So I got the building bug after I completed my first kit build last year. I decided that for my next build I would build a body and buy a neck, seemed like the next logical step. After I finish this one I’m going to build a neck but that’s a later post.
So I got deal on a Squier CV 51 Precision neck off eBay with a stripped truss rod nut. I was able to back the stripped nut out and replace it, Yay!!!
I also made a template off of this neck for my next build. Unfortunately I accidentally kissed the neck with the router, I’m guessing there was some sawdust build up on my router table that caused the damage. So I did a quick repair with maple sawdust and CA glue. The repair is solid and functional but ugly AF.
But I got a decent template after a few tries. I may actually do a proper repair some day with a mortising jig but for now ain’t nobody got time for that.
The next decision was what body to build. I entertained making a 51 P body, but I already have 7 FSOs. I have always wanted to build a Fenderbird and I don’t have a bass with two humbuckers so that settled that. Since I already buggered up the neck I decided it would be cool to make it a relic project. My concept is a seafoam green thunderbird with a mashup of Fender and Gibson hardware and a tbird style pick guard made from a North Carolina OBX license plate, thus the Surfin’bird. I have gotten a Kluson bridge with the threaded saddles, I’m going to mount the pots on a ‘51 p control plate and use stack pots a la ‘62 Jazz. I got these pickups Thunderbird Bass Pickup Vintage Style for Gibson,Chrome/Nick. They came well recommended from the guys in the Thunderbird club. I still need to decide on tuners and jack mount. I’m leaning towards 50s style reverse wind tuners but lollipops may be cool as well. I welcome any input. Not sure if I wanna do an electrosocket or a football jack plate. Input also welcome. All hardware is nickel.
Enough about hardware, lets talk about the star of the show, Wood!!! Since thunderbirds are made of mahogany that was my obvious answer. I talked to my buddy Sims who does quite a bit of woodworking and he steered me to YUKON LUMBER COMPANY in Norfolk, Virginia, about an hour from where I live. I had to pick up a suit for a wedding near their shop so I made a day of it. I also squeezed in a stop at a cool little music store, Russell's Music World. Its a legit independent music store, Russell is a drummer and does repairs and restorations of vintage drums. The place was packed to the ceiling with vintage kits, as well as any piece of hardware you may ever want. He had a 1970 Jazz Bass on the wall that he actually let me try out even after stating I had absolutely no intention of buying it. Stop by and say hi to him if you're ever in Norfolk.
I got a 7ft 7"wide by 8/4 African Mahogany board for about $70.
Previous to my Norfolk adventure I had borrowed a friends Epiphone Tbird and prepped it with tape around the edges and took a template. The neck heel on the template pinched in a little narower than my Pbass neck so had to make a 2.0 version attaching a template of the pbass neck to the first body template. I also made the neck pocket template and pickup cavity template.
Now to build a body blank. I hit up my buddy Sims, who has a killer home woodshop, to help me with milling and gluing up my blank. The rough board had a bit of bow down the length perpendicular to wide face so we cut it into three 2 foot lengths. We then ran them across the joiner and and then through the planer, and took them down to 1.75". at that point we were out of time for the day and he advised that we should let the boards rest for a few weeks to see if they warped at all.
After waiting two weeks I checked the boards using a level and feeler gauges and they were no more that .01" off. Next session in the shop we cut the center piece of the blank to width (4 and1/8") and planed them to final thickness, 1 5/8" for the center and 1 5/16" for the wings. I opted not to taper the wings like on a real tbird because ain't nobody got time for that. Then we drilled holes for dowels and got it glued and clamped up.
Next session a few weeks later I was solo in my garage. I addressed the blank and got all my marks drawn on and then cut out the rough outline with a jigsaw. Then I carefully attached the template to the blank using both double sided tape and two screws into the pickup cavity wastage. Then it was router table time. It came out really well with only a wee bit of chip-out that will easy be remedied with wood filler. I then routed out the neck pocket and pickup cavities.
The neck fit beautifully in the neck pocket (YES!!!). Next step was drilling holes for the neck screws. To line it all up I used took screws of the same size and thread as the neck screws and cut about 3/4" of the tips off. I then cleaned up the cut ends with a file so as not to bugger up the threads in the neck. I then carefully threaded the cut ends of the screws into the neck leaving the pointy ends sticking out about 1/4". After a little tweaking to get the points equidistant from the plane of the heel, I carefully pressed the heel into the pocket making four perfectly spaced tiny dents as my marks for the drill press. I got the holes drilled and fitted the neck. the holes on the back of the body weren't absolutly perfectly spaced but were close enough to get the neck plate on. With the neck attached I was then able to get it ready to drill bridge holes measuring from the last fret. Drilled them out, got the bridge mounted, threw a spare set of tuners on the headstock and strung it up. Everything lines up, it set up beautifully, and feels rock solid!!!
