Finished! New Project - lightweight solid walnut-bodied bass

speshul91 · March 2015

good job my gas has just been semi sorted cos that would get pride of place on my wall andy

Megii · March 2015

The contouring really brings out the grain pattern in the walnut - superb with the tru oil finish. Liking the control cavity cover as well - it kind of looks like the grain pattern continues over that, with no visible break - you don't have some way of doing that do you? Impressive anyhow. And that headstock is very nice indeed.

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

speshul91 said:

good job my gas has just been semi sorted cos that would get pride of place on my wall andy

Thanks, @speshul91

Andy

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

Megii said:

The contouring really brings out the grain pattern in the walnut - superb with the tru oil finish. Liking the control cavity cover as well - it kind of looks like the grain pattern continues over that, with no visible break - you don't have some way of doing that do you? Impressive anyhow. And that headstock is very nice indeed.

Thanks, @Megii

I'm pleased how it's coming out. I wondered at first if there was going to be enough figuring but the carving has exposed some really subtle patterning.

Mainly luck of course - and the cover is totally luck

) The veneer I used had been taken off the same block (good old Kirk's bandsaw at www.exotichardwoodsukltd.com's is a darn site better than mine and he managed to take a 4mm slice off the whole thing) but the fact that the grain is compatible in that particular area is pure fluke.

I've sanded the headstock now - I'll post some shots tomorrow.

Andy

Megii · March 2015

Sometimes, I think the gods are with you on a build, and flukes like that seem to happen.

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

Megii said:

Sometimes, I think the gods are with you on a build, and flukes like that seem to happen.

Yup...and at other times it is clear I have made the gods very angry and I f**k everything up

)

Megii · March 2015

Andyjr1515 said:

Megii said:

Sometimes, I think the gods are with you on a build, and flukes like that seem to happen.

Yup...and at other times it is clear I have made the gods very angry and I f**k everything up )

Cheers! that made me genuinely laugh out loud - yes, I can relate to that side of the coin as well...

speshul91 · March 2015

I wanna get another build going after seeing this but I think I'd get killed haha, I've just put a deposit down on my "last" guitar

Hertz32 · March 2015

@speshul91 yeah, but you and I both know thats not true

what is it btw?

Andy, you sir are a master with wood (oo er!) And the curbow headstock lends itself well to your swallows

speshul91 · March 2015

it's a 5 string peavey bass, I'm pretty sure it's an international series, there's a thread in the bass section with pics @hertz32

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

speshul91 said:

I wanna get another build going after seeing this but I think I'd get killed haha, I've just put a deposit down on my "last" guitar

Just seen it, @speshul91 Looks stupendous

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

Here's the tidied up headstock:

....and the shielding is on its way:

Should be able to start the reassembly this evening

DartmoorHedgehog · March 2015

Nice - inlays look really good.

JudasVigilante · March 2015

wow this is looking amazing Andy. Top top drawer stuff.

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

Thanks @DartmoorHedgehog !

Thanks @JudasVigilante !

It's pretty much finished - I'll post the assembled photos shortly

Andy

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

Just waiting for a plain black truss-rod cover and to do the final action and intonation set-up but it's pretty much done

To my great relief, the active electronics behaved themselves and the neck fitted nicely.

The weight has - by pure fluke - come out within 1 gramme of the original and it feels nice to play. The owner was very happy with the neck of the original - now I know why...it's lovely

Here are some final shots:

Thanks for all of the encouraging feedback and comments along the way

Andy

paisleysoul · March 2015

Good work! Never been a huge fan of the Curbows, but that looks great!

PVO_Dave · March 2015

Looks great Andy!

Megii · March 2015

I'll be honest, and reveal that I was having my slight reservations about the lines of the carving/contouring - which I would have kept to myself tbh... But now I see the finished article, any such thoughts are blown out of the water anyhow - it looks totally stunning Andy, yet another triumph. I can't see the owner being anything less than blown away by this either - it looks utterly beautiful. Can you say anything regarding how the walnut body has influenced the sound?

Andyjr1515 · March 2015

Megii said:

Can you say anything regarding how the walnut body has influenced the sound?

Difficult to say at the moment @Megii ;

It's all set up now with intonation, bridge height, neck relief, but the pickup sponge needs replacing - it doesn't push the pickup close enough to the strings so I need to de-string it and pop a thicker sponge underneath. Probably going to be Wednesday before I get round to that. I'm not expecting a huge difference but it will be interesting to see if there is any

Thanks, all, for your kind words...

Andy

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Finished! New Project - lightweight solid walnut-bodied bass

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