Sanding For The Best Result

Well, I've got a bit of catching up to do. It's been a while since the last post, but that's because I've been focused on getting the job done.

As discussed last time, the plan was a multi-stage sanding program, starting with 400-grit, and finishing with 2000.

Before starting, the work bench was cleared of anything that might scratch the wood inadvertently and a soft blanket laid on top.

Starting with the body, the sand paper was wrapped around a standard cork block when rubbing the flat surfaces on the front and back, and just paper in hand for all the curvy bits. The amount of dust generated at the beginning was a bit startling, but quickly became quite minimal as the grades increased, at the same time being very careful not to spend too long in one spot, creating an uneven surface.

The finer the grade of paper became, the direction of the rubbing became much less important, as there were no obvious score marks being created. Thankfully, the progress seemed to replicate the experience on the test panels. The surface became smoother and shinier, developing an almost polished appearance as the paper grade increased.

By the finish, at 2000-grit, a very satisfactory result had been achieved. The figure in the Bubinga laminate had started to "pop" and the chatoyance effect was obvious when changing the viewing angle. I did my best to make a video to show you, but it was way better in person than on screen. The best way to view the effect is to focus on one spot on the surface as the angle changes.

I had read somewhere that it is possible to really speed up the action of a neck by making the surface as smooth as possible. At my level of playing, there is absolutely no need for a super-fast neck, but I finished it to the same level as the body anyway. As a precaution, the fingerboard was masked with tape first, mainly to protect the ends of the frets from scoring from the coarser grades of paper.

With the sanding finished, it was time to embark on the most visually important, and time consuming, part of the build.

Deciding On The Finish

One of the reasons it took so long to decide what I was going to order, and how much the final project was going to cost, was in the finish of the body. For me, the project was as much focused on the wood used in construction and showing it off to best advantage, as it was about the sound of the instrument. The aim was a fabulous sounding, as well as fabulous looking bass guitar.

It would have been great to have the body finished in a urethane gloss that leaves the wood looking like it has been dipped in molten glass, but for Warmoth to do it would have added hundreds of dollars. For me to try it was asking for trouble. Also, I learned that the traditional guitar finishes of cellulose and urethane can be quite difficult to repair if (when) they get damaged. The research for the alternatives in high grade wood finishes then got underway

Almost immediately the subject of natural oils, such as tung oil and Danish oil, came up. The more information I uncovered, the more clear it became that tung oil was a very forgiving product to work with. That is, you are unlikely to make a total hash of the work piece with tung oil. That sounded like it was made for me. The other attraction is that tung oil is completely natural and non-toxic, as is it's solvent, terpene. In fact, the literature says that it is often used on products that come into contact with food, such as a fruit bowl, or kitchen bench tops.

The finish of tung oil is a natural satin. It is easily repaired, and blends well with the original application. A low sheen surface can be created using a finishing, or rubbing, oil over the top of the tung oil. Similarly, there is nothing to prevent using beeswax and buffing that up to a nice shine if that's the result you're looking for.

As in many projects, the end result is dependent on the preparation done before hand. In the case of a fine wood finish, the better the starting surface, the better the result at the end.

I selected for the body, a particular piece of Bubinga laminate for its beautiful, symmetrical figure and had every intention of making it the centre of attention. While I waited for the kit to be manufactured and shipped over to Australia from the U.S., I started practising on a piece of what I think is walnut veneer from an old bedhead. The existing stain and varnish finish was stripped off using a very coarse grit on a power sander. I then cut the piece into four sections so that I could compare results of different approaches to finishing. The power sander was put away and all the test panels were finished by hand.

400-Grit Sanded Finish

The first panel was worked up, grade by grade, to a 400-grit finish. The result was quite good, considering the state of the veneer before I started. The surface was smooth and the figure was starting to emerge very nicely. This was my baseline sample.

On the second sample, the sanding finished at 1200-grit paper. This was where it became clear how important a fine finish can be to the end result. Once you get up to about 800-grit, the figure in the wood really starts to pop out. By the time I finished the sample at 1200, the surface started to develop a polished sheen and the visual depth so desired in figured timber.

