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YAFB ...
- Thread starter MichaelOz
- Start date
Quick update - there is some progress 
A few rather deep holes here for the connecting bolts:
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They're countersunk to different depth. The 4 towards the bridge are shallower compared to the 2 at the other end.
Now rounding off the edges with a little bit of sanding, and all that's left to do is do the hole for the jack before prepping for finishing.
And here's the start of the fretting:
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2 down, 22 to go - decided not to do 28 frets, I mean, seriously, why spoil a perfectly fine bass with something so outrageous
.
Using mando frets, by the way.
The neck shaping will be an interesting exercise. The Dingwall neck is something else I have to say, it's wenge as well, has a profile and thickness to die for, and the finish is so silky-smooth that the thumb nearly slips off it - seriously. So there's my standard, we'll see how that turns out.
Thank you for looking, comments welcome.
Regards,
Michael
A few rather deep holes here for the connecting bolts:
Invalid Link Removed
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They're countersunk to different depth. The 4 towards the bridge are shallower compared to the 2 at the other end.
Now rounding off the edges with a little bit of sanding, and all that's left to do is do the hole for the jack before prepping for finishing.
And here's the start of the fretting:
Invalid Link Removed
2 down, 22 to go - decided not to do 28 frets, I mean, seriously, why spoil a perfectly fine bass with something so outrageous
Using mando frets, by the way.
The neck shaping will be an interesting exercise. The Dingwall neck is something else I have to say, it's wenge as well, has a profile and thickness to die for, and the finish is so silky-smooth that the thumb nearly slips off it - seriously. So there's my standard, we'll see how that turns out.
Thank you for looking, comments welcome.
Regards,
Michael
Michael,
Amazing build! I can't believe this is your first, I'm humbled. I too wish there was such a course available locally, plenty of boatbuilding classes, which have some similar skills dealing with curved shapes, but no Luthiery. In your shoes I think I'd go for an oil finish as well, seems a shame to cover any of that wood up with paint. Are you gluing the frets in, or is that just friction-fit?
Amazing build! I can't believe this is your first, I'm humbled. I too wish there was such a course available locally, plenty of boatbuilding classes, which have some similar skills dealing with curved shapes, but no Luthiery. In your shoes I think I'd go for an oil finish as well, seems a shame to cover any of that wood up with paint. Are you gluing the frets in, or is that just friction-fit?
Hi G I G,
I feel humbled by comments like this.I feel like it's a bit of a hack job guided by an instructor (that by no means indicates the level of instruction, to the contrary - it's great - more a comment on my execution of the guidance).
There are quite a few little things that didn't quite go according to plan so for me the most important thing is to learn from this build and make the next ones better (#02: Stingray-inspired 4-string for my son; #3: 5 or 6 string, fanned frets - 36-32, or thereabouts for a 6 - using my second wenge neck blank).
To your questions:
I finally decided on a finish and will go with a trans candy apple read to trans black burst in satin. That should still bring out the grain (where "available") but give a little more protection.
No glue. David (our instructor) recommended not to because "at some stage you will need to replace the frets" (they're mando so not sure about their longevity), and of course they'll be easier to replace if not glued in.
What I didn't show in the pics is that I removed some of the tang leaving a little hole which I will fill with an araldite/wenge sanding dust mix for that "seamless" experience. We'll see how that works out.
Regards,
Michael
Here's the shot:
Here's a close-up of fret 12, and fret slot 13.
As you can see I'm taking off a little bit of the tang (using a tang nipper - gotta love those technical terms) and will fill the holes with a mix of epoxy and sanding dust from the fret board. Should look nice.
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Regards,
Michael
Here's a close-up of fret 12, and fret slot 13.
As you can see I'm taking off a little bit of the tang (using a tang nipper - gotta love those technical terms) and will fill the holes with a mix of epoxy and sanding dust from the fret board. Should look nice.
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Regards,
Michael
Some progress.
All 24 frets in, and they look perfectly level.
Grainfilled the mahogany part of the body, bit of 320 sanding.
Shot of the end grain after filling of the mahogany side:
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Looks promising. Next full body shots before and after application of three clear coats.
Before:
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After:
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So, what to do, what to do?
I really like how the grain has popped out, not in an overt way but slightly understated and subdued. It'll definitely be satin and not gloss.
Blaine and a couple of other participants say: "leave it natural".
I'm thinking either trans candy apple red to trans black burst, or the other way with black in the centre bursting into candy apple red.
David thinks that's too busy considering the neck is wenge and suggested trans red only (if I got that right).
Bit of a poll: what think YOU? Would be interested to hear your opinion so we (i.e. David) can tackle this next week
Thank you for looking, and comments welcome.
Regards,
Michael
All 24 frets in, and they look perfectly level.
Grainfilled the mahogany part of the body, bit of 320 sanding.
Shot of the end grain after filling of the mahogany side:
Invalid Link Removed
Looks promising. Next full body shots before and after application of three clear coats.
Before:
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
After:
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
So, what to do, what to do?
I really like how the grain has popped out, not in an overt way but slightly understated and subdued. It'll definitely be satin and not gloss.
