NR TB project

[Highlander]

Nice work...

[Dave W]

Yeah, I like the streaks of dark brown in it.  Sanding it is a bear, hard as concrete!

That and its stiffness should mean a very stable neck.

[drbassman]

That and its stiffness should mean a very stable neck.

Yeah, I chose ebony because of its stiffness and durability.  It's a good choice on one piece construction necks.  It's been a year or more since I built a neck from scratch and I made a couple minor errors.  I forgot to plane the bottom of the board down a little before installation and it was too thick.  Duh.  So, I had to radius sand it down a bit.  That took a few hours!  I also had to add a piece to the top of the headstock cuz the TB pattern is so long and the first glue job didn't hold, so I reinstalled that with two dowels to hold it together.  A pain, but now its solid as a rock.

The douchebag PO of the body drilled some 5/8" holes under the pick guard area to lighten the body.  A dumbass idea on a body that doesn't weigh that much to begin with!  I filled several of them with dowels because I'm putting in a second pup rout for later, just in case I want to move the pup up toward the neck down the road.  Or even add a second one if I want!

I'll drill the tuner holes today and probably will install the neck on the body today or tomorrow.  It'll be ready for finishing soon!

It's always something!!!!

[drbassman]

Well, I was feeling a bit energetic today, so I took the volute off of the neck. I really didn't care for it and it allowed me to slim down the neck profile better under the first couple frets.  Much nicer to the touch now.  Besides, it was a bit unnecessary on a solid hard maple neck anyway.

[drbassman]

Got the neck glued on and finished sanding done.  Next I'll grain fill the mahogany and we'r ready for finishing. 

Now the next problem is color.  I can't decide!!!!   It's got to be opaque since I have hole fills on front and back of the body and a seam on the headstock.  I'm not a metallic fan, so I posted a pole.  Check it out and vote!

[slinkp]

Ebony board on a short scale! I'm really intrigued to hear what that ends up sounding like. I think I have literally never heard a shorty with anything other than rosewood. Very cool!

I think you said the body is mahogany? What about the neck?

[drbassman]

Ebony board on a short scale! I'm really intrigued to hear what that ends up sounding like. I think I have literally never heard a shorty with anything other than rosewood. Very cool!

I think you said the body is mahogany? What about the neck?

Yeah, I wanted some stiffness and snap in the sound, so ebony was a good choice.  The neck is one piece hard maple.  Because of the mix of soft and hardwoods, the bass should have a somewhat well-defined sound.  I'm thinking flats for strings so a little extra snap and clarity would be nice on this one.

[Dave W]

I voted sonic blue.

You recently said you don't like green basses but you put surf green in the poll. Change of heart?

[drbassman]

I voted sonic blue.

You recently said you don't like green basses but you put surf green in the poll. Change of heart?

That's one green that appeals to me.  The darker shades don't.  Thanks for voting!

[Highlander]

If I can't pick Inverness Green (presently mostly Snow White and the 7 Thunder Dwarfs) I'll go red...

Why not a nice candy...?

[drbassman]

If I can't pick Inverness Green (presently mostly Snow White and the 7 Thunder Dwarfs) I'll go red...

Why not a nice candy...?

Oh Kenny, CAR is one of my favorites.  I just didn't think of it.  Hummmm....... 

[Highlander]

Daft as it sounds, due to an issue on the PC (partial delamination), I'm tempted to re-do her that exact shade... as for the SG (sixer), I'm tempted to finally re-do... err... finish her in IG, as I'm local... would just seem a sin not to have at least one Gibson fin'd in that colour...

[patman]

I voted Dakota red, but CAR is my favorite.

[drbassman]

I voted Dakota red, but CAR is my favorite.

OK, I give!  I added CAR to the poll.  I also have it set up so you are allowed to change your vote if you like.   

[drbassman]

All grain filled and got the Thunderbucker today!  After some sanding, we'll be ready for finishing.