Wademeister Posted August 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2010 (edited) Always wanted a ric style but wasnt sure how comfy they would be to gig with. These look great! I think once that maple/white pearl neck is fretted then it will get the extra contrast it needs. If you were cutting with cnc, it might have been cool to cut a 0.5mm channel around the edge of the pearl blocks and filled with black CA, just to outline them slightly. The cherry is my favorite at the minute Thanks Sam, Comfort is one feature that I was very aware of while designing this bass. I found that the Aerodyne Jazz felt very good to me but I went a bit farther with my body curve than than Fender did. The thin bodies also contribute to a nice lightweight bass which I really like a lot too. I haven't weighed all the hardware yet to see where it's going to finish out, but the cherry one is just over five pounds and the mahogany just under five. I also went a bit radical on the top contour because I really like the look of it. Ever seen a thigh cut before? I think the back and front contours work well together and I'm really happy with the way these look from any angle. As WezV pointed out, my design was inspired by the Fender Jazz and since I've dropped the pickguard I think the block inlays help retain some of the j-bass flavor. I think you're right about the frets helping it out visually but I don't think I would like to accent the inlays with black borders. But then again... Check the bottom pic on this page http://www.luthiersupply.com/blockfretinlaypage.html no no no no no no no! I'm gonna leave it alone! Edited August 10, 2010 by Wademeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted August 10, 2010 Report Share Posted August 10, 2010 These are turning out really cool. They've got that classic feel like a Ric (only bass I own or want to! woo!) while still using some cool vibrant woods which usually take away from the "classic" feel of instruments IMO. Great work man! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted August 10, 2010 Report Share Posted August 10, 2010 they do look cool; i see a ric, a jazz, and sometihng metal, kinda maybe b.c. rich/ some of the ibanez stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted August 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2010 they do look cool; i see a ric, a jazz, and sometihng metal, kinda maybe b.c. rich/ some of the ibanez stuff Gibson Victory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Really should have just built one at a time No way man. I can never do that, Always has to be at least 2 going together. my brain goes to mush fixating on a single build, drives me a bit cookoo Lookin realy good Btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Really should have just built one at a time No way man. I can never do that, Always has to be at least 2 going together. my brain goes to mush fixating on a single build, drives me a bit cookoo Lookin realy good Btw. I agree, I've got 5 going right now... one extra neck just since I was doing necks one day... and two guitars waiting for some finish work when these 5 go in to finish mode. Yeah... it's bad Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Really should have just built one at a time No way man. I can never do that, Always has to be at least 2 going together. my brain goes to mush fixating on a single build, drives me a bit cookoo Lookin realy good Btw. thats actually reeaally good advice, even for firts timers; you start trying too many thigs on one build when theres only one on the go, and it ends up taking as long as 2 tottally different builds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Really should have just built one at a time No way man. I can never do that, Always has to be at least 2 going together. my brain goes to mush fixating on a single build, drives me a bit cookoo Lookin realy good Btw. thats actually reeaally good advice, even for firts timers; you start trying too many thigs on one build when theres only one on the go, and it ends up taking as long as 2 tottally different builds Exactly. Do what im doing now. 2 satch models, flying V, 3 Jems, 2 les pauls, a strat, a red special & a tele with its own built in amp & effects. keeps me from over focusing on just the one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luthier1206 Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 In the first pic, what program are you using Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted August 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 In the first pic, what program are you using It's Mastercam. I use it pretty much all day every day. And with this project I'm using it at night too, guess I just can't get enough! You guys building all those guitars at once wear me out just thinking about it! In any case I wouldn't recommend building #4 and #5 simultaneously. I'm about to do a couple of touch-ups related to inexperience and trying to do too much at one time. Pics to come of the repairs of course. You know how I love my pics!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 I like the way these turned out. Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted August 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Weekend update time! As I was saying, I had some touch-ups to do. The binding wasn't as tight as it should have been, especially on the mahogany bodied bass. I must have done the cherry one first because it wasn't too bad. I think two small spots that I filled in with black epoxy. I had tried a couple different things including ebony dust in clear epoxy but nothing was even close to the smooth opaque black epoxy I got from Stewmac. That's some good stuff! This is the worst of it. I used a razor blade and exacto knife to clean out the old glue and Rustin's so the epoxy had good bonding surfaces. They're all filled in and sanded flush now. It's all nice and solid and looks just like if I had done it right in the first place so I'm satisfied with that. I also had some very annoying misalignment on that bass. When I cut the top for the cap, I didn't get it lined up quite right. Cherry bass? Bang, dead on. Mahogany? Missed by about .03" resulting in a small step under the binding on the bass side and a sliver of maple showing where the top should have covered on the treble side. I carved the maple out of the treble side and cut a filler out of a top wood scrap. Ever try to make a flat toothpick from curly redwood? Sheesh! Took me about 5 tries before I finally got it. This stuff is FRAGILE. The bass side got a slightly larger maple filler which was a breeze. Both repairs are visible but sound and not obvious at all. I think they'll be fine after