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Electrics seem to be getting a warm welcome so I thought I’d show my second attempt which was finished about 4 years ago.
Solid 2-piece Padauk body.
Bolt-on maple and ‘something’ laminated neck. The ‘something’ used to be part of a fire-surround that came out of an English house built in the 30’s. I think it’s walnut.
Pre-slotted Pau Ferro fingerboard from LMI.
Gotoh tuners, Schaller bridge. Brass nut. Stewmac Hot-Rod plus 2 carbon fibre rods.
Seymour Duncan MM pickup and active tone circuit. I was offered them at what (for France) was a very reasonable price, i.e. about what you’d pay for them in the U.S., so I decided to build the bass around them.
3-way switch for series/split/parallel.



Although it doesn’t show up too well in the photos, it’s a curved (cylindrical) front. Half the back is curved too, the other half left flat to leave enough depth for the control cavity.

Finish is Tru-Oil and steel wool. After my experience with nitro I decided to try something different and, as padauk has grain pores like the Grand Canyon I didn’t try to fill them. I really like the end result which is very natural looking with just enough of a sheen to bring out the colour and grain of the wood
Knobs, pickup cover and bridge cover are ebony and padauk. The thumb rest used to be a piano key. Someone said ‘Hey, did you make the pickup cover too?’ I explained that they’re not readily available like that over the counter. ‘Really? You even made the black plastic part?’............ Hmm, is it really worth the bother?!


The holes in the back are to avoid having holes in the front for pickup height adjustment and to fix the thumb rest. I wanted to have as little hardware as possible showing on the front.

I think now that 5 neck bolts was overkill. Especially as they are 6mm Allen screws into brass threaded inserts.

This is the funny headstock Waddy noticed in my avatar. People either like it or they don’t. Lots of others have done a similar sort of thing of course. Harry Fleishman, French luthier Kopo, Ned Steinberger to name a distinguished few. This is my version.
The logical argument for this, as with classics, is that when you tune the instrument all the keys turn the same way and you don’t sprain your wrist doing it.


Here’s the back. It has quite a thick front-plate and an even thicker back-plate to beef it up a little and then a radius sanded on front and back to soften the effect and reflect the shape of the body.


This shows another big advantage (IMHO) of this head. I don’t know what other people do, I’ve only seen front-view photos, but I decided I could make it with no Fender-style off-set and no Gibson-style angle and still have a better break angle over the nut than a Fender does. This means you just make a ¾” laminated ‘plank’ and off you go! OK that’s simplifying things a bit and I admit that cutting the slot needed a fair amount of concentration. I’ll also admit that it might look a bit odd at first, but you get used to it. Well, I have!


Spherical end frets and no, that’s not woodworm, that’s padauk!

Very pretty. I remember seeing this one elsewhere (MIMF?) and very much admiring all of your fittings. Your lines are very clean, the red on ebony is gorgeous. Yer unknown neck wood definitely looks like walnut from here!

The headstock is awesome, too, and I really want to try that style on a future bass. Thanks for all the pics of different angles It sounds like it has a lot of positives (good break angle, less waste, ergonomics) but what, have you found, are the disadvantages of this style?

Thanks for the compliments Brady. You're right, it was on the MIMF but it's disappeared into 'archive limbo'.

Disadvantages? Well I suppose it might be a bit more vulnerable than the more usual headstocks, but I haven't tried running across the stage and hitting the wall yet. Perhaps have to be a bit more careful how much string is wound onto the tuners. The main criticism is that a lot of people think 'it just don't look right'. Still, I don't mind, I made it for me.

Wow..

I love your workmanship and sense of design.

That is very cool!

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Dave, that's a fine looking bass! I especially like the knobs and pickup cover. Classy! Wonderful asthetics and a sleek, well executed design. Love it! What's it sound like?

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Really nice Dave!!
Very clean just the way I like'em! I think the headstock has real style! Cool looking!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Dave--tres nice.
Looking at your bass, I was thinking just what Brock said.
So, yeah--what Brock said.

Steve

Plus--I think you'd make Harry F. proud.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Killer bass, Dave. I love the covers and the headstock... I think the headstock is really awesome. It looks very functional and has great design features. What a great idea, is it yours?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks for the kind words guys.
"What's it sound like"
Well, to me it sounds great, and with the onboard active tone circuit it can deliver quite a varied 'palette' of sounds. But to call me a very mediocre bass player would be too flattering. Hey, I can't even play 'Smoke on the Water'. Although, to be truthful, I've never tried
But one of my stepsons, who's a bass player, seems to think it's pretty good.

"So how did you mold that black plastic?"
With great difficulty.

No Waddy, as I said, the idea of an 'open' headstock isn't mine, several people have made versions of it. This was my version.

Well, you did good. It looks great.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Very very nice.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Great lines around the neck joint. I like the understated finesse in all the details.

Thanks once again Waddy, Bruce and Sheldon. Compliments from you Sheldon are very much appreciated. I've long admired your basses.

Really very nice...

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com