The bass that never was, redefined

[JIO]

Ouch!! I thought you were going in on the side of the neck, not the fingerboard. You the man, good luck, always fun following your builds.
MJ

I took my cues from the Moses site - they insert a wood (?) plug into the fb like this and leave it showing. As mine will be entirely gilded and because it will be leveled anyway - once plugged, filled (and leveled), then gilded and finished… any trace of it will disappear.

 

[JIO]

An early version awaiting finishing that incorporated a single Basslines pu in the neck position w/matt black pg and sweeping pu pot instead of a 3-way switch

 

[JIO]

And for the record, I will install this peg extender that I fabricated which creates a much better balance w/o even a hint of neck dive.

 

[Mildew Jones]

Ah, gilded will indeed cover the scars (u reading my mind? Exactly what I was thinking..."what the Hell is that fingerboard gonna look like when he fills that in?!?")
That gilded Ibanez is a looker, looking forward to following this.
MJ

 

[wraub]

Serious commitments to final form intent.

Brass ones for sure.

 

[JIO]

Serious commitments to final form intent.

Brass ones for sure.

Nothing is ever finished - life is a work in progress, a continuum, a spiral - this mortal coil...

 

[wraub]

Nothing is ever finished - life is a work in progress, a continuum, a spiral - this mortal coil...

That's why I said "final form intent".
It's merely a plan that will surely evolve in transit to the place you choose to rest for a bit.

 

[JIO]

That's why I said "final form intent".
It's merely a plan that will surely evolve in transit to the place you choose to rest for a bit.

or until arrested! "pull over - evolving in transit w/o intent to stop... that's a moving violation!

 

[JIO]

at this point… just a thought

 

[JIO]

I like this bigger version better - the dots can even align with the lower two (blue-lighted) position dots, which is a cool coincidence. I'm considering doing the neck with the variegated blue-gold on the back and straight gold on the hs face and fb. Same with the body face (straight gold) and have the mottled/figured variegated leaf on the back and wrapping around the edges into the face (burst-like). I can spray the bass clef in black on top of my acrylic seal-coat applied after gilding and this time have Marty Bell do the final finishing. So with all that going on, the clef could be a good way of grounding it visually with the black pu covers & black Rotosound nylon strings. With this tact in mind, I'll probably end up gilding the tort pg with straight gold so it blends in.

Yes, some shimming of the neck pocket is in order (actually it gets snugged to this side - it's more on the other side which is much smaller)

I'll need to do a bit more filling-in to help angle the pg away from the clef - (more) Bondo to the rescue!

 

[ICM]

Gotta love it!

 

[petrus61]

Fender made a Jaguar bass in 1996?

 

[JIO]

Fender made a Jaguar bass in 1996?

'06 - (just corrected it) thanks for catching that!

 

[charlie monroe]

Okay, taking the kid gloves off.

I'm not feeling the bass clef.

It's not you, it's me. I would be hard pressed to identify an example of a bass clef incorporated into an instrument that met with my approval.
Especially when it is rotated 90 degrees from staff orientation when in playing position.

I am concerned that this all may look a little 'busy' with the gilding and the lights and the clef.
The first two can be elegant but I am concerned that the third may bring a slight whiff of fromage with it.

Tweak the size and orientation some more. Spend a few hours perfecting the position of the clef. Agonize until it meets your approval and then put the notion back on the shelf.

Okay, putting the kid gloves back on.

Jio, you bring such a unique vision and joie de vivre to all of your creations. Don't detract from them with something as pedestrian as a Bass clef.

 

[JIO]

Okay, taking the kid gloves off.

I'm not feeling the bass clef.

It's not you, it's me. I would be hard pressed to identify an example of a bass clef incorporated into an instrument that met with my approval.
Especially when it is rotated 90 degrees from staff orientation when in playing position.

I am concerned that this all may look a little 'busy' with the gilding and the lights and the clef.
The first two can be elegant but I am concerned that the third may bring a slight whiff of fromage with it.

Tweak the size and orientation some more. Spend a few hours perfecting the position of the clef. Agonize until it meets your approval and then put the notion back on the shelf.

Okay, putting the kid gloves back on.

Jio, you bring such a unique vision and joie de vivre to all of your creations. Don't detract from them with something as pedestrian as a Bass clef.

I can always count on your honest objective eye and insight related and actually antisipated it - thanks for that Charlie. While in the early stages of this recreation, my artist mind is set on 'wander w/o restrictions' into the possibilities. As for the bass clef, I felt the same ting of corn considering incorporating such a (as you say, pedestrian) device into the mix. At that point it became a challenge to turn the visual clique on its head, to acknowledge preconceptions related and see if there is a way to present such in a (new, dynamic, interesting, fun) way. Personally, the 'sleeping clef' (clef on wheels?) orientation is a strong point for me because it's first identity (at least while horizonal in a playing position) is visually/logically subservient to its arching form and 2 big dots - a graphic tribal tattoo of sorts. And, when upright - bass clef. It's not critical (following this tact) that it conforms to functional visual logic when horizontal - it becomes reestablished as 'a curved motife with dots', which in of itself is visually pleasing.

So, as I have a ways to go before shaking a black spray-can and as I have noted - my black cut-out will need to sit on the fully gilded, sealed and reassembled bass before this concept is signed off on (or not).

Here's an early use of graphic iconography on my Saunderbird with a nod to The Who. At the time it was the 8th bass I owned and infinity is always welcomed in my house.

 

[charlie monroe]

That actually made me laugh. I can picture you in the studio, manipulating the black clef cut out thinking to yourself "Self, CM is really gonna dislike this" hahaha.

Thanks Jio. Love your output, do as you see fit with my input

 

[thebassbuilder]

The Clef looks OK but I would not add the dots unless you will have no other fret dots showing after it is gilded. The fretboard dots showing could serve as the clef dots if so. Bass looks good and cannot wait to see this thing gilded.

 

[JIO]

The Clef looks OK but I would not add the dots unless you will have no other fret dots showing after it is gilded. The fretboard dots showing could serve as the clef dots if so. Bass looks good and cannot wait to see this thing gilded.

That would be the plan - only the 2 clef dots on an otherwise solid-gold-leafed fingerboard. (no lines or present fb dots showing) Those 2 clef dots will aliegn with the 17th/19th side position lights which will be blue fiber-optic points against the variegated blue-gold leafed neck. The Rotosound black nylon strings have gold wrap on both ends but with string-thru and the P bridge cover, you'll only see the wrap on the hs, which will fit right in visually.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Tres Coolio very "interesting" I'm trying to picture the finished project.

 

[JIO]

Got the LED unit and fiber optic fiber. I was concerned that the LED wouldn't be thin enough to bury in the back of the hs and was prepared to laminate a thin layer of maple to help it out, but it's perfectly small/thin enough to do what's needed w/o adding anything. More pics soon - this is going to be cool!