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Special Edition Build Off: Grace 6 from Winter Build Off 2018

Beej

Beej

Supporting Member
Feb 10, 2007
14,279
28,587
Vancouver Island
#1
I was going to park this for a while longer while I focused on other more pressing projects, but I've been peer pressured into joining this Special Edition Build Off thing. This bass is probably one of the closest things I have to completion in my workshop.

Here is the original thread:
Winter Build Off 2018 - Walnut Grace 6

Here is what it looks like now:
20200328_151040.jpg

20200331_205217.jpg


I work in health care, so I've been very, very, very, very busy for the last couple of weeks. Overall, it's gravely concerning to be in the middle of the covid19 pandemic, but everyone I work with is remaining cautiously optimistic here. My appreciation for everyone who's working hard in these times, especially grocery store workers!

I'll do my best to keep things up to date. There are only a few steps left, so hopefully I can bang this thing out by the end date. :thumbsup:
 
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#3
Glad to see you participating!

And on a serious note, a big thanks to you, and Matt's wife, and everyone else on the front lines in this pandemic.

What's the deal with that driftwood top? I scanned your old thread a bit but didn't see any details. Is it literally a piece of driftwood you found and resawed yourself? Do you know what species it is?
 
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#4
dwizum said:
Glad to see you participating!

And on a serious note, a big thanks to you, and Matt's wife, and everyone else on the front lines in this pandemic.

What's the deal with that driftwood top? I scanned your old thread a bit but didn't see any details. Is it literally a piece of driftwood you found and resawed yourself? Do you know what species it is?
Click to expand...
Yep, I walk the beaches around here pretty regularly, and being on the PNW means we get woods from around the Pacific rim. It's pretty tough to tell for certain with driftwood, but I believe this piece is probably yellow cedar.

The beautiful crotch I posted in Big B's thread I think is red cedar, but might be redwood or the like.

I love using found, repurposed or driftwood. They tend to be really interesting in grain, colouring, inclusions, etc. :thumbsup:
 
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#9
Thanks for the kind words folks; I feel like my job is more cog-in-the-wheel than those working wild hours on the frontline, but it does feel good to help.

This bass needs some help too. :D

Since I last worked on it, I've poached the fretboard, pickup covers, pickups, preamp, barrel jack and straplocks/pins for other projects. :D Last night and today, I sifted through everything I had, and located some old jazz pickups, enough wire, pots and bits for passive wiring, a jack, graphtech nut, and a small chunk of walnut just big enough for a couple of pickup covers. As you can see from the pic above, I also decided to use the remaining home-roasted walnut fingerboard for this build. It's a better fit colour-wise than the bubinga one I had landed on previously. This walnut board is the lightest in colour of the three. I'll get some pics tonight and put em up. :)
 
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#10
Here's the block of walnut from which I'll make the pickup covers.
Pickup cover blank

Pickup cover blank

grace 6

I cut the fret slots in the board as well. It's just sitting on the neck here.
fret slots cut

fret slots cut

grace 6

And a shot of the new crap I've gathered to complete this. I'm going to order a preamp though...
Parts n bits

Parts n bits

grace 6
 
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#13
I errantly posted this in my Winter Build Off thread instead, so here's a cut/paste:

Welp, I broke my ******* phone. Normally, this is an inconvenience in time and money, but in the current situation, I can't even get the thing repaired. I'd just buy out my plan and get a new one, but it's literally a month old and I have 23 months remaining, so it's basically buying a new phone.

I'm still trying to work out if one of the repair guys can meet me somewhere to repair it, assuming we perform all of the new normal of physical distancing guidelines and disinfecting everything one another touches. Problem is, they are all located in malls, and the malls are all closed. WCS, I buy a new bleedin' phone, and when I can eventually repair this one, it will go to one of my kids. All of my latest pics are on this buzzing, ringing, unanswerable black brick, and are inaccessible, so all I can do is tell you what I've done. :D

I've routed pickup slots for the jazz pickups in the bottoms of the pickup covers, and then cut them out of the walnut posted earlier. I also sanded the body again to 220. I also sanded the fretboard up to 400, but I ran into a...snag. I'll post about it once I've completely resolved it, and can access some pics again. I've finalized and marked out the headstock shape (having changed it twice already :rolleyes: ), but haven't cut it out yet due to the snag.

I also think I'll be doing this as a set neck. That was the plan originally, but somewhere along the line after the build-off, I incorporated bolt-on considerations in the evolving body design, and had decided to make it a bolt-on. Now that I've done numerous mockups, I think I'll make it a set neck again. :smug:
 
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#16
charlie monroe said:
My laptop cost half what my phone did. It’s criminal. Sorry about your misfortune, Beej.

Also, may as well get this out of the way. No pics, no bass.
Click to expand...
Well, I have an appointment for a repair tomorrow, and he'll do it in an hour! I've never been this excited to blow $275.00 on nothing in my life! :woot:

Soon enough, there may be pics again... :smug:
 
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#20
sorry to hear about the phone loss --- that's way inconvenient. (and like others have said: thanks for being out there battling: cog or otherwise, it's riskier than being at home! ;) .)

cool look to the ax already, beeg! i'm looking forward to the progress. it's really fun to watch this stuff happen! :thumbsup:
 
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