Simo

Just a quick update...

The scarf joint is done & I've glued on the headstock veneers. Again, nothing too fancy, just plain black veneers (dyed Sycamore) front & back.

Work has begun on the neck... I wanted the neck to have a clean & simple look, so nothing too fancy, just plain Maple with Black Walnut laminates, which should fit nicely with the colours of the body woods. I've also picked out a Macassar Ebony fretboard to use.

Pic taken before gluing...

Simo, I've been amazed by your bass guitar builds since I joined the forum!

I can see why people are recommending ziricote as a fretboard for my limba guitar now. Good stuff! I can't wait to see what you do with it

Cheers Ziricote is great for fretboards, just make sure you check the pieces carefully, as it's prone to surface checking and end splitting during the drying process.

Some progress, at last! I've rounded over the edges, as well as carving the forearm and the rear 'gut cut' contours, I'll be making a start on the neck next week... so more updates soon .

By the way, my workshop blog is now online at www.simnettguitars.com (shameless advertising )

Finally, a bass for yours truly! I've been wanting to build myself a short scale, piezo only bass for a while but I've been too busy with commission builds lately. I've still got to draw up a more detailed plan, but the spec so far is...

30" scale, 4 string

Korina body

Ziricote top, with dyed black Sycamore veneer

Maple neck

Hipshot 'Ghost' bridge (black)

Acousti-Phonic pre-amp

Ultra Lite tuners (black)

Macassar Ebony fretboard

...all of the above is subject to change of course, I'm still toying with the idea of adding a magnetic pickup (or 2), but we'll see

Due to other commitments, it'll be a couple of week until I can really get stuck into this project, but I've made a small start... the body has been glued up and cut to shape.

Cheers hopefully I'll have some sound clips to upload soon.

'JD6' - 6 String Bass

In Progress Thread: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=40202

Body:

American Cherry body wood

Redwood Lace Burl top, with dyed Sycamore veneer

Redwood/Ebony ramp

Red dye, finished with Rustin's Plastic Coating

Neck:

Sapele, Black Walnut & Ebony

Macassar Ebony fretboard

Redwood Lace Burl headstock veneers (+dyed black veneers)

Dual action truss rod & carbon fibre rods

24 medium frets

Graphite nut

Sterling silver inlays

Electronics/Hardware:

Nordstrand Dual Coil & Fat Stack pickups

Hipshot bridge

Hipshot Ultralite tuners

Aguilar OBP-3TK pre-amp with mid-frequency switch and passive/active switch

A few more pics courtesy of it's new owner...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2974.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2964.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2963.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2972.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2962.jpg

Great looking build. Any feedback from the owner as to how well it plays?

Thanks... yeah I dropped the bass off in person, so I had chance to see Jack plug it in and give it a test drive, it would appear I have a very happy customer.

Finished at last

A few more pics courtesy of it's new owner...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2974.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2964.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2963.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2972.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/The...rd/IMG_2962.jpg

No, with the combination of the Redwood top being 1/2" thick and the large cavity and neck routes, it's ended up being quite a lightweight body, in fact I wouldn't want it any lighter or neck dive could be an issue.

A few more buffing pics...

....not long now, all being well it should be finished within the next week

Control cavity is now routed...

...and the pickups and hardware have arrived

What he said ^

Here's a pic of a Shuker bass with a ramp...

http://www.danveall.co.uk/shuker7/complete/8.jpg

A bit more of an update... Jack has decided to add a ramp, so I've routed out a cavity between the pickups. And as you can see, the fretboard is on and has been trimmed flush with the neck.

Here's a shot of the neck placed on top of the body (there's no neck pocket yet)

The headstock veneers have been glued on... Redwood front and back, with thin black veneers in between.

Thanks

The scarf joint is done, I'm gluing the headstock veneers on at the moment. I'll have a lot more progress pics next week.

Can i ask how you rounded the edges?

I use a 1/2" roundover cutter, then finish off by hand with sandpaper.

As for the redwood, It doesn't look like it has eyes anymore

The eyes don't really stand out when the wood is unfinished, on the pics where I've wiped the body over with water you can see them more clearly, once it's been oiled they'll really 'pop'.

I've unistalled Guitarport completely and tried installing the Zoom Asio driver again but still no luck

Yep, tried that. I've tried every usb port on my pc too, with/without a hub, etc... still won't work. I'm going to try uninstalling my Guitarport software just in case that's causing a conflict, then try again. Any other suggestions welcome!

Pickups have now been routed and the neck blank has been glued up.

Sapele/Ebony/Black Walnut...

I've just brought a Zoom H4n recorder & I'm having trouble installing the ASIO driver, just wondering if anyone can help...

The H4n installs automatically when it's plugged in to a usb port, that works without a problem... the next step is install the asio driver (which I downloaded from Zoom's website) I've followed all the steps carefully, installed the new system version, etc, but when I try and install the asio driver, it get's to the end of the installation process and says it's been unsuccessful I've tried using a different usb port but still no luck...

....any ideas?

Nope, never had a problem with that.

Yeah, I should of said.... the pic I posted yesterday was wiped over with water to raise the grain. The last pic is a bit pale compared to how it looks in the flesh, fluorescent lights are probably to blame, which is why I tend to take my pics outside.

I really like, it's pretty similar to (English) Sycamore, Maple, etc, to work with, it sands to a really nice finish, it routes well but like Maple has a tendency to burn. It's reasonably heavy, which might put some people off but combined with lighter 1/2" tops the body weight is fine. We'll see how these 2 basses sound when they're done but I'm certainly planning to use it again.... I just wish it was cheaper to buy over here