Lightweight fretless bass build 30" scale

JGTay

A lot of updates from the last few days.

While levelling off the back of the neck on Thursday, I found a void in the beech towards the heel end, not sure how I missed it when putting together the neck laminates, it may have had filler over it which prevented discovery, but it wasn't a very nice discovery...   Didn't take any pics, wasn't in the best of moods at that point.

After getting over the initial thoughts of binning it and starting again (which was a serious consideration at first!) I tried doing a mix of wood glue and beech sawdust, which ended up drying an orangey colour, then tried CA glue with sawdust, but again it turned orange, not quite as bad, but not good enough. So final option was to chisel out a section 3mm deep and put in a new piece.

Made the new piece very slightly bigger than the chiselled out section so that it had to be squeezed in place with clamps to fit, put a thin coat of wood glue in and then clamped it in place. After giving it time to dry removed the clamps and had a look.





I then set to work levelling it off and bringing in the profile so that I could assess the repair.

Still needs to be sanded up through the grades, but it has levelled off well. Can still see some glue where it squeezed out around the edges, hopefully when it has been fully sanded it won't be too obvious.

 

Next on the list was the walnut caps on the headstock. Cut the headstock thickness to size and drilled out the tuner holes, then sanded the front to make sure it was level across the face and then after cutting the truss rod access in the walnut, glued and clamped it in place.



After the glue had dried, it was out of the clamps, then on with shaping and re-drilling through the tuner holes from the back. Gave it a quick clean with white spirit to give an idea of the finished colour.



Then moved onto the back. Did some work on the volute first to get the shape right, then levelled off the back face, cut the shape of the volute into the walnut, then glued and clamped it in place.



After it was out of the clamps, it was shaped and the tuner holes re-drilled from the front. Quick clean up with white spirit again.









And final pic of the day with the neck profile cleaned.



All of it needs plenty of sanding through the grades and the heel transition needs to be sorted out, but overall I am pleased with the progress. Need to decide on final headstock shape yet, think it is close...

JGTay

Have been working on the headstock shape and blending in the volute today.









The front has a small reveal of the mahogany. Also done fingernail access for the truss rod cover, just need to put some magnets in to hold it in place.



Very pleased with how it is coming along.  

RocknRollDave

Goodness me, there are some seriously talented people in this section of the forum!

JGTay

RocknRollDave said:

Goodness me, there are some seriously talented people in this section of the forum!

Thanks Dave. 


 A few more updates.

Went for a job interview on Thursday and 15 minutes after getting home had a phone call offering me the job, so starting on Monday. 

So over the past couple of days I have been getting as much done as possible on the build, missed a few photos along the way but no big loss as it was just gluing on the wings. Decided to get the poplar wings in position first and then do the walnut top/bottom afterwards.

I pre-cut the control cavity in the poplar before gluing and also did the same with the cavity cover in the walnut. This is after taking the clamps off from gluing the first piece of walnut in place and trimming the edges a bit, still lots of shaping to be done.



Then did fingernail access for the cover.



Next up was the walnut piece on the other wing.



After the glue had dried did a bit of trimming.



Put an extra piece of walnut on the inside of the cavity cover to give it some extra strength. Have also glued the front piece of walnut on and put an extra piece of walnut in the cavity to give the correct thickness, just need to tidy it up a bit.



Haven't taken any pics of the front yet, had to finish up for the night and get something to eat. Will get the other piece glued on tomorrow and take some pics.  

JGTay

Managed to glue up the other piece of walnut last night.



A shot of the edge, down to 27mm at the moment, so should be around the 26mm mark after sanding.



It was out of the clamps this morning and on with the initial shaping.



And after getting some shape to it, gave it a quick clean with white spirit to see how it looks.



Then made a quick cover for the pickup, still needs shaping, but gives a general idea.



May slim down the wings a bit yet, looks a bit fat in the bottom section. Will have to see how I get on this week and whether I can do any in the evenings.

