Prostheta Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 (edited) another pic yet another pic Just awaiting the cocobolo board with inlays.... Edited March 11, 2007 by Prostheta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernova9 Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 another pic yet another pic Just awaiting the cocobolo board with inlays.... It looks like the bottom wing isn't glued to the body?? Nice bass though, a bassist friend of mine is in love with the Thunderbird, and I can see why. Great body shape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 None of it is glued yet. Since it's a good ol' classic 2x4 neck, you can do EVERYTHING as far as the routing goes on the tenon without gluing the wings on! The neck is a lot easier to handle without the extra bulk of the wings, so whilst i'm still doing "coarse" work (routing, bandsawing, etc.) i'm leaving the wings off. As you can see, I have yet to complete the headstock (got a bit distracted yesterday as my wife and I went to a GWAR gig). Anyway. More about the build. The neck tenon is five laminations of wenge and mahogany, the central mahogany core being some OLD OLD growth quarterwawn mahogany which, with the wenge, should add a good deal of stability and stiffness to the neck: CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE The wings are plain mahogany. After about three months of research, I couldn't figure out an easy or economical way of doing the Gibson-style V-jointing between the wings and the body so I sacked it off in favour of a straight planed edge join. The finish is going to be a solid one, most probably in black with green accenting same as my mainstay gigging bass. In that respect, I better do some hunting for black-green-black pickguard material or plastics which I can laminate to achieve the same effect....once the pickguard and truss rod covers are made, i'm hoping to have them engraved with the band logo or something along those lines.... The nut is currently going to be a Warwick Just-A-Nut 2 which is a height adjustable plastic nut which is simple to install and will get the bass up and running in the shortest time possible. I'll most probably replace this with a black Corian nut - ring your local outlet for samples which are ideal for several nuts! :-D Oh man, I never mentioned how proud I was of my first well planned and executed scarf joint. The other two scarf joints were done in a bit of a hit and miss manner, but using Setch's great tutorial and a couple of similar tutorials on here, the laminations line up perfectly. Once i've shaped the volute i'll post pics and beam with self-satisfied pride of course! Overall, a very simple and quick build also. No more than six hours work has been spent so far (lots more in terms of thinking and planning time however) excepting the gluing time of course. I'm tempted to rattle off a few more Thunderbirds now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 (edited) Cool stuff. This is the backup bass I have access to when something goes wrong with my any of my basses, very similar to your current build. Not the most comfortable bass for resting your arm on the body. My only complaint is the string spacing, which is pretty wide on most 4-strings. I like it nice and tight! Around 15-16mm. Edited March 11, 2007 by Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 nice rig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 My only complaint is the string spacing...I like it nice and tight! Around 15-16mm. That is tight for a 4. Where do you get a 4-bridge (or even a 5-bridge) that tight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Thanks Tim, in internet speak, "it owns". My only complaint is the string spacing...I like it nice and tight! Around 15-16mm. That is tight for a 4. Where do you get a 4-bridge (or even a 5-bridge) that tight? Custom made? There are also single saddles. I just prefer tight string spacing on my basses, at least it's common on 6+ string basses. Even on a 4-string bass it drives me crazy having such wide spacing, which is about 18mm on most 4 strings. But don't let me steal this thread from Carl! He's the one building the sexy basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 (edited) Dammit, was trying to edit something and it posted~ Edited March 11, 2007 by Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Hahaha...no worries there Jon! I've been playing fives for a fair amount of time now, so going back to a four might have a learning curve! As you can see, i've deliberately gone for the "traditional" Gibson style three-point bridge so I might have to put a little bit of a neck angle in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 UPDATE: Shaped and routed the headstock. Need to ease the volute a couple of mm to accommodate the tuner locating screw. The back of the tenon needs easing a couple of mm also as the top is a little too tall compared to the wings. Other than that - good to go! SHOT 2 SHOT 3 SHOT 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewer71 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 (edited) UPDATE: Shaped and routed the headstock. Need to ease the volute a couple of mm to accommodate the tuner locating screw. The back of the tenon needs easing a couple of mm also as the top is a little too tall compared to the wings. Other than that - good to go! i think my favorite part of the thunderbird style is the headstock... i always thought the body would make for a great 8 string, but i wouldn't want to f. with the flow of the headstock it's so perfect! Edited March 15, 2007 by chewer71 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!WOOD!! Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Never seen a Thunderbird yet that I liked but yours looks pretty cool.Almost makes me want to build a Thunderbird.No!! must resist temptation!!Aughhh!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFW Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 UPDATE: Shaped and routed the headstock. Need to ease the volute a couple of mm to accommodate the tuner locating screw. The back of the tenon needs easing a couple of mm also as the top is a little too tall compared to the wings. Other than that - good to go! i think my favorite part of the thunderbird style is the headstock... i always thought the body would make for a great 8 string, but i wouldn't want to f. with the flow of the headstock it's so perfect! then do it like the BC Rich double stringers (10 string Bich comes to mind) with the other tuners on the bottom of the guitar and ferrules in the headstock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 i think my favorite part of the thunderbird style is the headstock Oh yeah, I agree there! One of the great ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 oooooooh...black & green thunderbird, it's going to be a beauty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 UPDATE: Received the black CA today, as well as the cocobolo board precut by HuntinDoug for the ES-335 style inlays...glued up, re-radiused and polished!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Pretty sweet man. I can't remember if I've asked this before, but what tuning do you use with your band? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Standard E! You don't need to detune to be heavy....Destinstitution on our Myspace often makes people ask what tuning we use....hahaha :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2007 I think I might leave this bass natural, given the awesome piece of central mahogany and the wenge. The black CA I have might work well as a grain filler under an oil finish.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Standard E! You don't need to detune to be heavy....Destinstitution on our Myspace often makes people ask what tuning we use....hahaha :-D I wasn't sure if you guys changed anything. And yeah, that crunchy F from destinstitution sounds a bit lower than standard. Looking forward to hearing the new stuff for 2007! Leave it natural! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Standard E! You don't need to detune to be heavy....Destinstitution on our Myspace often makes people ask what tuning we use....hahaha :-D I wasn't sure if you guys changed anything. And yeah, that crunchy F from destinstitution sounds a bit lower than standard. Looking forward to hearing the new stuff for 2007! Leave it natural! The tuning or the bass...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 The bass, hah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 Right, well we're fast approaching the finishing post (no joke intended!). Another pic Yet another pic The central tenon has had the top edges smoothed over slightly, the back has been planed flat and rounded over, etc. The cocobolo was awful to work with (cough, sputter etc.) but looks AWESOME with the inlays. Many many many thanks to Huntindoug on that one! I still have to round over the top, move the heel up an inch or so and finish sand. I believe i'm going to go for a black Briwax finish although I may yet be talked out of it. The volatility and toxicity of cutting black cyanoacrylate with acetone as a grain filler has put me off a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 Great looking bass you got there! That wenge looks awful pale. Was it sapwood that you used? I'm REALLY lovin' that truss-rod cover! How did you do the text? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 (edited) The wenge is fairly neutral looking, but the oil or wax finish should bring it out nicely. I'm just happy that even strung up, the neck doesn't move at all. Really. it's straight as a die when up to tension. Crazy! Trussrod cover? Ask Huntindoug! It's a laser cut piece of rosewood :-D Edited March 23, 2007 by Prostheta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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