a2k

Thanks Scott. I'll plane down the rough sides today and see how much I have left. The maple is heavy so I definitely don't want to go too thick. 

Two updates today. First, I updated my print out with details on the fingerboard, glued it onto some 3/4" mdf (using 3M Super 77 which is conveniently sold under the same name here in Japan - thanks KnightroExpress!), and cut out the template outline. It brought back flashbacks from the hours and hours I spent with a jigsaw in high school making skateboard ramps. 

I need to do a little sanding but overall I'm happy with this first step and it felt great to get started. I'm sure pictures of a template in-progress are exciting to approximately nobody, but just in case, here's an in-progress shot (I used this fence as a guide to get the fingerboard cut straight) and the final template. 

Second, got the wood. I felt like a kid on Christmas tearing open the packaging to see what was inside. Here's a shot of the maple with one half wet to get an idea of what the figure looks like (note that it was already raining so there are some rain drops on the right size):

Looks good. The pieces are 2x as long as I need and also 3/4" thick. I don't plan on carving this, so I'm wondering what thickness I should go for. Any guidance here? It'd be awesome if I could split one of the pieces to use for the front and back and save the other piece for a future project, though the sides not pictured are pretty rough. 

Tomorrow I'm gonna play with glue!

Thanks. I sure hope so! There should maple enough to cover the front and back or (two fronts). Here's the wood I've got coming (with the dimensions in mm and price in ¥):

Neck
    Maple             \1,440.-X 3---    \4,320.-
    Walnut            \1,910.-X 2---    \3,820.-

Fingerboard
    Rosewood(indonesian)            \1,670.-

Body Left   559 X 127 X 45(mm)
    Mahogany(African)            \4,120.-

Body Right    458 X 127 X 45(mm)
    Mahogany(African)            \2,580.-

Body Top Left and Right
1300 X 250 X 40(mm)→1300 X 250 X 19(mm)
    Curly Maple        \5,500.-X 2---    \11,000.-

For those that are curious about wood costs in Japan, the total was ¥32,211 (about $270) including tax and delivery. 

Thanks! Sounds like just glueing on with spray glue is the way to go. 

Exploring Shinkiba really was amazing. I'll tell you that if you ever visit Tokyo and go to Shinkiba, you will be well off the tourist track. Everyone there was pretty shocked to see me but also 99% patient, willing to help, and generally curious as to what the heck I was doing there. I did go into one place that seemed like the jackpot of amazing wood, but they wouldn't sell to me and politely said the sold to "members only". Sometimes around here "members only" is a polite way of saying "we don't want to deal with foreigners" (bars that don't want foreign customers will use that line when you walk in), but who knows - maybe they have a "wood of the month" club or something. 

If you make it to Tokyo, definitely spend some time in Ochanomizu as well. It's mind blowing what you will see there - guitars in every size, shape, vintage, and price point. I went into one store that had more left-handed basses priced above $2k than your average guitar center has basses in total. Here's a shot I took at one of the smaller shops (Japanese Sugi basses in the front, a few Carl Thompson's peeking out of the back). 

From here on out, this thread is going to be mostly just me chipping away (hopefully only figuratively) on my project. But if anybody has a question about Tokyo/Japan, I'm happy to do my best to answer. 

The wood shop is closed on Monday and Tuesday. I plan on walking in there on Wednesday with my MDF, print out, and a can of spray glue to get started. 

We packed up and moved from Seattle to the outskirts of Tokyo a year ago for my wife's job (she works for the U.S. government). I only brought my 4 string bass with me. A trip to Tokyo's musical instrument district, Ochanomizu, one afternoon got me thinking about playing a 5 string again. I've got almost free access to an amazing wood shop through my wife's work so here I am at the beginning of the journey to build a bass. The plan is to make a "fairly standard" 34" scale neck-through 5 string inspired heavily by a Japanese maker called STR's LS series.

I'm gonna have lots of questions. Figured I'd do my best to document the process here and hopefully get some tips, feedback, and answers along the way.  

Here's what I've done so far:

1. Bought some wood.

This was actually harder than it sounds. I got it in my head that I wanted to buy the wood locally instead of having it shipped. My first stops were to the spots the wood shop recommended: a dizzying hobby/lifestyle shop called "Tokyu Hands" and the local home depot-esque home supply stores, but none of them had good hardwoods big enough to be useful. So my second stop was to get on the train and head into a neighborhood in Tokyo called Shinkiba. Those of you that have spent time in Tokyo know that for some reason all the shops in a certain category tend to cluster together. So Ochanomizu has blocks and blocks of guitar shops stacked 6 stories high, Jimbocho is packed with stores selling skis and snowboards, Akihabara is jammed with electronics stores. So it only makes sense that there'd be a neighborhood full of wood stores. "Shinkiba" translates to literally mean "new wood place" so it seems like a promising spot. 

Here's what I saw when I got off the train:

And then when I got out onto the street, I found this statue:

In between the buildings, I found hints of what they contained.

This was not a place for retail shoppers though - just blocks and blocks of warehouses. 

I got up the nerve to just start knocking on doors and walking into talk to people. Keep in mind my Japanese is just below "basic caveman" level. Eventually I cam across a guy who took my upstairs from his normal SPF supply warehouse and showed me this:

If you want to build a table, he's got you covered. But prices were as big as the pieces so he didn't have anything for me. He did dig up a beautiful piece of ebony that could be sliced to make 20 or more fingerboards, but it was about $300. Here are some of the table tops:

Finally, I came across a small spot run by two older guys. One of them spoke some English and was a bass player! I showed him a drawing of what I needed. He had everything but a good piece of figured maple for the top. He took my email address and told me he'd call some friends and see what he could find. The next day I got an email with some photos of the maple and some options for the rest of the wood. 

I honestly don't know enough to tell if that piece is fantastic or junk from that photo (any idea?), but I went ahead wired them the $$$ (most transactions in Japan are via cash, so I had to take a stack of cash to the local bank and transfer it into his account). The wood will be delivered by local courier service to me tomorrow. 

2. Made a drawing

I used one of the tips on the site here to enlarge a photo of the bass I'm using as "inspiration" to actual size. I made a few tweaks to it and then created a full size mock up by printing out a bunch of 8.5x11 sheets and taping them together. Here's the mock-up and a picture of the papers taped together (without the final headstock shape).

3. Ordered a bunch of hardware

I went onto Amazon and bought the tuners, bridge, pickups, electronics, nut, strings, strap locks, and fret wire, everything else I thought I'd need. Thanks to the wonders of Amazon Prime and military post, it all arrived to me in Japan in about 10 days with free shipping. I figured having all of the materials will be helpful as I get going.

Up next:

First, I need to finalize the neck/fingerboard layout on my mock up to make sure the widths are correct for the bridge, nut, and pickups I'm using. 

Then, I'm thinking that I'll make a 3/4" MDF template from the print out to finalize the shape and make sure everything works out before I start messing with the wood. Any easy way to get the layout from the print-out onto the MDF? In all of the photos I've seen that step doesn't get captured. I was thinking I might just glue the printout to it.

After that, I'll start planing and gluing. I can't wait to get started - I still feel a bit like a poser talking about building a bass but not actually doing any of the real work, but I understand that given how little I know, I need to invest some time in planning so I don't screw things up too much. 

Anyway, like I said at the beginning, I'm going to have lots of questions and appreciate any thoughts, feedback, or tips along the way. 

Thanks!

Aaron