The SCP - Single Cut P-Bass

[Videojunkie]

View attachment 5009926

I wish I understood what was going on in this picture?!

The lamintations in the neck will (hopefully.... with some luck) line up with the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets. So while it looks a bit odd, it does have a functional purpose.

The body woods are just stacks until I figure out exactly how I am going to laminate them up. The Walnut as the top, and the Maple as the back is pretty fixed, the sandwich in the middle is at issue, as A) I don't want to buy additional lumber, and B) the mahogany is not quite wide enough on it's own - and even if it was, I'm not sure I trust it structurally.

 

[Flying B]

I absolutely still do not understand that at all, but carry on!

 

[Videojunkie]

I absolutely still do not understand that at all, but carry on!

I understand what I'm trying to do, but I'm not sure that I'll be successful in actually pulling it off! Either way it'll be a very unique neck for a bolt on bass!

 

[lark_z]

I have some mahogany, but my concern is that it is really soft and mechanically I'm worried about compressing it behind the neck joint.

I've been playing a southern pine body for nearly three years and I have had zero issues with it, other than buckle rash. I'm sure your woods are harder than that.

 

[Videojunkie]

I absolutely still do not understand that at all, but carry on!

Maybe this picture is more helpful as it shows the other wing for the headstock being glued on and the neck tapered.

 

[Videojunkie]

I've been playing a southern pine body for nearly three years and I have had zero issues with it, other than buckle rash. I'm sure your woods are harder than that.

I'm not sure about that.. some southern pine (especially old growth stuff from upcycled boards) can be very hard.

This particular piece of mahogany is fingernail dent type stuff. The pieces I used for the body of the Rick-man were much better.

 

[Flying B]

Maybe this picture is more helpful as it shows the other wing for the headstock being glued on and the neck tapered.View attachment 5009974

I think I get it, so the ends of those lams become the side dots? That's pretty tricky if so!

 

[Videojunkie]

I think I get it, so the ends of those lams become the side dots? That's pretty tricky if so!

That's the idea. We'll see how close I got when I start carving the neck...

 

[Videojunkie]

A rough shot of what this might eventually look like.

Very comfortable body size. I'm looking forward to seeing this one done. It'll be a great compliment to the Rick-man as my everyday player.

For comparison...

 

[Flamingo21]

Looks like they're getting along pretty well.

 

[Videojunkie]

My rudimentary router sled. It also serves as my truss rod jig and table saw sled. I was able to flatten the body joint area.

I went ahead and cut the headstock angle and began the process of getting that sorted. I'm debating putting a top on the headstock or just leaving it like this...

I also leveled the back of the neck in preparation for gluing the fretboard in place and doing the frets.

I'm sure it's not going to line up 100%, but it's going to be close and look pretty neat!

 

[Videojunkie]

I bought a few fretting tools lately. I'm hoping to do a better job with this bass than the Rick-man. Honestly, depending on how this one goes, I may go back and re-fret the Rick-man.

 

[Videojunkie]

I thought through my checklist, and I can't think of any reasons not to go ahead and attach the fretboard. After making sure that all the critical parts were in place (bruce bars, truss rod, etc) and more importantly, that the binding was installed (at least temporarily) on the "flat" (treble) side of the neck, I used tape to hold the flat edge together and in place while gluing the fretboard in place.

That pearloid binding is going to look sharp! It also provides a nice break between the walnut and curupay.

 

[Videojunkie]

Having only ever built neck-through guitars and basses it's really weird to not have to figure out how to work around the body. On the other hand, it's also weird to not have all that extra clamping space.

 

[Videojunkie]

Well. The lines aren't going to match up perfectly. I got 3, 5 and 7. The one for 9 wound up around 10, and the one for 12 wound up near 16....

That said, I really like the way the neck looks at this stage, and am pretty happy with the way things are going so far.

Next steps...
Glue up the body blank.
Make a template for the end of the neck.
Make a template for the neck recess.
Complete the mechanical connection between the neck and the body.

Somewhere along in there, I'm sure I'll wind up carving the neck and fitting the tuners...

 

[Videojunkie]

If I can get the neck to fit this nicely into the body I will be very happy!

 

[Videojunkie]

Pretty sure I can live with this. By the time I add finish it's going to be a tight fit...

 

[Videojunkie]

I'm guessing that I actually want the bridge where I have it placed and not where the plan has it drawn...

 

[Videojunkie]

Headstock is finished shaping. Originally I was going to do an overlay, but looking at this, I'm not sure.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

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.