Super-lightweight P bass build

[Flying B]

The neck blank cleaned up nicely, the joints are looking good.

I recently acquired a couple of very nice pale moon ebony fretboards after seeing some lovely examples here in LC, one of which I'll use here.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I’ve made P’s as light as 6.6 pounds, and 5 string basses as light as 7.0, without a hint of neck dive.

Man, I need to start hanging out in this sub-forum, and taking notes: The last P I cobbled together was over 10lbs, and definitely neck-heavy!
After decades of not knowing (or caring) what my basses weighed, I recently got ahold of a digital luggage scale, and weighed the whole arsenal. I am now determined to never buy another bass that's over 8lbs. And my back definitely prefers the two I have that are <7lbs.

 

[Flying B]

The more exciting stuff is on hold while I get on with some essential jig making. I've made a neck template, and I'm working on a template which will have the neck pocket, pickup routs and bridge location all together so it will all line up nicely in one go.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I don't know how I missed this thread. That body and top is looking !!!

Man, I love me a good neck-dive debate! I just break out the and sit back!
Back in my gigging days, late 80s / early-mid 90s, my main bass was an Ibanez Destroyer (which I still have) and my backup basses were two Warlocks. Today I own (along with my Destroyer and one Warlock) a Mockingbird and a Thunderbird. My next build will be an Ironbird. I love the pointy ones, but everybody always screams "NECK DIVE!" I guess I'm just not a good enough player to ever notice it, because it literally never bothered me. But hey, you guys do you. If you don't like it, then you don't like it. But the debates are always fun to watch!

Loving the build @Flying B ! I need to stop by here more often I guess, I been distracted a lot this year, missing all the good threads/builds.

 

[Flying B]

I used this old pick guard to make a pickup template.

Then transferred it to the master template.

Almost ready to start making some more shavings.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Smart!

 

[Flying B]

Haven't had much time on this the last week or two, but I managed to get the carbon fibre tow into the neck today. I just routed a groove, layered the cf in with some epoxy and glued the fillet in. I used 6 pieces of 6k tow, no idea if this is right or not? Should get the truss rod routed in tomorrow, although i can't find the fence for my plunge router which is making life harder.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@Bruce Johnson is the King of this TOW fiber backstrap technique (which I have yet to try), He may drop in, Batman like, and reassure you.... or tell you done effed it up. I've been using two of the pultruded CF bars, 1/8" x 5/16" x 24" for all my builds so far, and all I can really say for sure is So Far, So Good, but I'm curious about how the TOW works out for you. Maybe just long-term insurance against "12th fret creep", also know as Ski Jump, in which case you might not know one way or the other for years.

 

[TerribleTim68]

It just seems like so much stiffness. I see people adding dual truss rods and carbon fiber, or even a single truss rod and dual carbon fiber. At what point do you get to a neck that no longer moves when you try to adjust the truss rod because the carbon fiber is making it super stiff?

 

[Flying B]

It just seems like so much stiffness. I see people adding dual truss rods and carbon fiber, or even a single truss rod and dual carbon fiber. At what point do you get to a neck that no longer moves when you try to adjust the truss rod because the carbon fiber is making it super stiff?

It's a good question and one that I don't know the answer to at the moment. This is somewhat of an experiment. The sycamore is not as stiff I would say as hard maple but it's lighter. So the aim here is to get a lightweight neck that's still stiff enough to function.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Haven't had much time on this the last week or two, but I managed to get the carbon fibre tow into the neck today. I just routed a groove, layered the cf in with some epoxy and glued the fillet in. I used 6 pieces of 6k tow, no idea if this is right or not?

Yeah, that's fine. Four strands of 6K would have been plenty. That's the right installation, down as deep in the neck as you can.

 

[Flying B]

Yeah, that's fine. Four strands of 6K would have been plenty. That's the right installation, down as deep in the neck as you can.

I went as deep as I dared! If I get it right it will end up about 2mm from the back of the neck, once its carved.

 

[Major Seven]

Race car mentality!

Chapman of Lotus used to say it only had to stay together long enough to finish the race.

 

[Phreaky Phriday]

Chapman of Lotus used to say it only had to stay together long enough to finish the race.

Simplify and add lightness

 

[TerribleTim68]

Chapman of Lotus used to say it only had to stay together long enough to finish the race.

I say that every time I go to the track!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Chapman of Lotus used to say it only had to stay together long enough to finish the race.

Colin Chapman was my hero when I was in high school. I read every book and magazine article I could find about him and his cars and his design ideas. He was what every young Engineer dreamed to be.

 

[Major Seven]

Colin Chapman was my hero when I was in high school. I read every book and magazine article I could find about him and his cars and his design ideas. He was what every young Engineer dreamed to be.

Certainly had fun and a fun company to play with.

 

[Flying B]

Still couldn't find my router fence so put the neck on hold for a minute and did a bit of work on the body. Got the neck pocket and pickup cavity done, then the roundover. You can see I put a block of mdf in the neck pocket to make the round over easier.

Happy Friday! Time for a beer.

 

[TerribleTim68]

One of these days I'll build a bolt-on neck.

 

[Flying B]

One of these days I'll build a bolt-on neck.

It's funny, my first build was a neck- through and I haven't done one since! This is my 5th bolt-on. Easier in some ways and harder in others.