bassplr19 Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 All, I am new to the forum. I tried building a fretless bass back in high school 15 or so years ago. Started watching https://www.youtube.com/user/TomVictorChiiron and was inspired to try again. Without further ado... With my first build I bought a fretless bass neck from Carvin - they no longer make bodies to mate with said neck, so I need to make my own body. Also bought replacement pickups for my MIM Jazz bass, but found out that they were both bridge pickups and MIMs only have neck pickups. The rest of the hardware is pretty much from Carvin as well. Inspiration: I love the Rickenbacker body style, my Schecter 006 has somewhat similar bouts so I used that as a template extended it and added my own panache to it. Here's the original I'm replacing: Template I made from hardboard, along with my Carvin supplied chunk o' alder Practice neck joint and template: Oooh, that's tight Then the rough cut: To be continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Final Cut and some filing Starting the sanding process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 I like your shop, reminds me of mine. I like a man that's not afraid of a bit of heavy sanding. That looks to be a very fine neck and board too. Carry on, we're watching. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 17, 2014 Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 I love it. This is the sort of "backyard luthiery" that I hope I can spend this summer getting back to my roots on, and writing about. Feeding back the experience of working with expensive machinery in an environment intended specifically for woodworking back into the basics is something I really think a lot of people will benefit from. After all, that is where ProjectGuitar.com came from. I built a sawbench for building instruments last week. Your photos reminded me of the importance of working on an instrument's sides. That's the only area where my sawbench falls flat I think. Since I don't have a WorkMate on hand, how is the stability when clamping a body like that? I presume it is a bit of a fight to put any heavy work into it without sending the whole lot sideways. Yeah, I saw his videos too a while back. Simple common sense stuff done with good intentions and understanding. Well-grounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Prostheta, what stability? Lots of manual handholding... Continuing onward! Final body shape Rounded the body and started on the armrest Pretty proud of this tummy cut, first time I ever did anything like this Lined up the bridge, and who am I kidding, gave it a test fit ...and why stop there So far, couple screw up here, couple screw ups there, overall still happy with my progress. Next steps: make some pickup templates and a body cavity template, although, I may wing it freehand. The latter, definitely NOT the former. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Bonus shot...actually, my awful attempt No. 2, circa 1999-2000: About the only thing I was happy with was the neck joint, it fell apart after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted May 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2014 Pickup Template Neck pickup test fit - the routing turned out better than the template!! I'm going to assume that no one notices that the neck pickup is 1/2" closer to the neck than a normal jazz bass - measured the distance from the bridge on my Jazz at 4.75" to the bottom of the neck pickup went up stairs thinking .25 less than 5" than laid it out thinking .25 more than 5". Oh well, I mostly jam on the bridge pups anyway. Bridge pickup test fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted May 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 Control Cavity carved out Little more carving on top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) Sneak Peak on the body color. Yes, that is a Target brand diaper box... Edited June 5, 2014 by bassplr19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 It's looking pretty damn good man! I'm watching 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Dragon scale green, cool. How are going to deal with the checks in the end grain? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 If I'm painting, do I need to worry about the checks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 More on the cavity Second coat on the headstock, looking sexy if I don't say so my self Had kids birthday party, got a paint booth out of the deal. Priming: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 9, 2014 Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 If I'm painting, do I need to worry about the checks? I would wick some CA into them to stabilize them so they won't crack further. You've already primed so you can already see if they need filling to make them invisible under the paint. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Sanding the primer Clear coats level 2, how many coats should I do? 3-6 I'm at a standstill right now, due to rain an fog and generally crappy weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Body first coat Wet Sand started on headstock More body painting Think I'm ready for clear coating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Anybody else experiment with "metal flake"? So it is kind of textured and the glitter stands up in places, I haven't burned though during the wetsanding, but I've hit some of the glitter and instead of green, I'm getting some silver shining through. I'm not really seeing any green in my sand paper or water or wash cloth. Should I have put on more than 3ish layers of clear coat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted June 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 Weather FINALLY cooperating, clear coatin' time Let it dry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Anybody else experiment with "metal flake"? So it is kind of textured and the glitter stands up in places, I haven't burned though during the wetsanding, but I've hit some of the glitter and instead of green, I'm getting some silver shining through. I'm not really seeing any green in my sand paper or water or wash cloth. Should I have put on more than 3ish layers of clear coat? Yeah. Most of the metal flakes out there are just tiny colored aluminium (Scientifically correct spelling!) flakes. So if your flakes start turning silver you have ended through the color coat of the flakes. And it doesn't take much and through for ti to be visible. You need to get the finish coats on really heavy, I sugest laying the instrument flat (or suspending it like you do) and getting extra thick coats on, making sure that you cover the sides too, let it sit extra long, flip it and get extra thick layers on the other side, once again shooting a "normal" layer on the sides. This way you will get extra thick lacers on the top and back for each spraying session and double layers on the sides for every "complete" coating. The surface need to feel more or less completely level before you shoot at least one or two final coats. then it might be OK to level sand. Metal flakes takes a bit of extra care to succeed with. One way to fix the problem with the flakes turning silver is to shoot a green tinted layer and a few more top cots. That will tone down the silver effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted July 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks for the advice, it's actually pretty sparkly after my 6 coats. It feels very rough still, it's not like sandpaper but very textured. I'm going to try to do 6 more coats (or till the can runs out) and depending on how it feels sand it. Or, I don't necessarily need a mirror finish with it and might just sand any drips or high spots with some 1000 grit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassplr19 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The unmasking Sprayed the cavity and pickup routs with a conductive coating and wired it up My basement at night is not conductive to pictures so view the rest at your own peril I'll take some better pics after I fashion a control cavity cover, probably out of maple from a failed guitar project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 That looks good-- very sparkly and clean--the long ebony fingerboard eally helps it look clean. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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