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ccrnnr9 · April 1st, 2009, 05:44 PM

Well after much talk I decided to get down and just do it. I found a guy in a neighboring town who has been building for 30 years who has all the tools and volunteered to help me through the process for a nominal hourly rate. I bought the wood a little less than a month ago and have been slowly picking up the parts.

The goal is a '51 style tele bass. It will be a plank body but will be a hardtail. Since this is my first build and I knew there would be some flaws, I decided to do this budget. The parts are used, found cheap, or ones I already had. Minus the cost in labor (what he is charging me) my goal was to get everything for under $250. Unless something unexpected comes up I should be at about $215. When I'm not so lazy I will post the exact build list with price and everything. Without further delay here are some of the pics.

I forgot to take pics of the board blanks but this is the pic of them glued and the body traced. The wood is alder btw.

ccrnnr9 · April 1st, 2009, 05:45 PM

...

Rough cut with the band saw...not bad for my first time!

...

ccrnnr9 · April 1st, 2009, 10:43 PM

...

Front and back after the body had the edges cleaned up.

I am happy with the results thus far. I have made too many mistakes to count but everything has been fixable. I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the body how it is now after rounding the edges off. Now it is time to do some sanding.

Next step is to start the neck and do the routing for the pickup, control cavity, etc. I will post more pics as soon as we make some more progress. The build will be done next week but then I have to do the finishing. Right now I am leaning towards doing a slight vintage tint on the neck (all maple) and doing a vintage blonde finish on the body. Let me know what you think. Pickup is a single coil '51 style Curtis Novak p-bass pup. Stay tuned for more details!
~Nick

ccrnnr9 · April 1st, 2009, 10:47 PM

At this point I am awaiting my shipment of parts to be complete. I am going to finish the neck before doing much more work on the body other than routing. Since I am designing the neck to my own specs, we are going to shape the neck cutout to my neck after it is done...and don't you worry a tele headstock template is sitting at the shop awaiting use!

On another note, does anyone know the approx or exact depth of the pickup cavity? I think I'll just guess it if no one knows...

Enjoy the pics now that I got them fixed!
~Nick

JimmyKickButt · April 7th, 2009, 02:42 AM

this is prob common sense to the enth degree... but for what it's worth. if you can't find acutual pup depth there's nothing wrong with cutting out a little at a time... and if you go to deep you can always shim...
I'm waiting for for a car to sell, and then i plan on doinging my own bass build. can't wait. also looking forward to seeing yours completed.

jaythebassist · April 7th, 2009, 07:42 AM

(subscribed)

hey ccr - looking great, man. This will be my second project, I think... a new bass. But for now, I'm focused on a tele. So did you use a template on the body, or was it all just eyeballed?

Looking forward to seeing more.

April 1st, 2009, 05:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
ccrnnr9 Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St. Louis, MO Age: 23 Posts: 539	'51 P-bass (tele bass) build: Pics Inside! Well after much talk I decided to get down and just do it. I found a guy in a neighboring town who has been building for 30 years who has all the tools and volunteered to help me through the process for a nominal hourly rate. I bought the wood a little less than a month ago and have been slowly picking up the parts. The goal is a '51 style tele bass. It will be a plank body but will be a hardtail. Since this is my first build and I knew there would be some flaws, I decided to do this budget. The parts are used, found cheap, or ones I already had. Minus the cost in labor (what he is charging me) my goal was to get everything for under $250. Unless something unexpected comes up I should be at about $215. When I'm not so lazy I will post the exact build list with price and everything. Without further delay here are some of the pics. I forgot to take pics of the board blanks but this is the pic of them glued and the body traced. The wood is alder btw. Last edited by ccrnnr9; April 2nd, 2009 at 05:02 PM.

April 1st, 2009, 05:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
ccrnnr9 Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St. Louis, MO Age: 23 Posts: 539	... Rough cut with the band saw...not bad for my first time! ... Last edited by ccrnnr9; April 1st, 2009 at 10:42 PM.

April 1st, 2009, 10:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
ccrnnr9 Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St. Louis, MO Age: 23 Posts: 539	... Front and back after the body had the edges cleaned up. I am happy with the results thus far. I have made too many mistakes to count but everything has been fixable. I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the body how it is now after rounding the edges off. Now it is time to do some sanding. Next step is to start the neck and do the routing for the pickup, control cavity, etc. I will post more pics as soon as we make some more progress. The build will be done next week but then I have to do the finishing. Right now I am leaning towards doing a slight vintage tint on the neck (all maple) and doing a vintage blonde finish on the body. Let me know what you think. Pickup is a single coil '51 style Curtis Novak p-bass pup. Stay tuned for more details! ~Nick

April 1st, 2009, 10:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
ccrnnr9 Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St. Louis, MO Age: 23 Posts: 539	At this point I am awaiting my shipment of parts to be complete. I am going to finish the neck before doing much more work on the body other than routing. Since I am designing the neck to my own specs, we are going to shape the neck cutout to my neck after it is done...and don't you worry a tele headstock template is sitting at the shop awaiting use! On another note, does anyone know the approx or exact depth of the pickup cavity? I think I'll just guess it if no one knows... Enjoy the pics now that I got them fixed! ~Nick

April 7th, 2009, 02:42 AM	#5 (permalink)
JimmyKickButt NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Burg Age: 22 Posts: 1	this is prob common sense to the enth degree... but for what it's worth. if you can't find acutual pup depth there's nothing wrong with cutting out a little at a time... and if you go to deep you can always shim... I'm waiting for for a car to sell, and then i plan on doinging my own bass build. can't wait. also looking forward to seeing yours completed.

April 7th, 2009, 07:42 AM	#6 (permalink)
jaythebassist TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: NJ Age: 33 Posts: 36	(subscribed) hey ccr - looking great, man. This will be my second project, I think... a new bass. But for now, I'm focused on a tele. So did you use a template on the body, or was it all just eyeballed? Looking forward to seeing more.

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