins and use the full shop. That was all I needed to see! Incredibly excited, I started planning and buying wood. Then their next safety course that was supposed to be in a couple weeks got cancelled, and they are shut down for all of August, so earliest I will be able to get into the shop is mid to late September. I am still going to go ahead with the build, but it will be far less ideal than I was hoping. I found somebody about an hour drive away who has a thickness planer I can toss my neck through once its glued up, then after that it'll be a table saw, jig saw, router, random orbital sander, and some random hand tools.
I'm sure I will have a bunch of questions along the way, and this has potential to go horribly wrong, so follow along if you enjoy being helpful or are the kind of person who can't look away from a car crash! ... or maybe if you want to watch an inspiring underdog-overcomes-all-odds-and-succeeds-despite-the-man-trying-to-keep-him-down story.
Now that this has all been typed up, I have to run out to meet somebody at a job site, so I will edit this post with my wood pic in about an hour or so.
The plan and specs:
* Non-reverse Thunderbird-inspired Jaguar body - rear routed Jaguar shape, with t-bird inspired pickguard, with pots and jack in a horizontal line, finished in Pelham blue automotive rattle cans
* Neck made of canarywood and padauk, finish TBD. 1.75" nut width, probably a tele-bass style headstock
* Fretless ebony board, pre-radiused from LMII (think I went 9.5")
* Pickups TBD, most likely these from Pegcity Pickups
* Passive electronics, controls TBD but probably a vol/vol stack and single tone, but maybe two stacks. Output jack will probably be on the front of the bass, but if I am feeling adventurous I might try a side jack with an electrosocket plate
* Other hardware TBD - I have a box of junk kicking around, for sure with a through body bridge and some grover machine heads that have seen better days. It'll come down to budget, but most likely I'll toss on whatever I have and replace later
Goals/what I want to get out of this:
Honestly, at the end of this if I have a bass that plays and makes sound, I'll be stoked. I know nothing, don't even do my own setups if I can avoid it, so this is all learning. I have done two refinishes with "good enough" results, and am just starting to learn my way around a router.
Potential hangups and issues:
Lack of knowledge, lack of tools. I have wanted to do this forever but lack of tools has been the big kicker for me. Last week I found out that there is a local wood shop I can use, just have to take a safety course which runs once a month, then can do drop-ins and use the full shop. That was all I needed to see! Incredibly excited, I started planning and buying wood. Then their next safety course that was supposed to be in a couple weeks got cancelled, and they are shut down for all of August, so earliest I will be able to get into the shop is mid to late September. I am still going to go ahead with the build, but it will be far less ideal than I was hoping. I found somebody about an hour drive away who has a thickness planer I can toss my neck through once its glued up, then after that it'll be a table saw, jig saw, router, random orbital sander, and some random hand tools.
I'm sure I will have a bunch of questions along the way, and this has potential to go horribly wrong, so follow along if you enjoy being helpful or are the kind of person who can't look away from a car crash! ... or maybe if you want to watch an inspiring underdog-overcomes-all-odds-and-succeeds-despite-the-man-trying-to-keep-him-down story.
Now that this has all been typed up, I have to run out to meet somebody at a job site, so I will edit this post with my wood pic in about an hour or so.
Attachments
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) along the way. 