Blaine and a couple of other participants say: "leave it natural".
I'm thinking either trans candy apple red to trans black burst, or the other way with black in the centre bursting into candy apple red.
David thinks that's too busy considering the neck is wenge and suggested trans red only (if I got that right).
Bit of a poll: what think YOU? Would be interested to hear your opinion so we (i.e. David) can tackle this next week
Thank you for looking, and comments welcome.
Regards,
Michael
I hear you, Derek, this was raised before, and I'm not 100% myself but you never really know if you don't try. Observation (for what it's worth): Since I glued up the two pieces and levelled and sanded the surfaces there has been no appreciable "step" - and fingers are amazingly sensitive to even the slightest change in elevation. Of course the body wasn't sealed. Let's see how this works out.
Single colour? Thank you for that, I'll tally up the feedback and will take it into consideration.
Regards,
Michael
I guess if it were me and I were going to do a color, I would probably do more of a light trans blue or green over the whole thing rather than red. But that's just me. I'd probably leave it natural though. 
I guess if it were me and I were going to do a color, I would probably do more of a light trans blue or green over the whole thing rather than red. But that's just me. I'd probably leave it natural though.
Thank you, Lisa.
Bass'd In Colorado
Supporting Member
That was fun.
Neck: drilled the tuner holes (tuners fit through) and the recesses, plenty of sanding required. Will leave headstock as is (no veneer, no colour, just wenge). Little bit of headstock shape sanding but that was pretty much there anyway.
Body: drilled hole for the jack. And a recess. This was tricky, I don't have a lot of room. Should work though, there is a little bit of material removal required in the control cavity (all good, off with the weight).
Finish: the finish is done, except for the final satin coat. David did a fantastic job, I am extremely happy with how it turned out.
Pictures!
Here's the big hole for the jack. As mentioned there are some issues wrt the length, and I've started to take out some material inside the control cave.
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Current status of the headstock.
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Recessing seemed like a good idea but once I put the tuners (Warwick, btw) in I noticed that it might be a little difficult tightening the nuts. There'll be a lot of sanding to get a smooth transition with enough space to get the "spanner" in.
And here's the body.
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Looks amazing in real life. It'll be a satin finish (the gloss - before the paint dried - looked absolutely amazing but the Dingwall - and one black car - have taught me a couple of things about "dark gloss and the swirls" - hmmm, there's a band name for ya
)
Very cool to see the progression from first coat to the final product. David is a bit of a magician by the looks of it - thank you, David! I should be able to do a "mock shoot" next week with the hardware and neck in place.
Ultimately I'm happy I followed my "vision" (very strong word considering my myopia and age-induced hyperopia resulting in multifocals). Not long to go now (4 more sessions?), the aim would be to bring in the amp on the last night, string it up and hear what it sounds like. Might just end up as a wall-hanging piece
As usual, comments and questions welcome.
Regards,
Michael
Neck: drilled the tuner holes (tuners fit through) and the recesses, plenty of sanding required. Will leave headstock as is (no veneer, no colour, just wenge). Little bit of headstock shape sanding but that was pretty much there anyway.
Body: drilled hole for the jack. And a recess. This was tricky, I don't have a lot of room. Should work though, there is a little bit of material removal required in the control cavity (all good, off with the weight).
Finish: the finish is done, except for the final satin coat. David did a fantastic job, I am extremely happy with how it turned out.
Pictures!
Here's the big hole for the jack. As mentioned there are some issues wrt the length, and I've started to take out some material inside the control cave.
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
Current status of the headstock.
Invalid Link Removed
Recessing seemed like a good idea but once I put the tuners (Warwick, btw) in I noticed that it might be a little difficult tightening the nuts. There'll be a lot of sanding to get a smooth transition with enough space to get the "spanner" in.
And here's the body.
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
Looks amazing in real life. It'll be a satin finish (the gloss - before the paint dried - looked absolutely amazing but the Dingwall - and one black car - have taught me a couple of things about "dark gloss and the swirls" - hmmm, there's a band name for ya
Very cool to see the progression from first coat to the final product. David is a bit of a magician by the looks of it - thank you, David! I should be able to do a "mock shoot" next week with the hardware and neck in place.
Ultimately I'm happy I followed my "vision" (very strong word considering my myopia and age-induced hyperopia resulting in multifocals). Not long to go now (4 more sessions?), the aim would be to bring in the amp on the last night, string it up and hear what it sounds like. Might just end up as a wall-hanging piece
As usual, comments and questions welcome.
Regards,
Michael
Thanks,The body looks really nice!
I've always called it a control cavity, but "control cave" sounds so much cooler!
And just too lazy to type it out - cave
Bit of work done earlier today on my new (old) workbench in its "temporary" location:
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Sanding of the headstock pretty much finished (the front, anyway), and tuners put on just for a "laugh":
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As you can see it's not the world's biggest headstock. Recesses sanded back a little, and I decided to leave the truss rod access open as a feature. Will need a little bit more attention once the nut's in place but generally that's it for the front.
