JIO vintage hybrid bass

[JIO]

I kinda' like this colour.., originally very light 'Sonic Blue' (possibly?) that has aged to a very lovely pale green. Like the "mint green" or "vintage white"...

Aside from that love this era Jazz... in fact - I love J's from early '66 to early '70s. For me personally being in my teens then.., those roughly 10 yrs at Fender checks a lot of my boxes. And all during the CBS/Fender years! The whole "anti-'70s CBS/Fenders" is on one hand justified.., but there are too many players who kick(ed)-ass playing one then and now. I played a '77 J that I nearly bought a few years ago - it was very nice looking, playing and sounding! A factory RI or even "Vintage Shop" replica could come close... but you know it's over 40yrs old as soon as you start playing it... you just know.

 

[JIO]

Glow fb position dot's (1/4" w/black ring) Perfect right?

 

[JIO]

Step 1 : route the neck-pocket - 3/4" deep

Step 2 : I started out doing this which doesn't put as much stress on the bandsaw blade, but the wood is very easy to cut so I did about 1/2 like this and just cut the other 1/2 straight. Likin' this wood!

Step 3, 4, 5 & 6... I routed the control cavity (1"), finished cutting out the outline, ground the edges even using the drill-press mounted sanding bit. filed all sanding marks off the sides while refining all lines/curves, and routed the top & back edges. Body feels nice & light - just what the Doctor ordered! I'll sculpt a deep elbow bevel and upper horn taper ala my Teisco Del Rey. Will also do major wood removal under the big pg to lighten it and give it a bit of acoustic resonance. Sculpting the wood is one of my favorite parts of the process! (no CNC for m-e-e)

Traces of the 1st drawing... will need to transfer the pu/rocker switch location sketches on the front. I will also do a deep body bevel on the backside.

I'm liking this design - oh, and the neck fits nice & tight.

 

[JIO]

Routing plots determined - two open areas 1" deep on either side of the pu's // pu routs 1" deep // center 'block' (between pu's) filled with 1" forester bit holes and bevels for the elbow bout and upper horn.

Belly-bevel including the upper horn. I incorporate this extended bevel specifically because I ride my basses toward the hs (body back).., so north of center. This way, a standard player bevel is where it's supposed to be and the upper extended bevel accommodates players... like me! (if there are in fact others who do this...) I also like to design the back to be as aesthetically pleasing as the front. As far as my personal wants/needs input, Frank Lloyd Wright designed his buildings, especially interiors based on his 5'7" height! (true) I've been inside his buildings and at 6'1"... the ceiling can be pretty low!

 

[pklima]

...but how tempting is it to paint a grin on the side under the control plate? You got the eyes and nose.

 

[JIO]

...but how tempting is it to paint a grin on the side under the control plate? You got the eyes and nose.

 

[JIO]

Let the sculpting begin - starting with the back 'belly bevel' -

This wood reminds me of basswood - pretty soft but sands to a nice smooth surface.

Goal is to make the lined disappear -

...and after much rasping, filing and sanding - done -

...onto the front/top elbow bevel - incorporating design into a functional need.

Upper horn bevel - I did a bit more after this pic... enough to be subtly apparent -

Sanded the back & sides and coated it with satin poly to start the finishing process. Tomorrow I rout the front sections.

And the German Sandberg bridge (for the other project) arrived from France today - still haven't heard from the wood supplier about the mahogany...

 

[JIO]

Created a lot of saw-dust today. (routers are good at this) The "swimming pool" rout (1" deep) is done. The body is pretty light - 2lbs/6oz... I think I'll leave the center support as-is. Should result in a 8lb or less bass.

In the next few days; fitting/anchoring the neck, aligning/screwing down the pg/bridge/tailpiece and control-plate. Drill channels for wiring/bridge ground and strap buttons. Once everything checks out - final sanding, sealing w/satin poly and off to Pat Wilkins early next week.

 

[JIO]

It's raining today - perfect for being a busy-bee indoors. Here's the update: doing my detailed planning/designing before a cut was made resulted in a pretty smooth assembly. Still have some fine tuning to do now that it's together but it's essentially ready to finish and send to Pat. It's well under 8lbs (7lbs flat!) 46" long and hands-off balances perfectly. And as you can see - with Dunlop Strap-Lok strap attached... it stands safely upright on its own. (one less thing to bring to your gig!) I didn't wire it up - that's for when I get it back from Pat. Playing it acoustically sounds good - the combination of the light body wood, maple neck and swimming-pool body rout resulted in a very acoustically resonant bass.

All the conjecture over a light bass vs a heavy bass tonally is frankly filled with much BS, but my take on it as a builder is that it depends on what the player is after. As in, buy and play what you prefer. Any bass light or heavy can sound great in the right hands! I concede that they do sound differently, which again aligns with my opinion. Strapping on this bass for the 1st time just made me smile. I'll put up with a heaver bass (as much under 9 lbs as possible) if I like the way it plays/sounds - but a great playing, sounding light bass, beyond butter...

 

[JIO]

Did all the neck work today; fb dots, side dots and tr cover.

Like hands on a wrist-watch, 'glow-in-the-dark' fb position dots. Optimally they only look like this after bathing them in strong light. I just like the way they look 'non-glowing' as they'll work well with the body and hs face pale mint green finish.

Aluminum rod side position dots. I prefer these over black, as any light will activate them making them easy to see on stage.

 

[JIO]

Shipped the body & neck UPS to Pat an hr ago. He'll get it on Wednesday. His turnaround time varies, but usually 4-6 weeks.

This is a colour he did for me when I first started Gildaxe 13yrs ago. Pretty much what I'm after.

I traced a faint pencil line for where the hs face is to be resolved.