This is the second set of prints from building my custom bass. There was a lot of terror in building this, as you get towards the end you can't help thinking how important it is not to mess up this step. The last picture in this sequence shows the bass as its being finished with Tung Oil.
I was told to be careful of luthieritis when I first started. Can't say I have been bitten by the bug YET. At some point I probably would build another. I'd like to use some off the wall wood for the front next time. Something really wild. We'll see...
One thing I know for sure is that I've learned a ton about how basses are made. I have about 60-70 hours building time in this. I could probably make one in half the time next time around. I spent a lot of time "testing" processes, fits etc. You can see in the photos below, half of them are pictures of me trying out where things are going to be etc. I also realize that there is logic in every step of building. If I look at a bass now, I can see that there is a reason that knob is there, or whatever.
Overall the bass cost me about $800 to build. Probably not as cheap as you would think, but if I were to get this built as a truly custom bass, it would cost much more than that. Plus I can say I made it.
I'm not going to write about what I would do differently next time... next time it will be a different bass, end of story...
The bass sounds awesome. Click below for an MP3 of the bass. Its a bit heavier than my koa LB-75, but its not stupid heavy. Its perfectly balanced. If you can't tell I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. My goal from the start was to make a bass that, when people saw it, they would say "what kind of bass is that?", not "oh you made your own bass".
If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at johnisch@hotmail.com.
169.3 KB Title: Placement Description: All the parts are placed upon the body to check for alignment and visuals. |
129.6 KB Title: Back before routing Description: Back of the bass after all shaping is done, before any routing is done. |
92.7 KB Title: HB routing Description: HB pickup cavity has been routed out. |
162.4 KB Title: Front routing complete Description: Routing for the J99 neck pickup is complete. Bridge is mounted and intonation is verified. |
242.0 KB Title: Placement check Description: The pickups and bridge are put in place to verify everything is cut properly. |
195.5 KB Title: Control Cavity routing Description: The control cavity is routed out. |
201.8 KB Title: Sanding Description: After the first "final" sanding. |
105.1 KB Title: Back Routing Description: All the routing on the back of the bass is complete. |
189.8 KB Title: Final Check Description: Before finishing all the electronics are test fitted one final time. |
146.1 KB Title: Finishing Description: Tung oil has been applied, this is the front. The oil is still wet here, the final finish is satin in appearance. Note that the fretboard is covered in masking tape. The fretboard was later treated with lemon oil. |
142.5 KB Title: Finish Description: The color of the Walnut really changed with the oil coat. |
This page was created with ArcSoft PhotoBase.
Page 2 of 3
To see the final bass click here!.