It will stay "natural" (feels amazingly sleek - just like the Dingwall neck, and that's how this neck will be as well). Might work at the other end of the neck a little bit (thickness needs to be brought down to be level with body past the 24th fret). Get most of the material out of the way and finish it together with the body.
Regards,
Michael
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Sanding of the headstock pretty much finished (the front, anyway), and tuners put on just for a "laugh":
Invalid Link Removed
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Invalid Link Removed
As you can see it's not the world's biggest headstock. Recesses sanded back a little, and I decided to leave the truss rod access open as a feature. Will need a little bit more attention once the nut's in place but generally that's it for the front.
It will stay "natural" (feels amazingly sleek - just like the Dingwall neck, and that's how this neck will be as well). Might work at the other end of the neck a little bit (thickness needs to be brought down to be level with body past the 24th fret). Get most of the material out of the way and finish it together with the body.
Regards,
Michael
Put two clear coats, satin finish on the body. I LOVE the final look, it mellows the fairly stark contrast between the two timbers (maple and mahogany) without completely obscuring it. Blaine thought it takes away too much of the difference. You can make up your own minds.
Neck. Plenty happened with the neck.
First of all I filed back the fret ends. Check. Feels good, not too much fine-tuning to do.
Then I marked off the body transition area and the start of the volute, and the appropriate thickness. Used the linisher to remove the bulk of material, and did a little bit of hand sanding to kind of even it out - turns out that wasn't necessary.
Also used the linisher to remove material at the end of the fretboard to near body surface level.
With David's guidance I marked the "quarter lines" along the back of the neck and the "half lines" along the sides of the neck and the transition and volute areas. A little bit of rasping first, then the spoke shave was brought it. The neck has lost a fair bit of material but needs a fair bit of rounding off, and some more removal of timber. I'd love to see the graphite rods coming through as a feature
- just kidding, I'll be careful, I promise. But there's still a fair bit that can go. Aiming for 17-18 mm thickness at fret 1, and 19-20 just before the transition.
Homework:
carefully remove a little more material, file everything to the approximate shape, then sand. And sand. And maybe a little more sanding ... .
use the sanding residue to make a paste with araldite and fill little holes at the ends of the frets. Let that cure, and do a little bit of sanding. And a little more sanding.
finalise the headstock. Needs a little more attention, will probably round the edges a little more. That will require some sanding.
need to do some work to the end of the fretboard - not quite sure what to do there but probably just the boring expanse of wenge. Might be a good spot to put a "logo", the head stock is a little crowded.
finally start working on the transition and volute and make those as palatable as possible.
3 weeks to go. I think I'll get it all finished, at least the basic setup (there's still a fair bit to be done), and then it's the moment of truth.
Couple of mock-ups:
No strings obviously.
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Observations:
1) the colour is nothing like this, and at the same time a lot like this. Hard to explain.
2) the contrast between the timbers is bigger than in the picture, but not much.
3) the holes for the pick-up are a little bigger than I would have liked.
Other than that there's a lot of wood in those two pictures
.
As usual comments welcome.
Regards,
Michael
Neck. Plenty happened with the neck.
First of all I filed back the fret ends. Check. Feels good, not too much fine-tuning to do.
Then I marked off the body transition area and the start of the volute, and the appropriate thickness. Used the linisher to remove the bulk of material, and did a little bit of hand sanding to kind of even it out - turns out that wasn't necessary.
Also used the linisher to remove material at the end of the fretboard to near body surface level.
With David's guidance I marked the "quarter lines" along the back of the neck and the "half lines" along the sides of the neck and the transition and volute areas. A little bit of rasping first, then the spoke shave was brought it. The neck has lost a fair bit of material but needs a fair bit of rounding off, and some more removal of timber. I'd love to see the graphite rods coming through as a feature
Homework:
carefully remove a little more material, file everything to the approximate shape, then sand. And sand. And maybe a little more sanding ... .
use the sanding residue to make a paste with araldite and fill little holes at the ends of the frets. Let that cure, and do a little bit of sanding. And a little more sanding.
finalise the headstock. Needs a little more attention, will probably round the edges a little more. That will require some sanding.
need to do some work to the end of the fretboard - not quite sure what to do there but probably just the boring expanse of wenge. Might be a good spot to put a "logo", the head stock is a little crowded.
finally start working on the transition and volute and make those as palatable as possible.
3 weeks to go. I think I'll get it all finished, at least the basic setup (there's still a fair bit to be done), and then it's the moment of truth.
Couple of mock-ups:
No strings obviously.
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
Observations:
1) the colour is nothing like this, and at the same time a lot like this. Hard to explain.
2) the contrast between the timbers is bigger than in the picture, but not much.
3) the holes for the pick-up are a little bigger than I would have liked.
Other than that there's a lot of wood in those two pictures
As usual comments welcome.
Regards,
Michael
This is beautiful work! There's a luthier school in Arizona I wanted to go to, but it was rather expensive (roughly $25-30k for 6 months including rent) and you wouldn't have any time to have a job to help pay your way. I would still love to find something like this in Florida as a weekend thing.
It's not as metallic as it looks in the two mock-up pics. The body only shots are more indicative even though they don't have the satin finish.
Regards,
Michael