1200-Grit Sanded Finish

And this is when I learnt a new word - chatoyance. Chatoyancy in wood is the property whereby the finished surface reflects light differently depending on the angle from which it is viewed. This is a result of the wood fibres laying at different angles. Some will be parallel to the surface, while others will intersect the surface. Unfortunately, the photo can't really do justice to the appearance of the result. I was very happy with it.

At the time I was working on the panels I didn't have any 2000-grit paper, but that was the plan for the bass. With this kind of result for 1200-grit, it can only get better still working up to 2000, and with the application of the oils.


Tung Oil Over Sanding Sealer

An option I tested was tung oil over sanding sealer. This was to see if the sealer filled the pores and grain hollows to give a perfectly smooth finish.
The result of two coats of sealer before applying tung oil produced an OK finish in that it developed a shine fairly easily but it lost the touch of natural wood. It would have taken quite a few more coats to completely fill the grain, as well.

The key learning was by accident, literally. With the panel knocking around my work bench, before I tidied up properly, it acquired a couple of scratches and marks. These marks had chipped off the hard sealer, revealing the bare wood underneath. The damage would require sanding back the affected area, before re-sealing, sanding and re-finishing. I didn't try a repair as the experience confirmed that this was not going to be the best method for me.

        Tung Oil x 10               Finishing Oil Over Tung Oil

With the last panel, I started the multiple coats of tung oil. In the end there were ten coats of oil, with a light sand after a drying time.

With this particular veneer, after each coat, the surface fibres soaked up the oil and stood up, giving a stubbly feel. The sanding was at 1200 to knock the stubble off. By the last coat, a lovely golden glow had developed in the veneer, which is largely missing in the photo, unfortunately

Finally, I divided the panel with masking tape and rubbed in the finishing oil to one side only, to give a side-by-side comparison. The photo doesn't really highlight the difference adequately, but a shine and depth to the finish started to build after a only a couple of coats. The decision was made to go with a finishing oil over a solid tung oil base.

Testing the proposed finishing method certainly inspired confidence that I would be able to do the job successfully myself. It also confirmed that this method would produce a lovely, natural result that highlighted the beauty of the wood.

Satisfied, I waited for my delivery from Warmoth.

Preparing for Minimum Noise (1) - Sealing the Cavities

One of the discussion points I came across was regarding proper earthing and eliminating sources of electrical noise. The prevailing opinion was that there is merit in electrically shielding the electronics from any sources of spurious noise. The two main options to achieve this are to finish the main control cavity with either copper impregnated paint or copper foil tape. To be really thorough, you can do the same for the pickup cavities. The paint may be effective, but again, the opinions I came across thought the paint to be somewhat unreliable. I have chosen to apply copper foil tape. If I have enough left over, then I will also attempt to line the pickup cavities.

The first step in the copper application process is to prepare the cavity for the best adhesion of the tape by sanding away the obvious lumps, bumps and machining marks. So this I did, using 400-grit sandpaper. I used this reasonably fine grade paper so I did not to remove too much material too quickly.

Sanding sealer came next because I thought it might be worthwhile. Sanding sealer prepares the raw timber for other clear liquid finishes, such as stains or varnishes. It is supposed to fill the wood grain to produce a smooth, even surface. The rationale was, that by filling the wood grain, it would provide the maximum possible surface area for the foil tape to stick to. I didn't want the sealer to influence the proposed tung oil finish for the rest of the wood, so I masked around all of the cavities before painting on the sealer.


The pictures show the cavities after I had painted on the sealer. There are a couple of points to note here, that may be of interest. The first being the colour change in the wood. Compare the cavities to the neck pocket or the main body, which weren't painted. This may be relevant if you are thinking of using a clear finish over sealer for your own project, but more discussion on this in a later post.

Also, from the lower photo, the relationship of the control holes to the cavity is clear. You can see how much space has been allowed for the body of the controls, as well as the small countersink next the hole for the orientation tab on the controls.

 Another modification I haven't mentioned before is the tiny bit of extra routing made for the switch. This allows the switch to be placed where I wanted it, but also for either a back-forward or up-down action. I'll make that decision after the wiring is finished, much later.

