New homebuilt bass day

[Peter H. Boer]

I build myself another bass, with some Ï've never done that before, so I think I can do it" options.
5-string multiscale neck 34"on G-string, 36"on B string.
Ash body, burned, then cleaned, then stained, then oiled body.
A-symetrical profile, set neck (28 frets on D and G string, 26 on the other 3 string

Her name is Orion.

[rnolan]

Wow Peter, way to go  , looks awesome  :whoohoo!:

[Peter H. Boer]

Wow Peter, way to go  , looks awesome  :whoohoo!:

Thank you  ;D

[MarshallJMP]

Wow Peter, way to go  , looks awesome  :whoohoo!:

+1

What's next an MB-2?  ;D

[Zilthy]

Awesome!  That looks really sweet!  I bet it sounds great too.

[Peter H. Boer]

Wow Peter, way to go  , looks awesome  :whoohoo!:

+1

What's next an MB-2?  ;D

Electronics is not my thing, working with wood will do nicely  :D

[Peter H. Boer]

Awesome!  That looks really sweet!  I bet it sounds great too.

It does sound great, she's a metal beast  :banana-rock:

[Harley Hexxe]

Awesome workmanship Peter!

      If you hadn't said you built it, I'm sure we all would have assumed you bought it, or it might have been custom made for you.

      I have a couple of questions for you about it:

      On the fretboard, am I looking at two different kinds of wood, or did you just stain it partially?

      In the last pic, what am I looking at on the end of the headstock? Is that a wrench holder?

      Did you go neck-thru body, and what gave you the idea to extend two more frets on your G & D strings? I've never seen a bass built like that anywhere else.

Harley 8)

[Peter H. Boer]

Awesome workmanship Peter!


      If you hadn't said you built it, I'm sure we all would have assumed you bought it, or it might have been custom made for you.

Thanks  :)

      I have a couple of questions for you about it:

      On the fretboard, am I looking at two different kinds of wood, or did you just stain it partially?

It actualy is 1 piece of wood, they call it pale moon ebony.
It is cut from the tree exposing both the heartwood (black) as well as the sapwood (yellowish)

      In the last pic, what am I looking at on the end of the headstock? Is that a wrench holder?

No, that is my PHB logo inlaid in ebony, but it is hard to see (real life as well as on the photo)

      Did you go neck-thru body, and what gave you the idea to extend two more frets on your G & D strings? I've never seen a bass built like that anywhere else.

It is a set neck, so glued in.
The extra frets for the 2 highest strings is something that I've been using since the 90's
My Ellio Martina (Dutch Luthier) custom made to my specifications6-string bass has 24 frets but 26 for the G and C strings.
My two 1999-2000 homebuild 6-string basses also have 26 frets but 28 for the high G and C strings

So I always used that  8)

[Harley Hexxe]

Thanks Peter!

     I never heard of Pale Moon Ebony before, but I will look into trying to get some of that for a guitar neck. I'll bet that is a sweet tonewood.

     Of course, leave it to a bass player to come up with a neck that has more than a two octave range, so guitar players will scratch their heads and go "Hmm, I think I need more range on my guitar now!"

Harley 8)

[rnolan]

Hey Harley, a lot of ebony is blond or white or has pale streaks through it, seems (from what Peter said) that it's just the heartwood that is black?  That finger boards etc. are black is a "looks" thing and allot of the non-black wood is discarded (from an instrument perspective).  The colored wood should perform the same from a tone/feel/longevity perspective (is my understanding).

[Harley Hexxe]

Hey Richard,

     While that may be true, it's also true that getting wood like that from the usual suppliers is not going to be as simple as that, because they are the ones discarding the outer wood in favor of the heart.
     I'll probably have to source something like that from outside luthier supply chains.
   
     The only reason I'm even considering building a guitar is because of a set of pickups I bought several years ago, and still haven't found a guitar that I could put them in to my satisfaction. Maybe designing and building a guitar is the way to go.

Harley 8)

[rnolan]

Hey Harley, seems to be a bit around/available (https://www.ebay.com/itm/284149058710) though not cheap. I've had similar thoughts about building a guitar to use some pickups I've had spare for quite a while, particularly a humbucker sized Ultrasonic that needs a home....

[Harley Hexxe]

Hey Richard,
 
        Yes, I see that that kind of material all over the place. There's a lot of figuring in those pieces, and that's not really what catches my eye.

      What caught my eye with Peter's bass first was the fretboard. It really made my mind question what I was seeing, and made me wonder what I was looking at. Peter really lucked out with that particular piece because it looks like it could be a blend between two different kinds of wood. It's a great effect.

Harley 8)

[Dante]

That's one sexy bass!