I get the finish on them so I'm satisfied with that too =) Some remaining black epoxy binding repair is visible on that last pic. These repairs are part of why I wanted to get some finish on when I did. So I wouldn't have to worry about masking everything off. The epoxy sanded off nice and clean since it couldn't get under the finish I had on before the repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted August 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 So there's two nasties out of the way and two to go. Next item is a little chipout around the pickup routes. If you remember when I mentioned that this redwood chips when you look at it, this is what I was talking about. I used a downcut bit to cut these edges and on the first few passes everything was nice and clean but later on these chips fell out. I think the wood was already broken inside or something, there was just no way to be careful enough to prevent it. From experience though, I think if I put some finish on the top before cutting through it this could have been avoided. I'm thinking I can crush up some tiny pieces of redwood scrap and mix with rustins for a filler in these tiny spots. Think that would work? Oh my, that doesn't look like cherry inside there does it? Sheeze... One last thing that's bothering me and I'm really not sure what to do about this one. When I glued the binding on (badly) I seem to have gotten glue ALL OVER the raw mahogany (OF COURSE the mahogany). This piece is super light, soft and open. I probably shouldn't have used it at all but I had it, I was ready to go, and there's no turning back now! The light colored wood all around the output jack near the binding is where the glue prevented the rustins from penetrating into the grain. No telling how far that glue goes but I don't think I want to try sanding it out. My best guess at the moment is to dab some walnut colored stain on top of the next coat of rustin's. Of course again, some finish on the body would have prevented this problem, as would some masking tape, better forming of the binding before attempting to stick it on, and maybe just more care in general. This is my impatience showing through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted August 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 So the name Ricodyne has been wearing on me a bit. Kind of a silly name and this project merits a real name instead of something meaning a mashed together copy of some existing stuff. I took inspiration from the complete binding job and decided to call the design Nazca. Individually, I made the cherry bass the Nazca Hummingbird and the mahogany one is the Nazca Spider. I put a lot of time into this inlay job and really appreciate my CNC machinery for this kind of work. Turned out as good as I had hoped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luthier1206 Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 beautiful work so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 16, 2010 Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Don't let a few slip-ups discourage you, these look amazing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted August 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2010 Don't let a few slip-ups discourage you, these look amazing!!! Thanks Geo, Not discouraged at all, hope I didn't give that impression. I just had some things to take care of and figured I'd share it since it's part of the process and especially part of the experience and improvement process. I'm looking for suggestions on the chipout repair and binding glue boo-boos if you guys have any ideas that might be better than what I mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpenter's blues Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Man, I'm going to have to build one with a redwood top after seeing these, they look awesome. I'm leery of it though because I've worked with redwood quite a bit in carpentry projects and it can be so brittle/ splintery sometimes. Oh, and those redwood splinters hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 WELL!!! Some progress again at last. I've been distracted working on a different kind of project for a while now, check it out.. Meanwhile, I had someone take care of the finishing for me. I wasn't doing such a hot job with that and it was sort of bringing me to a stalling point in the project. Since I gave the basses to the guy I've not been too interested in the whole project to be honest. Maybe I just needed a diversion for a while but I'm back on the bass project now. I cut the frets by CNC machine as you might expect. Drew them into my bass CAD file and went according to plan. I think they came out looking great and the lengths worked out as well as I could hope for, extending just barely past the fretboard onto the binding. Feels terrific! Made a black delrin nut and glued it on with black epoxy so it looks great next to the black binding. Pretty much all I have left to do on this bass is solder up the electronics and make a cover for the control cavity. Here's how she looks right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plinky Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 (edited) That top wood is simply gorgeous. Car's not bad either. '65 Galaxie? When I was a kid, I coulda had a '67 ragtop for about $1600, but my dad wouldn't let me. Edited January 18, 2011 by plinky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted January 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 You got it plinky, she's a '65. Only car I have too! Got tired of driving Hyundais and Mazdas and got me a real old school rockin' machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted February 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 I guess I got em pretty much finished up. Been playing them and they both sound and feel great! The one with the chrome hardware and witch hat knobs is the super lightweight at only 6.53 pounds. I was trying to not get too heavy but that was a little overboard. The fact that the mahogany board I found was super light really helped, but with the maple and bloodwood neck the bass is very resonant and has great sustain in spite of the light weight. The cherry one is also pretty light at 7.37. I'm really happy with these guys!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plinky Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 You got it plinky, she's a '65. Only car I have too! Got tired of driving Hyundais and Mazdas and got me a real old school rockin' machine. Thank you. Awesome work there Wademeister. Those basses are stellar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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