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second go around on building a bass

#41
got some more done today. i didn';t have long but any progress is better than no progress. i sanded down and cleaned up my side dot markers and they look great

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then i went ahead and thicknessed the headstock. it still needs some attention to be finished up but it's generally where it needs to be

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#42
the past couple of days i have been working almost nonstop at filing and sanding to carve the neck, and i am quite pleased with the results so far

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now it's starting to look like something. i took a break from the sanding to go ahead and drillt the holes for the tuner screws. decided to set them a little different than the usual look

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the e string tuner didn't really look right sticking out farther than the others when they were set level. this way makes them all look simetrical.
i also was able to get the neck pocket routed out and of course, cut it too big. i made the template by using my neck template but wasn't taking into account all the sanding i did to the actual neck so the pocket came out larger than i needed. i am working to get that fixed, though, and will have pics up soon
 
#43
I have managed to get my neck pocket patched up and the neck mounted to the body. i went with ferrules from stew mack and their recommended screws that go with them. pics of that to come. I also set in on sloting the nut blank i got from all parts. It seems as though that now after filing out a flat slot for it to sit on the neck, i have gone down too far so now i have to fix that as well

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more pics to come of progress. it is being made but slower than i'd like
 
#44
well over the past few days i've been able to do what i can whenever i can to just knock out some of the small stuff that needed doing so here's an update:

I got all of the frets hammered in and filed down on the sides. they all went in fairly well. my first fret job isn't looking that bad.
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i got my nut finished up and glued down to the neck
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and the bridge marked for recessing and then routed out. then i used my dremel with the little sanding drum to get it snug. it isn't perfect but i am very pleased with what i was able to get out of it.
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#45
Today i managed to get the pickup routes done. I did well enough so that i'm not disgusted with them, but it is faarr from where i would like for it to be. I'm still gaining some expirience with the router. And of course learning how to fix mistakes.

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my lines are a bit wobbly.

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this one ended up being too far off for me to leave alone so i'm attempting to fix it

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Whenever i get a chance to get back out and do some more work we'll see how it comes out.
 
#46
I managed to get a few hours in today and im proceeding to fix my rookie mistakes. I glued in some more plugs and i'm reeaallyy hoping that it doesn't end up looking sloppy. I definitely have learned my lesson on routing for the pickups now. those hours of sanding the plugs to fit just right makes me remember better.

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here's the first one sanded flush with the body.

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and here's the other two glued up and clamped in. i also went ahead and drilled the holes for the pots and output and then proceeded to make templates for the control cavity. I scrapped my original templates and just started over. much more pleased with these. more to come soon
 
#47
over the past few days i managed to get the pickup route good enough to get by with so i started filing away on the body. It's really starting to look like something now

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there's still a ways to go but I'm liking the direction that it's taking
 
#53
Luke19Boarder said:
Looking good! I love following these kinds of threads.

Body design is very nice ... you might have already said (but I pretty much just skim through the pictures), but what kind of finish are you going with?
Click to expand...

Thankya! I was beginning to wonder if there was anybody following my updates :) And I haven't posted anything about the finish yet but i have some minwax wood conditioner and clear tint base that i'm going to expirament with on some scraps for the body and face of the headstock. Then i have minwax poly for the shine. I used it on my last build and i think there's a lot more i can get out it than what i did. For the neck, I got a fresh jar of Tru-oil saved back.

preside said:
Did I read right? 2ed build!! Dude this is coming out great. It's not how many mistakes you make it's how you fix 'em and don't make them twice. Nice design.
Click to expand...

Yep. This is my second build. :) Thanks. And that's how I've been trying to tackle it. So far I haven't made any of my previous mistakes so there's progress in my skills somewhere. I guess since I'm only 17 I got plenty of time to learn
 
#55
Pics from today's progress

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after getting the body carved out I wish i would've drilled the holes for the pots and jack closer to the center of the guitar. they stick out a bit more than I like. Tomorrow I should be able to get the cavity cover situated and set in on shaping the back. I think out of everything that has to be done in order to build a bass, shaping the body is my favorite. I really like shaping it by hand with a rasp. You really see the shape come to life
 
#57
Nice job on the front carving. I love doing that, too.

Now get to work on that back side! And you might want to reexamine your headstock with a critical eye as to whether it might be a little too chubby on the treble side. It looks like you might be going a little excessive in trying to have that curve match the treble side body curve.
 
#58
pilotjones said:
Nice job on the front carving. I love doing that, too.

Now get to work on that back side! And you might want to reexamine your headstock with a critical eye as to whether it might be a little too chubby on the treble side. It looks like you might be going a little excessive in trying to have that curve match the treble side body curve.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. The good thing is it looks like you have enough meat left on that side to reshape it into something a bit more pleasant looking.
 
#59
Ahhh, I do see it now now that you guys pointed it out specifically. I hadn't even noticed that before. Probably because of what pilot mentioned. I wanted to have a shape that would compliment the curves of the body, which are pretty pudgy. It won't take much at all to bring it down to size. Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Your threads on here were a good bit of my inspiration to ever start doing this
 

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