Winter build off 2026 - Primal Screamray

[Flying B]

Didn't get much done today, except I planed down the little strip I had glued in over the cf. There was a small bit of tear out on the neck blank which fell right where the fretboard joint will be, so a couple of passes through our new wide belt sander at work soon fixed that. Came out feeling like a slab of marble! What a machine.

 

[Flying B]

Oh yeah I meant to ask, I see some people using two 9v batteries instead of one to run the pre-amp, is this really necessary?

 

[Bonkersville]

To be honest it's hard to see how I would use that hot rod on any build, it's just too deep for my standard neck profile, the only way I can see to use it would be to put a relief slot on the underside of the fretboard.

Fair enough. I might consider that relief slot, but again, why bother if it isn't neccessary. I believe I have one of those hot rods somewhere. Or at least a copy of the original. I think I should take a closer look at it.

 

[Flying B]

Truss rod rout is done, just needs tiny bit more chiseling, it's a bit on the snug side, and needs to slide up towards the headstock by a couple of mm.

 

[Flying B]

I finished tweaking the truss rod fit and so thought I may as well shape the neck. Having seen all the hype about compression cutters I thought I would give it a try, this is a relatively cheap one from the Amazon.

It worked a treat on this very figured maple with no tear out at all. Very impressed.

I'm still in two minds about this fretboard. I do like it but I have other options that might work better with this build.

Lacewood, pale moon, normal ebony (a bit grey) and birds eye maple. I also have boards of purple heart and wenge, too many options!
Might just stick with the lacewood since I've already slotted it.
Happy Friday!

 

[BishopJP]

The pale moon ebony board does look fantastic...

 

[Reedt2000]

In a vacuum, I like the pale moon ebony. With the fabric on the top of this bass, I think the traditional ebony is a better match.

 

[Z-Bass]

In a vacuum, I like the pale moon ebony. With the fabric on the top of this bass, I think the traditional ebony is a better match.

Agree. I think the fingerboard needs to be less dramatic so it doesn't detract from the body. So of the ebony boards, I like the traditional ebony. I do really dig that lacewood though and it is already slotted. Not to create more things for you to do but can you get a shot of the body along side the different fretboards?

 

[Flying B]

Agree. I think the fingerboard needs to be less dramatic so it doesn't detract from the body. So of the ebony boards, I like the traditional ebony. I do really dig that lacewood though and it is already slotted. Not to create more things for you to do but can you get a shot of the body along side the different fretboards?

Your wish is my command! I took these earlier but didn't post them as I was part way sanding the epoxy on the body so it looks pretty grotty.

 

[Z-Bass]

Thanks! I'm kind of leaning lacewood or birds eye maple.

 

[MonetBass]

I vote maple or regular ebony.

 

[postalflunkie]

Lacewood

 

[Flying B]

Yeah looking at the pictures again I'm back onboard with the lacewood!

 

[Reedt2000]

Im still in the traditional ebony camp. The gray actually matches the fading in the t-shirt. Lacewood would be my 2nd choice

 

[BishopJP]

+1 for lacewood. The pale moon ebony would definitely distract from the top.

 

[AK4570]

I'm gonna be the odd man out and say Maple.

You don't have any bad options though, so whatever you choose is going to look amazing!

 

[Flying B]

Slow going here but incremental progress is better than nothing. I want to taper the fretboard ready to glue it on but didn't have a nut slot yet and that's easier while it's still parallel, so I set up a router with a 3mm cutter, and thicknessed a couple of scraps to match the fretboard, hey presto.

I'm out of stock of neck bolts & threaded inserts so waiting on those until I can attach the neck.

 

[Beej]

To be honest it's hard to see how I would use that hot rod on any build, it's just too deep for my standard neck profile, the only way I can see to use it would be to put a relief slot on the underside of the fretboard.

Yup, they are comparatively huge. I make thin necks and the hot rods are just too big.

 

[Flying B]

I've had a slightly frustrating time with this. The templates have turned out to be not very good, I really should've picked up on this sooner but the neck template was actually way too big to fit in the neck pocket template. I guess at least it was too big and not too small, but I ended up having to take nearly 2mm off one side of the pocket template and re routing it to get it to fit. Also the notch for the spoke wheel wasn't big enough on the original template so I had to embiggen that too.

I've emailed the company I got them from, not really expecting a reply but good to give them that feedback I suppose.
After all that I felt like I deserved a cheeky mock-up.

Those snazzy fret markers are just bits of tape so I don't get them in the wrong place, I'm working on something a bit different for fret markers, well different for me at least. More to follow (eventually, at some point)

 

[Bonkersville]

After all that I felt like I deserved a cheeky mock-up.
View attachment 7435607

Those snazzy fret markers are just bits of tape so I don't get them in the wrong place,

Yes, yes, that is a nice bass and all. But what a gorgeous hammer!

In all seriousness though those randomly shaped fret markers might not be a bad idea. But it's insanely hard to do random deliberately.

Still that's a seriously pretty hammer.