gpcustomguitars Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 A friend a mine has a new gig, but needs a flashier guitar than his really beat up Squire Jazz, so he asked me to use the neck, most of the hardware from it and the Precision he has, and he liked a fretless I made out of this material, so...here goes. I need to do this reasonably quickly, because he needs it fast, and I have a new baby coming later this week. We started out with Jazz Bass shape, to be altered to his wishes. Pups will be Precision split + Jazz bridge, with pan pot and no other controls, but extra space in the electronic cavity if he wants something more down the road. I will eventualy make the new neck for this, and one other bass, probably fretless. The material is a walnut root, dug out and cut with an chainsaw some years back. Very light. First, I cut out an generous Jazz outline using an jigsaw. Since this is figured, I want to have as little surface to level as possible. Then, after little rough handplaning it goes on the overhead router. The blank is still too thick, ~51mm, but I cleaned the back to draw out the shape again. Since this was under ground, I have to expect surprises, like pockets of clay or voids... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 And yes, we have an clay pocket! I can solve this by changing the shape, leaving it as natural (which I did once before and worked great), or cutting out an plugging it with an piece of maple, but its his call... While waiting on him to come to see it and decide on a shape, I toyed with some ideas for a pickguard, cause he kinda wants one, and he kinda doesn't at the same time, so i figured to do a big inlay in aluminum which would roughly take the space of the JazzBass pickguard, just suggesting the pickguard. Walnut branches and leaves, since it is wallnut body, and I thought an contrast between dark wallnut and silvery aluminum would be kinda LOTR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 A sneak peek at the back figure But when he came to see it, he decided no inlay (doesn't mean I wont do it on another piece, just for the hell of it ), and changed the shape a lot. It also solves the void problem completely. It will have a top radius and completely rounded sides like an Warwick, and I'll probably freehand most of it on the overhead router, since I don't have the time or the space to do an radius jig just for this... We'll see how it goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted June 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Yesterday I just managed to roughly saw off some parts not needed and started to clean up some corners on the sander. I try to find 15mins to 1h a day to do some work... The void is completely gone, it should look very nice when finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted June 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Managed to partly shape the outline in the few minutes I had yesterday. The part where the void was looks nice now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted June 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) Some more pics, not much progress, but I've got very little time with the new baby in the house. Cut out and sanded most of the shape.. By gpguitars at 2012-06-28 By gpguitars at 2012-06-28 By gpguitars at 2012-06-28 Edited June 28, 2012 by gpcustomguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted June 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 I was sorting the offcuts for firewood, and got an idea - since this is of the same piece, it could be used for the matching headstock. Probably something Warwick-like. It would be scarfed, and the length of the neck I would laminate out of straight grained, much lighter coloured walnut, perhaps some cherry lams 5mm I cut a lot of some time ago, some maple??? This would mean making the whole bass straight away, and possibly, glued-in neck, with much nicer neck body join that the plain industrial bolt on thing. He wants just one pup now, a MusicMan copy from GFS. Any ideas would be appreciated - since he wasn't exact about what he wants, we are making this up as we go - which is actually fun! I will have a lot of unused ideas after this. For the fretboard, walnut, black walnut (actualy purplish), olive, cherry? Ideas? I'm mostly using local woods, only olive log I got from a relative coming for a visit... By gpguitars at 2012-06-29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 No much progress, but getting there. I completed the body outline yesterday, and drawn out the control cavity - just tone, volume, and jack. Now some routing, and rounding the back... By gpguitars at 2012-07-02 By gpguitars at 2012-07-02 By gpguitars at 2012-07-02 By gpguitars at 2012-07-02 BTW used some junk I had and some 20 mins to make this, still have to test it... By gpguitars at 2012-06-29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Some more progress, not much, but I've rounded the back, made the belly carve and sculpted the heel area roughly. I'll blend the lines a lot more, but the bulk of it is done. I'll make an wooden cover out of the matching walnut piece. Then radiusing the front is in order. Also, I might be making an wooden bridge blended with the top out of olive, with aluminum or brass saddles, but that's still mostly in my head and somewhat on paper... By gpguitars at 2012-07-05 By gpguitars at 2012-07-05 By gpguitars at 2012-07-05 By gpguitars at 2012-07-05 By gpguitars at 2012-07-05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestvic Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 i actually like the knots and everything in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Thanks! It is very knotty but will look all the better for it when it's done. I've been drawing wooden bridges since yesterday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bionic Machinist Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 (edited) BTW used some junk I had and some 20 mins to make this, still have to test it... By gpguitars at 2012-06-29 What might that be? Looks like a fancy Bong to me. Edited July 6, 2012 by Bionic Machinist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 <_< It's an dust cyclone for my vacuum cleaner - the blue