Body Blank Progress

[ognolman]

Moving right along.  This is the one that fell about 5 feet onto concrete,  The one that started life as an unsuspecting slab of Warmoth Swamp Ash.  Pure Tung Oil finish that is not complete, but has about three coats.

I've just laid the parts in place in these photos.

 

[jackthehack]

Nice work!  ccasion14:

 

[nathan a]

Looks really great. But won't those mini switches get in the way of the pots?

 

[Shmoopie]

perdy! is it "dead"?

 

[RLW]

I love the thing, but I've gotta agree, my Kielbasa fingers could not deal with that tight control arrangement.

 

[ognolman]

Yeah, the switches are a little close to the pots.  When I was laying it out I wasn't taking into account the diameter of the knobs themselves, just the center pole of the pot.  So when I put the knobs on it was a bit tight.  But it's not as bad as it looks.

JBD

 

[Nando Vallart]

Looks nice! Like the clean visual
Why the Bartolini MM is upside-down?  ???
Ah... you SHALL record some sample with the MM p.u. or the electric saw massacre will happen again  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[ognolman]

Looks nice! Like the clean visual

Thanks...  It's looking even better with a few more applications of oil.

Why the Bartolini MM is upside-down?  ???

I didn't get enough sleep the night before I did the routing, I guess...  Or maybe I'd
had a shot of rum before I did it.  I dunno.  I didn't notice until I'd already done it.
And the weird thing is that when I was setting it up I was thinking that I need to
remember to get it oriented right.  And I knew the correct orientation, too.  I guess
I need to clearly mark my MM template so I get it right next time, huh?

But at least there's no doubt about the fact that I did all the routing on that puppy. 
It's my signature... Yeah!  That's it-- my signature!

Ah... you SHALL record some sample with the MM p.u. or the electric saw massacre will happen again  :icon_jokercolor:

LOL, OK, I will!

JBD

 

[ognolman]

An update-- the upside down Music Man pickup does not affect the sound in any recognizable way...  It sounds fantastic.  I'm still struggling with some electronics issues, but I should have them worked out soon and will try to post some samples asap.

JBD

 

[ognolman]

I finally got a couple of tracks together of the Body Blank Jazz.

So this is pretty bad, but I think the bass itself sounds pretty nice.  I haven't intonated it yet and the D and G strings are pretty far out.  These strings a super-old, so its pretty amazing that it sounds as good as it does.  I guess the old strings are why the thing won't intonate, so I'm going to try to grab another set.  In the meantime:

http://tinyurl.com/65vsak

The bass pattern is played with a 50/50 pickup blend, the melody is MusicMan only.  There's a tad bit of chorus on one track and a tad of reverb on the melody.

JBD

 

[Nando Vallart]

Very nice!
Just when I heard it that I noticed that is a fretless bass! Sounds very cool! Congrats for the build!

 

[ognolman]

Very nice!
Just when I heard it that I noticed that is a fretless bass! Sounds very cool! Congrats for the build!

Thanks, man.  Yes, it is a cheapie MIM Fender Jazz fretless neck.  I do like the buttery-smooth sound it gets.  Full of chocolatey goodness!

The thing that has really irked me about this bass is that the neck pocket template was way off, so I tried sanding out the pocket.  I was going to put in an AllParts Jazz neck with blocks and binding, but I couldn't get the thing to fit in the pocket to save my life.  I sanded it to death before I finally just decided to try the MIM.  It fit perfectly, first try.  So I am wishing now that I had tried it sooner 'cause now I have a big gap between the neck and the body on the low E side.  Obviously it doesn't affect the tone in any meaningful way, but it is irritating for me to see it.  Next time I plan to use a Stew Mac template for the neck.

But first up, I've got a nifty 4 string body with Spalted Maple on Mahogany that I have to finish.  It is totally non-Warmoth, but I bought a sweet Warmoth unlined fretless neck for it with a somewhat matching spalted maple headstock laminate on it.  I can't wait to get it going!  I have all the parts ready to go, so I just need to finish it.

JBD