See the business listing for this bass builder here
This week’s bass guitar of the week has a really short build story, however it was submitted with not one but two videos, seen below.
Builder Bob Reselman writes:
The bass is a ipe and figured maple neck through design with basswood side blocks, fretless rosewood fingerboard with DiMarzio dual coil pickups with single coil override. The neck is hand carved with Japanese rasp and dragon file, as shown here:
A spoke shave may work faster but there is a lot less control and finesse in my opinion. I have done it both ways and the labor of love you put in with a rasp just binds your life energy into the instrument. Ipe is so course and grainy I I would not enjoy using a shave. Even one that is razor sharp and set extremely shallow.
Also saving time is not what making an instrument is about. It’s about love and passion and not time saving. Just my humble opinion. If you really want to save time sell your soul and buy a cnc router and do it like the the corporations do and still keep the price at handmade levels. Sorry for the rant but it’s art and love not time and money.
My point was not that it doesn’t take time to set up a cnc. But in the fact that once the design is set. The copies of that instrument can be very easily mass produced. Then they sell them as “custom” with a selection between jazz pickups or double bucks and the exact same body as every other one. Which isn’t custom. This bass is a handmade custom instrument! And a sweet one at that! I would love to play it.
She is a sweet fretless great job Frank!!!
Awesome bass, just a tip, use a spokeshave it takes a lot more wood off faster
Beautiful lines,minimalist style. Nicely done!
Beautiful work. +1 to the spokeshave comment – huge time savings when knocking down the corners, but use with caution in highly figured woods.
I prefer rasps and files actually. Spokeshaves can do nasty things. Nice bass. Keep working on that aesthetic.
A spoke shave may work faster but there is a lot less control and finesse in my opinion. I have done it both ways and the labor of love you put in with a rasp just binds your life energy into the instrument. Ipe is so course and grainy I I would not enjoy using a shave. Even one that is razor sharp and set extremely shallow.
Also saving time is not what making an instrument is about. It’s about love and passion and not time saving. Just my humble opinion. If you really want to save time sell your soul and buy a cnc router and do it like the the corporations do and still keep the price at handmade levels. Sorry for the rant but it’s art and love not time and money.
I think you might find programming a CNC router to build a 1 off bass would be a lot more difficult. Design and programming is an artform in itself.
My point was not that it doesn’t take time to set up a cnc. But in the fact that once the design is set. The copies of that instrument can be very easily mass produced. Then they sell them as “custom” with a selection between jazz pickups or double bucks and the exact same body as every other one. Which isn’t custom. This bass is a handmade custom instrument! And a sweet one at that! I would love to play it.