Work In Progress

[Fohat]

Originally Posted by skelf

So the neck is flat sawn which is perfectly fine and will no doubt make a nice neck.

Cheers Alan 'Flat Sawn' indeed was the term I was looking for. Apparently Leo Fender used both quarter and flat sawn in his early necks as he didn't like to waste any wood !

Originally Posted by redroque

Nice. Like the mini knobs too

Blame CPC or more likely the post office

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Fohat

Apparently Leo Fender.....didn't like to waste any wood !

Bit like Wishbass then

I think he made one out of old lolly sticks once....

[skelf]

Flat sawn wood is generally cheaper and easier to find as most trees are cut thru and thru. To get only quarter sawn wood from a log reduces the yield and is more complicated to cut so mills don't bother doing it. I am sure Leo used what ever he could get his hands on. Most of the Fender necks I have seen have been flat sawn.

[Fohat]

Here is my latest offering a fretless 5 that should be ready in about 12 hours.

Again I have tried to keep the cost and weight down and to this end have also incorporated a few new assembly / build ideas to achieve this.

It is in 2 types of mahogany with oak inserts and a wenge board. Controls will be a little different and will be simple push buttons offering coil tap, tone on / off and a mute switch.











Weight is a mere 6lb so will be just over 7lb when finished. Neck access is excellent and being a single cut the neck is very rigid .

This is a speculative build as opposed to a commission so if anyone is interested feel free to contact me.

Paul

[Fohat]

Bass is now finished and in my for sale thread.

cheers...Paul

[Fohat]

A Telecaster Bass with a Prosebass slant.
I have always been a fan of the stumpy Telecaster body so have decided to put my own influence into the design rather than an outright copy.

Specification for this first one is straightforward and simple.

30" scale, with the neck in Mahogany with a Wenge board. Standard headstock design.
10mm nut spacing 40mm nut width. 21 jumbo frets
Dual action rod adjusted at the heel
Body center is laminated 4 piece darker mahogany.
Comfort contoured and a little chunkier than Fenders offering.
It is quite slim at 35mm to keep the weight down which I hope will be around 7lb
Hardware in Chrome , elephant ear tuners , high mass 'Fender' style bridge 19mm spacing
Single pickup in bridge position, 7k / 7k humbucker soapbar.
Volume, tone, coil tap fitted on mahogany plate

I am also building an ash bodied model at 32" or 30" scale with a Black pearloid plate and maple neck with maple board.
Undecided on the scale as I want to see how this one turns out.

Finish will be an hand rubbed oil that has resins and is a professional hardwood floor finish as I like to try new products and techniques.

This will be a stock bass so if you are interested please contact me.

Paul

[bryceee]

It would be good to see a finished photo of this next to a 34" tele.

[Fohat]

Originally Posted by bryceee

It would be good to see a finished photo of this next to a 34" tele.

I haven't got a real one but have templates to show the difference if that will do ?

A few photos showing the fret slot cutting and general lining up procedures.

I do the final neck pocket cutting by hand to ensure an interference fit between the neck and body after the final squaring up. I personally don't think this adds anything sonically to a bass I just like things to fit together nicely.
In recent blind tests by an American builder it transpired that a bolt on neck gave better resonance and sustain than a through neck. Another of those issues we could debate till the proverbial #

Fret slots are cut with my little sliding circular saw and clamping system., an idea I had and have just put together. Much better than hand cutting and much quicker.
I am hoping to develop this system so it can be used with commercially available templates from Stewmac and the like.









Paul