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Winter Build Off 2018 - 54 P bass inspired 5 String
- Thread starter GMC
- Start date
I started off my day by re-cutting the heel angle. It's something that I've not been sure about and I far prefer this angle to the previous one that I cut. A quick snip on my bandsaw and a fair amount of sanding and scraping the end grain to get the band saw marks off and make the surface nice and flat. Then a blast on a 1/22 round over bit in my table router to round off the edges.
Then I wanted to cut the first pass for the neck pocket route. I've left 6mm gap all around the line, so there's plenty of room to adjust the lines for the finished neck to fit.
Then I spent most of the day carving, scraping, planing and sanding the various body carvings that were looking good, but not deep enough for a Fender style build. I've also added a carving around the back of the lower horn, which isn't a Fender carving, but it will help the bass play a bit better when sitting down. Then I spent a few hours sanding the top surfaces to 120 grit and I dressed all the sides and radius lines up to 120 grit. I think that's my cardio done for the week.
So the body work is nearing completion. I've only got the jack hole to drill and the control cavity to cut. I'm thinking about a rear route. It'll remove a lot of body material (making this bass a bit lighter). Plus it'll give me the option of upgrading to active tone controls later (this is a passive bass at the moment) and I'll also have the option of using the chrome control plate or not. Depending if I want a cleaner look to the top. I'm thinking of covering the cavity plate with a lined up and matching paisley pattern. So I'll need to think about that a bit before I stick the paisley sheet down on the back.
So the body work is nearing completion. I've only got the jack hole to drill and the control cavity to cut. I'm thinking about a rear route. It'll remove a lot of body material (making this bass a bit lighter). Plus it'll give me the option of upgrading to active tone controls later (this is a passive bass at the moment) and I'll also have the option of using the chrome control plate or not. Depending if I want a cleaner look to the top. I'm thinking of covering the cavity plate with a lined up and matching paisley pattern. So I'll need to think about that a bit before I stick the paisley sheet down on the back.
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The paisley paper has arrived today, it's not quite what I hoped for but it's close enough. There's a bit of colour shift from my profiled screen to the final print. If I had the luxury of having my own A2 printer and a pack of metallic paper, I would have a much better control of the colour accuracy and I could spend the time getting a really close colour match. The background, which I hoped was silver is a very light grey. So If I ever do another one of these, I think I'll print it with a dark grey wavy line on the background or maybe order the other paper I found from the USA. But for the purposes of this build...it's certainly close enough and it's still going to look great. This isn't a reproduction, it's a modern 5 string build with a huge omage to the 54 P.
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I've been mulling over the fingerboard material. Traditionally...it's a maple board, but I've already deviated from the norm with the neck laminate construction and timber choice. So I was looking over my fingerboard selections with my girlfriend...there was one board in particular that just looked great and would work with this bass' colour pallet while looking similar to the traditional maple. It's a really nice figured tulip wood board...looks like raspberry ripple ice cream. Pink and cream coloured. I hear that it sounds a lot like rosewood tonally. Pictures in the morning.
Dunno, I went mirrorless and ended up with a used 12 MP from a few years back as the new 16MP jobbies were a bit rich. Panasonic Lumix GF3, did come in under $200 before you count the fat SDXC card I stuffed into it. I suspect you could get a used DSLR body fairly inexpensively - most folks hang onto their lenses unless they have taken the larger leap of changing camera families. Of course, if you have SLR/DSLR lenses in a family, that's a point in favor of getting a used (or new, but not with that budget) DSLR body from that family. New the only way you'll hit your price point is point and shoot or really weird mirrorless bodies on their own (I looked at one of those and it introduced me to the idea of micro four thirds, which is what I bought, but the reviews for that [which was on sale for $199, body only] were, um, terrible.)
In theory MFT adapters may let me make use of some of the old film lenses I have not parted with. In practice, we'll see...
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first: thank you for the answer. second - ok, well, I have some camera jargon to study up on (half of that was over my head)!
I used to have a kodak dc410 that I gave to my dad because the lens pointed downward so you'd have to shoot high to get the right pic. That camera took the best pictures I have ever taken. You could shoot with bad lighting, not even touch any settings, and get zero shake and great color.
That is what set me on the path of thinking I need to find a used dslr on craigslist or offerup.
What would you recommend for someone who doesn't want to learn how to use a camera, and doesn't want to worry too much about lighting? I am gathering that I'm going to spend more than $200 for a body + lenses, but I'd like to stay near that.
thank you again for sharing you knowledge!
I used to have a kodak dc410 that I gave to my dad because the lens pointed downward so you'd have to shoot high to get the right pic. That camera took the best pictures I have ever taken. You could shoot with bad lighting, not even touch any settings, and get zero shake and great color.
That is what set me on the path of thinking I need to find a used dslr on craigslist or offerup.
What would you recommend for someone who doesn't want to learn how to use a camera, and doesn't want to worry too much about lighting? I am gathering that I'm going to spend more than $200 for a body + lenses, but I'd like to stay near that.
thank you again for sharing you knowledge!
@mistermikev - We should really take this off topic discussion of cameras to Off-Topic, rather than cluttering up GMCs on-topic paisley build thread more with it. In very short form, if you don't want to think about it, get what's made for that - either one of the fancier cell phone cameras (when they turn obsolete as the next thing comes out, they can be quite reasonably priced) or a point&shoot.
I have 2 Tulip wood fingerboards in stock, a rather wide board that could easily do a 7 or 8 string and a really nicely figured wide 4 string board. I don't want to chop down the very wide board, it's got a few knots in it and it's just a shame to cut it. But there's more than enough to chop a matching slice off and glue it onto the 4 string board. So I cut off the strip and played with it until I found a match with the figuring that I was happy with. Then I glued it and clamped it. I left it a few days to dry and then planed it level on both sides. It's looking rather nice.
Today was a slow day. I did a bit more hand planing of the fret board and then cut a fillet for the truss rod slot. I used a bit of left over Brazilian Tulip wood. This stuff smells like lime, it's so fragrant. The join on the fingerboard is nearly invisible, the grain pattern matches very well and hopefully it'll be right under the B string. I fitted the truss rod, then glued and clamped the 2 way truss rod fillet. It's a pity this fillet isn't going to be seen...it's so pretty and contrasts well. I let it dry for a day and then planed it down flush with the neck's top face.
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After looking at the contrast between the Paduak and the Tulip Wood, which unfortunately isn't going to be seen. I'm wondering if I can find some of this for a neck laminate for my next bass.
Nice save, I can appreciate the value of saving that larger piece for another time.
Thanks, I have to say...we have a similar stash of exotic pieces of timbers. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the bigger chunk yet, but I'm a sure the ideal project will present itself at some point.
I was tempted to send them both back, the photo lab claims to use calibrated and profiled units. But often print labs run a profile for the week and the profile needs to be cleared and re-set every day. It's obvious to me that the colours are way off, but I quite like the dusty pink colour that this print is. It's less bright and slightly muted.
You get it on there, taking your time to get it just right, and you'll forget about any color discrepancies, believe me... I would think it would age very nicely, as well... keep up the great work!
I popped my fingerboard through my thicknesser and then roughly tapered the sides on my band saw. This has yielded me enough left over scraps for a fake skunk stripe on the neck reverse.
I then glued the fingerboard onto the top surface of the neck. As usual, glue every where!
I then glued the fingerboard onto the top surface of the neck. As usual, glue every where!
