Inisheer Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Hello everybody. After lurking here for half a year I am finally starting my first real project. I don't have a bass yet, so I figured I could try making my own. I'm a little nervous, but hopefully it should turn out to be semi-decent. Don't expect this to be a professional level instrument, I will be trying to make my first build for as cheap as possible. And this will probably take me a long time to finish, but time is a good thing right? Anyway, here are the specs I want: -Bolt-on neck (a cheap one from ebay) -Alder body (thanks to mammothguitars for all the help) -1/4" Flamed maple top (and a big thanks to Fryovanni) -4 strings -34" scale, 21 frets -PJ bass style pickups (EMG select?) -Gold hardware -Finish: stained red, possibly with a black burst around the edges I haven't done too much yet, but here is the alder I will be using. And here is a picture of the maple top I'll be using: PS. I resized the picture so it is 640x480 on photobucket, but it still keeps coming up here 800x600. Anybody know how to fix this? I don't want to break the rules.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted November 9, 2006 Report Share Posted November 9, 2006 Clear your cache, then resize again. That will fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 The other day I tried to glue the top to the body, but then noticed I didn't have enough glue. So I had to wait until I could get some more. Here it is being glued together. Hopefully 6 c clamps and 8 spring clamps should be enough to get a good join. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsguitar Posted November 12, 2006 Report Share Posted November 12, 2006 Nice pieces of woods, but I was wondering why only 20 frets? Can't wait to see more in progress pics.. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Nice pieces of woods, but I was wondering why only 20 frets? Actually, I checked again and it is actually 21 frets. This is my first build and I didn't want to mess up the neck so I decided to get one off of ebay. The cheapest one I could find happened to have 21 frets. I would have prefered 24 frets, but this neck should do fine since it will be my first bass and I'll be learning on it. I'll try to get pictures of the neck tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 Everything is glued up now, the next step is to cut out the basic body shape. Here is a picture of the neck I'll be using. It's probably not the best, but for $20 it doesn't seem too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 21 frets on a bass isnt all that bad, I personally prefer 24, but Ive noticed that when Im playing I really don't go into the neck that deep often enough to constitute it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 I've been planning on copying a different design for the body shape but decided to draw my own instead. It isn't anything too creative, but I didn't have a template so I just drew a basic shape. Sorry this picture isn't that great and it's kinda hard to see the shape. Hopefully soon I can start cutting it out. Any comments/complaints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 Looks a tad too fat from here (might get heavy in the end). I say slim the waist and reduce the length from the bottom. The horns look nice though. Keep up the spirit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 Looks a tad too fat from here (might get heavy in the end). I say slim the waist and reduce the length from the bottom. The horns look nice though. Keep up the spirit! Thanks for the input Jester. I think it seems kinda beefy too, but I kind of like the design. I know it will probably be heavy, especially since it is 2" thick..........do you think that is too big? Maybe I should make it slightly skinnier.... And here is a better picture of my design that is a little easier to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 2" is pretty thick. I prefer a 1 1/2" thickness or so, all my builds range from 1 1/2" thickness to 1 3/4". It may be on the heavy end, but remember one thing. You're going to have a hard time gluing that wood on after you cut it off. Make it big and slim it down accordingly to get proper balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 It may be on the heavy end, but remember one thing. You're going to have a hard time gluing that wood on after you cut it off. Make it big and slim it down accordingly to get proper balance. Thanks for the tip. I was planning on cutting the body out like this, and then later deciding if I want to trim it down some. And I prefer a 1 3/4" thickness too, but this is my first build and I didn't take that into consideration until now that I have everything glued together. Hindsight is 20/20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted December 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 No progress yet. I am getting a router soon so I am waiting to start the actual work on this until the end of the month. In the meantime I am trying to read up on routers and bits and learn as much as I can before I actually start using the tool. My plans are still pretty much the same, but I modified it slightly. The body seemed a bit fat and stubby so I narrowed it down a little, and I decided to use gold hardware instead of chrome. I wanted to use PJ style pickups, but lately I've been considering soapbars instead. Any recommendations for which would give a bigger range of tone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 I think the pre-amp is what will be giving you a wider range of tone, so definitely go active if you're wanting a wide range of tones. Next important would be pickups - I'd say a P/J pickup config will give you a wider range of tone over 2 soapbars. I have two basses with a P/J pickup config (one passive, one active) that have deadly, deadly tone. I don't know, though. It's all about what brand you're using, I don't have much hands-on experience with higher end