Repairing

Acknowledging that Warmoth can't cater to every minor variation in matching their products to others, I think in the instance of the bridge mounting holes they have made a mistake.

The Hipshot bridge I selected was on the list of standard patterns for which Warmoth will prepare the mounting, but when I did a trial fitting I found that the middle mounting screw hole was too large, the same size as the string holes.

There were a couple of different paths to a solution to this problem. The most obvious would be to just use a larger screw. That was too easy, and there was a risk of not matching the screw heads in design, size and colour to the bridge.


The most satisfactory fix, in my mind, was to install a wooden sleeve that would restore the hole to the correct size. The required sleeve measured 4.5 x 3 x 16mm. That is a wall thickness of 0.75mm! In wood! Not something that is readily available at the local hardware store or wood merchant.  I certainly don't have the equipment, or skill required to create something like this. Fortunately, my cousin Eric does! When I put my problem to him, he took up the challenge. Using a 25 mm round section I provided, he drilled the hole and turned it down to a fraction larger than the hole in the body. This provided a lovely snug fit.

 This is the result, glued in place and dressed back to the body surface. The hole is not perfectly centred, due to the difficulty of getting a small diameter twist drill to start truly into the end-grain, but the screw will definitely be able to get a bite into the wood all the way down the hole, not just at the very bottom, as before.

Fettling

Warmoth's business is making guitar and bass kits, virtually any way you can imagine them. Having said that, it must be still necessary to impose limitations based around industry, or generally understood standards. And this is where I faced my first, unexpected hurdle.

The pickup routing option was selected from the list of standard offerings, being a Jazz style for the neck and a Musicman lugless for the bridge, in the "sweet spot" position. It turns out that either the Delano Musicman case has a slightly smaller than standard corner radius, or the corner radius in the routing is oversize. The result being that although the pocket is OK for width and height, the bridge pickup wouldn't drop into the routing. A fitting job was about to begin.

 I didn't get out the router, or even the 80-grit sandpaper. Following the established methodology for the project thus far, excruciatingly slow but steady was the way forward. I found a plastic ball point pen with a close-enough radius, and wrapped it in 400-grit wet & dry sandpaper. The next hour or so was spent wearing away the corners until the pickup fitted the pocket. In the back of my mind is the plan to line the pickup cavities with copper tape, so there needs to be at least a tiny bit of clearance to allow for the foil.


Another job done. It wasn't in the plan but I feel that progress has been made.

Finally, The Holes Are Drilled!

I'm guessing I've broken the first rule of blogging by failing to post regularly. I got off to a flying start with a bit of preparation in the bank, but I knew from the start that there would be interruptions, delays and sometimes limited opportunities for consistent updating. After all, should I be spending my spare time working on the bass, or just writing about it? Nevertheless, just because there hasn't been a post recently, it doesn't have to follow that no progress has been made.

So where we left off was working out how to mark the positions for preamp control holes. There were a few false starts, but they all contributed to the result at the end. The aim was to align the controls in an arc that matched the curve of the lower bout. The first attempt of copying the arc was to trace out the profile onto plywood and then cut out this shape. The difficulty here was to get that profile translated correctly onto the internal cavity template so that it was parallel to the body outline. By marking the cavity width on the plywood I could position reasonably accurately and mark the curve on the template. The control knobs were put in place on the arc line and positioned to be equal distance apart. The result didn't look too bad, but when I checked by measuring the distance from the edge to the centre of the knobs, as in the picture, there was quite a variation from one to the other. Therefore, the arc could not be parallel with the body. And once I thought about it, that had to be right. If you think of concentric circles, the inner circle has to have a smaller radius. By copying the body arc, I did not get a smaller radius. I'm glad I measured twice!

In the end I used the arc as a guide and then measured with the small square and ruler the perpendicular distance from the outer profile to the centre of the knob. I marked a circle around the knobs and then marked the centre of the circle for the pilot hole.

Having the centre holes now marked on the template, and the template captive in the cavity, I drilled pilot holes of 1/16" diameter. Finally, I was committed, with no turning back. The 7 mm holes were next.

