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The Über-M - fretless

#81
reverendrally said:
Quick question; why did you decide on such a deep neck pocket?

p.s. Love ya work!
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I like to think that a neck affects the sound more that the body does. Hence, I try and get as much neck into my basses as I can without building a neck through. That is why my neck pockets go all the way to the first p-up. Cheers!
 
#83
jmorbita said:
The more you post, the more I enjoy your builds!

Personally, I love the "digressions" in every build, I'm mostly checking out luthier's corner to try and learn something, so thanks for sharing!

by the way, what camera are you using?
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Thank you!

For these pictures I mostly use a Canon G10. Are you interested in photography?
 
#85
jmorbita said:
Yes, really interested in photography, I'm hoping to be able to get a good camera someday...
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Photography is a wonderful thing. Nowadays there are a lot of great and affordable digital cameras. With basic knowledge of traditional photography technique one can get great shots with cameras that are actually quite cheap. See? I digress again :p
 
#86
I dig your eye for wood combinations, And that wenge neck… I’ve got to do one of those! My wood guy just got some of that “white wenge”, so what do think of a wenge, white wenge combo with some pin stripes of something in the brown family (like mahogany). Point is, I’m enjoying your builds. :D
 
#87
MrArose13 said:
I dig your eye for wood combinations, And that wenge neck… I’ve got to do one of those! My wood guy just got some of that “white wenge”, so what do think of a wenge, white wenge combo with some pin stripes of something in the brown family (like mahogany). Point is, I’m enjoying your builds. :D
Click to expand...

Thank you! White Wenge... such a pretty wood. A Wenge and WWenge neck would be really cool! I would personally use only those two woods. But Mahogany pin stripes sure sounds tempting ;) Where do you get the WW from?
 
#89
First time I saw WWenge my jaw dropped :eek:. I get most of my wood from Richard @ Carlton McLendon, Inc. Rare Woods And Veneers here in Atlanta, (Conveniently it’s about 15 min. from my house). He has it, and I think he can get more. The price runs around the same as wenge. He’s even got really cool reclaimed stuff. For example, I got some 30 year old walnut floor boards 8” x 1/2" x 6’ at $5.00 ea. just last week.Give him a call he’s a great guy, I'm sure he would be happy to talk to you.
 
#91
pilotjones said:
Oooo... how about the wenges with padauk or bloodwood separator?
Click to expand...

Purpleheart? ;)

MrArose13, I just checked their web site. Wow, the list of woods they carry is impressive! They have woods from South East Asia too, including the one I'm using for the body of this bass ;) Thank you!

Quick update on the build. 12th fret side dots.

IMG_2297_2.jpg


The two side dots marking the 12th position are arranged vertically to keep the dot - not the space in between dots - as the reference point. Just like the other dots along the side of the FB.

The horizontal arrangement would be OK on a lined fingerboard. This one is unlined though, and I must confess that thing was bugging me a bit :eyebrow:

Not a big difference maybe, but it satisfies my OCDness

:bassist:
 
#92
miziomix said:
Purpleheart? ;)

MrArose13, I just checked their web site. Wow, the list of woods they carry is impressive! They have woods from South East Asia too, including the one I'm using for the body of this bass ;) Thank you!

Quick update on the build. 12th fret side dots.

IMG_2297_2.jpg


The two side dots marking the 12th position are arranged vertically to keep the dot - not the space in between dots - as the reference point. Just like the other dots along the side of the FB.

The horizontal arrangement would be OK on a lined fingerboard. This one is unlined though, and I must confess that thing was bugging me a bit :eyebrow:

Not a big difference maybe, but it satisfies my OCDness

:bassist:
Click to expand...
No problem. I love that place, it’s like going to a wood hoarders house. I spend hours there. :p

On topic, nice… vertical is the way to go. I feel the OCD pain.

pilotjones said:
Oooo... how about the wenges with padauk or bloodwood separator?
Click to expand...

Bloodwood… yes bloodwood, that’s it… that’s going in my next batch. :smug:
 
#93
MrArose13 said:
No problem. I love that place, it’s like going to a wood hoarders house. I spend hours there. :p
Click to expand...

Atlanta, another place to go to then ;) BTW, I was in Atlanta years ago and I bought a very old pre Gibson Tobias KillerB which I still own. Another time I went to Okefenokee Swamp, down south near the border. Great place. A lot of trees...:ninja:

I can finally start shaping the neck. Here's the headstock, albeit still a bit crude.

IMG_2328_2.jpg


That Zericote is so beautiful it hurts ;)
 
#94
Today I started shaping the neck. Thanks to many TBers who shared their experience with wenge on a thread I posted recently, the task was rather easy and truly enjoyable.

Splinters, splinters and splinters. But i had come prepared with gloves and swear words in half a dozen languages ;)

I started with belt sander to smoothen the edges a bit. Then I rounded it further with a rasp - the one that worked best was an old one, a bit blunt. Then thickness was taken care of with a safety planer mounted on the drill press.
Next I worked the profile with a large filer. Nice and easy, so far. And fast too.

I will use a scraper to finish the job. In fact, I gave it a go briefly and the result is really cool.

I'm off to Singapore for five days. Upon my return I'll finish this neck and post pictures. Then the build will be on hold for about two weeks while I spray the Ü-J Spalted Maple.

Thank you for reading this far.
 
#98
miziomix said:
Today I started shaping the neck. Thanks to many TBers who shared their experience with wenge on a thread I posted recently, the task was rather easy and truly enjoyable.

Splinters, splinters and splinters. But i had come prepared with gloves and swear words in half a dozen languages ;)

I started with belt sander to smoothen the edges a bit. Then I rounded it further with a rasp - the one that worked best was an old one, a bit blunt. Then thickness was taken care of with a safety planer mounted on the drill press.
Next I worked the profile with a large filer. Nice and easy, so far. And fast too.

I will use a scraper to finish the job. In fact, I gave it a go briefly and the result is really cool.

I'm off to Singapore for five days. Upon my return I'll finish this neck and post pictures. Then the build will be on hold for about two weeks while I spray the Ü-J Spalted Maple.

Thank you for reading this far.
Click to expand...


This is the rasp I have used for shaping wenge:

edge_profile_2.jpg


It's a 17" ferrier's rasp (for shoeing horses). It cost about $38 at a local ferrier supply shop. Definitely worth it. It eats the wenge away really fast on the coarse side, and smooths the grooves really well on the less coarse side.
 
#100
Thank you all.

I got back today. I could spend some of the afternoon shaping the neck further. I'm aiming for rather slim neck, slightly flatter towards the heel. Tomorrow I should receive the hardware for the headstock.

Both Wenge and Ebony are very nice to work with. Love the feedback I get from the scraper. One can tell Ebony from Wenge with his eyes closed. They're both great woods. But Ebony... oh boy ;)
 

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