LeftyBassist.com

Since we have the freedom here to have a little fun with modding, repairs, and building ... I propose to build a LeftyBassist 4-string custom that we can all chime in on to work the specs. I will utilize this bass for reference for future people who want to test drive a custom lefty bass (and I may just let a couple people here give it a test drive as well)

Here's the specs - but I'll modify them as we get consensus in replies to this thread:

(last updated 18 March 2008)
(NOTE: any item in italics is open for consensus decision. Once an item is decided upon I will mod that item in the spec list to non-italicized blue text)

* Body: M-seris American Cherry / Swamp Ash multi-laminate body finished in clear gloss
* Neck: 21-fret birdseye Maple fretboard, side dots only, with 1-5/8" nut and dual action trussrod
* Bridge: Hipshot Type A with 19mm string spacing
* Pickups: Nordstrand RWRP Fat Stack set
* Pickguard: none
* Tuners: Hipshot Ultralight clover keys
* Electronics: 18v Aguilar OBP-1 pre-amp, CTS pots (250K ohm Volume and Tone) with a .047uf Orange Drop cap

Anything else you'd like to see?


Let the fun begin!

all the best,

R

ok May i start?

Body : ash _ JazzBass_Sonic Blue? why not
Neck : 22 or 24 fret_Birdeyes maple neck_adjustable nut could be a plus
Bridge : Badass or Hipshot,or,Abm individual bridge , String spacing : i don't have any 4 strings but,the same spacing like on my Stingray5 would be perfect
Pickups : Nordstrand sounds good but perhaps too expensive
Pickguard:i think it will depend of the finish of the bass,if it is in a solid color i think a white perloid would be cool,but for a natural finish i would prefer the body rear routed
Tuners :Hipshot Ultralight clover keys are simply classy
Electronic: Vol/Lows/Mediums/hights/Blend(for 2 pickups)

Well i think we will surely have to choice between a passive or active bass,i'm not fan of a complicated electronic on board,but i need to have some sound controls on my instrument
The kind of bass i would like would be a neo-retro one,i mean retro by the esthetic and neo ,by the electronic a good example to illustrate that is The Super J from Dingwall
Well i hope my english is not too bad

Let's the fun continue !!
André

Hi André,

Definitely good food to kick this discussion off!

While I really like the 24-fret idea, for this specific bass build I kinda need to limit the amount of time I invest into creating new templates - they get a little expensive to have made at a machine shop, which is OK for a commissioned bass but not exactly possible with my upcoming relocation. Utilizing a 24-fret neck would require a significant redesign of the traditional Fenderish body layout.

So I can utilize my existing tooling (templates, jigs, etc ...), I'd like to propose the bass be one of these three body shapes:



for voting designation they are (left to right): VSB-P, VSB-J, and M-series

once we have this and the body wood decided upon, I can begin to bring this to life. most of the other details can be worked while the body is under construction.

and nothing says that the body couldn't be made from Walnut or Mahogany and finished with a rubbed oil finish instead of building this from Alder/Ash/etc and painting it. with my current set-up, I can turn an oil finish quicker (and cheaper!) than I can presently turn a sprayed finish. (I currently am forced to contract out most all of my sprayed finishes - a gas furnace in the garage heating season limitation)

all the best,

R

for grins, here's an M-series body outlined (black line inside of the white line) with a P-bass pickup on a reasonably light weight Swamp Ash body blank



the grain isn't spectacular, but it could always have a laminate top added for a little more flash (and to hide the mineral stain in the lower horn)

this thing would be thunderous with a pair of Nordstrand Fat Stacks in the typical J-bass pickup locations.

if this had a laminate top, I think I'd go with a rear route and no pickguard ... and I'd lean towards finishing it with a clear untinted finish or very light amber

all the best,

R

i Rod,
For me the VSB-J is ok for body shape,and the idea of a rubbed oil finish is cool too!!,i like the look of your 2006 build!
So i like the idea of VSB-J,with natural rubbed oil finish,swamp ash or alder body,with perhaps a laminate top depending of the grain of the body,a birdeyes maple neck (could you explain me the advantage of a zero fret?)
For the pickups we could add, as you said a pair of Nodstrand,and what do you think for the electronics?