Another aspect of my paranoia regarding the holes was achieving a clean cut at the knob surface. I learned from my research that the Forstner bit is recommended to give a nice, clean cut. You can see from my test on a veneered panel the difference between the brand new Forstner bit and a not so new regular twist bit. To be honest, I expected more tearing on breakout of the twist drill. From this result, the surface would clean up OK with a light sanding. I think the key here is to have the workpiece very securely clamped over a sacrificial piece of wood, so that you do not drill out into fresh air. 

Finally, four holes drilled. Just one more, for the switch, to go.

Working out the best place for the switch was the next issue. In the end I decided to position it in line with the rear-most knob, mainly so that it didn't get in the way. In theory, it should lie midway between the knob and the bridge. The final result is shown below.

 

 Now the hard part is over. Getting to this point took, literally, weeks of agonising, measuring, checking and procrastinating. The holes are where they are. They can't be moved or corrected in any way, but to my eye, they look acceptable, and close to what I had in mind.

From here it should be full steam ahead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Only Get One Chance

I'm sure there are dozens of sayings like the carpenter's adage: "Measure twice, cut once".

The task of drilling the holes for the controls has been making me nervous ever since I placed my order for the body. There is no drilling a second set of holes if the first set isn't in the spot I wanted. How do I get the correct arc? How do I make sure everything will fit neatly in the cavity? How do I mark out the correct drill positions for the pots? These, and many other questions, are yet to be answered. Nevertheless, I have a plan!

A practise template!

I have made a plywood pattern of the control cavity profile.  The idea is to test the layout of the pots, preamp and switch, making sure that they don't get in the way of other parts, such as the input jack, or the pickup leads.



Template of control cavity

Controls and Preamp kit

It looks to me as though the arc of the cavity along the lower edge matches, in places, the arc of the body. It also appears as though the control cavity cover has the same curve as the body To be honest, it seems pretty obvious, but I need to check (twice), to satisfy myself that this is, in fact, the case. Therefore, I should be able to use the cover for marking out the arc along which the controls are placed.

But then, there is still the alignment to work out, so that I do end up marking an arc as parallel to the body arc as possible. I'm thinking that the straight section under the battery compartment will have to be the datum.

This might take some time!








Making Sawdust at Last

The excuses have all run out. I'm finally underway. Tonight started "1.01 Drilling Holes for Strap Locks". By the end of the night, I had them fitted up.

Finding the place to drill was straightforward at the rear of the body, but a little trickier on the horn.

The rear strap lock is positioned at the centre of the body. The centre line of the body is the bookmark join line of the Swamp Ash core.

The hole was drilled as close to mid-thickness as I could establish. I had a caliper to measure across the body, then set a carpenter's square to half the measurement.





















For the hole on the horn, it was a bit of line-up-by-eye to follow the basic line/angle of the body, and then judge the middle point.

Drilling the actual holes proved more challenging than expected, as I had to put my tool box on top of the body to stop it pushing away. I have a soft blanket on the work bench to protect the wood, and I certainly had plenty of padding between body and toolbox.

One of the recommendations I came across was to apply soap to the screw threads to prevent lock-up and screw breakage. This is probably sound advice for harder woods, such as walnut or maple, but the Swamp Ash is comparatively soft. The screws went in slow, but steady, and tightened up nicely on the lock button. Certainly careful not to over-tighten, and strip out the wood.






















First job done! I don't think too many more tasks will be done and dusted in one session.

The Job Ahead

Most guys love a project. One of the things I enjoy about a project is mapping out the steps to completion. No assembly instructions come from Warmoth, probably because it would be impossible to be specific for each order. Disappointing at first, but reasonable, when you think of the huge range of end product achievable. This was the safety net I was searching for, but in the end, you just have to think it through as best you can.

While waiting the several months for my parts to arrive, the homework continued on how to go about the build. I looked up info on everything I could think of, and found some very helpful hints, tips and resources. The anticipation was also the final motivation needed to clean up the garage and create my "luthier's studio"!

Once the components had arrived, and some trial fitting (playing around, mucking about, call it what you will) had taken place, a plan starts to come together (I love it when a plan comes together!) and the sequence of events begins to take shape.

