The SCP - Single Cut P-Bass

[Videojunkie]

Nothing wrong with the multiple stripes. I can certainly see leaving it like that. Do you have a headstock logo that will work with the darker wood? Some home printed decals don’t show up real well over darker surfaces. I forget if or what you’ve done previously.

I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do for a logo for this one.

I'm thinking about doing the HHGTTG thumbs up logo. Possibly the Marvin the Robot logo that was supposed to be on the Rick-man.

 

[Flamingo21]

It's a striking look.

(Trying to resist the bad pun...)

 

[Videojunkie]

This is so much easier with the proper tools!

 

[Videojunkie]

I'm going to be about 6 frets short. Well, I have the frets, they're just individually about 1/4" too short. So for want of about 1.5 inches of fretwire I've got to order some more.

Poop.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Sympathy like…

 

[Videojunkie]

I've reached out to Philadelphia Luthier Supply to order some additional fretwire. The shipping and handling will cost more than the wire...

Unless.... I decide to buy something else....

 

[Videojunkie]

Philadelphia Luthier Supply FTW!!!

For just a few bucks they are willing to radius and cut just the 6 frets I need, saving me a bunch of money (and from having to invest in a fret radius tool...)

 

[Videojunkie]

Got the remaining fretting done. Doing the short frets was ... interesting... especially on that inside curve.

Now just to wait for the new frets....

 

[Videojunkie]

All the remaining fretting is over the neck joint.

Started carving the neck. Yeah.... I'm getting excited!

I hit 1 and 3 perfectly. I hit the inlays on 5 and 7. 9 and 12 wound up closer to 10 and 13 respectively, but really it's only off by a few .000" as the angle is so sharp small differences in thickness make a huge difference in where the intersection point is.

Either way, it looks pretty cool.

 

[Videojunkie]

I did buy some 2mm black dot material. So, should I put in actual dots, or just leave it?

 

[Flamingo21]

So, should I put in actual dots, or just leave it?

You're the one that will be playing it. It depends on whether it'll be practicable FOR YOU to play it without dots.

 

[Videojunkie]

You're the one that will be playing it. It depends on whether it'll be practicable FOR YOU to play it without dots.

I play mostly by feel. We use sheet music at church, so I spend most of my time reading the music rather than looking at my hands. The only time I check my hands is when I hit a sour note, or at the beginning of a song to make sure I'm set up in the right starting hand position.

I guess I was looking for a second opinion on the aesthetics of adding the dots.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Just to make your life difficult: Instead of dots, add blocks made from the same wood as the fingerboard to extend the thumbnail inlays right through the binding.

 

[Videojunkie]

Just to make your life difficult: Instead of dots, add blocks made from the same wood as the fingerboard to extend the thumbnail inlays right through the binding.

I've considered using black binding material to do the same thing, but just little notches... still considering it.

 

[Will_White]

I second the idea of notches.

 

[Videojunkie]

Neck carving day. Part deux!

I really wanted to keep the neck profile asymmetrical like the rest of the bass. So the top of the arch for the neck is along a line from the center of the volute to the first bolt hole at the heel.

Made for some interesting carving....

First bevel.

 

[Videojunkie]

I have found that my band file sander is an indispensable tool for carving neck heels. The small end of it gets into places that are tricky to reach any other way, and the concave rounding ability is pretty unique.

Not sure how I would have done the heel of this neck without it.

 

[NKBassman]

Looking at those off-kilter laminations hurts my brain every time.

 

[Videojunkie]

Looking at those off-kilter laminations hurts my brain every time.

Imagine the struggle-bus I'm on trying to carve the dang thing straight! The challenge has been fun though!

I'm liking this volute, just hoping I didn't make it too thin. The total neck thickness at the thin part is 7/8" tapering to 1" where the heel swell is. The heel is right at 1 1/8".

 

[Videojunkie]

Laminating up the 7(!) piece body blank. The mahogany was too narrow for the width of the whole body, so I used the cutoff from under the neck to fill the gap.

I'm using the holes from the bolts to line everything there was a brief moment of panic when I thought I'd done it upside down.