Phil Mailloux Posted February 26, 2005 Report Share Posted February 26, 2005 (edited) This is my second instrument, the first one being the 5-string bass that came dead last this month on the gotm. Next time i'll know better and make a AAAA flamed maple carved-top PRS-style bass The idea behind this 6-string fretless bass is to make it look like a "high-end" bass. That's actually the reason why I started building instruments, to build the stuff I couldn't afford. So this bass will be made of multiple plys in both the neck and body, have gold hardware, homemade pickups with wooden covers and a preamp if I ever succeed in getting Lovekraft's design to work (my fault, not his) Here's the wood for this project From left to right: a roll of wenge veneer that will be used between the center wood and top/bottom woods and in the center laminate. A piece of olive tree I got on a trip to France last summer, this will be the top and bottom wood of the body. The wenge fretboard. My neck blank (maple-purpleheart-maple) this is the twin sister of my 5-string bass, this blank comes out of the same piece of wood I used for the neck on the 5 string. Pieces of purpleheart and ash that will be used in the center laminates and on the ground a piece of mahogany used for the body wings. My first order of components was made at rockinger.com A Wilkinson 6 string bass bridge with gold saddles AND saddles adjustable in width for only 30€, i've never seen any other bass bridge for 5 or 6 stringers with this for less than 80-100$, 6 Kluson gold tuners (GB70-style), gold jack plate and neck ferrule, one bone nut blank and two truss rods. I also have an ounce of gold MOP and white MOP that I got at luthiersupply.com, I originally wanted to make a really complicated Vine of Life type inlay but since I can't find a pattern I like, or be able to create one, i've pretty much given up on this idea. If anyone has got good ideas or templates for one, go for it, i'd love to have help to brainstorm on this. Edited March 15, 2005 by Phil Mailloux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted February 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 I started by making a template in CorelDraw and printed it on 4 sheets of paper, taped them and cut them out. I then used this to draw the shape on MDF which I then cut , filed and sanded to the proper shape to use as a template. Finished templates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 Looking good... I voted for your bass- it was the fact that you built your pickkups that put it over the edge. A note of advice that no one else mentioned- any time that you glue two pieces of wood together that are not identical species (are maybe they are in some cases), yet are sort of close in color I think a contrasting veneer between the two is ideal for the transition. For example: I think a neck laminate of maple up against a body wood of alder (on a neck thru) would look much better with a darker wood veneer between them. I think you know what I am saying here... Keep the updates coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted February 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 Thanks Bassman! Now I know who's everyone that voted for my bass As you'll seen very soon, your veneer idea is not too far from what I planned. I forgot to mention earlier but this bass will be a bolt-on neck type. I wanted to do a neck-through but my neck blank was just a tad too small. I do want this bass to look like a neck-through, that's why i've got all that multiple ply thing going on. I started by pencilling lines on the mahogany for the body wings with the template and then cut it out with my jigsaw. Picture here. I then taped the wings under the template with double-sided tape and routed the sides flush with the template. Pictures here and here. End result, here's the two wings on top of the template. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meegs666 Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 looking real cool so far. i love the way basses look. keep the pics coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted February 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 After this I glued the wenge veneer on both sides of both wings using information I got on this thread. , here's a picture of the result. I then cut the top and back woods from the piece of olive with my jigsaw. Here is a picture of the olive wood with pencilled lines of the wings. This one speaks for itself. I love the look of basses with the electronics cover made of the same piece of wood than the body, that's what i'm talking about when I say high-end! I glued The tops and bottoms to the center core after this, Pic here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Phil, that's going to be world-class!! I love the shape, it's just so elegant (BTW, I voted for you on GOTM also - if it makes you feel any better, yours was the only original design rperesented ). Inspired wood choices, if I may say so. BTW, check your email when you get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Nice work Phil! I very much like the pickup cover you have on your other bass, I'd do that again on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meegs666 Posted February 28, 2005 Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 that continuous wood cover is gonna be awesome. ive never voted for gotm, but im definitly gonna vote for this one when you get it done. your choice in wood is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted February 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 Thanks for the nice words guys Erik, I definitely will have wooden covers with this one too, i'll be building two jazz bass pickups for this and with Lovekraft's help i'll have our/his 2-band preamp inside the bass too (Thanks Bill!) Meegs, don't talk too fast the bass might still end up looking like crap in the end All right, next update I started gluing the center laminates by gluing a piece of purpleheart to the top wing. Once this was done I started thinking that this might be an eternity until all the laminates were glued together and this multiplies the chances of screwing up this part, so I glued all the other laminates in one shot on the lower wing. I left them slightly longer than the body to plane and sand them flush later. I kept the leftover mahogany of the wings to use as clamping cauls as can be seen on the pictures. here's a pic of the center laminates getting shaved. Once done I glued the top wing to the rest of the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLUCKyou Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 this bass is awesome...i really like the wood you chose for it, looks outstanding..the shape of the body is cool too...kinda unique with that lower horn pointing down....love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespresence Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Great work once again Phil. Keep on going.....you're giving me more inspiration to start on mine. The lumber is staring at me every day and begging to be carved up! I just need to dig up a few more bucks for the LightWave......I bought a Cirrus this weekend and that put a crunch on my project $$$ until one of my Ric's sell, so for now I'll have to build vicariously through you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassisgreat Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Looking VERY nice! I read through the webpage about your other bass, and it looks amazing as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 BP, i'd love to hear your comments on the Lightwave whenever you get it. Ok, last update for now. BTW, I started the bass about a month ago so all the pictures you've seen in the last couple of days are from last month's work. Updates from now on might come at a slower pace Once the glue dried, I cut off the excess wood with my jigsaw. I then filed and rasped the body contours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Fruit Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Wow, looking great phil! I take it this will be a bolt on? Keep up the good work! Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 OH MY GOOD, I FORGOT TO GLUE IN THE NECK-THROUGH!!!! Just joking Matt, thanks for the nice words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Man, If I didn't know better, I'd swear I were looking an Alembic in the making! First of all, the choice of olive wood is bloody brilliant, especially up against the darker woods you're working with. Second, the way you carved your contours through the layers is one of my favorite effects in laminated instruments. For some reason, it looks better on this bass than, I think, on any other instrument I've yet seen. Third, the continuous wood backplate was a nice touch. What finish are you planning to use? My opinion would be to go for a thin but durable wipe on semigloss clear; Waterlox, for instance. I just used it on a project (non-instrument), and with a few coats and a buff with steel wool, it is the most amazingly smooth finish I've ever experienced. Finally, for the fretboard inlay, you could always do something like Perry did on his Vine guitar: silver "vine" up the middle, with small oblong leaves coming off it. Maybe you could even continue it onto the body? Or you could have leaves where the fret dots would be. Just some thoughts. Thus far, this is one of the coolest projects I've seen on PG.com in a long time. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 The silver idea isn't a bad one at all, i'll have to check into this. I'm using a satin nitro cellulose-based product on this one from a german company called Clou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Hey Phil, I just noticed those very thin lams down the center, nice touch! KUTGW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 (edited) Well after working on this Vine of Life inlay for a little while I decided that this wasn't going to be for me just yet, at least not on this bass. I'm just not satisfied with the designs I come up with, I obviously want something original, I don't want to copy Ibanez or someone else's design and I can't come up with something I like enough to make. Thanks anyway to the couple of you that sent me designs, that was very nice. This bass was created in my mind to be a sort of reproduction of conklin basses, they are all absolutely beautiful. By surfing through their site you can see tons of outrageously designed basses that are just beautiful! My original idea was to make a "melted" fretboard (marquetry) with vine of life. The vine of life would have put each flower exactly where the fret usually is. That means when I play and put my finger ON the leaf the fretless makes the sound with the proper intonation. I just think that fake or inlaid frets are tacky, thats my way of having position markers without fake frets. Eventually I dropped the marquetry fretboard in favor of a one piece wenge with vine of life. Now that i've dropped the vine of life, i'm going back to the marquetry idea. I want this bass to look exceptional, neck included. I want this to look like a 5000$ custom job. So i've posted a link in the inlays section to find out more about those types of fretboards. Here is a drawing of what I will do. The oval shaped position markers will be made of gold mother of pearl and placed of the fret position itself to facilitate proper intonation. EDIT What does KUTGW mean Erik? Edited March 16, 2005 by Phil Mailloux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 I can't speak from experience, or even scientific backing, but somehow it seems to me that by essentially using MOP as your playing surface, you might run into some tone problems. Also, I think the simple round ovals laid out in such a geometric pattern looks very incongruous with the rest of the guitar. My vote? Just do very well executed inlay lines. Make them maple where they cross the wenge or purpleheart, and wenge where they cross the maple. Doing this will no doubt be difficult, but hardly more so, I think, than doing a really neat inlay job into multiple woods, leaving no room for error (and thus filling the gaps with powdered wood and CA). Even if you were to go unlined, side dots would still IMO look better than big, oval dots on the face of the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 I can't speak from experience, or even scientific backing, but somehow it seems to me that by essentially using MOP as your playing surface, you might run into some tone problems. I'm probably going to epoxy the fretboard to protect it better, this should take care of that. I could also inlay side dots in the fretboard for markers like in the picture but i'm not really sure about that. One thing I know is that I definitely don't want fake frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassisgreat Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 <off topic> Ooohhh that Myrtle topped bass in the pic looks very cool</off topic> Hey Phil, what are you going to be using for a preamp? Or is it going to be passive? Are you building your own pickups for this one? I'm intrigued! This one will be an improvement from your already impressive first effort! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted March 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 The preamp is a 2-band design by Lovekraft, i've been trying to build it but get problems, I might get more help from Lovekraft. It'll be installed in one concentric pot along with one volume and one blend pot, might also install a pull-push pot for the volume with active/passive option but i'm not sure about this one yet. The pickups will be two home build jazz bass pickups under wooden covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted March 17, 2005 Report Share Posted March 17, 2005 Well, if you're set against lines, my vote would then be for just side dots. I like the look of your striped fretboard, and any inlay would have to live up to it. So... I say go for side dots, or even side lines (see Alembic basses; lines on the side aren't visible from the front) and leave your fretboard lusciously free of complications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.