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Winter Build Off 2018 - 54 P bass inspired 5 String
- Thread starter GMC
- Start date
Pondering what I need to achieve today on this bass...maybe it's time to cut the neck blank out of the bigger piece. Then fix the tear out on the body blank.
So I started by cutting out the tear out and making it square and flat so that it can take a repair block. I did this by hand with a really sharp 3/4" chisel. This was sharpened to 10,000 grit on a Japanese water stone and I can see my reflection in the blade surface.
I cut a piece that looked right from some of the excess I kept when I cut out the body shape on the band saw. I glued it in place, it's a nice tight fit. I can't clamp it so it's not as tight of a join as I normally like. But as this bass body will be painted...it just needs to be smooth.
I left it for about 5 hours and then chopped off the excess using my band saw and then rough trimmed it down. I'll finish it off once it's fully dried.
So I started by cutting out the tear out and making it square and flat so that it can take a repair block. I did this by hand with a really sharp 3/4" chisel. This was sharpened to 10,000 grit on a Japanese water stone and I can see my reflection in the blade surface.
I cut a piece that looked right from some of the excess I kept when I cut out the body shape on the band saw. I glued it in place, it's a nice tight fit. I can't clamp it so it's not as tight of a join as I normally like. But as this bass body will be painted...it just needs to be smooth.
I left it for about 5 hours and then chopped off the excess using my band saw and then rough trimmed it down. I'll finish it off once it's fully dried.
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So I started with the neck blank, I marked up the cutting lines and then placed tape to the side of if so I could see it better when I ran it through my band saw. The band saw blade is a little worn and it took a while to get this thick timber through it. I had to push it through at a surprisingly steep angle to get a straight line. So I suspect that I have some uneven wear on my saw blade. The parcel tape did a good job of helping me see the line. I got the best neck cut I've had off this band saw. Very happy, very square and fairly true, just a little wander.
Next, I seperated the new neck blank from the larger billet and started to plane and scrape the freshly sawn surface flat.
I ended up using my No 5 and No 8 plane to get the bigger saw marks out. My No 8 makes a great shooting plane and ideal for long flat pieces like this, but the previous owner cut a curved blade onto the cutting edge. So it's set up for fairly rough work, where as my No 5 is set up for very fine work with a 10,000 grit polished blade that straight, square and true. Then I marked out the neck shape from my MDF template and placed the truss rod and two graphite rods.
I ended up using my No 5 and No 8 plane to get the bigger saw marks out. My No 8 makes a great shooting plane and ideal for long flat pieces like this, but the previous owner cut a curved blade onto the cutting edge. So it's set up for fairly rough work, where as my No 5 is set up for very fine work with a 10,000 grit polished blade that straight, square and true. Then I marked out the neck shape from my MDF template and placed the truss rod and two graphite rods.
Then I spent and hour or so marking it out and checking over the dimensions.
I spent most of today making a routing jig for a truss rod channel. Previously, I would use a hand router and mitre, but my last two basses had really poor routs using this method. There's just too much opportunity for the router to wander. The best routes I've ever got from a hand router were using a Collet. But these require a jig that's designed to work with that particular size of collet. So I settled on a 16mm collet. I made the jig from a piece of scrap maple harvested from an old Ikea table. It took me well over 2 hours to make the jig. It doesn't look much, but it works really well.
I did a test run on my MDF neck template...really nice smooth and precise cut. The truss rod fitted in snugly.
Unfortunately, the collet bolts came loose when I came to route out the channel on my neck blank. So I got a bit of a sloppy cut at one end and the channel's come out a 1mm too wide. So that there's a slight gap to the side of the truss rod. It's not a big problem, I can shim it in but it's disappointing all the same.
Still better than the last bass I built! Hopefully, the next one will be perfect. It's still the best truss rod channel I've done so far.
With this bass I've chosen to make the truss rod adjustment at the body end. The trad Fender rods are curved and present better for a head stock adjustment.
So I'm using a 2 way rod which isn't as bowed, in fact they sit in a flat channel and the channel is quite narrow. In order to sit this in a head stock loading arrangement, I would need to make the neck slightly deeper than the blank is. So I'm opting for a body end adjustment. It's better for the neck strength at the head stock join anyhow.
Years ago, I used to use aluminium box rods, a pair of these and you really don't need and graphite reinforcing. But these are hard to come by these days, no one seems to sell them any more, which is a pity as I prefer them to the more common place 2 way rods.
Unfortunately, the collet bolts came loose when I came to route out the channel on my neck blank. So I got a bit of a sloppy cut at one end and the channel's come out a 1mm too wide. So that there's a slight gap to the side of the truss rod. It's not a big problem, I can shim it in but it's disappointing all the same.
