My first custom bass- Dragonburst Z5 Bass, lefty style!

[Geekydad]

Finally, it's here! And two weeks ahead of schedule, to boot!

Left-handed swamp ash Z5 Bass in Dragonburst. Wenge deluxe 5 super bass with ebony fretboard, and abalone face dots. It's so shiny and pretty, it wants to be played... But first I've got to put it together. I was rough guessing taking a few weeks to do it, but it's so beautiful, I'm pushing myself- I might even be able to enter it in the November contest...

 

[Geekydad]

May as well make this the build thread. Burnished the neck, straight off, until it shone like glass. The next step was the tuners, which I was worried about- I'd heard the screws on the Gotoh GB7 had a tendency of breaking. Ended up using a pin vice to drill the pilot holes, and manually screwed in the well-soaped screws. Was a lot easier than I thought. After that, I put on the strap buttons, then attached the neck and body; then put on the bridge. (The red strap won't be permanent, it was my only spare.) Tomorrow I'll pull out the soldering iron for the battery box, and install the pickups- shouldn't need to solder more than that box- EMG is good about plug'n'play. After that, it's off to the music shop for strings, set-up, tuning, and intonation.

 

[Axkoa]

That neck is crazy good looking!

 

[bagman67]

Those are some beautiful components. Congratulations.


I'll say this - I'd get that orange-and-blue ball out of there before the dog notices it's there, or you could have a hell of a mess among the guitar parts when playtime starts.  At least, that's how it goes with my goofy dog.

 

[fdesalvo]

LOL Baggie.

THAT is a SWEET guitar!

[youtube]8W3NERMKIBM[/youtube]

 

[Geekydad]

Yeah, my dog kept dropping the ball at my feet while I was working on the neck. He loves to play ball. He was, fortunately, not interested in the peanuts. I've moved everything to a card table downstairs now,* and shut the study door until I clean everything up.


* - Except the ball, which the dog has probably left on the stairwell. He keeps trying to kill us.

 

[Geekydad]

By the way, anything I should keep in mind when drilling the pilot holes for the EMG pickups? (Apart from "Don't go through the back!") Should I sand the rout first, anything like that necessary?

 

[Pharos]

That looks really good! Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[Geekydad]

Almost ready for New Bass Day- dropping it off at the shop tomorrow for setup, strings, and tuning. Here's a preview. (By the way, always get the largest jack hole. The 3/4 turned out not to be big enough for the jacks that come with EMG pickups, and I had to enlarge it with a dremel...)

 

[amigarobbo]

Dat  abalone...  :glasses9:

 

[zenjim]

Dude that dragonburst looks great. How's it play and sound?