Pibrocher

I spent quite a while trying to decide which way to run those octave strings. I decided ultimately to go with them on the top. The worst part is that the tops of each string can't be at the same height or they won't make contact at the same time on the bottom (at the fret). So if you look at a pair of strings from the side you'll see that at the nut end the are flush on the bottom of the strings but down at the bridge I have adjusted the saddles so that they are flush across the top. This allows you to pluck both strings at the same time relatively easily when playing without a pick. It also makes slapping on this instrument possible. The other thinking was that those octave strings are inherently shall we say "quieter" than the full bass string in each pair, therefore I thought it best to allow them to be hit first by the pick (when using a pick) and get the most bang for your buck on those octave strings. Besides, you know that big fat bass string will make some noise no matter how hard you hit it. In the end it takes little adjustment for the player both in fretting and plucking/strumming but in the end this actually turned out to be a real delight to play. Which is ALWAYS a bonus. You can hear me playing it on My MySpace page... http://www.myspace.com/realityisover

I'm really digging the colors and wood selection. I think that no matter how you end up shaping it its gonna look stellar. Of course a headstock can become your signature too... I'd suggest maybe making the top (upper in player-position) horn a little longer. Can't wait to see some sawdust fly!

Thanks everyone. The finish I used on this one is Satin Deft Lacquer. I used a sanding sealer on the big "flatter" areas to close the grain up. As you might imagine; those overlays had to be almost completely finish-ready when I glued them on because there is no feasible way to sand all those little pockets in the webs and on the ash underneath once the glue was set up. I was leery about doing the web cause I didn't know how it would turn out either. I mean it sounded good on paper so it must work, RIGHT? Hah we all know how that goes...

Hey Everyone out there in PG Land! I'd like to submit the Dr Seuss Tribute, 8-string bass for GOTM consideration. This guitar has been on PG for quite some time and the great members of this forum have really helped me decide where to take this beast. Sometime back in the early phases of this project, someone mentioned how "Seussical" the headstock looked. Now I've always been a big Dr Seuss fan so when that got in my head I decided to go for it. I went and hand-painted a "Cat In The Hat" emblem at the 12th fret and then made a very "Suessical" truss-rod cover that resembles something like a Trufula tree. Electronics: All passive pickups with a Seymour Duncan bass-tone pre-amp. It features a set of Seymour Duncan P-bass pickups in the neck and a standard neck pickup. The pre-amp has a blend knob, volume knob, and then a stacked set with bass/treb on the bottom and top (respectively). The volume knob actually has a pull on it to switch over to "slap" contoured EQ. Hardware: The tuners are all Gotoh and basically it is a set of 4 bass tuners and 4 guitar tuners. It's got a Gotoh 8-string bridge (not much selection for these bridges). Woods: The lightest colored wood is Ash and the rest is Mahogany. There is also a single piece of maple sandwiched in the neck to make it good and sturdy. Hope you guys like it. As always Rock On! I speak for the trees for the trees have no voice - the Lorax Vote For Me - Yipee!

Well I can't believe it but I finally finished up this project. I mean oh my gosh; it's been well over 2 years in the making. Of course my moving to Oregon in the middle of it and taking a full year off didn't help any. As I was finishing this beauty it occurred to me just how cool it would be to really make this a Dr Seuss tribute. A lot of people on the forum had mentioned how "Seusical" the headstock looked and so to them I tip my hat. They gave me the direction and now I have a bass that really has a great appeal. The tribute came in the form of a hand-painted "Cat In The Hat" emblem adorning the 12th fret and a very Seussical truss-rod cover. Here are a collection of other shots, full size... 12th Fret Dr Seuss "Cat In The Hat" Tribute 3/4 Shot across the top Front of Body Body Tail-end Back of Body Top of "Seussical" headstock Back of Headstock Thanks to everyone who has checked out the project. I am going to enter it in GOTM for July so come vote for it if you like the work. Cheers!

Looking sweet man, cant wait to see it!!! Hopefully it iwll be ready by the wedding, so that you can rock out in front of the fans...