So, the following is my way forward.  The plan is not generic. It is for my specific project.

Sequence	Task
1.00	Body
1.01	Drill mounting holes for strap lock
1.02	Drill holes for control pots & switch
1.03	Fit bridge pickup to cavity
1.04	Sand and seal control cavity
1.05	Sand and seal pickup cavities
1.06	Sand body to 2000 grit
1.07	25% Tung oil finish to body (mask cavities)
1.08	50% Tung oil finish to body
1.09	100% Tung oil finish to body x 10
1.10	Rubbing oil finish to body x 5
1.11	Install string ferrules
1.12	Copper shield to control cavity
1.13	Copper shield pickup cavities
1.14	Copper shield cavity cover
1.15	Solder ground wire to bridge
1.16	Install bridge (soap screws)
2.00	Neck
2.01	Sand neck to 2000 grit (mask fretboard)
2.02	25% Tung oil finish to neck
2.03	50% Tung oil finish to neck
2.04	100% Tung oil finish to neck x 10
2.05	Fit and align tuners-ensure angle and rotation
2.06	Drill locking screw holes
2.07	Rubbing oil finish to peg head x 5
2.08	Fit tuners to peg head (soap screws)
2.09	Make truss rod cover
2.10	Engrave truss rod cover
2.11	Fit truss rod cover
3.00	Electronics
3.01	Install jack socket
3.02	Install pickups
3.03	Install preamp & controls
3.04	Install switch
3.05	Install battery holder
3.06	Connect Battery
4.00	Assembly & Set-Up
4.01	Install neck mounting washers
4.02	Install neck (soap screws)
4.03	Fit strap locks
4.04	Fit strings & tune
4.05	Set-up guitar

There will probably be key steps not thought of. There may be some steps listed that become unnecessary.
Let me say again, "Long-time planner, first-time bass builder".

The Parts List

The main parts of my kit,  the body and neck, came from Warmoth. The remaining instrument items that didn't come from Warmoth came from Best Bass Gear (BBG). The woodworking/finishing items are from a local supplier, Carbatec ( www.carbatec.com.au/ ).

All the parts were accumulated over several months, although I placed the orders for the body and neck at the same time.

Incidentally, another reason that made Warmoth so attractive is the current import tax/duty system in Australia. Orders of a value less that A$1,000 do not attract sales taxes and duties. So I placed two separate orders on Warmoth. One order for the body, plus some of the parts and then a second order for the neck and the remaining parts. Together they would have totalled more than the threshold. I don't believe there is any way you could directly import a finished instrument of similar quality for under A$1,000!

So, what follows is what I have to work with. This is the final specification and associated parts list. As far as I can tell, I don't need anything else, except for a case, and that is budgeted for. Any surprises will have to go through the financial controller first.