André

I did some digging thru my wood stash and parts drawer, and found the following to propose

* bookmatched Black Walnut top + back side over the Swamp Ash body core. I have a great looking crotch that could be bookmatched for the top face, and I'd use the next length up the board for a bookmatched back side. the body core would be thinned slightly so that the finished sandwich thickness would come out to my preferred 1-5/8" (41.3mm) thick. I'll shoot an image over the weekend and post it to this thread so you'll have an idea what the figuring looks like

* Hipshot Type A bridge (alum core) with 19mm spacing

* finish the body with either an oil finish, or I could experiment with a water based lacquer (KTM-9 for those who have interest in knowing) that a great many of the acoustic guitar builders are utilizing. the oil would be easier and faster, but the lacquer would be significantly glossier

* if I utilize the figured Black Walnut, I would forego the use of a pickguard (essentially eliminating the VSB-P model from the list of candidate body shapes)

* I have an awsome Birdseye Maple fingerboard blank with very small eyes and heartwood staining, and I also have a nicely figured Macassar Ebony blank as two choices for a fretted bass. If this is to be a fretless bass these two boards could work (I'd epoxy the Birdseye) or I could also utilize a 'stabilized' (acrylic impregnated) spalted Mapled board. I'll post a reply with an image of the different woods

* since I'll be ordering pickups either way I go, I'm thinking about utilizing a pair of Nordstrand Fat Stacks in the traditional J-bass locations. each pickup would have a coil tap to switch between humcancelling and single-coil mode. I'm a Nordstrand dealer, so the cost won't be so great as if I was purchasing this set at retail pricing

* for active electronics, I'd propose my favorite pre-amp - an 18v Aguilar OBP-1. controls would be a four knob configuration - Vol + Blend + Passive tone + active Bass/Treble stacked pot. a push/pull pot on the Vol would allow for easy pre-amp bypass


just more food for thought ...

all the best,

R

here's an image of the stabilized fingerboard candidate. I recently used a slice of this same board for a fretless 6-string that sounds incredible



i need to shoot images of the Walnut, Birdseye, and Ebony ... look for an update to this thread when I have them

o - and I found a killer piece of heavily figured American Cherry I had forgotten about this could also make a great top/back set and make for an instrument with a significantly less common look

all the best,

R

one vote so far for the VSB-J

eventually that VSB-51P will be available in a lefty as well. the Darkstar version will be standard, but I'll also be offering it with an optional traditional SCPB pickup or split-coil SCPB. Alder will be the standard body wood with Swamp Ash available as an upgrade



a zero-fret has two significant characters:

1) sound - open strings sound nearly exact to a fretted note due to the string always being in contact with a fret. this imparts a consistent sound from all of the played notes. the nut only serves to manage the string spacing

2) playability - all of the strings have an even feel for every note since they are always in contact with a fret. the zero-fret is leveled with the other frets during set-up, so a consistent action can be easily dialed in


all the best,

R

OK ... here's what I have in stock for something other than figured Maple. I could do Maple, but I thought I'd keep it to something other than the ordinary since this is not your ordinary righty bass

Option 1) utilize a bookmatched Black Walnut top and back set, partly to balance the visual unevenness of a dark top on a light body core (this never looks correct to me) ... it would definitely have that Oreo kind of style to it. the Walnut will hold up well with an oil finish. I would also utilize a pigmented grain filler on the Ash to accent the grain lines to tie the two Walnut faces together. the thickness of my Walnut stock also dictates a front and back set

Top


Back



Option 2) utilize a bookmatched American Cherry top and leave the Ash for the rear side. I have shown the two potential rotations that this top could be utilized with, and I note that I prefer the rotation that is shown upsidedown. I would consider a dark 1/32" veneer line between the Cherry and Ash to highlight the different woods and bring attention to this being a custom body. this combination would require a sprayed finish to properly protect it due to the softer nature of the Cherry. the thickness of my Cherry eliminates the need for a matching back




Option 3) utilize a bookmatched Australian Lacewood top and leave the Ash for the rear side. I have shown the two potential rotations that this top could be utilized with - I currently have no rotation preference. this combination would require a sprayed finish to properly protect it due to the rather porus nature of the Lacewood. the thickness of my Lacewood eliminates the need for a matching back




Unfortunately, none of these wood selections will accommodate the extended width of the J-bass' asymmetric body shape. this leaves the M-series as the only candidate unless the VSB-P is OK without a pickguard.