Alrighty... Here is "Seuss" with her frets pounded in... And here are some more "in progress" shots... Fretwork - in progress 1 Fretwork - In progress 2 I'm going to file down the overhangs and then onto finish sanding and finishing,,,

That looks great. The woods all work really well together. Nicely done

Been cranking away on the bass the last 2 months and i wanted to post some progress. Progress? Well this project is going on 2 years in the works now. Its amazing how hard it can be to keep focused on something. The end is in sight though! Yay! Here are some shots of what Suess looks like now... . The mahogany overlay has been glued on. The pickup cavities are routed, as well as the wiring tunnels. I've drilled the holes for the pots and the electronics cavity and battery cavity have been routed out as well. Front side overlay and pickup cavities Backside cavities

Yee Hah! That is looking good! The truss rod cover always seems to be the last thing to go on. What is your neck width?

What will neck widtch at the nut be? Do those dimensions get adjusted because of the lack of frets? Awesome wood supply. It' a nice rack alright! Looks awesome! Great projects, nice pics too...

Someone asked for more on the Mahogany top piece. I had made alot of progress on that and never posted an pictures. Here is what i got to today... I went ahead and seprated the two-piece top so I could make my final inside cuts. I clamped it down and went to work with some small files and 150 grit. http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/8935/le...rogress22fe.jpg Had to get at it from a couple angles. This side of the top was fairly easy becasue the cut-out area is much larger, therefore more space to work. http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2262/le...rogress38lp.jpg I was pretty nervous making this cut. The 1/8 inch thick mahogany was chattering and i thought it might snap off. http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/159/lef...rogress48av.jpg I got i though... I think this half looks kinda like a duck head! So i finshed sanding all the inside parts of this half. One run through with 220 grit, and it'll ready to be glued down. I figure i'll finish up the other half, glue it down and sand down the outside eadges so they blend into the existing angle.

Nice variation on the classic V. What type of wood is that?

I am a sucker for natural finishes. I spent alot of time planning this and I wanted the wood to speak for itself. All the layered pieces are going to make this thing shine. BUt yeah, no stain just a nice clear finish. See the previous posts to see the Headstock hardware (black) and the bridge is chrome. All the Knobs are basic gnurled black. I have a an active pre-amp for this because i was not sure how to approach the broad range of sound that an 8-string will have. I went with some p-bass staggered pickups (Passive) to help spread out the pickups and i figured with an active preamp i could boost anything i could want. 8-strings have much more high-end, as you might imagine, then say a standard bass would. I am totally anxious to see what it sounds like in the end.

Awesome project. Great wood combinations and stain choice!

Man its good to back! I missed the forum since i was gone for the last 9 months. In that time i have relocated to a new wood-shop. This one, how ever, is lcoated in Southern Oregon! Getting from Maryland to Oregon but it was a blast. I have finally got myself a house with a place to make sawdust and i have jumped back into the Dr Suess Project once more. I have spent the last week or so shaping the neck and beginning the finish sanding/shaping for all of the backside. Been using some 150 grit sandpaper to take out the router burns on the Ash. Below is a shot of the heel almost finished up. You can see all the different woods coming togoether there, exactly what I was going for. http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/6314/progress2body4ft.jpg I am a little concerned about the headstock being able to handle all the extra string pull. I assumed that if I made the headstock kinda beefy it would be alright. Recently, however, I have seen a few guitars that actually had a reinforced headstock; and it got me thinking. Any input? http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4503/progress1full1ba.jpg http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/4355/pr...fullback3fc.jpg Won't be long and i'll be wiring her up and punding frets in. Whoo BoY! Can't wait...

Dude that is an awesome idea. Damn that would have helped me a bunch. Have to remeber it for future use. What do you guys think of the body contours?

Got the fretboard glued on last night. That thing was a pain in the arse. It was sliding all over the place as the glue worked out. Finally got it locked in though. I'll post some more pics later this week...

