Short-Scale Thinline Bass Project

[smilbourne]

This project is a few firsts for me. First bass, first tele, first hollow body, first build with a pre-bought neck, first f-hole, first that im going to get paid for!!

The spec went along the lines of: "im going to get a squire bronco bass, can you make it into a thinline tele bass?"..."errr, yeah" said I. Its been pretty good as far as sourcing components goes, as things have been arriving periodically at my house with little or no effort required on my part. Bronco, bridge, string ferrules, jack socket etc. sent by the buyer

Wood wise, the central section is ash and if i remember correctly, the outer sections are Idigbo (didnt have enough ash...you've got to use what you've got, right?) The top is Maple. As you can see it's made from a 2 piece construction in that the main body is routed and the maple is stuck on the top rather than jigsaw the middle then add the back and front.

As you can also see....im using workmates to clamp, as my collection of cheap clamps all broke duting gluing BUY DECENT TOOLS PEOPLE (or learn to make innovative clamping solutions)...It's going to be a sunburst and be loaded with a single 50s 'tele' p-bass pickup (seymour duncan).

More pictures in next post...

[smilbourne]

More pictures as promised...and yes, that is a paper pickguard, i've heard they give a smoother tone!

Ill be doing a bit more this weekend, hopefully get to the painting stage!

[tuuur]

Love that clamping solution!
This is going to be interesting!

[smilbourne]

Very excited - ready to paint, heres a shot after a couple of sanding sealer coats...i'll give it a couple more of them ad then start spraying

[Jack Wells]

Looking good. Any plans to cut that headstock into a Telecaster shape?

[smilbourne]

Thanks! having admired your builds, I welcome your comments!

Yes, i am planning on cutting the headstock. In fact, im scaling a template at the moment, hoping that there's enough meat in the right places on the existing headstock to allow it. There should be, though.

Ordinarily I would build a neck from scratch, but the bronco was there and its a nice neck for the price (could do with a shot of amber to mellow it a bit - although i am biased as i'm somewhat in love with the 'vintage' coloured neck on my Jaguar Bass). I must say, it has decreased the build time significantly, with the cumulative time spent (minus drying times) amounting to a couple of days. Aside from that, I really do not like doing fret work.

Simon

[guitarbuilder]

Very nice. That fiddleback maple looks cool on that body.

[Tom_B]

Looks cool!

Aren't bronco necks a bit narrower then normal fender basses? Any problems with the (presumably) standard spacing on that bridge and/or pickup?

[JasonRobert]

Originally Posted by smilbourne

As you can also see....im using workmates to clamp, as my collection of cheap clamps all broke duting gluing BUY DECENT TOOLS PEOPLE (or learn to make innovative clamping solutions)...It's going to be a sunburst and be loaded with a single 50s 'tele' p-bass pickup (seymour duncan).

More pictures in next post...

I have always clamped tops to guitars using my workmake and two clamps with the strip of wood for the other side that isnt clamped.

im in the UK too, where did you get your maple from?

[KennyH]

Guy's we should start a UK resources thread maybe?

[Telenator]

If I may suggest, you could get a Fender Wide range Humbucker chrome cover and plug the holes in it, grind them smooth and re-drill the holes for the Precision Bass pickup slugs. Then have the cover re-chromed and mount the bass pickup underneath the cover.

Nothing says "Thinline" like that big chrome cover!

[smilbourne]

Tom B: Ill have to check that when I get home (i now have a sinking feeling hehe) In my gun-ho attitude - im sure everything will be fine!

JasonRobert: Yes, workmate's rule! - and are my main workbench since my new lathe has swamped the main bench...must get a stand for that. As for the maple, that was from Craft Supplies, Ive had it a couple of years, since not using on an old project - I didnt realise how nice it would look until I put the sanding sealer on!

Telenator: I'll have to ask the person who's bass it is if they'd want that - personally, i like that idea! although similarly, i like the look of those single coil vintage p-bass pickups! ahh choices choices.

KennyH: Yes - a uk suppliers thread would be useful, although I must admit - most of the time I find it most economical to place an order with stewmac - they usually deliver quickest, too. Unfortunate really, as most of the uk suppliers either dont have what you want or are too expensive. Wood-wise, ive stocked up on mahogany from cheap ebay lots. Keep your eye out for old doors etc - recently there was one for a bunch of 3m lengths of mahogany hand rails - that were more like planks, from a school at a handy 2" thickness which allows for planing off the old graffiti - or not - didnt get it as i couldnt transport it - but it went for |£15. Also, the local timber yard - handy and cheap!

On the bass front, its going to be a sunburst (cue the comments about covering up that flame - not my choice and it will still be largely visible), so I have painted the black sides and tonight when I get home from work, the amber tint spraying will begin...step by step photos to follow.

Simon

[barkley]

Nice build!
I was thinking of making a short scale telebass from a bronco too! Good to see I'll have some encouragement/inspiration from this thread. Probably wont start a build too soon though... my bank account and 'wife' are still in shock from my last My plan is to build one to visually match the tele i made this year i.e from same wood etc.

When gluing the cap onto the baulk of my tele thinline i came up with a creative 'clamp' too.

All my clamps were too small to reach the centre of the body , so i just piled bricks on top. Yes, bricks!!
It worked really well too!

(i was going to post a pic but my computer has failed me)

[smilbourne]

Update time... Painting has gon unnervingly well, turns out this sunburst lark isnt that tricky if patience is observed .

Need to sand back the speckles of tobacco paint that you can see on the top and tidy up the transition on the back, but other than that it's ready for clear coating. I have the day off work tomorrow, so I can do a 2 or 3 clear coats and set about the headstock with a jigsaw and get it tele-shaped. The customer seems pleased with progress so far. So much so that he is asking about another - a tele in olympic white.

Im really pleased - it's definitely my best effort to date, im not sure if thats the result of experience or luck.

Let me know what you all think - opinions are always welcome.

Simon

[Tim Armstrong]

Simon, I don't know how I missed this thread, I gotta say that looks BEAUTIFUL!

Tim

[smilbourne]

I finished it back in September, I just never got round to posting the results...Both the customer and me were really happy with the results...I just landed me some 150 year od pine, so im going to start my pine tele next. Im hooked on Teles now, thanks a bunch you lot!