Pibrocher Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Hello everyone, This is my second guitar project. I'v decided to build an 8-string bass(4 couplets). Been spending quite a while planning but now its time to make some cuts... I already had the neckblank laminated together (maple between mahogany)... This is after cutting the headstock angle, plus some sanding... Here you can see where the heel will be. In the back ground you can see the side laminates (ash and mahogany). This is what the back will look like with the ash/mahogany sides glued on... As you may be able to tell from the pictures, this guitar has laminations everywhere. I really like to showcase the wood as much as possible so this guitar will probably have a natural stain with statin clear. Wait till you see what i have in store for the laminations... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cold95 Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Sweet! looks good so far, hope to see more pics. keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Here's some more pictures of the last few days work. Another picture of the heel cutout. If you look close, you cane see my drawings showing the section to be removed with the router. After the ash/mahogany sides are in palce i'll route the top of the neck down flush with the sides. Then ... Glue on these ash top pieces. Then another mahagonay decorative laminate with a design cut in it. I'll elaborate in later posts. Here i have the top pieces laid over the neck blank and sides, You can see that i'll have to notch out the top to allow for the fretboard. The bridge will mount on top of the 1/8 inch mahogany pieces, seen in the background of other pictures. More pictures coming soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerb Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 It looks really nice! What method did you use for cutting out your neck blank? Table saw, I suppose? I'm working on my first bass at the moment (4 string neckthrough) and haven't yet come to the neck shaping stage, so I have been wondering what the best method for that would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Looks nice so far! I love ash on a bass (and the sound you get out of those ash Stingrays....mmmm). Is your fretboard going to be flush (even) with the ash top? Is the bridge going to be recessed into the ash? Do you have a neck angle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 We used a table saw and planer to get the neck blank squared up and roughed in. The cutouts were done with the band saw. I used a jig with the bandsaw to cut the headstock to its 1/2" finished thickness. The headstock will get ears and another laminate across the top, i have pictures of that coming soon. My favorite tool in my shop right now is the bench mounted belt sander. That thing has saved me so much hand work, its so easy to feather in the curves with it. The fretboard will sit proud of the finished body, so there is not going to be a neck angle. I have allowed for the bridge height. The top of the frets on the body side of the fretboard will sit about 1/16" above the saddles of the bridge, which will give me room to adjust the action up. The bridge will mount on an 1/8" mahogany piece mounted on top of the ash top. Finished body thickness will be 1 3/4" Scale Length = 34 will only have 18 frets The fretboard is Indian Rosewood, from Warmoth. more to come later today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 I started this project a week ago so here are more pcitures up to this point... After sanding the sides, preparing them for joing to the neck blank. This view is from the top of the guitar down, so the ash underneath is hidden. Here you can see what the guitar will look like from the back. This shot shows the biscuit joints that will be used eventually to hold the sides onto the neck blank. MMMMM, biscuits..... Adding the ears to the headstock... After the ears dried, i sanded then glued the top piece on (mahogany). Here is the laminate after drying, clamps have been removed... OOPS, didn't clamp far enough out on the mahogany, it'll be cut off so it doesn't matter... After a dusty day of sanding i need a Yuengling (beer)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 The fretboard will sit proud of the finished body, so there is not going to be a neck angle. The fretboard always sits proud of the body regardless of angle or not. Looks great so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Is your fretboard going to be flush (even) with the ash top? I don't mean to be dense but how could this be? The fretboard is always proud of the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Is your fretboard going to be flush (even) with the ash top? I don't mean to be dense but how could this be? The fretboard is always proud of the body. ← Instead of angling the neck to allow for the height of the bridge, i'll just make sure the fretboard sits high enough. above where the bridge will mount. But yeah the fretboard always sits proud, but alot of guitars still utilize a neck angle to make up for the height difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Is your fretboard going to be flush (even) with the ash top? I don't mean to be dense but how could this be? The fretboard is always proud of the body. ← Yeah, I meant where the neck joins the body. One of the pics looked to me like the ash top was about 1/4" and with a standard 1/4" board and no neck angle....that makes the fretboard flush with the top. It's the 7th photo, with the 2-piece ash top roughed out. So does this mean your fretboard is thicker than the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Do you have templates for this guitar or are you headed for alot of hand sanding? Neat design though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Do you have templates for this guitar or are you headed for alot of hand sanding? Neat design though. ← Yeah, alot of sanding would be an under-statement. I will be using the Orbital D/A sander to do alot of it. Better living through compressed air tools. But also alot of round files and rasping by hand. I want the "horns" to very tubular and smooth, like bullets almost. Not sure how to explain, you'll see more when i get around to shaping the body. Probably wont be till after i put the sides on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 my 7 string design (shh, it cant be revealed yet!) will be shaped like "bullets" as well, but