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How to Build a Bass Guitar
Best Bass Gear wants you to learn how to build a bass guitar, so we have developed the How to build a bass guitar series of articles.
Each article takes a look at the different areas of building a bass, and includes not only useful information but also useful tips and tricks.
Please note: This is a work in progress. Not every step is listed just yet, but we are releasing one article per week until every build step is covered.
Remember, each step has a comment area, so if you have a question, feel free to ask and we'll answer as soon as we can.
- The full scale drawing
- Routing the truss rod channel (need a truss rod?)
- Gluing a fretboard
- Cutting the fret slots
- Cutting a two-dimensional profile of a neck
- Smoothing the neck
- Radiusing the fingerboard
- Inlay and side marker installation
- Scalloping the headstock
- Fret installation
- Fret dressing
- Neck carving
- The body layout
- Neck pocket template fabrication
- Routing the neck pocket into the body
- Fabricating a control cavity routing template
- Routing the control cavity
- Routing the pickup cavity
- Drilling Pickup and Ground Wire Holes
- Mounting the Neck
- Making a P Bass picking routing template for the pick guard (need pickups?)
- Routing the pickup opening in the pick guard
- Drilling holes and cutting out the pick guard
- Pick guard edge beveling
- Pick guard neck cutout
- Cutting out the body
- Taking down the treble side rib
- Spindle sanding the body
- Carving the rear body contour, i.e. the "tummy cut"
- The forearm contour
- Body edge roundover
- Finalizing the body shape
- Cutting the nut slot and prepping the nut blank
- Laying out the nut slots and trimming the nut blank
- Rough slotting the nut
- Finish sanding the neck
- Oil
finishing the neck