soapbars.. yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted December 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 I think the pre-amp is what will be giving you a wider range of tone, so definitely go active if you're wanting a wide range of tones. Next important would be pickups - I'd say a P/J pickup config will give you a wider range of tone over 2 soapbars. Thanks. I won't be using active pickups or a pre-amp on this, I'm trying to keep my first project as simple as I can. But I think I will stick with my original plan and use a PJ config. As for the brand...probably emg selects since that is about all I can afford for this project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Almost two months later (school is hard this semester) I finally have the body cut out and sanded a little. I will do the routing for the neck pocket before I finish sanding the body. I don't want to do that until I at least have the bridge so I can measure exactly, so I guess my next step is to start ordering parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I have a question. I ordered a bridge like this one and need to measure where to put the bridge before routing the neck pocket. My question is where do I put the bridge? I'm using a 34" scale so do I measure 34" from the nut to the back of the bridge, the front of it, the saddles, or the mounting screws? Any advice would be appreciated since I want the intonation to be set properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigthemLows Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I have a question. I ordered a bridge like this one and need to measure where to put the bridge before routing the neck pocket. My question is where do I put the bridge? I'm using a 34" scale so do I measure 34" from the nut to the back of the bridge, the front of it, the saddles, or the mounting screws? Any advice would be appreciated since I want the intonation to be set properly. 34" from where the string hits the nut to where the string hits the saddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Trepagny Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 I have a question. I ordered a bridge like this one and need to measure where to put the bridge before routing the neck pocket. My question is where do I put the bridge? I'm using a 34" scale so do I measure 34" from the nut to the back of the bridge, the front of it, the saddles, or the mounting screws? Any advice would be appreciated since I want the intonation to be set properly. 34" from the G string saddles. You should adjust the G string saddle about 75% of its travel towards the neck. This will leave you room to move the remaining saddles when setting the intonation. Nice top! Philippe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 I finally got a little bit more work done. I practiced a lot with my router, then attempted to do the neck pocket. It could have been a little better, but for my first try I don't think it's too bad. Also, since the body is fairly thick, I am thinking about do an AANJ type of thing to make it a little thinner where the neck attaches. Here is a picture of the body with the neck attached as of now. Another full picture Blurry pic of neck pocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOAMdude Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 I finally got a little bit more work done. I practiced a lot with my router, then attempted to do the neck pocket. It could have been a little better, but for my first try I don't think it's too bad. Also, since the body is fairly thick, I am thinking about do an AANJ type of thing to make it a little thinner where the neck attaches. Here is a picture of the body with the neck attached as of now. Another full picture Blurry pic of neck pocket is it me or is the body a little bit small? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted June 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 Yes, the body shape might not be the best....I drew the design freehand. On my next project I will use a template to make the neck and body match a little better. I've got some work done lately: fixed the neck pocket (it wasn't quite deep enough), used an angle grinder to do a slight tummy cut, drilled the holes for the controls and started routing the electronics cavity. I think I have a problem though....the body is 2" thick, most bolt on necks are usually 1 3/4" thick. Will the screws be long enough to go through the wood and make a strong joint. I don't have the neck mounting screws or any hardware yet so I can't really test things. I thought about an AANJ type joint, but I did more research and those are usually on thinner bodies...right? Not sure if I explained this very well but any advice would be appreciated, or am I just worrying unnecessarily? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted June 2, 2007 Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 If you find that your screws are too short for comfort, you could always route/drill 1/4" deep holes that are the diameter of the screw heads (i.e. countersinking the screws?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I've slowly been working on this and finally have some progress to show. I have pretty much finished the body: pickup cavities, neck mounting holes, random drilling and sanding, etc. I made templates for the pickups from mdf, but stupidly I made them and routed them before I had even ordered the pickups.....so they fit nicely but there is a small gap on some of the sides. Here is a low quality picture (sorry) of everything in place on the body. Currently the body is being stained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Here is a picture of the semi-finished body. It has been stained and received all of its clear coats. There is plenty of orange peel/ugliness that needs to be evened out when I do the wetsanding. There isn't much for me to do now but wait for another few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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