HaMMerHeD
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2011
- Messages
- 1,774
- Reaction score
- 515
Greetings LC.
So my pointy V bass project is on hold, partly because of availability of certain components, and partly because during the design process, I began to understand that many of the skills required to successfully execute my plan for the project were out of my grasp. So I have put it off for a future date, hopefully this summer.
In the meantime, I am building something else.
I am calling it "Epoch", and it is a 4-string fretless bass. Specs follow:
4 strings
Fretless
35" scale
Madagascar Ebony Fingerboard (Diospyros perreira)
1-piece Wenge neck (Millettia laurentii)
2-piece Eastern Soft Maple (Acer rubrum) body "core"
2-piece bookmatched Flamed Maple (Acer saccharum) body top
Hipshot Ultralite Tuners
Hipshot A bridge
Bartolini X44CBJD pickups
Passive electronics: blend, volume, tone
Tru-Oil Finish
The Design:
The Body:
The Neck:
Mockup:
The Wood:
And some parts:
The headstock will be covered in a 3-piece veneer sandwich of maple, ebonized maple, and flamed maple. This will provide a nice contrasting color scheme against the dark chocolate wenge neck, and match the body.
The body will be 1-5/8" thick. I had the supplier machine the maple body blank to 1-3/8" thick. and the flamed maple top is 1/4" thick. The body will have a 3/4" roundover profile shaping, which will be smoothed with the random orbital sander. I know the body isn't the most creative or original design, but I like it a lot. I'm hoping this slightly more pedestrian build will give me the necessary experience to be able to execute my V bass this summer.
The neck will have stainless steel inserts and the bolts are #10-24 303 stainless machine screws. The neck blank is 1" thick currently, and I am going to have it milled down to 7/8" thick as soon as I can find someone local that is willing to do it. The nut is 1-5/8" wide, and string spacing will be 0.75"/19mm at the bridge.
Body in clamps:
(note: this picture was taken after removing some of the clamps to return them to a friend. the whole body lamination stayed in clamps for about 10 hours before taking any clamps off, so there weren't any problems.)
After I got the clamps off the body, I went ahead and glued and clamped the veneer sandwich for the headstock:
It is squished between the pine planks, wrapped in parchment paper (which is like wax paper, but better).
So my pointy V bass project is on hold, partly because of availability of certain components, and partly because during the design process, I began to understand that many of the skills required to successfully execute my plan for the project were out of my grasp. So I have put it off for a future date, hopefully this summer.
In the meantime, I am building something else.
I am calling it "Epoch", and it is a 4-string fretless bass. Specs follow:
4 strings
Fretless
35" scale
Madagascar Ebony Fingerboard (Diospyros perreira)
1-piece Wenge neck (Millettia laurentii)
2-piece Eastern Soft Maple (Acer rubrum) body "core"
2-piece bookmatched Flamed Maple (Acer saccharum) body top
Hipshot Ultralite Tuners
Hipshot A bridge
Bartolini X44CBJD pickups
Passive electronics: blend, volume, tone
Tru-Oil Finish
The Design:
The Body:
![design_body.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/design_body.jpg)
The Neck:
![design_neck.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/design_neck.jpg)
Mockup:
![epoch_mockup.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/epoch_mockup.jpg)
The Wood:
![wood_1.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/wood_1.jpg)
![wood_2.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/wood_2.jpg)
![wood_3.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/wood_3.jpg)
And some parts:
![parts_1.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/parts_1.jpg)
The headstock will be covered in a 3-piece veneer sandwich of maple, ebonized maple, and flamed maple. This will provide a nice contrasting color scheme against the dark chocolate wenge neck, and match the body.
The body will be 1-5/8" thick. I had the supplier machine the maple body blank to 1-3/8" thick. and the flamed maple top is 1/4" thick. The body will have a 3/4" roundover profile shaping, which will be smoothed with the random orbital sander. I know the body isn't the most creative or original design, but I like it a lot. I'm hoping this slightly more pedestrian build will give me the necessary experience to be able to execute my V bass this summer.
The neck will have stainless steel inserts and the bolts are #10-24 303 stainless machine screws. The neck blank is 1" thick currently, and I am going to have it milled down to 7/8" thick as soon as I can find someone local that is willing to do it. The nut is 1-5/8" wide, and string spacing will be 0.75"/19mm at the bridge.
Body in clamps:
![body_glued.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/body_glued.jpg)
(note: this picture was taken after removing some of the clamps to return them to a friend. the whole body lamination stayed in clamps for about 10 hours before taking any clamps off, so there weren't any problems.)
After I got the clamps off the body, I went ahead and glued and clamped the veneer sandwich for the headstock:
![veneers_clamped.jpg](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/hardmark/basses/epoch_001/veneers_clamped.jpg)
It is squished between the pine planks, wrapped in parchment paper (which is like wax paper, but better).