Winter Build Off 2019 - Kubickenbacker

[rojo412]

I remembered that I had my old hand sander AND a card scraper that I forgot about. That allowed me to:

And this was a hot shot:

This is getting pretty close to being ready to finish.
Onto the neck.

 

[Jisch]

I love scrapers. I use razor blades as scrapers for small areas.

 

[postalflunkie]

drooldrooldrooldrool

 

[Novarocker]

Subscribed, way cool!

 

[rogerbmiller]

That is some great carving. Very true to the Kubicki form. Phil contoured that thing and then some. That’s part of what made the bass so comfy and so lightweight.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Very nice! No way I could carve that cleanly, getting a real sculptural quality to it.

 

[rashrader]

Is this more than just a hobby for you?

Seriously phenomenal work, Sir!!

 

[rojo412]

Is this more than just a hobby for you?

Seriously phenomenal work, Sir!!

Thank you so much!

It's definitely gone from a hobby to a passion (some may say an obsession).
Few things in my life have really grabbed be the same way, ever. I think the last time I felt as passionate about something, it was when I started playing bass in the first place when I was 14.

It's kinda funny, I was just thinking about how long I've been staring at Talkbass (which will be officially 19 years in a week, holy crap!!!). It brought me from being a dude who was just learning about some basses, then buying more, then fixing them, then modifying them, then selling them... and now building them from scratch.
Honestly, I couldn't be happier about that!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

If i thought i could make a living at it building basses, id drop everything and do it. The economic realities of Luthiery are brutal, so i'll keep my day job, but dang, I love it too. Its an expensive hobby!

 

[Jisch]

I'm with you guys, it's an obsession. I will be retiring in the coming 3 to 5 years and I expect luthiery to be part of my plan, all I want to do is cover my costs.

 

[postalflunkie]

4 years 8 months and 13 days... if I can get this luthier thing down in that time my retirement will be great

 

[Jisch]

4 years 8 months and 13 days... if I can get this luthier thing down in that time my retirement will be great

I wish I had a defined date, I don't have a pension, so it's kind of doing the math between how long my wife and I will live (who knows) and how much money we have saved (never enough).

 

[I-Am-The-Slime]

 

[rojo412]

The fingerboard has now been trimmed around the neck. This is starting to look like a bass!

Good thing, too... this "less than a month left" business has me a little stressed.

 

[rojo412]

Perhaps the SIDE DOTS are the most shining example of how Kubicki overcomplicated things.

In most situations, you can just drill a hole and fill it with a contrasting color material and you're good.
But no... Kubicki does the rounded dashes (or pills?):

In my head, I figure "drill press, stop block, mark carefully, drill a few holes, then trim them out with a knife."
NOPE!
The drill press couldn't drill 3 small holes in a row to save its life. And since I made a mess of it, I decided I had to make another fingerboard because this was gonna be awful on the sides. No amount of wood filler or tinted epoxy would have made me happy.
(I suppose binding, but... nah.)

The proper way is to rout it. But how?
- The table is a blind method and you have the headstock shape to make it complicated.
- By hand would be nightmarish!
- Wizardry? Explosives?

Nope. A jig.

I slapped together a relatively simple jig. Took some MDF, routed out 1/2" channel that would accept router guide bushings, then mounted that to a plank of wood, which I clamped in the vise. The board would then be clamped onto the plank, line up the lines with the jig, then go at it.

After testing it a few dozen times on cutoffs from the board, I managed to make it work.

So after a WHOLE day of work, I now have side markers.
Now I just need to figure out how to make epoxy go from clear to milky white and still dry tough as nails.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Perhaps the SIDE DOTS are the most shining example of how Kubicki overcomplicated things.

In most situations, you can just drill a hole and fill it with a contrasting color material and you're good.
But no... Kubicki does the rounded dashes (or pills?):

View attachment 3337801

In my head, I figure "drill press, stop block, mark carefully, drill a few holes, then trim them out with a knife."
NOPE!
The drill press couldn't drill 3 small holes in a row to save its life. And since I made a mess of it, I decided I had to make another fingerboard because this was gonna be awful on the sides. No amount of wood filler or tinted epoxy would have made me happy.
(I suppose binding, but... nah.)

The proper way is to rout it. But how?
- The table is a blind method and you have the headstock shape to make it complicated.
- By hand would be nightmarish!
- Wizardry? Explosives?

Nope. A jig.

I slapped together a relatively simple jig. Took some MDF, routed out 1/2" channel that would accept router guide bushings, then mounted that to a plank of wood, which I clamped in the vise. The board would then be clamped onto the plank, line up the lines with the jig, then go at it.

View attachment 3337829
View attachment 3337827
After testing it a few dozen times on cutoffs from the board, I managed to make it work.

View attachment 3337830
So after a WHOLE day of work, I now have side markers.
Now I just need to figure out how to make epoxy go from clear to milky white and still dry tough as nails.

Check out Alder's You can build it thread. He's been experimenting with various CA glues and fillers to use as fretboard markers. It's a little different but there might be something useful.

 

[rojo412]

I may have to give this a shot:

(EDIT: Well, maybe not at $27 for 4oz.)

 

[ctmullins]

Whoa, that is awesome.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Could you paint the routes with white or cream paint then fill the rest with epoxy?

I know there are other pigments that will color epoxy. Gotta be something more affordable.

 

[Will_White]

For cream you can use baking soda and CA glue