Still better than the last bass I built! Hopefully, the next one will be perfect. It's still the best truss rod channel I've done so far.
With this bass I've chosen to make the truss rod adjustment at the body end. The trad Fender rods are curved and present better for a head stock adjustment.
So I'm using a 2 way rod which isn't as bowed, in fact they sit in a flat channel and the channel is quite narrow. In order to sit this in a head stock loading arrangement, I would need to make the neck slightly deeper than the blank is. So I'm opting for a body end adjustment. It's better for the neck strength at the head stock join anyhow.
Years ago, I used to use aluminium box rods, a pair of these and you really don't need and graphite reinforcing. But these are hard to come by these days, no one seems to sell them any more, which is a pity as I prefer them to the more common place 2 way rods.
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- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,020
- 1
- 31,740
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Latest update. I chopped off a bit from the body heel, which should help with the upper fret access a bit more.
It's a bit un-Fenderish...but it's necessary.
Then I loaded my table router with a 1/2" radius bit and slowly ran it around the body edges.
My router bit is getting on a bit, it's 20 years old! But it still seems to cut ok and it doesn't get heavy usage.
I just love using my table router. It's so much easier than a hand router.
The repair plug looks pretty good, it's invisible to touch. So once it's under a finish it won't be seen either.
It's a bit un-Fenderish...but it's necessary.
Then I loaded my table router with a 1/2" radius bit and slowly ran it around the body edges.
My router bit is getting on a bit, it's 20 years old! But it still seems to cut ok and it doesn't get heavy usage.
I just love using my table router. It's so much easier than a hand router.
The repair plug looks pretty good, it's invisible to touch. So once it's under a finish it won't be seen either.
Then I started the slow and arduous task of carving the fore arm, rib cage and lower horn recesses. For this I use a plethora of rasps, planes, spoke shaves and engineering files. It's slow, messy but a good way to do some cardio workout!
It's not quite there yet, another few hours and the form should be about right.
The lower horn tuck is the most troublesome for me as it cuts across the grain of the body. Ideally, this should be machined.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,020
- 1
- 31,740
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Yes! You’ve rectified what is IMHO the worst of the many compromises and shortcuts instituted by St Leo. As far as I’m concerned, nobody should still be manufacturing instruments with that original blocky neck heel. Egads!
Thanks, it's quite tricky with this particular build to know where to deviate and where to stick to the tradition.
I'm not to sure about the line that I've cut here, so I think I'll play with it a bit more and get something I'm more happy with.
Today I've been working on the carvings. It's slow progress, I carve by hand and it's a laborious process. Normally, I allow myself a lot more curve to the cuts. But for this build it needs to look like it's been done by machine. So...
Meanwhile, my enquiries into finding some red paisley paper / design have been working out...it's only taken me a year so far! I have found a company who makes a reproduction wall paper which is pretty darn close to the original (with silver patterned backing) and I also have a large jpg coming which I can use to print my own if I need to! RESULT!
Meanwhile, my enquiries into finding some red paisley paper / design have been working out...it's only taken me a year so far! I have found a company who makes a reproduction wall paper which is pretty darn close to the original (with silver patterned backing) and I also have a large jpg coming which I can use to print my own if I need to! RESULT!
Today, I spent most of my workshop time making a new routing template for the 5 string 51P pickup. 2 hours making the template...5 mins of actual routing!
My three pot chrome control plate arrived to day too...looking very Vintage P bass!
I've been researching Pink Paisley paper over the last year or so and I've had a lot of dead ends. At one point, I thought that this was going to be a mythical unicorn and considered spraying the bass in a pink metallic sunburst instead. But last week I had a break though, a really helpful guy over on the Telecaster forum has kindly supplied me with a jpeg image that I can use to get a pair of A2 prints made. The image colours were more vintage than I wanted, So I've popped it into photoshop and colour matched the re-issue colours. I'm not looking to make this bass to vintage, I want to use Fender shell pink for the burst edges and a clear lacquer. So I want it quite bright and pale pinky for this bass. The paper I'm looking to use is a Kodak metallic photographic paper. It won't have the texture of the original, but it'll be close enough for my purposes. This bass is a re-imagining / omage / inspiration not a reproduction / copy. I'll post some images of the paper once it arrives.
Here's an image of the edited jpeg:
Here's an image of the edited jpeg:
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like where this is going. always a fan of the pink paisley. my boss had a reissue tele that was easily the best playing guitar I've ever had the pleasure of playing. metallic is key here... is going to be cool p bass.
