Super-lightweight P bass build

[Flying B]

I haven't had much chance to work on this recently but I managed to start the neck carve. I routed the neck to thickness between frets one and twelve with a quick dirty router sled (sorry no pictures)… and then got the primary facets marked out and cut.

I noticed while marking out that the centre line has ended up a couple of mm off centre of the stripes, hopefully this won't really be noticeable once it's fully shaped.

 

[Flying B]

Getting on with the neck carve after a couple of weeks away.

 

[Flying B]

Needs a little more finessing but it's 90% there

 

[Flying B]

I finished the neck carve today and also made a new hole for the truss rod access which had been covered up by the veneer.

I think I'm going to stain the inside of the access hole black as there's some burn marks from the router which are difficult to sand out, and I saw someone on here do it and it looked good. Only problem is there's some epoxy squeeze out I need to try and remove as I guess the stain won't stick to it.

 

[Flying B]

Turning my attention back to the body, I fitted the jack with a 16mm recess and a 12mm hole.

Any suggestions of how to tighten the nut on the inside will be gratefully received!

Also I got a bit lucky, I didn't really give the placement too much thought and there's only just enough room for the pot.

The soldering will be interesting.

I also started marking out the bridge location but ran out of time.

That's almost the last piece of the puzzle. Just need to make a nut then I can put the thing together and check it all works before finishing.
Happy weekend everyone!

 

[Flying B]

I finished marking out the bridge location. Just checking here that the string paths are going over the pickups where they should be.

The bridge location was spot on the marks I had made with the original template way back when, so that was pleasing.
Also got the ground wire hole drilled.

 

[Flying B]

Started work on the wiring, trying to do what I can outside of the cavity as it's a little cramped in there. My soldering is very slowly improving.

Since the lime wood is fairly soft I decided to use threaded inserts for the pickup screws.

These were a nice tight fit into a 4.5mm hole, I put a bit of ca glue in for good measure.

 

[Callan]

For the nut on the barrel jack, try taking a deep socket and hand-tightening it as much as humanly possible, then use pliers/channel locks to crank it down. I've done that in the past for barrel jacks (I think it worked out alright).

 

[Flying B]

For the nut on the barrel jack, try taking a deep socket and hand-tightening it as much as humanly possible, then use pliers/channel locks to crank it down. I've done that in the past for barrel jacks (I think it worked out alright).

I'll give that a try, although I may have to remove some wood in order to get a socket in there.

 

[Flying B]

I started the big sandathon this week. Unfortunately I had a minor mishap using this thing to sand inside the horn cutouts.

Doh! So I chiseled it flat and glued a piece in. I expect it will not be invisible but it will serve as a reminder to concentrate!

 

[Flying B]

Finished off the repair. I attached the neck and using a cutter with the bearing running along the neck I routed it flush.

Then rounded it back over and blended it in with files and sandpaper. Not too bad, I doubt anyone but me will ever notice.

 

[Flying B]

First coat of epoxy grain fill.

 

[Flying B]

Oh yeah, I also had a last minute swerve on the pickup choice due to a bit of irresponsible late night eBay bidding.

 

[Flying B]

Spray time!

 

[NKBassman]

Nice work! This was great to flip through today instead of working lol.
With all the talk of weight saving and neck dive on the first page I would have suggested going with a tele style headstock, but I'm about 7 months too late for that .

Carry on!

 

[NKBassman]

The fretboard is nicely stuck on now, I quickly cleaned up the edges flush on the router table.
View attachment 7149197

I also received this new tool today, an actual loothery tool for sanding the fretboard.

View attachment 7149239

It takes these inserts which are available in whatever different radii.

View attachment 7149241

The sandpaper gets clamped under those aluminium strips. Didn't have time to actually use it today but it seems like a well made bit of kit.

This thing looks nice! I just bought my first radius sanding block a week or two ago for my Strat neck build, and this would have been way better than what I bought! maybe for the next build...

 

[Flying B]

One more, this walnut is going to look pretty nice!

 

[Flying B]

Decal is buried in lacquer

 

[joeLowB]

Decal is buried in lacquer
View attachment 7245183

That is so cool!

And, as I'm reading this, I'm just outside Bristol, on a fishing trip on the tail waters! What fun!

 

[Flying B]

That is so cool!

And, as I'm reading this, I'm just outside Bristol, on a fishing trip on the tail waters! What fun!

Possibly a different Bristol though!