Warmoth Gecko 5, Medium - Final Specification, Black Hardware

Feature	Specification	Part No.	Qty.	Supplier
Body
Wood: Core	Swamp Ash		1	Warmoth
Wood: Front laminate	Unique choice: Bubinga	LT681	1	Warmoth
Top Finish	Tung oil
Back Finish	Tung oil
Edge binding	Black pinstiping		1	Warmoth
Orientation	Right handed		1	Warmoth
Control cavity	Rear		1	Warmoth
Routing, bridge pickup	Musicman 5, EB style (no lugs), Sweet Spot	MM5/EB Sweet Spot	1	Warmoth
Routing, neck pickup	Jazz, 3 5/8"		1	Warmoth
Control rout	None - Drill own pattern
Bridge type	Hardtail		1	Warmoth
Bridge rout	Hipshot Type 'A', String thru, spacing 19.0 mm		1	Warmoth
Jack rout	1/2" rout for deep panel mono jack		1	Warmoth
Neck mounting holes	Standard 4 bolt		1	Warmoth
Contours: Forearm	Std.		1	Warmoth
Contours: Tummy	Std.		1	Warmoth
Neck
Neck Wood	Wenge, with Bubinga laminate		1	Warmoth
Neck finish	Not required for Wenge			Warmoth
Fingerboard Wood	Ebony, Black		1	Warmoth
Neck heel (ramp) veneer	Matching fingerboard veneer, Black Ebony			Warmoth
Length/Scale	35" / 889 mm			Warmoth
Number of Frets	24			Warmoth
Fret specification	Stainless steel, Narrow, tall	SS6105	1	Warmoth
Special inlay	Gecko		1	Warmoth
Width at Nut	Med=47.6 mm			Warmoth
Width at 24th fret	Med=76.2 mm			Warmoth
String pitch @ bridge	Med=19.0 mm			Warmoth
Neck Radius	Asymmetric			Warmoth
Truss Rod	Steel			Warmoth
Stiffening rods	Standard steel			Warmoth
Nut Material	Tusq XL, black		1	Warmoth
Mounting holes	Standard 4-bolt			Warmoth
Headstock Style	Warmoth			Warmoth
Peg head veneer	Matching body veneer, Bubinga			Warmoth
Truss rod cover w/screws	Included with Gecko neck			Warmoth
Hardware
Tuners/Machine Heads	Gotoh GB7 (LH), 14mm hole	GB7LB	3	Warmoth
	Gotoh GB7 (RH), 14mm hole	GB7RB	2	Warmoth
Bridge	Hipshot Type 'A', Brass w/ Black finish		1	BBG
Adjustable Intonation	Y			BBG
Adjustable Action (Height)	Y			BBG
Adjustable String Spacing	Y: +/- 1 mm			BBG
Break Angle	Max.			BBG
String Thru-body	Y			BBG
String Spacing	19.05 mm (0.75")			BBG
Pickups/Electronics	Delano "TheHybrid 5" kit. Bridge-MM; Neck J	MC 5 HY/EB & JC 5 AL/H	1	BBG
Pre-amp	Delano "Sonar 2"	Sonar 2 Hybrid	1	BBG
	Micro switches, included		1	BBG
Knobs	Metal, round/dome top	RTK1B	4	Warmoth
Cover	Included with Gecko body			Warmoth
Cavity shielding	Copper shielding tape, 2" x 24" (Z36)	Z36	1	Warmoth
Socket	Deep panel mono jack, 1/2" rout	DPJ1	1	Warmoth
Battery holder			1	BBG
Battery connector			1	BBG
Hookup wire			1	BBG
Strap attachment	Schaller Security Strap Locks, (pair)	SSL1B	1	Warmoth
Strap	UltraStrap		1	BBG
String ferrules	Black	BSF1-B	5	Warmoth
Strings	d'Darrio XL	G5S	1	Warmoth
Bolts & Screws	Screws (set 4) for neck	S5	1	Warmoth
	Neck washers, black	NW	4	Warmoth
Finishing
Drill	Control holes		1	Carbatec
Drill	Micro switch hole		1	Carbatec
Drill	Tuners & truss rod cover		1	Carbatec
Sandpapers	Up to 2000 grit wet/dry		1	Carbatec
Tung Oil, 1L			1	Carbatec
Citrus Terpene, 1L			1	Carbatec
Rubbing Oil			1	Carbatec

The Specification

I am simply a novice player and, before I started, had little idea regarding the art of guitar building, or how to select electronics and hardware. I am a little better informed now, but was looking for all the help on offer in speccing my new instrument. I certainly got some great advice along the way. Many thanks to Tom Konig (www.konigbassworx.com.au/), for help with choosing, and setting up for, the Delano pickups, and to Spike at Warmoth (www.warmoth.com/) for pretty much everything else.

 I expect this to be my only instrument for many years and so I want it to be something I can develop into, and something that is versatile in the range of tones that it is capable of. I had to take the time get the spec right.

With Warmoth you get to specify absolutely everything!

So after months of poring over every inch of the Warmoth website, I decided on how I was going to create my bass. Of all the options, I decided on something a bit special. Not a Precision, or a Jazz, or any of the other familiar styles. I am going to build the Warmoth Gecko 5, with a medium-width neck.

