more help for the helpless newbie part II

[EricWilson]

I am a newb...I will continue to be a newb untill I'm done with this freakin bass...

UPDATE:

~~~~~

1. Got my alder raw body blanks today (yay)

2. Changed my mind and decided to go traditional(kinda):

Body style: Jazz bass

# of strings: 5

neck thru Fretted (yup...glutton for punshiment)

2 music man style humbucking pickups

homebrewed electronics

3: aquired a purpleheart board that was to be used for flooring

Here are my questions:

My alder body blank came in 2 pieces. I want to glue them together, but i realized that they are not perfectly flat...one of them has a slight, but noticeable bow in it. I would assume that this is a problem my questions are is how do I get them to be perfectly flat, and is that even really nescisarry seeing as how alot of it is going to be, saw/chipped/routed/sanded away?

What is the fingerboard radius and string spacing of the marcus miller signature 5 string bass?

And is it possible to saw a piece thats about 3/4 of an inch thick to something thats 1/4 of an inch thick? this purpleheart is such a nice piece, and I'd hate to sand and plane most of it away?

thanks always,

Eric

[Southpa]

Hmmmm...nobody responding? As to your body blank, you ordered them from where? Are they precut? ie. body shape? And how much thickness do you have to play with? I know, lots of questions but its important. If I order precut body blanks from someone then I would expect them to lay flat on the table, that is, no rocking. Otherwise, if the pieces you have are just 2 slabs of uncut wood then just proceed as usual. Try to match them up as best you can, grain-wise, glue and clamp and then hand plane them until all the edges meet up. Don't try to force them together by clamping. You will wind up with internal stress and your guitar will warp, finish will crack at the joints, etc.

Next question, sorry, Marcus who?

And purple heart, how wide is this floor plank you speak of? Take it to a specialist who has the proper equipment (big bandsaw) and ask if he could rip it in half for you. That way you would end up with 2 fat 1/4" pieces minus the kerf then you have some room for planing and sanding.

[EricWilson]

if ur reading this post.

the plank width is like 3.5 to 4 inches long.

and marcus miller is this kick arse musician who i think everyone should listen to cuz he writes and arranges some amazing tunes.

[Johnson]

ummmmmmmm

[Dr. Jabsco]

Marcus Miller, I have read indepth about his sig. 5 string. Lovley bass really.

http://www.marcusmiller.com/special_mm5.ht...d08ddb32265d0ae

That is a link to the marcus miller site, and that is about his coustom bass, and it has all the specs.

Are you building an exact replica? and are you using the leo quan badass 2 bridge?

I was thinking about building that exact bass, in a 4 string model, but decided to save that for later.

[EricWilson]

I'm ot building an EXACT replica.

Instead of jazz pickups, I'm using humbuckers that came from an old OLP Music man bass, and one from my old Carlo Robelli bass that got smashed at my last show. ( I have an affinity towards cheap instruments...they're cheap, and I figure, it can sound good, If my skills are good enuff. ) I think I'm gonna go with sadowsky electronics like marcus when i get the money, but for now I think I'm just gonna do 2 volumes, 2 tones, and a series/paralell switch.

I was debating the leo quan badass II bridge, but, while i was surfing the net I found thishipshot bass tremolo, but i dont know if I'll go with it, cuz then i have to do more routing, and then get different tuners etc etc etc...

I'm also going with an oil finish.

thats about it.