shh, its a secret project looking great Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moreau Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 i like it. i didnt till u said u were carving the horns "like bullets" Ive seeen alot of great looking heavily carved basses that i didnt like uncarved. so dont be offended. wat u got for a headstock shape? i cant wait to see this. like that u are making fast progress. no job? or no sleep? jk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 That is totally cool! Love the horns... they look like jigsaw puzzle pieces, totally unique. Great work. So, from your name... you a Scotsman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Actually i hadn't had a job for the last month and a half, but i only recently started working on the bass. I actually got back to work, and college classes this week, so we will see if this slows down the progress. The headstock was an area of concern from the beginning. I didn't want something simple and square, i decided that i should mimic the bullets of the body in the headstock. This was the reason for the mahogany laminate on the headstock. I wanted to beef up the thickness to give me a little more to carve from. I will post more on the headstock, which i actually cut out and sanded in rough last night. Its definetly not simple or square. I hope its not to out-landish. We'll see... Oh, i am an American, i got the name from a Jethro Tull song. "Pibroch: Cap in Hand" is an awesome song... So he carries his regrets like the coat slouching on his shoulder No words he could say that you'd understand So he bundles his regrets, Into a gesture of sorrow Bringing you love, Cap in hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Didn't notice this before....add Pibrocher to the membership of PG's Maryland mafia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Mmmm... Yuengling... Can't get that down here in TN. I have to stock up on it when we go to NC.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 Yesterday began the headstock shaping. I'm probably sticking my neck way out on the line with my design but i think it is going to help define the instrument. I'm trying to mimic the body somehow. We'll see... Band saw time... And one pass... Another pass at her ... This is as far as i took it with the bandsaw, i'll use a sanding drum on the drill press to get in closer. Which leaves me with this... The mahogany has a cool swirl across the face... This is the design sketch. I will be carving the edges over to resemble the bullets on the body. At the top i'm going to expose the maple underneath the mahogany creating a "white" lick almost. I bought some nice new round files today, and went to work on it earlier tonight. Will keep you all posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 The headstock reminds me of Dr. Seuss... which is a good thing. Hey! My older sister had a copy of "Songs From the Wood" way back when. Great album. About a month ago, surfing on the web, I found out that pibroch has something to do with bagpipe music. Looking forward to see how your project turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckis Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 LOVE IT SO FAR! I like it cause its unique, mi motto for that is "if anyone wants a Jazz Bass copy, they can go to Fender" hehe, seriously, cool so far, keep it up! By the way.. how will you tune the 8 strings? are you a primus fan? hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Well, i was out partying last night, so i didn't get to work till tonight. Here are some pictures of the headstock as it is being carved. I am definetly gonna go with the Dr. Seuss idea a bit more. I figured i'd drill all the holes before I finish the carving. It's important to keep the tuners functional so i can't roll the edges too much. It also allowed me to see the tuners in place so i could decide what type of design overlay to add next. Check it out... After the first round of carving and the tuner holes have been drilled. Tuners test fitted all the way around. Had to make sure i had lines marking the dimensions of the hardware. The tuners marked out on the back of headstock... Markings on top. I also had my overlay blank traced out on the headstock here. I originally had planned on putting a piece of ash on top, this is it rough cut. After I messed with it I decided I didn't like that shape at all. So i kept trimming until i came to this... The design process at work. I will sand it down quite a bit but the end effect will be good. I'm gonna use a black corian nut blank. Probably cut it down to resemble a fender style nut. Not sure yet, might just end up carved out a bit. After this last piece of ash goes on, i'll sand the tope of the neck flush again and turn my attention to the body sides. At this point in the project i have A LOT of loose ends and more unraveling all the time. But i'll be closing in soon on the body shaping portion of this project. This is the area i am most interested in. I can't wait to start making some curves. Have to route the truss rod channel here soon and taper the neck with the router. Then on to the fretboard and the last mahogany overlay. I thought all this talk of overlays might make more sense if you all saw my design drawing. More to come.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 That bass looks great! Didn't know what to make of it at first, but now I see it coming together. Very unique design, I can't wait to see this one finished. I'm a big Tull fan, too. I see your avatar is the The Broadsword and the Beast album cover - one of my favorites. Martin Barre is so under-rated as a guitarist. One of his best solos in my opinion, is on Seal Driver from that album... Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted April 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2005 A quick update... I have glued the sides onto the body and it has been sitting for a day or two now. Things got real busy for me so work has slowed down the last few days. I hope to get some of the top routing and nekc shaping done this weekend. Probably bve next week before this gets really going again. I'll post some more pics tomorrow. The headstock has been shaped down much farther, almost all round edges now. That bass in the GOTM competition was very inspirational. Can't wait to put this baby in the line up. more to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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