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Hi everybody, it's story time.
So a few years back on this forum I asked what tools a person needed to build a guitar. After receiving the replies (mostly saying to take lessons or just don't because I obviously have no clue what I'm doing) I deleted the thread and sulked for a bit. After getting a grip I decided that basing my feelings on forum replies was a daft thing to do, so I just went for it, with some help from my dad. We built a 7 string guitar together (mostly him) which had a baseball bat for neck, questionable craftsmanship on the bits I did, and neither of us had any clue what we were doing. Still it was finished and now spends most of it's life on the wall.
Fast forward 5 (ish) years and here is the latest project. The 4th guitar I've ever been part of building, and the 3rd to be constructed entirely on my own, no dad in sight. It's also the 2nd guitar to get close to completion, so a 50% success rate all round. Good right? It's still got some work left before it's playable, but seeing as the lacquer has now gone on it's time, I think, for the reveal.
This one is a 4 string fretless bass, and here's some detail:
-34" scale length
-2 seymour duncan QP jazz bass pickups going in neck and middle and a ceramic music man bridge pickup
-Tuners are schaller da vinci bass
-Bridge will be a schaller 3D-4
-Controls will be vol/vol/vol, because who needs a tone control anyway?
-Body woods are black limba with a katalox top
-Neck wood is cherry with a purpleheart 10" radius fretboard
I'm no Crossley or Orpheo, definitely a novice, but I have fun building these things. I was originally going to paint the neck and main body red, and have a contrast with the dark katalox top. However, I spilt some 'jacobean' brown stain on some offcuts and had a change of heart. As I started staining I realised the instrument was looking like some old furniture, or the planks on the deck of an old galleon or something. It also kind of added to the vibe where my signs of poor craftsmanship were now looking more purposeful. This was awesome! So I then went full bore on it, sanding in some pale spots through the stain, overstaining elsewhere and just generally going a little mad. The more weathered the look, the cooler it got, and when I was happy I sealed it and coated it with a small amount of gloss lacquer, for some contrast.
Hope you enjoyed trying to survive the wall of text. I've over pontificated enough now. Enjoy the pics!
So a few years back on this forum I asked what tools a person needed to build a guitar. After receiving the replies (mostly saying to take lessons or just don't because I obviously have no clue what I'm doing) I deleted the thread and sulked for a bit. After getting a grip I decided that basing my feelings on forum replies was a daft thing to do, so I just went for it, with some help from my dad. We built a 7 string guitar together (mostly him) which had a baseball bat for neck, questionable craftsmanship on the bits I did, and neither of us had any clue what we were doing. Still it was finished and now spends most of it's life on the wall.
Fast forward 5 (ish) years and here is the latest project. The 4th guitar I've ever been part of building, and the 3rd to be constructed entirely on my own, no dad in sight. It's also the 2nd guitar to get close to completion, so a 50% success rate all round. Good right? It's still got some work left before it's playable, but seeing as the lacquer has now gone on it's time, I think, for the reveal.
This one is a 4 string fretless bass, and here's some detail:
-34" scale length
-2 seymour duncan QP jazz bass pickups going in neck and middle and a ceramic music man bridge pickup
-Tuners are schaller da vinci bass
-Bridge will be a schaller 3D-4
-Controls will be vol/vol/vol, because who needs a tone control anyway?
-Body woods are black limba with a katalox top
-Neck wood is cherry with a purpleheart 10" radius fretboard
I'm no Crossley or Orpheo, definitely a novice, but I have fun building these things. I was originally going to paint the neck and main body red, and have a contrast with the dark katalox top. However, I spilt some 'jacobean' brown stain on some offcuts and had a change of heart. As I started staining I realised the instrument was looking like some old furniture, or the planks on the deck of an old galleon or something. It also kind of added to the vibe where my signs of poor craftsmanship were now looking more purposeful. This was awesome! So I then went full bore on it, sanding in some pale spots through the stain, overstaining elsewhere and just generally going a little mad. The more weathered the look, the cooler it got, and when I was happy I sealed it and coated it with a small amount of gloss lacquer, for some contrast.
Hope you enjoyed trying to survive the wall of text. I've over pontificated enough now. Enjoy the pics!
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