plate is a lid of an 15l paint can, and the beer bottle is supposed to separate the dust into the can instead of the vacuum cleaner. The attachment shown is for my sander. Still have to test it, to see if i got the proportions right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piercefield Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 <_< It's an dust cyclone for my vacuum cleaner - the blue plate is a lid of an 15l paint can, and the beer bottle is supposed to separate the dust into the can instead of the vacuum cleaner. The attachment shown is for my sander. Still have to test it, to see if i got the proportions right. I was wondering myself... I was picturing this as some sort of pressurized epoxy injection rig to fill the knots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I actually plan to fill the little voids with either glue or epoxy mixed with sawdust and black dye, and to dye the whole thing black, and then sand back. BTW yesterday I've resawn the cover piece for the electronics, and may have an actual bridge design. Maple base, ebony sides, and some aluminum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Not much progress, but we finally agreed upon a bridge design. Maple base, ebony sides, and spacers and saddles aluminum. This is a first, if I don't count the mini bridge for my son's half-sized Les Paul, so we'll se how this goes. I'll be turning ferules from aluminum rivets. By gpguitars at 2012-07-14 By gpguitars at 2012-07-14 By gpguitars at 2012-07-14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Had some 2 hours today and got some work done. Started the bridge, thined the body to thickness, drawn the neck pocket, made the back cover and started the front radius. I was planning an setup to do it on the overhead router, but decided to try it freehand, rasps and sandpaper. By gpguitars at 2012-07-15 By gpguitars at 2012-07-15 By gpguitars at 2012-07-15 By gpguitars at 2012-07-15 By gpguitars at 2012-07-15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Started making the radius of the top, I was expecting more trouble, but it seems to be going ok for now. Just a rasp, sanding block and a scraper. I want to angle the electronics cavity, so, I'll be routing it after this is done. The middle portion of the top, around ~80mm will remain flat, but blended with the radius. By gpguitars at 2012-07-17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Any thoughts on filling the gaps on this - I can use CA or epoxy, mixed with sawdust and perhaps black dye, but I probably have to finish it with oil, which I have no experience with. So, I don't know which will react better with the oil/wax finish, meaning no stains - CA or epoxy? I plan to mix my own, 1:1.2:1 ratio of boiled lineseed oil, turpentine and varnish, followed by liquid wax 3:1 turpentine to beeswax for polishing. Is this about right? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Neither one will stain or accept an oil finish.....they will form the surface of the areas you are filling. Fill them early in the sanding process so you can sand down past the glue you got on the areas surrounding your gap. That way your wood will absorb the oil finish right up to the filled area. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks Scott! Perhaps I should consider mixing Titebond with sawdust also? Will test on scrap, Titebond+dust would probably accept the oil nicely. I'm really not a big fan of oil finishing, since I have very nice oiled/waxed bass with mostly maple neck, and it gets dirtyer and grayer the more it is played...but for this bass it's not my call, so I get to learn about oil finishing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 The titebond will not take the oil and the sawdust will....at least the part that is raw at the surface. Don't worry about the gaps and voids you've filled with epoxy or CA not accepting oil. The fill will seal the wood and you already expect it to look different. You just don't want it to seal the wood surrounding the filled gap. Fill your gaps early in the sanding stage and while you sand them back down level you'll be cleaning up the surrounding areas at the same time. All that surrounding wood will accept the oil just fine and the filled gap will not need to. Once your oil finish is cured, you can wax the whole thing without any problems. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 OK, thanks a lot! I'm just shaping the top now, so this is probably the best time to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Well, some progress today. I took the body home from the shop and did some rasping & sanding while the kids were asleep. Afterwards, I decided to start a neck for it, if he doesn't want it, I'll have a neck for something else. It'll be two lams of walnut with a stripe of cherry in the middle. I'll make an truss rodd too. I'll scarf the headstock on it from the piece I've shown earlier to match the body. Next, I got some 8 mm alu rivets to make all the ferrules from. By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 By gpguitars at 2012-07-18 BTW, here's 2 pics of an finished bass out of same material. I call it Thunderjazz. It's really an Thunderbird shaped like a Jazz bass, with a EB pup. Sounds BIG! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted July 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 Did some drawing at work just now - this is an idea for the headstock. I would route a ledge around 3mm deep, and the symetrical shape would stay full thickness of the headstock, and be radiused the same as the body top. The back would be routed at an angle to angle the machine heads with the radius. I would inlay my logo in pearl or aluminum (I would prefer aluminum to tie it with the rest of the instrument), and add his signature in the upper left part. Truss cover would be aluminum walnut leaf, since everything on it would be walnut except for that one lam of cherry. Comments please! How does this shape work with the body shape? I really hope my friend agrees with the making of the neck, I just don't see this bass leaving with beaten up Squire Jazz neck slapped on By gpguitars at 2012-07-19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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