The Hossenfeffer Bass Build

[ctmullins]

Thanks for watching, I know, it's painful....

Are you kidding? It's exciting, not painful! This one has been a long time in the making, glad to see you in the home stretch. I have a beveling block similar to yours, works great, makes short work out of what would otherwise be tedious. Nice job!

 

[PDX Rich]

Looking sharp man! home stretch on the horizon!

 

[Scoops]

.... Got some Christmas vacation coming up, hope to make some real progress then

I have time off too, but I doubt I'll see a full day in the workshop. Just too many holiday activities

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I feel like a thief in the night sometimes, sneaking off to the shop to grab a couple hours a week that's purely mine. Concentrating on just this clears my mind of all the crap that accumulates during the week, I'm sure you all know what I mean. Barring any more major setbacks, the construction end of things should be on the downhill slope. Thanks for kind words and advice all.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Got the body wing roundovers done, 1/4" radius all around, then 1/2" radius at the belly and top edge relief. I got a little burn and rough cut on the 1/2" roundovers, might be time to retire this particular router bit. I still have to fair these into the 1/4" radius cuts to smooth out the transitions.

I decided to do the body wing glue-up one side at a time to cut down on the stress level. I used the original body blank cutoffs lined with sheet cork as the cauls, worked sweetly. The dowels kept everything lined up perfectly, I can't imagine not doing that on every build.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Second wing glued up, start sanding and ding-filling tomorrow:

@mapleglo
per your advice, I tried a 7/8" forstner bit in some scrap to see how my mono/stereo output jacks fit. Still looks mighty tight. I could probably squeeze them in by bending the solder tabs a little, but I'm worried something will ground out. Anybody know what the standard Ric jack hole is? 1" would definitely work, but since the body is only 1-1/4" thick, I don't think my double jack plate would cover it.

 

[Deleted member 264575]

Anybody know what the standard Ric jack hole is? 1" would definitely work, but since the body is only 1-1/4" thick, I don't think my double jack plate would cover it.

My 4001CS is 7/8". Don't forget to test it plugged in, as the jack expands when in use.

[EDIT]- I have the hood up on the 4001CS, so if you ever need pics or additional measurements, let me know.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Neal
Thanks! Guess I'll go with 7/8" and bend the jack tabs a little. Now that you mention it, the exact location of the double jack plate along the bottom body wing edge was always a little shaky on my drawings, basically eyeballed it off photos. If you lay a tape measure along the edge from where the binding stops at the neck End below the bridge to the edge of the jack plate, that would get me in the ballpark. My control cavity isn't an exact match for stock Ric, but it's close. I'm going to freehand the jack holes with a cordless drill, so I only want to do it once!

 

[mapleglo]

Yeah, 7/8" is the right size. On a few instruments, I went in there with the dremel, with a sanding wheel attachment and made a little more room for the tip connector, which moved outward when the plug is in the jack. On a Ric style bass, since there are two jack holes, I connected them together, which provides plenty of room.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Thanks Maple!

 

[Deleted member 264575]

Neal
If you lay a tape measure along the edge from where the binding stops at the neck End below the bridge to the edge of the jack plate, that would get me in the ballpark.

GIG, having considered it, my bass should not be used for your measurements, as it has only one jack and no binding. I should have thought of that before. Sorry. The jack hole size should be the same, though.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

D'oh! Of course, its a CS! Thanks for the offer anyway. If anybody else out there with a bound and double jack Ric has minute to throw a tape on it, greatly appreciated. If not I'll just eyeball something that looks like it will work.

 

[mapleglo]

D'oh! Of course, its a CS! Thanks for the offer anyway. If anybody else out there with a bound and double jack Ric has minute to throw a tape on it, greatly appreciated. If not I'll just eyeball something that looks like it will work.

Here you go, it's just about 3 1/2" inches.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Thanks again Maple!

 

[wraub]

Gig- that is looking stellar! The fingerboard alone looks like an art piece.
Can't wait to see you finish this.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Fresh out of the clamps, looks a little ragged, sanding will clean it up.

Electronics/pickguard mockup

I was a little undersized on my control cavity, had to free-hand route the area marked to get a little more room, no biggie, came out clean and will all get covered by copper foil anyway

Jack holes drilled. I may have to cut out the bridge between holes to get the jacks to fit.

Blending 1/2" radius belly/body cuts to 1/4" radius edge

Sanded to 220 grit, found a few little dings and edge chipout I'll have to fill with epoxy wood dough. the top looks good enough to go natural finish, but too many filled dings and gouges on the back. Solid color (Jetglo) it shall be!

 

[ctmullins]

That looks super - I'm excited for you!!

 

[Scoops]

Sweet

 

[blindrabbit]

Fresh out of the clamps, looks a little ragged, sanding will clean it up.

Electronics/pickguard mockup

I was a little undersized on my control cavity, had to free-hand route the area marked to get a little more room, no biggie, came out clean and will all get covered by copper foil anyway

Jack holes drilled. I may have to cut out the bridge between holes to get the jacks to fit.

Blending 1/2" radius belly/body cuts to 1/4" radius edge

Sanded to 220 grit, found a few little dings and edge chipout I'll have to fill with epoxy wood dough. the top looks good enough to go natural finish, but too many filled dings and gouges on the back. Solid color (Jetglo) it shall be!

Outstanding work, you should be proud!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Got some Amazon gift cards, sent away for this notched straightedge, very nice tool. Both edges are machined flat, so its a nice sized straightedge for other uses too. Against this, the neck still reads dead flat

Bridge located after some very careful measurements. G string saddle set 16-5/8" from 12th fret centerline, 4 turns in from maximum travel towards nut so I have a little bit of play to intonate sharp.

Axemasters pre-cut brass nut blank mocked up with doublestick tape, way tall yet, and a little wide. I don't think they do squat for sustain, but I like how they look. Checked string paths against the bridge, looks good.

Setting tuners next, many questions! I used a 1/2" dia forstner to cut the bushing holes, actual size is .505", the bushings are .518", and a very tight fit. I'm afraid to force them in, in case I chip the holes out removing them again for paint.

I could use something like this Visegrip to push the bushings in, or maybe just use a socket, how are other builders doing this? How tight is too tight? These are Ric labeled Schallers, is there a metric bit sized better for these bushings?

To further compound the pain, I botched the tuner holes slightly, the bushing holes are correct, but the headstock backside holes are slightly off-concentric. I tried to drill a small diameter hole through the headstock to center the forstner bits (3/8" back/1/2" front) on the same hole, but the 3/8" holes drifted a hair, enough that they wont center on the bushings. I hate to hog them out on the back, but they will be covered by the tuner plates, so only I will know I screwed up!

On another note, what's best practice on drilling for hardware, before or after paint and clearcoat? Thanks for looking.