Boggs

Progress update to 8/31... I'm liking how this is turning out!! I thought I had black tuning machines... The golds are temporary...

My very first build was the RockBeach CamelBack chambered body prototype made with a chambered pine midsection and European hardwood plywood top and back to help me define my build processes and electronics. It sounded so cool, I built it up again after my padauk/Cuban mahogany build was done. That prototype did funk tones like nobody's business when plugged in and it projected so well acoustically that I didn't even need to plug it in to practice with! That guitar is being gigged by a player in Germany to this day...

You really need to get out more...

You lose some of the contrast with the spruce bars and some of the waterfall swirls... Just not as good.

I picked up some nice 1/4" thick strips of spruce, mahogany, and cherry from Dan's Crafts to build up the top widths of that bubinga/wenge top and back and came up with some gorgeous combinations for the 2009 NAMM build! I made up a mask from a black matte material which will also show off various combinations of the cocobolo for a customer 12-string AE to pick and choose from... I have two upcoming builds to do... One is that complex customer 12-string AE that I intend to make using a cocobolo top and back and the other is for Hipshot which will be a very complex waterfall bubinga/spruce/wenge/mahogany top and back if they like the concept for NAMM... Both will be the new CamelBack-H (the Horned CamelBack based on the bass design). I have made a black mask of the new shape and took some shots for them of various bookmatch configurations. Here's a little preview for you... Of course, all will darken up and pop once a finish is applied. Just click on the links (or copy them to the address bar if necessary) to see them. I direct linked one pic of each to wet the appetite... Boggs http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_2s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_3s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_4s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_5s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_6s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_7s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cam...ckH_Mask_2s.jpg

Verhoevenc, I had to go with your acoustic. I do understand the level of skill it takes to build something like that and that is a beautiful example. It really drew me to want to play it! Stunning work! Scottyd, outstanding workmanship. The scroll was wonderfully executed. Beautiful top, too as is the layering... I think if anything, the straighter lines of the horns was a bit too much in contrast with the beautiful flowing curved lines elsewhere on the instrument. Of course, I love my bass, but would never vote for my own build... The customer for this is a shredder of sorts and note definition and durability is what moved me to the SS frets. She likes a piano-esque ring and this bass delivers. The neck is bubinga and purpleheart and so to bring the purpleheart to the headstock front with the trussrod cover made sense to me. That butted up against the brass nut has the same kind of effect as the rear cover against the golds of the Cuban mahogany. I understand the desire to have me build the neck too, but I can offer a wider range of woods, profiles, and hardware without having to invest in and store all of the different woods or tool up for them. Zionsdream, very nicely executed design and build. I am not a pointy fan myself, but yours looks very artistic and more playable than most. I like the hint of a curve in the extended lower bout... Nicely done! Andronico... A travel guitar that makes sense! Nice work, man! I think I would have liked a black bridge and hardware to look a bit more cohesive overall, but other than that, it looks great! Boner, again, pointy is generally not my thing, but that really looks cool! Again, it looks reasonably comfortable to play, too. Excellent execution on the theme... Mickguard, I had thought about doing what you did, but I could not have done it any better than you did! nice work!! Jyrki, Beautiful hollow Tele... Very rich color and classy look on a timeless theme... Hitone, I cannot say the shape or proportion suits my taste but I can appreciate the workmanship there. I'd love to know what it sounds like and how it plays... Jukkasil, that looked like a real challenge to build. Very interesting concept, but I feel the top holes are a bit overpowering. Anothe one I would love to hear though and to know if it is feedback resistant enough to gig... Rhoads56, brilliant work on the multiscale design! A bit too "common" in the headstock design for my taste, and a bit too in contrast with the flowing lines of the body, but that is a minor thing overall and purely a matter of taste. Superb work... Orgmorg, very cool concept! The one thing that doesn't make it for me is the shape of the crescent moon cutout. It is a bit too "deco" for me for a relic look... That all said, I am stunned and pleased that somebody thought to vote for me. Whoever you are, thank you so much as I honestly do not feel worthy to be in "competition" with these extraordinary craftsmen! Boggs

Here is my entry for June. It is my RockBeach CamelBack 35" scale length Bass. It is an extended horn design for balance as it is a chambered body made from crotch Cuban mahogany with bookmatched figured purpleheart top, rear cover, and truss rod cover. The neck is a Warmoth Gecko bubinga/purpleheart laminate with ebony fingerboard and SS frets. Pickup is Bartolini MM series wired for series/paralell/bridge for three distinct tones. Tuning machines are Hipshot as are the Tripleloc bridges. These are the new shots of it... I haven't received shipment yet of the XXL strings I need for it to string through the body, but my band's bass player tried it out Wednesday and said it had a teriffic variety of tones available and the string articulation with it was incredible with a real feel of power behind the notes... I was there when he played it and I couldn't be any more proud of any instrument I have built to date even including the original CamelBack that started this whole journey! Update: I have received the DR Strings and she is now strung through the body... Rings like a piano and with power to spare!! I don't even play bass, and it is going to kill me to give this one up! At least I know it is going to someone who will really appreciate and play the living hell out of it! That is what it is meant for, after all... Boggs

I made new pickup mount bezels for my poplar Cicada (all 3 of them) and rotated them clockwise in their mounts so that the pole pieces are now exactly in line with the strings. They are at 3 different angles to accomplish this (think of a fan-fret guitar) and it not only looks really cool, but WOW what a difference in tone balance, dynamics... EVERYTHING!! I am doing this treatment to a new build Mantis as well with the Vintage Vibe noiseless Strat singles. It really brought this guitar to LIFE! I'll take pictures tonight as last night was a late one with a rehearsal... Clips from that rehearsal will also be upcoming...