JGTay

Been very busy since starting the new job, have settled in nicely and it is going very well.

Not had much time to do anything on this, but a couple of weekends ago I managed to get started on the carving/shaping and then got a few hours today to do some sanding, not much progress really. Very happy with the shape now and the rounded edges make a huge difference.





Hopefully I can get a bit more done tomorrow, will see how it goes.

elstoof

Looks great

JGTay

elstoof said:

Looks great

Thanks elstoof. 

PeteC

Its looking great - Fretless basses are just such good instruments, and yours is coming along superbly. 

JGTay

PeteC said:

Its looking great - Fretless basses are just such good instruments, and yours is coming along superbly. 

Thanks Pete, really appreciate it. 

Have got all the sanding done and drilled for the controls, next step is the varnish which I will be attempting to follow @Andyjr1515 methods, wish me luck at getting anywhere near his quality of finishing! 

JGTay

Progress from last weekend and this weekend.

Sanded up through the grades all over.





Drilled for the controls and tested in place.



And then got started on the first coats of varnish.





The neck will be oiled once the varnishing is all finished. Not sure whether to do a finish on the fretboard to give it some protection? 

JGTay

Before getting on with the varnishing today, I decided it was time to do the first weigh in... 



Obviously hardware still needs to go on, but very happy at 4.023lbs. 

JGTay

Have done all the varnishing, also oiled the neck and fretboard over the past couple of weekends. Still needs a final buffing, but happy with how it is coming together.

Back view first, with test fit of the tuners. 



And the front. Hardware roughly positioned.

Next up for today was securing the pickup, no pics as it was a bit of a pain and just got on with it, went with magnets and a couple of panel pins with the heads snipped off to push it onto and keep it in place, didn't want screws showing but will have to see how it is when it is strung up. 

 

Next was positioning the individual bridge saddles, out with the string and marked it up.



And then did a strip of copper underneath the saddles, attached to the earth wire and passed into the control cavity. Then screwed the saddles in place.



It is great having a job again, but makes build progress very slow. Not getting any time in the evenings, so just weekends at the moment. Hopefully can get on with the controls next weekend.

JGTay

It is 'bass'ically finished...     

Need to do some final minor tweaks and give it a bit of a polish, but had a play with it on Rocksmith tonight. Very happy with it.

The final steps from weekend and a couple of evenings this week -

Shielding of pickup cavity



The control cavity



The cover, which I had to cut a square out of in order for the jack to have enough room. Hadn't really accounted for it, so quite lucky in the end.



In with the hardware and soldering done.



Then a copy of @Andyjr1515 no neck dive pics.




The Final weigh in...

5.771 lbs. or 2.618 kg if it's easier.

 

And finally a full frontal pic...




Will take some glamour shots once the final bits are done. 

Andyjr1515

A very impressive build, @JGTay !

JGTay

Andyjr1515 said:

A very impressive build, @JGTay !

Thanks Andy.

The aim at the start of the build was to try to get it around the 6.5 lbs mark without chambering, so when the final weigh in showed less than 6 lbs it was a very nice surprise.

I thought it would have problems with neck dive, but the centre line of balance is around the 20th fret position, almost in line with the lower horn.

WezV

A horn that long will make it hard for it not to balance well on a strap

I think I would have gone with a barrel jack on the side, as much as I despise them... but this looks really impressive.

JGTay

WezV said:

A horn that long will make it hard for it not to balance well on a strap

I think I would have gone with a barrel jack on the side, as much as I despise them... but this looks really impressive.

Thanks Wez. 

Very true with the horn, could have done it shorter in the end with the balance where it is, but I do like the look of it now it is finished.

I don't like barrel Jack's either. Thankfully I am happy with the front mount and managed to make it work with the cavity depth. 

JGTay

Just realised, I didn't post the final pics of this. Sorry for the delay.






















Really pleased with how it has come out, loving fretless bass.