**31 July 2021 For those who have already seen the first few posts of this thread, I posted this under the title of 'A slow burn' a couple of months ago. This is just about to start in earnest. Wish me luck! New content below from today's date**
Could be a case of meeting my Nemesis, this one
I've been in PM discussion for some months with
@meltedbuzzbox about a build that would be essentially a Trini Lopez Deluxe outline shape, but with a number of differences - some as part of the spec and some the freedom that @meltedbuzzbox is happy to give me on some of the constructional choices.
Why this is a 'slow burn' is that I'm not going to rush it. I suspect that at every stage there are going to be 'stop and REALLY think through' the best way to develop the design.
I have plenty of time to think through and try stuff out as I am in the early stages of a single-cut bass build, but there are some aspects I will be starting soon.
And of all the builds I've contemplated, this is probably the most excited I've been...and I get excited with ALL of my builds .
Because it's going to be:
- Full-size outline shape (think ES335 - they are freakin' enormous)
- Through neck
- Ebony top....yes, you read right. Ebony top
- 24.75" 12" radius ebony board
- Slim but hollow. The wings will be basically acoustic back and sides but at solid-body body thickness
- Steinberger gearless tuners (the modern replacements for the Firebird banjo tuners)
- Maestro vibrola (again, think Firebird)
- F holes - maybe diamonds, maybe teardrops
- Possibly Jag switches and possibly with Jag switch plates
- Weight...well, probably high, but as many AJR weight reduction tricks I can fit in
The laminated through neck will be visible from the top as well as the back...maybe this kind of thing...:
or maybe raised like the Firebirds:
So how far have we got?
Well, I've got the ebony....
How cool is that????
And some initial construction thoughts (ignore the T-o-M here - think Maestro):
You can probably see why this one will be a slow burn...
Comments
I have the top wood (ebony), the back and sides wood (walnut) and am just about to order the neck timbers. The neck will be a mahogany-based multi-laminate.
There are still some things to be considered, but my thoughts for construction are to have an Aria/Alembic/etc through-neck visible top and back, this sort of thing:
...but, for weight purposes as much as anything, instead of the solid wings as in the above example, have the wings as two semi-acoustic closed chambers with a hidden mahogany jointing strip (which will give me the extra width for a secure bridge fixing, etc as well as a secure bond to the through neck area) covered by the ebony top and walnut back pieces and walnut bent sides.
I'm not quite sure yet the best way of constructing these - and I have to consider the depth of the electrics - but, in that my plan sometime in the future is, in any case, to have a go at a more conventional semi-acoustic build, I've bought a 335 mould from Radius Dish UK (thanks for the supplier lead, @WezV ) that I will use with some custom blocks I have yet to cut that will support the florentine sharper horns:
So just got to get the neck timbers and the build can commence properly
In the meantime, I'm getting prepared by starting to think long and hard about the construction of the wings, given the materials I'll be using.
I should stress that this isn't a clone - @meltedbuzzbox has given me major leeway of how it's built other than the outline shape should be T-L deluxe-like and the width and length per full size
The basic concept is straightforward. A visible through neck - wider than this mockup through the body and multi-laminate:
With the two hollowed or hollow wings, ebony on top and walnut at the back and sides. This below is dampened to show the broad colour it will end up (and that quilting will really pop out when the finish is applied!). Again, this is just illustrative. Clearly, the neck at the back will be flush with the neck and will probably be dished :
The pondering here is that, originally, I was thinking of a standard-ish acoustic kerfing strip back/sides with the ebony on top - the slotted strip you may have seen down an acoustic guitar soundhole that the thin back and sides glue onto. This sort of thing (albeit as wings glued to the through neck):
However, by far the most influential element is going to be the ebony tops to the wings...and I can't be certain they are going to naturally want to stay flat and straight - they may need clamping and gluing flat (even well seasoned timber moves around if you let it in different humidity conditions). So the alternative is a couple of rigid frames something like this (again, just for the wings, glued to the through neck):
Now the ebony is being brought in progressively to workshop conditions, I will be able to see how well it behaves and judge whether a kerf-strip and thin-wall back and sides based hollow construction will suffice or whether it needs the above kind of rigid structure underneath the walnut back and sides.
I love this kind of stuff
I will cut a block/blocks that will act as the formers for the florentine horns so that my shapes don't 'drift' out position or dimension:
I'll find some offcut to use for the insert and, when it is cut, it will fit into the mould here:
The white stripe is where the visible through neck will be. While I am sure this will be a bit of a rocky ride, seeing this here makes me very excited to how this could look when it's finished
Not that there are many "threads like this"!