Christmas project no.2 - an electric bass guitar

Greetings again folks,
Alongside the double neck ukulele, I am building a bass guitar for my eldest boy (8 1/2 yr old). I don't play bass, and neither does he, but he has mentioned trying a few times, and it gives me an excuse to build something different.
I will try and keep these posts a little shorter, but the end result should be a short-scale (approx 30") bass with bridge single-coil and neck humbucker (thanks Mr Alegree for your help here). Alder body, rippled maple neck (eventually without CF reinforcement) and figured ebony fretboard. The finish is intended to be a take on the Tyler Burning Water effect, and we shall see how that goes....

Jumping a wee bit into the project, the alder plank (this and all wood from David Dyke - a superb font of information and a pleasure to buy from) has been crosscut, planed and joined. The outline (approximately Les Paul shape) bandsawn and trimmed. The neck has its scarf jointed headstock with wings attached, thicknessed and shaped. The fingerboard slots cut, dots installed and radius sanded.

Here I am setting up the neck-pocket jig. 'Jig' is a big word for a few straight-edged bits of birch ply. The idea is that you set the neck in the correct place, clamp it and surround the it with planks that will make a perfect 1:1 copy of the outline. This can then be routed out using a bearing guided router bit. d/s sticky tape comes in very handy here. The jig works very well, albeit a little inelegantly.

https://i.imgur.com/vKZHQdh.jpg

And the router in place

https://i.imgur.com/KHZVsuT.jpg

After a brief hiccup with a poorly-judged marking gauge (forgot to take off depth of jig when pre-drilling waste from neck pocket), here is the neck in place and ready to have pickup pockets routed....

https://i.imgur.com/3oq2LvN.jpg

Pockets with waste pre-drilled (had to make up my own routing templates here, which work, but I think the centrelines I drew on them aren't quite right). There are also a few scribbles on contour lines and control placements.

https://i.imgur.com/eSDvw6f.jpg

Cleaning up corners for the routed pickup pockets

https://i.imgur.com/e7KD7dk.jpg

Checking control placement and bridge position

https://i.imgur.com/agKcru4.jpg

And the carving begins. This is the fun bit :) Also note the control cavity routed. The cavity cover has it's ledge routed also - another template I made. Fits as well as a Gibson. I use a variety of tools for carving - rasps of varying size/shape/grain, grater-style microplanes, sandpaper and sometimes gouges.

https://i.imgur.com/FaCpcBa.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9z1Mvkf.jpg

After a lot of tweaking, rasping and sanding, this is the result. I am rather pleased with the shape, it is very tactile.

https://i.imgur.com/YPzFXzr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KmYVNBx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HBNpOeH.jpg

Sanded to 320 grit, it's first coat sanding sealer

https://i.imgur.com/m5YZOXQ.jpg

De-nibbed and gloss black base layer. Not the run, which was then sanded back and re-sprayed

https://i.imgur.com/SHer9pn.jpg

Next layer, silver, then rapidly dabbed off. This was a tricky bit for me - getting the timing right between how heavy a spray, how long to leave before dabbing off with a carrier bag (plastic) and when to stop. This finish has migrated from Tyler Burning Water (doable, but I think needs more practice, and definitely more time for the lacquer to harden before 'effecting' it) to my take on the PRS multi-foil. In the second image you can see where I have lifted a little too much of the silver/black and mam through to the wood almost.

https://i.imgur.com/TYS16tm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/B4Ju6dj.jpg

After a few trials, here is the body with clear colours applied over the base layers. 

https://i.imgur.com/B87LAHR.jpg

And damnblastit, a goddamn hair!

https://i.imgur.com/QPwcHZo.jpg

Anyway, this was fixed (thanks for advice, Mr Ryder), and with the clear coats going on over the colour I am roughly here. Though the photo's from my phone really dont do it justice....

https://i.imgur.com/abk6jyg.jpg

Rightyo, as usual, thanks for getting this far, and any questions please ask away

Adam
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Comments

  • PVO_DavePVO_Dave Frets: 2364
    Very cool! 
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    Thank you :)
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  • martmart Frets: 5205
    Wow! The shape of the body is stunning, but the finish is even more amazing! Should be one happy lad!
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534

    Thanks Mart - the finish is coming on nicely. I reckon another 2 coats should do it. There will still be a couple of divots left where I lifted too much of the underlying silver/black, but I can live with that. It's beginning to take on an almost 3D appearance as the clear coats build up. This isn't a thin-as-a-gnats-wing finish!

    I think he will be a happy lad, but we popped into GuitarGuitar on sunday, and what did he pick up but a black Jackson V guitar (really nice btw)! I also showed him a PRS SE in multi-foil. His response? 'Yeah, its alright'....... We shall see :)

    Adam

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  • MLten80MLten80 Frets: 162
    great work, Great ferret board. whut wood is that? :)
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  • BigMonkaBigMonka Frets: 1763
    Wow!!! An epic number of Dad-points being earned here!
    Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, in which case always be Batman.
    My boss told me "dress for the job you want, not the job you have"... now I'm sat in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    Thanks chaps :)

    The fretboard wood is ebony, but a fairly stripey version. I dont recall that it is Mun ebony, but it is simillar.

    Although, Im not sure what a 'ferret board' is though ;)

    Adam
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  • I take it the lad knows it's for him when it's completed.......or is it going to be a surprise pressie?  Either way he's one lucky young feller.
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    Hopefully it will be a surprise - it has been so far :)

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  • Kalimna said:
     - it has been so far :)

    Oops.....my bad. Hope the young feller doesn't read this board. While I'm here feeling all apologetic.....I'm waiting to see pics of the electrics being put in. This area on an electric guitar has always been a mystery to me.
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  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    No worries - he's 8 1/2, and computers exist only for YouTube and Fortnite i think!

    Electrics should be straightforward here - 3 control pots,  all same value, one cap (2 vol, 1 tone), 1 jack socket, a ground wire to bridge and direct mount so now pickguard.

    Cheers,
    Adam
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Looking very good so far!
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