The body core is Swamp Ash with a unique choice Bubinga laminate top. This means I selected the exact piece of Bubinga from a range offered on the website. Bubinga was one of the woods that drew me to a Warwick Corvette in the first place, so that wasn't a difficult choice. The selected piece has fabulous figuring and symmetry and I'm hoping it will really pop out after the tung oil finishing treatment. You will also notice that there are no drilled holes for the controls. I wasn't sold on the standard Warmoth diamond pattern, so elected to do this task myself (no cost reduction to omit this process step, btw).

 Probably the decision that I agonised over most was with respect to getting the strings to line up over the pole pieces of the pickups. Having chosen the Delano pickup set, the question became one of ensuring that the string pitch from the bridge matched the pole pitch at the pup routing position. This is where the information and suggestions provided by Tom Konig was invaluable. The suggestion of his that has ended up giving me some peace of mind (up to now), was to create a full scale drawing of the arrangement of bridge, pickups and the strings over the top, through to the nut. To do this, I used the free Sketchup drawing software. (When I started, it was a Google product, now it is known as Trimble Sketchup).

It was this advice and the subsequent drawing (shown at left) that led me to opt for placing the bridge pickup in the "sweet spot" position. This moves the pickup away from the bridge, towards the neck. A further measure to ensure this string/pickup alignment was to choose the Hipshot Type "A" bridge, which allows for minimal side-to-side adjustment of the strings individually. I guess we'll find out soon enough if all these precautions work out as planned.

I chose a Wenge/Bubinga laminated neck with a Black Ebony fingerboard and stainless steel frets. Wenge was again a Warwick feature that I was interested in, but it was the information from Warmoth that convinced me that this was the way to go for this project. The ebony is for tone, durability and tradition. The stainless steel frets for durability and contrast with the Ebony fingerboard. The scale length on the Gecko is 35", which is an inch longer than the standard bass neck. This allows for the B-string to be tensioned a little more, avoiding the floppy nature of the low string on the standard scale. 

The peg head features matching Bubinga laminate, and there is additional Ebony veneer on the neck ramp, where it joins the body. A nice, quirky feature of the Warmoth Gecko bass is the nice lizard inlay, also in matching Bubinga veneer. The position markers are on the side of the neck.

The electronics are Delano "The Hybrid-5" pickups, with "Sonar 2" preamp (the full Delano saga in a  later post). The hardware is all black: bridge, tuners control knobs etc. I'm hoping it will all contrast nicely, for a cohesive and stylish look.

The full parts list will be in the next post. 

In the Beginning

I learnt on, and am still playing, a loaner Yamaha BB300 4-string. Don't get me wrong, this is a very nice P-bass to start out on, and has met every (limited) challenge thrown at it in the time I've had the pleasure of it's company, yet there comes a time when your bass playing horizons start to widen.

I am fortunate to be allowed to play in our church band where we are covering a wide range of styles, from traditional rock/pop to funk, reggae, C&W and R&B. Playing with musicians of a high standard really lifts your own level.

For quite a while I had been thinking of taking the step up to a 5-string bass. For a very long time I had my heart set on a Warwick Corvette $$. Two features attracted me to the $$. The first is the use of fabulous woods in the construction. The second reason, the tonal range achieved through blending the humbucking pickups.

After much searching, both locally in Australia and offshore, I finally came to the realisation that this instrument was way out of my reach. To get the combinations I wanted would have been prohibitively expensive. So I started looking around at kits. It was then that I stumbled upon Warmoth and discovered that I might be able to achieve an instrument that not only my heart desires, but my head is prepared to pay for.

The words on the forums were overwhelmingly positive, about Warmoth’s product, so I thought, in the words of one of the great philosophers of our time, Jeremy Clarkson (look him up!), “How hard can it be?”

Why a Blog?

Well, after exploring across the interweb for assistance, although there is much knowledge to be shared regarding building a guitar from scratch, I couldn’t find a consolidated source that tackled a project such as this. This is not to say such a resource isn't out there, just that I didn't come across it. Therefore, I am hoping that by documenting my project, others may benefit from my experience.

Secondly, I’m hoping the immense pressures of providing copy to the blog will spur me on to a completion in the shortest reasonable time, rather than become the excruciatingly long project that I have become well known for. And I'm sure that at some stage along the journey, a bit of  encouragement and advice won't go astray.