Finally i have some pictures for everyone to see. I think everyone is wondering where this project will end up. Got alot of the body carving done and some work on the "lattice" mahogany overlay. I am routing the truss-rod channel at the moment and will have the fretboard glued on this afternoon. Here comes the photos... Here you can see me getting the ash top notched out for the truss-rod access. Then glueing the ash down. You can see the three woods of the body sandwiched together in the one shot. http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1558/bo...krouting4ia.jpg In these pictures you can see the back of the body being rolled over with the router. I will probably end up putting a hip-rest kind of dip in the back. The router saved alot of work especially in the corners of the horns. http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7281/topcarving3zz.jpg These are shots of me carving the top with my Die Grinder. I put a drum sanding bit in it. This worked so well and fast. I was really happy with the way it came out. I didn't finish the sanding yet, because the mahogany top has to be fitted then sanded into. I also took a moment to ponder my next attack... http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6852/mahoganytop8vk.jpg I went ahead and traced the design onto my two pieces of mahogany. Then i drilled holes to allow acces to the inside cuts. I ended up using my die grinder again for most of this work. I will use a coping or scroll saw to get the small straight cuts. http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/154/mahoganytop23pl.jpg Here is all the progress that i could make with the die grinder. These inside cuts have to pretty darn good because the will remain hard as you see them in the pictures. This top is going to give me a really cool contrast of woods and textures. I really wanted something happening everywhere. The mahogany top will give it a muscular look. What do you guys think so far... I will keep you all posted of course. Am working as we speek but my camera batteries are dead right now. One PIC per post, you have been here for a while so you know!!!

Ah, again i have returned to the woodshop. Having shaken myself free of the shackles of my college schedule I will be pursuing the completion of "Dr. Suess"with great furvor. I recently notched out and glued on the top ash pieces. Also did some work witht he D/A sander rounding the top edges over and beginning to reveal the "rings" that will make the top look as i have it drawn on the plans. This is the reall exciting part. I've been really anxious to get started on the carving (as there is a lot of it to do). The neck too will be shaped soon as well as the heel. I am kind of coming under the gun here in the next month. I am planning on moving to Oregon in August so i best get snappin if i want to have Dr. Seuss finished in time to play before i leave. It would be a total bummer to have to postpone the project for a few months whilst i get settled out west. I will post some pics of it this weekend. I intend on spending all my time in the shop so i promise lots of goodies. Cheers!

Yeah that is very tasteful wood use and selection. Your guitar has extremely unique feel to it. I'm sure she has an awesome sound too. The string ferules, brigde, and single pickup arrangment really give a "roundness" to the face. I like also how you placed the input jack on the control cavity cover. And the all wood cover is also an excellent choice. Oh yeah and love the clear natural finsh and multiple neck laminates. Keep 'em comin' man, i would love to see that body style repeated.

I am digging the control area. Its a tricky part of the guitar to get right if you are doing anythign other then standard. Gotta make sure all those pots and wirings fit. I have totally shot myself in the foot with an ourageous cavity that was too small. Looks good though, like you took the time to plan all the space allowances.

I always understood fretless instruments to have a particular buzz that was desirable. With fretless basses the idea is the control that buzz and make it as appealing as you can. Its just part of having the string laid on a flat surface compaired to across a fret. I was thinking though that having a lower nut would decrease the angle of incidence where the finger depresses the string wich would increase the area of string that is buzzing on the fretboard. I imagine you'd want to find the happy medium here as with all low-action setups.

I have glued in the patch piece and sanded it done flush. The repair went real well and i don't think it is going to be noticable at all when its finished. Hey i was given lemons and so I made lemonade, i think thats how that saying goes. Anyhow, i will post some pics this weekend of the whole repairing process. I should be glueing the ash top on this weekend as well, so i will keep you all notified of course, of any further developments.

Yeah the spalted top looks super sweet. Reminds me of the embers of a dying fire. I am a big fan of Carvins,at least the amps that is. I haven't ever played a Carvin guitar. Been lookign at their catalogs for years now though. The photos weren't as bad as you might think, the Wal-Mart camera always works in a pinch. Keep up the good work.