Oops... I should have posted this in the tools forum... Admins, please feel free to move this. Sorry 'bout that! Boggs

The price around here has always been $550 for it no matter where you went. I checked in with Sears because they were doing a one-year with no interest payment plan and they were at the normal selling price of $550. I checked in with Home Depot and they were on sale at $495. Sounded good... but I checked with Lowes just to be sure. They had it at $455!! This is the best price I have ever seen on it and I have been looking for over a year, so I bought it. My wife informed me of Home Depot's pricing policy where if you could find it for less, they will undercut it by 10% so seeing as I hadn't opened it yet, I took the receipt to them and low and behold, they honored their policy which means that I take the one back to Lowes and get the one at Home Depot for $410!!! Lowes wouldn't match it, so they lose. The folks at the Home Depot were doing handstands because they undercut Lowes... It was pretty comical! They are selling it practically at a loss and they are happy about it!

All that is left to do is wire it up, string it up, set it up, and make a purpleheart trussrod cover... I wish you could see the mirror smooth finish on this... http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/BassBody6s.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/BassBody7s.jpg

What has likely happened is you did not compensate for the insertion of the frets into their slots. Remember that each is trying to spread the sides of the slots apart and when you add 22 of them, it adds up. If you start with a flat neck before insertion, you will end up with a static back bow. You need some relief without truss-rod tension to start to compensate for the spread caused by the insertion of the frets. How much relief depends on the amount of interference between the slot and the fret tines...

I was just thinking that it would/will be interesting to do another recording using the chambered body with no controls at the same settings and hear the difference. Hopefully, it will be something I can try by this coming weekend. This is top stop strung rather than through the body. I will do it the same way when I test out the chambered body without controls and then later with controls.

You can see the real one here. I have not taken pics of the MDF prototype. It is the same shape, but just made with MDF and not chambered. It is a test mule for checking intonation, cut depths, etc... I would have put this clip in that thread, but you cannot change the thread title to reflect changes... Boggs http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...77&hl=Boggs

IT'S ALIVE!!! This is just a solid MDF test mule of the CamelBack bass I have been building (the mockup of the purpleheart and Cuban mahogany one). No shielding from the Bartolini MV5CBC humbucking pickup directly into the V-Amp2 tube preamp patch and a tiny bit of reverb. No volume or tone pot or shielding or anything. JustStrings back ordered the .075 A string so that one is missing on this 5-string. The D string went a bit flat before the recording as it was newly strung and I had to answer the phone just before recording this, but it is a test mule for checking intonation and ability to set up. I have to move the bridges about .100" towards the neck to get this just right. These are extra light strings. .040/.060/.075(back ordered)/.095/.125 and are likely the reason for this. Chuck, my machinist, made a test nut from brass for this. Works excellent!! If I go with this, I will only have to ground one of the Hipshot TripleLoc bridges as the strings will have a common ground through the nut... Anyway, here is a lame test clip of it as I am clearly not a bass player and the missing string messes me up even further. It is just cool hearing it for the first time. The buyer has already indicated to me that she would also like a fretless version of this one!! http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cyb...m/BassTest1.mp3

These pics show the near surgical fit of the purpleheart rear electronics access cover and the pickup rout achievable with the CNC process. That is the real purpose of the reference jig extensioins on the top and bottom of the body which will be machined off after the neck pocket and bridge routs are done. I do realize that when my machinist took these pics, he had the pickup in upside-down when he took the photos... http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/BassBody5s.JPG

Here are pics of the neck for the bass... Bubinga/Purpleheart with ebony fingerboard and SS frets. http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/BassNeck2s.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/BassNeck3s.JPG

Nice work!!

Thanks! The back is nothing to sneeze at either...

You'd have to ask him... I will though. That is the natural color of the wood. No dyes or pigments used...

Update 12/25/07: This is the front and back with a single coat of sealer on the top of the purpleheart and not even sanded back yet. No sealer on the Cuban mahogany yet. Jig locating extensions still in place. http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/BassBody2s.JPG

Absolutely! Thanks!

My machinist is the owner of the CNC machine. I do not know the name of it, to be honest, but we are doing the CAD design on MasterCam. It also translates to a Bridgeport.

This is the Cuban mahogany mid/back section of the new RockBeach CamelBack Bass I have been developing for a customer. It is going to be topped with highly figured and bookmatched purpleheart and have a purpleheart access cover. The neck is bubinga with ebony fingerboard.Scale length is 35" and it will be a 5-string with Hipshot TripleLoc individual string bridges. The first pic is the top view where the purpleheart will cover it. The second pic is the back which will be finished. The through rout is where the electronics cavity is and it will be covered with purpleheart after the recess for it is cut. The third pic is the CNC router doing its thing cutting it. Enjoy! http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/Bass2s.JPG http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Bass/Bass3s.JPG