telecaster bass build question

[ack1961]

First post - be gentle.
Hey all, my son and I are thinking about building a guitar in our newly built workshop. We've sort of settled on building a short-scale bass (30-31" scale) based on the Telecaster guitar body (our all-time favorite), to which we hope to attach a pre-made shortscale maple telecaster-esque neck.

We're thinking about buying a nice Alder or Walnut blank (they're inexpensive, and it is our first build - hate to ruin a nice Koa slab), and shape to tele specs...We both like the idea of using humbucker bass pickups or a single darkstar.

I've read through several forums here, and was floored by the work that some folks have done in making Telecasters. The thread by Buckocaster that chronicled his build-out was phenominal and inspring, but I don't see many mentions of telecaster bass builds with twin humbuckers or darkstars. I've seen fantastic work done by Rhomco and bkim. Congrats.

I'm fairly confident that it's a feasible project, but I'm looking for any suggestions that might help. I've seen several references as to where I can buy a telecaster body template, but I'm going to need the templates for the buckers or Darkstar, if one exists.

I know there's lots of details yet to incorporate into the build, but we have a chance to sift through some wood billets on Thursday and pick out a few that we like. We're looking for something with an amazing grain as we won't paint this one. Also need to get an oscillating drum sander - that looks like the ticket to quicker raw sanding.

I'm starting to build my parts list from some of these other threads and what little knowledge I have for building from scratch, so any suggestions would be welcomed.

Thanks,
Steve

[jwells393]

My suggestion is buy the Ridgid oscillating belt/drum sander.

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Here's a short scale bass I started a couple of years ago .........still haven't finished it.

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[ack1961]

I had my hands on that sander a few days ago...I'll pick one up this weekend.
Great looking P/J so far. The tort looks great against the butterscotch.
Where did you get the neck?
Doesn't look like you've got too far to go...best of luck. I'd like to see it when it's finished - the chrome is gonna look fantastic against the tort/butter.

Thanks for the reply.
Steve

[andrewb]

sounds like a cool project

not many father & son/father & daughter projects on these forums...


as well as making a parts list... you may want to draw up some kind of flow chart so you are both doing an even share of work on the project and not just what your good at... mix it up... learn new things...just an idea :)

good luck



jwells awsome bass you got in the works there....

[winny pooh]

Originally Posted by jwells393

Here's a short scale bass I started a couple of years ago .........still haven't finished it.

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C'mon, Jack, do it for us, get a set of hipshot ultralights and its quick work to finish the remaining stuff, slap on a set of flatwounds, yeah!