Singlecut Fretless Four String

[northwalianbass]

Well i'm planning out my second build, going to make it a lot simpler than my first and hopefully a lot cheaper.
Heres the specs so far:

Singlecut
Jazz style neck
AAAAA Flame Maple neck (neck through)
Ebony fretless fretboard '24frets'
Nordstrands fat stacks
Hipshot A style bridge Brass
Brass nut
Black Hardware
Gotoh tuners
Swamp ash body wings

Now i need some help.

To use swamp ash for the body wings or use another wood like alder, american ash, olive ash or maple. (i want a light coloured wood for the body)

What to finish with: oil or laquer?

Is a single piece neck going to be firm enough or will i have to use laminates? I plan on putting reinforcing bars in it under the fretboard.


*I will post my body design up as soon as possible*

 

[wilser]

looks like it's gonna be a nice bass. I have a question and hopefully some helpful information.

Q: why a brass nut with a fretless?

I think the neck will be fine for a 1 piece, just make sure you get straight grained (no grain runout) hard maple. I think birdseye is stiffer than flamed figure.

As for the woods, you'll probably find swamp ash a very nice choice for a bass given it's weight and 'light colored' looks you're looking for. It's a no loose bet. You may also consider soft maple for the body. Alder has a brownish tan color that doesn't look light at all under finish and you can get some nice curly figured soft maple for cheap.

Me? I'm a thick glossy finish kinda guy. IMHO it gives the instrument a more professional 'finished' look. To me oil always looks 'home made' even when they're actually factory made. But HEY! that's just me!

Many people complain that it's difficult to achieve a glossy finish, but it's really not. You can even get a very nice thick glossy finish with spray can lacquer like deft or behlen. The trick is to polish well.

I now have some decent spray equipment and use waterbased poly and lacquer, but these instructions are very helpful if you're gonna use cans:
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[northwalianbass]

my first bass has a swamp ash body with a maple top and i love swamp ash, but was a bit worried about neck dive but i suppose by it being a singlecut i won't have that much problems in that area.

Brass nut.... my first build has brass nuts on both necks and the fretless sounds good with one, so i thought to use one on this project. Then again i'm not very educated with nuts, so if you have other options which would emphasize a fretless neck i would love to hear them.

thanks for the info, i was toying with a gloss finish but was worried about the difficulty of applying it, but i will give it a go, i can always sand it back and start again.

 

[Greg Johnsen]

any pics from the first build? I tried to find your thread but had no luck.

Specs for this one look great! gotta love flame maple

Greg

 

[northwalianbass]

It has a wierd body shape

heres a pic of it (quality is a bit bad):

specs are:
swamp ash body
maple top
emg pickups
fretless neck BEAD
fretted neck ADGC
padouk necks
rosewood fretboards

 

[Fishbrain]

with double necks does the next thats not bein played ring out or feedback or whatever or do they normally havea mute for the unused neck?

 

[northwalianbass]

by the control knobs i have a switch (not in picture)
A - fretless neck
B - both necks
C - fretted neck

So i only get ring out when in B and i only use that when i'm tapping on both so no problem.

 

[Fishbrain]

i see

 

[stevetx19]

how do you play on the upper frets with that horn in the way?
....no way my hand would fit.....

 

[northwalianbass]

tapping mostly. I dont play finger style past 17th fret anyway, i have the C string there so i can just skip across strings instead of going up the neck

The horn being so close to the neck was a design floor.
one of many

 

[stevetx19]

hey it looks cool though...