building a bass

been busy and away here for a minute. i got some time now before school starts and the body blank has been sitting too long, as well as the half built sg. ive learned so much here so ill document and post the build best i can and build it with all of you.

ive always wanted a G&L ASAT. nice electronics and a player but wont fit a kahler and famous neck diver. i will take the good and redesign to overcome the shortcomings.



heres the body blank. its sepele. thats a species of mahogany. it was ruff cut so i planed it down today, sanded and wiped with naptha so i can see what ittl look like finished clear.





its 1.8" thick. i still got more planeing to do to get it to 1.6"

ill do the body shape design next and post it with some mock ups so you all can see what i have in mind. then ill cut my routing template and get up the guts to rout it out.

Cool!
Stoked to see this one come together.

Kinda like this ..........



whaddaya think?!?!?

i needed to address the neckdive issue. theres no way to tell untill i build the thing and put it on with a strap ... unless you guys know of some online calculator type thingey like what WINamp does with your speakers that determines a basses center of gravity. i dont. i hate neckdive basses! heres what i did .........

first is obvious. i put an "italicized" look on the bass ... skewed like the difference between a p anda jazz bass. this brought the front top (there isnt a horn; its like a tele) at least 1.4" towards the nut, moving the center of gravity more to the back. one solution people did with the ASAT basses was one of those strap extenders. these things go all the way out to the 13th fret .... i just couldnt exaggerate that far without a weird looking body. it started looking like a weird growth.

the second thing is the overall body length. the skew added some length. then i added another inch to the back of the bass ... because i could use some real estate for a kahler anyway. furreals ... i looked at the scale of the ASAT and a kahler would work on one with the back of the base of the kahler just about right to the back of the bass. i just like a little bit more there, because its my body and my bass ... me, me, mine and my way.

the third thing is overall body weight. first off, the ASAT's are ash. ash is lighter than mahogany (but not by much). second, i spent time planeing the blank yesterday ... i only took it down to 1.8". the last body i cut outta ash i did it 1.7", a tele guitar, and its real heavy for a tele and a little thick and beefey. i'm thinking of taking this down to 1.6" thickness. also ... this body is bigger ... wider as well as longer ... so its more wood.

i'm hoping with the 3 subtle differences, that this thing will balance out.

the jaguar i did, i really liked the J neck and the alterations i did to remove the string tree resolved the tuning issues ... so i think i'm gonna do that again.

im sorry. breaking several commandments here at BTF but ....



this is the 74 tele copy i made. i love this guitar. its on loan right now ... i gotta get it back. anyhow ... ill be going for a similar finish.

Without holding any of the parts in my hands, I'd say that if you extend the bottom of the body as you are planning to, you will solve both the problem of the Kahler placement, as well as that of the neck-diving issue. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Omg ... new phone ... took me forever to figure out how to sign in.

been getting some education so building basses has gone on the back burners. I hate chemistry.

I have put some time in when I can.

I cut the template, swiss cheesed the drop and rout it out.





then I cut the neck pocket. I've gotten pretty good at this.



I love it when everything comes out nice and straight like I planned.



please meet the X19. I don't know why ... it's just named the X19.

Lookin' great, MadMike!

And oh yeah....

it is a G&L neck. G&L was selling em on their site for like $40 some dollars. I always liked their necks. At that price I didn't expect much and that's what I got. It's a second and not completed or finished. It will be.

also thinking of reshaping the headstock so it doesn't look so much like a G&L. Like get rid of the curve thingy hanging down? Reshape it so it has offset like the body?

Yeah, if it were me, I'd shave off that goofy little hook thingy, and make the whole thing more roundish.

I'm kinda thinking more streamlined.

I'm cutting the arm and belly cuts now. I could just use the belt sander with 50 grit and be done in 5 min, but I'm using a hand wrasp and doing it old fashioned.

At least, with a hand rasp, you lessen the chances of accidentally over-sanding.

EricHaven wrote:

At least, with a hand rasp, you lessen the chances of accidentally over-sanding.

if I belt sand it too far the design will immediately become smaller.



I'm gonna use the belt sander for the belly cut.

I still haven't weight balanced it yet. The block is still 1.66" thick and body heavy. Electronic pocket and pup pockets. Then I'll balance it by planing thickness off the back till its balanced hanging on a string. That's the only way I can think to do it. I hope to take off .15" - .22".

Steady as she goes, Mr. Sulu.

This thing sat forever. If not for Covid, I may have never finished it. Lemons into lemonade? Anyhow, been an absolutely insane summer so I give you ..... Dr. Pandemic 2020 bass.

Looks good to me Mike.