Thoughts on this so far?

all the best,

R

Body: Alder? P-bass? finished in Sonic Blue?
* Neck: 21-fret? Maple/Rosewood? side dots only with 1-1/2"? nut and dual action trussrod
* Bridge: Hipshot Vintage bent plate? with 18mm? string spacing
* Pickups: Nordstrand NP-4? (do we make this a dual pickup unit?)
* Pickguard: White Pearloid?
* Tuners: Hipshot Ultralight clover keys
* Electronics: CTS pots (250K ohm Volume and Tone) with a .047uf Orange Drop cap


For me I'd prefer an Ash body, simply because the world is full of lefty P-basses (be they Fender or clones) with Alder bodies and rosewood boards, so to that end I'd also like a Maple board.
I'd like to hear a Nordy pickup, so that's cool. I'm whatever about finish because I happen to like the finishes most common on lefty basses the best (natural, sunburst, black, white), so I understand that others would like to see something else for finish.

here's a rather poor image of the fretboard blanks I currently have in stock. I could also cut a flatsawn Maple fretboard from some of my neck stock - but I don't think it would go well with a figured top body ... it's more of a painted body kind of thing IMO




I also have several matching Cocobolo fretboards that I cut from the same board



all the best,

R

for reference, I bookmatched the Walnut top a few moments ago. I first prepared and edge by passing it thru a jointer - this will become the edge that is glued against itself to form the top

next I adjusted the bandsaw fence to cut the proper depth - in this case it was to cut the board in half. I utilize a push pad to keep the board flat against the fence, and a push stick so that I can have even forward force all thru the cut

here's an image of what the set-up looks like



and here's an image of the result



all the best,

R

Well,
there are some beautyfull wood samples!!

For now it seems we have 2 votes for :- Maple birdeyes neck
- Ash body
- Nordstrand pickups

For the top i find the American Cherry very interesting

I found 2 examples to highlight the different woods one from my Status Bass and the other from a Low-end bass model






One question what will be the profile of the neck?
André

funny you shoould note the American Cherry - I just came in from the shop where I bookmatched two sets this morning. I tell you, these images do not look anywhere close to how gorgeous these are in person (and I still need to sand them down, so they'll leeok even better with the sanding refinement!)

here they are



I would most likely rotate the top 180 degrees to make better use of the figuring, but I need to make sure that those two brown spots are in an area that will be trimmed of - they distract me a little


I tell you, I'm about ready to make an executive decision and declare that I'll put the set on the left for the top and the set on the right for the back. these are just gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!


for the neck profile - since I am carving this by hand, I can do most anything. I usually prefer a shape that is somewhere between a 'C' and a half elipse.

all the best,

R

ohhh my!!!!
You know what ,you'd better tell me now if you have another surprise like this,because i will need a pace-maker for my heart!!!!!

André

here's an edge comparison of a Walnut and Cherry sandwich



I don't think it's absolutely required ... but a black veneer line between the Cherry and Ash might be nice. the Walnut is just fine on its own IMO

all the best,

R

should I firm the build specs to say that this will have a bookmatched American Cherry top and back?

if so ... should this still be a Maple/Birdseye neck, or should the fretboard be something like Ebony or Rosewood or ???

all the best,

R

I would vote yes for a black veneer line between the Cherry and Ash
Concerning the fretboard i'm a maple addict so it will be very hard to make me change my mind
Do you think those 2 woods will not match well ?

I see no issues with the Cherry + Birdseye combination. see for yourself what the actual top and fretboard woods look like together



(I wiped a little Naphtha onto the two woods in a spot so you can see how the color and figure will pop when this gets a finish applied)


do you like this top orientation better than when it was flipped 180 degrees?

all the best,

R

Thank you very much for this picture !
as far as i see it could be a great looking bass,i prefer this orientation,because i think it respect more the shape of the body,it is more symetric(but it is only my taste)
Black hardware could be classy
Do you think you could put some Cherry on the head?

André