Special Edition Build Off - Bo Diddley goes to the Post Office

[postalflunkie]

I've actually been thinking of this project for a couple years now. When it's finished it will find a home hanging in the lobby at my post office. Who knows maybe I'll go in during the christmas season on my days off and play carols for the customers

This is my plan, Bo Diddley Gretch style bass. You know, the big cigar box looking thing... well anyway, here's what I've got in mind.

Five piece maple & walnut neck
Recycled 30" bound fretboard, sourced a couple years ago from an old Teisco bass
Thunderbird-ish headstock, reshaped to resemble the USPS eagle logo
Bound, maple box body with birch front and back
Single coil P-bass pickup
Some old tuners and bridge I had in the parts box.

So here we go, first up I went through all the wood I had leftover and think I found enough maple for a neck blank and the body frame. The birch ply I had from another project that never took off.

You can see I already made a template for the headstock (last year I think).
The face of the body will have a stretched image of one the most famous stamp errors ever printed, the 1918 Inverted Jenny. I'll have it printed on a single sheet and ModPodge it on the front. The sides and back will be stained red of course.

Ok wish me luck...

 

[postalflunkie]

I figured I had all this stuff out, might as well spread some glue and dust off the clamps.

Looks like the middle strip of maple might have a light flame to it, we'll see after this goes through the planer.

 

[ctmullins]

Hey, I love it!

But - who is Princess Ted?

 

[postalflunkie]

Hey, I love it!

But - who is Princess Ted?

That weirdo that comes around when my fat thumbs collide with autocorrect

But thanks, I changed that...

 

[ctmullins]

Thought maybe we were in for some royal jammie pants...

 

[2saddleslab]

Subscribed! Looking forward to this.

I used parts from a Gretsch TK300 to make my Bo Diddley bass back in the 90's. The rest of the parts were purchased from an ex Baldwin exec who sold parts a guitar shows. It was a fun project but alas, the SS neck was just too small for me. Still have the neck [if anyone is interested] and most of the parts but used the PU in another build.

My bandmates said I was up a creek with a paddle.

 

[Reedt2000]

Heck yea, cool concept

Sub'd

 

[Jon Clegg]

Love it!

 

[rogerbmiller]

Subbed

 

[postalflunkie]

Clamps off and cleaned it up a little with a hand plane. Tomorrow I'll run it through the big planer, cut the headstock angle and hopefully cut the truss rod channel.

 

[postalflunkie]

Through the planer, all nice and smooth (and square). And got the headstock angle cut. I've never done in line tuners before, the added length really doesn't allow for as much angle on the two inch thick neck blank that I'm use to making. I'm hoping a seven degree angle is sufficient, if not I'll have to consider a string retainer.

 

[ctmullins]

IMO seven degrees is enough.

 

[postalflunkie]

All of my 2+2 headstock come in around ten to eleven degrees, just never cut one so shallow before.
Thanks for the input, definitely makes me feel a little bit easier about it.

 

[postalflunkie]

Truss rod channel cut and headstock wings glued on.

 

[Beej]

Ken Parker researched neck angles and came to the conclusion that 4.25 degrees is the minimum break over angle required to keep most strings in their slots. Id like to post it, I cannot for the life of me find that article right now...

 

[postalflunkie]

Headstock covered with maple veneer and the shape traced on for reference. Then the fretboard got glued on this afternoon.

 

[ctmullins]

Oh no! You're supposed to alternate the clamp orientations! Now your low strings are going to be unbalanced from your high strings!

Dangit, wish I had mentioned that sooner.....

 

[postalflunkie]

Now I know why I always have to adjust my pickups all wonky.

 

[Scoops]

Oh no! You're supposed to alternate the clamp orientations! Now your low strings are going to be unbalanced from your high strings!

Dangit, wish I had mentioned that sooner.....

Well, the other problem here is that some of the clamps are on the FB, and some of the clamps are on the frets.

The solution for this is to use a Low Pass Filter

 

[postalflunkie]

Meh, that fretboard is probably all of fourty years old, and darn close to fretless anyway (it's got mojo ). I think if I put brand new strings on the E & A, and some really old flats on the D & G everything g might balance out