As far as the build goes I still need to route out the control cavity and wire access route under the pick guard. I'm going to do a side mount for the jack as well. Also need to do the round over routes all around and do the belly cut.
Having gotten this far in and looking at this beautiful mahogany I'm having second thoughts on painting it a solid color. The original concept as I've said previously was a medium to heavy relic seafoam green nitro finish, and while I really want to stick to that, dang is that wood ever pretty. Option B would be a natural or burst finish. Option C would be to do some kind of two tone natural/SFG, maybe the center SFG with natural wings and SFG sides. I'm looking for input on the finish question, the tuners, and the jack mount. Thanks for looking.
So I got deal on a Squier CV 51 Precision neck off eBay with a stripped truss rod nut. I was able to back the stripped nut out and replace it, Yay!!!
The next decision was what body to build. I entertained making a 51 P body, but I already have 7 FSOs. I have always wanted to build a Fenderbird and I don’t have a bass with two humbuckers so that settled that. Since I already buggered up the neck I decided it would be cool to make it a relic project. My concept is a seafoam green thunderbird with a mashup of Fender and Gibson hardware and a tbird style pick guard made from a North Carolina OBX license plate, thus the Surfin’bird. I have gotten a Kluson bridge with the threaded saddles, I’m going to mount the pots on a ‘51 p control plate and use stack pots a la ‘62 Jazz. I got these pickups Thunderbird Bass Pickup Vintage Style for Gibson,Chrome/Nick. They came well recommended from the guys in the Thunderbird club. I still need to decide on tuners and jack mount. I’m leaning towards 50s style reverse wind tuners but lollipops may be cool as well. I welcome any input. Not sure if I wanna do an electrosocket or a football jack plate. Input also welcome. All hardware is nickel.
Enough about hardware, lets talk about the star of the show, Wood!!! Since thunderbirds are made of mahogany that was my obvious answer. I talked to my buddy Sims who does quite a bit of woodworking and he steered me to YUKON LUMBER COMPANY in Norfolk, Virginia, about an hour from where I live. I had to pick up a suit for a wedding near their shop so I made a day of it. I also squeezed in a stop at a cool little music store, Russell's Music World. Its a legit independent music store, Russell is a drummer and does repairs and restorations of vintage drums. The place was packed to the ceiling with vintage kits, as well as any piece of hardware you may ever want. He had a 1970 Jazz Bass on the wall that he actually let me try out even after stating I had absolutely no intention of buying it. Stop by and say hi to him if you're ever in Norfolk.
I got a 7ft 7"wide by 8/4 African Mahogany board for about $70.
Previous to my Norfolk adventure I had borrowed a friends Epiphone Tbird and prepped it with tape around the edges and took a template. The neck heel on the template pinched in a little narower than my Pbass neck so had to make a 2.0 version attaching a template of the pbass neck to the first body template. I also made the neck pocket template and pickup cavity template.
Now to build a body blank. I hit up my buddy Sims, who has a killer home woodshop, to help me with milling and gluing up my blank. The rough board had a bit of bow down the length perpendicular to wide face so we cut it into three 2 foot lengths. We then ran them across the joiner and and then through the planer, and took them down to 1.75". at that point we were out of time for the day and he advised that we should let the boards rest for a few weeks to see if they warped at all.
After waiting two weeks I checked the boards using a level and feeler gauges and they were no more that .01" off. Next session in the shop we cut the center piece of the blank to width (4 and1/8") and planed them to final thickness, 1 5/8" for the center and 1 5/16" for the wings. I opted not to taper the wings like on a real tbird because ain't nobody got time for that. Then we drilled holes for dowels and got it glued and clamped up.
Next session a few weeks later I was solo in my garage. I addressed the blank and got all my marks drawn on and then cut out the rough outline with a jigsaw. Then I carefully attached the template to the blank using both double sided tape and two screws into the pickup cavity wastage. Then it was router table time. It came out really well with only a wee bit of chip-out that will easy be remedied with wood filler. I then routed out the neck pocket and pickup cavities.
As far as the build goes I still need to route out the control cavity and wire access route under the pick guard. I'm going to do a side mount for the jack as well. Also need to do the round over routes all around and do the belly cut.
Having gotten this far in and looking at this beautiful mahogany I'm having second thoughts on painting it a solid color. The original concept as I've said previously was a medium to heavy relic seafoam green nitro finish, and while I really want to stick to that, dang is that wood ever pretty. Option B would be a natural or burst finish. Option C would be to do some kind of two tone natural/SFG, maybe the center SFG with natural wings and SFG sides. I'm looking for input on the finish question, the tuners, and the jack mount. Thanks for looking.
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) here and just state that for mahogany, although that stuff is nice, it's pretty average IMHO, and I wouldn't hesitate to paint it. 
