Project JAEbird

[dadagoboi]

I've been wanting to do a replica of the ORIGINAL JAE Fenderbird for a while.  This is one of the few pictures I've come up with, it's from 'Bass Culture'.  By the time the book was published he no longer owned any of them


There's this one


and this one from a Who gear site



Here's my recent '2010 Fenderbird


So I got the flock together to mull the options...


If I'm going to do one I might as well set up to do a run of 10.  I have this inverted pin router which allows easy repeatability with carefully made templates


I made a tracing of Denis '76 body and bandsawed and smoothed a template from it...with that I made another one.


Used a L.H. Fender Japan p bass neck for neck screw template and a Mighty Mite neck for the pocket template.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Mighty Mite quality.




Here's the first effort, basically just a rough idea.  What I found is that the JAEbird body is a little different than just a Tbird body with a neck pocket.  So it's back to the drawing board.


But I did clean up the shop.

[Denis]

Dang  Carlo, you go!

The Fenderbird JAE is playing in the first pic is clearly different than the basses in the next two pics if you look closely. Were both basses in the second and third pics his?

Your last pic is cool because you can really see the differences between so many versions of Thunderbirds. Look at all those headstock variations!

[dadagoboi]

The second picture is different from the next 2 (front and back).  That one is from here:
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/bass/bass7174.html
It supposedly is an original.  The bottom horn is shorter.  The back view actually shows more clearly the short horn.  The top "horn" is also more vertical and more similar to a '64 TBird than a Bicentennial, which makes sense.  I found a few more pictures on the Whotabs site.

I modded one of the templates and will give it another try tomorrow.

[drbassman]

Very cool.  I'd love one of those pin routers.  The basses look great!

[TBird1958]

Interesting........

The bass in the B/W pic has '60's 2 screw pups and the orange ones have '70s 3 screw pups.......
Cool project, wish I were not so broke right now - this is the one 'bird I still GAS for.

[dadagoboi]

Interesting........

The bass in the B/W pic has '60's 2 screw pups and the orange ones have '70s 3 screw pups.......
Cool project, wish I were not so broke right now - this is the one 'bird I still GAS for.

Yeah, the b/w obviously is the real thing,  the first orange is contemporary, it's from the frets on the net site.  The second orange I think is also real because it has the proper bridge and period correct case and is on the Whotabs website.  The RI pups on it are a question mark but the body shape seems to match the B/W.

From "Rock Stars Guitars":
"This red example was damaged by Keith Moon on stage, during a smashing session during the Quadrophenia tour. The body was cracked and the bass returned to Peter Cook for repair. "



I'm open to trades, Mark

[dadagoboi]

Very cool.  I'd love of those pin routers.  The basses look great!

I'm just learning to use the router, having some trouble getting bridge/tailpiece screw holes spot on. But routing a body and cavities is really easy and safe with the cutter being under the table.  After I turn some more pine into firewood I'll move on to poplar and mahogany.  That will probably be slower going.

Thanks, those 'birds are a major part of the R&D budget!

[godofthunder]

Yeah that pin router is the nutz! looking good !

[Garrett]

Excellent thread! Very educational for a newb like me!

[birdie]

Who makes pin routers nowadays? Starting to plot how to get one....

[birdie]

Who makes pin routers nowadays? Starting to plot how to get one....

Never mind, dumb question. Got lots more if you want to hear them!

[Bionic-Joe]

Hey bro, I've been so busy I haven't had the chance to send you a tracing of my 65' reverse. But if you are Really trying to make an exact repro Fenderbird, I would contact Curt Traynor, I think his handle is DC10Bass. he has the absolute perfect Identical fenderbird, i believe made from an original template or tracing.

[dadagoboi]

Who makes pin routers nowadays? Starting to plot how to get one....

I got mine off Ebay, new they are about 4k, I paid less than 1/4 of that with a vacuum hold down system.  Mine's the previous 110 volt model.  When the router motor dies I'll replace it with a 220V.

Here's a video.  It's a light production machine, check out what they are cutting! I bandsaw to line, use 3 cut depths.  I'm trying to keep my cutter sharp.

http://www.cronsrud.com/video/video_inverted_web.html

I though about buying one from Grizzly or Foxcraft but they are around $500 without the router and are close to being toys IMO.

Hey bro, I've been so busy I haven't had the chance to send you a tracing of my 65' reverse. But if you are Really trying to make an exact repro Fenderbird, I would contact Curt Traynor, I think his handle is DC10Bass. he has the absolute perfect Identical fenderbird, i believe made from an original template or tracing.

Thanks, Baz.  No problem!  I think DC-10's might be slightly different from JAE's first version.

[gearHed289]

The second pic is of a replica that I believe somebody on this forum owns. Note the Warwick bridge/tailpiece. I LOVE that bass!

I also love the pin router. That used to be my favorite tool when I still worked out back here at the flight case shop. We got a 12' x 5' CNC router about 3 years ago, but the pin router still sees plenty of action. Mostly for custom foam cutouts.

[Dave W]

Grizzly's benchtop overarm pin router is lightweight but they do make a heavier duty floor model. It's over 2K though, if you really want one you're probably better off looking for a used one. CNC has made used pin routers less valuable.