singlecut chambered.

[jordan_frerichs]

well, this bass has been on a short hold, because i was getting my customer build caught up, but that is off being fretted, so all i can do on it is glue accent veneers to the top pieces, and piece the top together, leaving me with a little time to work on my project.
neck still needs error correction, but i have decided to get a head start on carving the body wings. here is the lower wing, mostly finished with the hand carving, and wet with mineral spirits

 

[jordan_frerichs]

This should show you what you need to do.

Hey, can you please put up a pic of the headstock? I need to have the head drilled and rough cut before i can glue on the fingerboard, and can't seem to get a head design that is both structurally sound and looks good. It's driving me crazy. LOL. I fingered getting a good view at pre existing 8 string heads would help me make the backbone to start mine from.


In other updates, i have decided to go with turquise inlay dots put between the bloodwood fingerboard and the cherry binding. Also carved the lower wing, and the arm contour of the upper wing. As you can see, I decided to abandon the using cutoffs to glue plan, and make some pine cauls that fit the shape.
Also, since i recently got a dremel (new best friend) i has able to do some detailing work, especially about the soundholes. I added a nice smooth angle to the sides.
I apologize about a lack of pic updates, but photobucket isn't letting me put up pics at the moment, and i haven't been able to do a lot, because i don't have access to the school woodshop anymore

 

[Darkstrike]

Hey, can you please put up a pic of the headstock? I need to have the head drilled and rough cut before i can glue on the fingerboard, and can't seem to get a head design that is both structurally sound and looks good. It's driving me crazy. LOL. I fingered getting a good view at pre existing 8 string heads would help me make the backbone to start mine from.

Not a bother dude, not the most pretty headstock, but does the job well.

 

[contakt321]

well, this bass has been on a short hold, because i was getting my customer build caught up, but that is off being fretted, so all i can do on it is glue accent veneers to the top pieces, and piece the top together, leaving me with a little time to work on my project.
neck still needs error correction, but i have decided to get a head start on carving the body wings. here is the lower wing, mostly finished with the hand carving, and wet with mineral spirits

Wow, very cool and interesting technique

 

[jordan_frerichs]

Thanx! That is my first big carving job. The little walnut and bloodwood at the lower horn are not inlays, just glued on top of each other. With the walnut, i actually hand-tore out the piece instead of cut it. i knew there were some spots i would have to carve through, but i figured i would let the wood decide its shape, and be more abstract.
I did most of it on a large horizontal sander belt, at the circle end. Then i super glued sandpaper to a cutoff of pvc pipe and gave the sides a cleaner radius like that.

 

[jordan_frerichs]

Not a bother dude, not the most pretty headstock, but does the job well.

Thanx! Very helpful! I tried to get mine so the strings go straight to the tuners, but the strings ended up crossing over other machines. Then i tried to get the just the bass strings like that, but the taper it made ended up with not enough room at the top of the head for tuners. Tried fixing that, and it turned into a square. lol.

 

[Darkstrike]

No bother at all dude, any time.

 

[jordan_frerichs]

I have been trying to flatten the top of the headstock area, and now i am going to glue on a top Monday. I can't decide what to top it with though. I am going to use a thin walnut veneer under the fingerboard, so i should probably do that under the headstock top as well. For the top of the head, i am stuck between figured cherry (from the same piece i am going to top the body center with), or bloodwood. What are your thoughts?

 

[Darkstrike]

I think mostly pale, maple like the body, with accents of walnut and bloodwood, like the f holes and horns.

 

[photoshopgeek]

Very Sweet!

 

[codyAllen191]

lookin pretty awesome man

 

[jordan_frerichs]

I think mostly pale, maple like the body, with accents of walnut and bloodwood, like the f holes and horns.

Yea. I know i will at least do a walnut accent that blends into the fingerboard. Thinking about doing a bloodwood accent too, but not sure. Maybe on the back of the head.... Some flamed maple is a good idea to face the head with, though. I wetted the cherry i was thinking on and it looks great. So know the main thing is if the head should match the wings of the body, or the center of the body.....

 

[Darkstrike]

So know the main thing is if the head should match the wings of the body, or the center of the body.....

How about both?

Two mini maple wings, and a cherry strip down the middle?

 

[jordan_frerichs]

I tried gluing something like that up. cherry center that followed the taper of the fingerboard (without the binding), the bloodwood the width of the binding, then flamed maple. the tiny pieces would fold up whenever i tightened the clamp. I used a parallel clamp to go with the taper. How can i glue up something that tiny and not have that problem? Cause that is how i originally wanted to do it.

 

[jordan_frerichs]

Heres the touch up to the soundhole (not a good pic):

Here is the arm contour i carved:

I made a tutorial for how i made it: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=528495

 

[Darkstrike]

I tried gluing something like that up. cherry center that followed the taper of the fingerboard (without the binding), the bloodwood the width of the binding, then flamed maple. the tiny pieces would fold up whenever i tightened the clamp. I used a parallel clamp to go with the taper. How can i glue up something that tiny and not have that problem? Cause that is how i originally wanted to do it.

I'm no guitar builder, so take this for what its worth, but it would make more sense to me, to glue the pieces on to the headstock one by one. Rather than making them one piece, then adding them to the headstock.

 

[jordan_frerichs]

I'm no guitar builder, so take this for what its worth, but it would make more sense to me, to glue the pieces on to the headstock one by one. Rather than making them one piece, then adding them to the headstock.

that would be difficult to do a clean job, but i think i know how to do it right now. thanx

 

[Darkstrike]

Ah, like I said, I'm no builder, not guitars and basses anyway(yet), but at least you have a plan!

 

[jordan_frerichs]

Ah, like I said, I'm no builder, not guitars and basses anyway(yet), but at least you have a plan!

lol. me neither. this is #2 for me and #1 wasn't so good, so i am amazed that this one is going this fine so far.

 

[Ol'Bass'ead]

Jordan, try gluing them to a separate single piece. That way you have more control. Then, either sand down the backing to say, a 1/16" or less and glue the whole thing to the headstock.