Winter build off 2019 - Fenderbird VI

[Jon Clegg]

My mashup will be made up of the following design elements:

· Gibson Thunderbird body
· Fender Bass VI
· Solid body construction
· Fender Bass VI Trem Bridge / Tailpiece
· Fender style neck with Firebird Headstock (tuners on treble side)
· Bolt-On neck

Specs:
Body: Poplar
Neck: Maple with Rosewood Fingerboard 9.5" Radius
Neck Type: Bolt-on
Scale length: 30" or 31"
Strings: 6
Electronics: 3x Alnico-5 P90's, probably passive tone control
Controls: V-V-V-T, selector switch, phase reversal switch, series/parallel switch
Bridge: Squier VM Bass VI bridge
Tuners: Hipshot Ultra Light
Color: Metallic black.

 

[Jon Clegg]

This guy will get my first glue-up picture for this year's build-off.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I now have a nice roughed-out TBird shape based on @JIO 's tracing.

Deliberately left things wide around the neck pocket area to make routing the pocket a bit easier. Still have some layout issues to consider: The Bass VI trem is quite long; from where the string anchors to the nose of the piece is about 3" so the string length needs to account for additional length. The 'working' length (the thickest portion) of D'Addario Bass VI strings is about 35" long from the ball end. I'm thinking that to be safe, I'll go with a 30.5" scale length which will still allow me to use off the shelf strings. Fortunately the overall length is 48" so fitting the 'reverse' Firebird/TBird headstock shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Beej]

I know you'll be painting it but that board has some pretty nice grain for poplar.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I know you'll be painting it but that board has some pretty nice grain for poplar.

Yeah I noticed that too. I may end up calling an audible on the finish and maybe go with a burst. (I'm such a sucker for bursts!)

 

[Beej]

Yeah I noticed that too. I may end up calling an audible on the finish and maybe go with a burst. (I'm such a sucker for bursts!)

Well far be it from me to try to change your mind...

 

[JIO]

I now have a nice roughed-out TBird shape based on @JIO 's tracing.
View attachment 3263990

Deliberately left things wide around the neck pocket area to make routing the pocket a bit easier. Still have some layout issues to consider: The Bass VI trem is quite long; from where the string anchors to the nose of the piece is about 3" so the string length needs to account for additional length. The 'working' length (the thickest portion) of D'Addario Bass VI strings is about 35" long from the ball end. I'm thinking that to be safe, I'll go with a 30.5" scale length which will still allow me to use off the shelf strings. Fortunately the overall length is 48" so fitting the 'reverse' Firebird/TBird headstock shouldn't be a problem.

Just a tip - to make routing the neck pocket, pu's and control cavity (if top-side) easier - I do that before cutting the body out. You'll have a nice big platform for moving the router around instead of needing to add stabilizing side pieces of the cut-out body.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Just a tip - to make routing the neck pocket, pu's and control cavity (if top-side) easier - I do that before cutting the body out. You'll have a nice big platform for moving the router around instead of needing to add stabilizing side pieces of the cut-out body.

It's a bit of a tradeoff; bigger platform for the router vs better reach with the drill-press and Forstner bit.

 

[Jon Clegg]

As for the finish, a friend suggested I go all in on the T-bird with a classic T-Bird color:

Daphne Blue is a darn close match.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Finished figuring out the layout:

I plan on some cambering in the center, under the raised center section. I'll get started on those routs tomorrow. I'll also need to make a pattern for a slightly bigger pickguard; the pattern I have is for a Firebird Studio and is a bit smaller.

 

[Beej]

How deep does the cavity have to be for that tremolo?

 

[Jon Clegg]

How deep does the cavity have to be for that tremolo?

1 1/8". The body without the raised section is 1 1/4" thick, the raised section will be about 1/8" thick.

 

[Beej]

Thanks, I'm looking at adding a tremolo to a guitar and I'm concerned about real estate...

 

[Jon Clegg]

Thanks, I'm looking at adding a tremolo to a guitar and I'm concerned about real estate...

The 1 1/8" part is only a circular hole for the spring, the rest of it probably only needs a 1/2" or less. Kahler and probably Schaller make surface mounted trems that fit on a Les Paul but are pretty pricey.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Starter holes for the chambering routs done. Unfortunately I couldn't reach everywhere with my drill press and had to use a drill stand (which is much slower) Normally, I'd hog out these slots with the forstner, but my drill press doesn't have the reach (and I don't relish the idea of doing it with the drill stand). The 3 pickups don't leave much room for chambering slots but it should be fine for the application

 

[Jon Clegg]

Chambering (such as it is) and wire channels complete.

While I'm at it, 3 pickups just aren't enough, so I'm going to add 6 more

I've had 2 of these GVOX guitar pickups for a while so I decided to add one to this build. I'll run it out to a 13-pin DIN and include the additional Roland functions on the pins. Probably won't have the full functionality for synth stuff before March 20, but I'll have the P-90's working

 

[Jon Clegg]

Headstock design: I'm going to base it on the firebird headstock, only using regular tuners rather than banjo tuners:

Trimmed to work with Sperzel left-handed Trim-lok guitar tuners:

It might feel a bit weedy though. Thinking about using bass tuners for the longer knobs.

 

[bassingeorge]

Subbed

 

[Jon Clegg]

Should be getting back on this one this weekend. Got the rosewood fretboard in from LMII and the truss rod is here. Time to get to neck building for this one (and the other bird, as well).

So in the mean time, I'm thinking about finishing, etc. Based on this post by @Freekmagnet, I'm going to go with a Varathane finish, with Createx Aqua for the color

I saw another post where the builder had used turquoise fret dots, nice. Thinking of these perhaps set in aluminum rings.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Ready to layout the neck

I'm using Hipshot Griplocks, figured that locking tuners would be better for use with the trem. I have a set of Keystone buttons I might use on these.