Winter 2017 Build Off - Speak of the Devil

Those horns are elegant, but probably very fragile too.
Do you have a plan to reinforce them so you are less likely to snap one off?

I'd hate this to end in tears one day. Looks like you are going 2 piece solid body. Would be much easier to address if you had a drop top of some kind.
 
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Those horns are elegant, but probably very fragile too.
Do you have a plan to reinforce them so you are less likely to snap one off?

I'd hate this to end in tears one day. Looks like you are going 2 piece solid body. Would be much easier to address if you had a drop top of some kind.

One piece, solid maple. I'm hoping the basses' name sake will prevent the snapping of horns :p
 
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Cut a plywood template, just to see what kind of size I'm looking at.

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I like it. I would have sanded it smooth, and cut out the "F" holes, but I ran out of doublestick tape *and* spray glue. I think this will work though.
 
Slight modification to the template.

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Upon closer examination, I noticed the horns thinned slightly at the cutaway, so I fixed that. I also added just a touch more meat at the neck/body connection. I know it may not be needed, but I like my neck pocket walls. If I can find a store that's open today, that carries double stick scotch tape, I'll tape the template on to the maple and have at it. Maybe the grocery store, or a drug store.
 
Whoa.

Is it just me, or is there a really familiar feeling echoed by your devil bass build and the wooden medallion on the wall above the couch?

What does the rest of it look like?

The "medallion" on the wall behind the couch is a triple moon. It's an old pagan symbol that represents the Goddess. I made that about 20 years ago, and it's been up on my wall ever since. It kind of grew on me.

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And now that you mention it, it does bear a striking resemblance to the devil bass. I did some more sanding.

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It's getting close. But sanding out those "F" holes is going to be a challenge.
 
Nah, use a 1/4" diameter bit to clean up the cutouts. The cutouts look much better with the sharper corners. The Ampeg Devil Basses were cut with a 1/4" bit. The Ampeg body is all extensively routed away inside, leaving the edges of the cutouts a bit less than 1/4" thick. The whole undercut area inside is painted red. It adds even more to the creepy look.

Here are a couple of pictures of one that I restored this past year.
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You can see how Ampeg had the pickguard hanging out over the large open area cavities, forming the inner edge of the cutouts on the front side.

You may have read that I'm developing a new-generation Devil Bass too, to go along with my other model Ampeg-derived Scroll Basses. I've been working on it on and off for almost 15 years! The design has been through multiple iterations over the years, but I have it locked down in the computer now, and some parts are made. Maybe in 2017 I'll finally get the prototype built. Too many other new instrument development projects have taken priority.

The overall size and shape of the body of mine will be quite close to the originals. I'm building them from soft maple, with 4-piece top and back construction, like I use on my other Scroll Basses. So, I'll be extensively routing into the insides of the top and back, creating large chambers and the undercuts to the triangular cutouts. Designing the body so that it won't twist and crack over time, is a real challenge.

Someone has to say it: The Devil is in the details.
 
Thanks for the advice, Bruce. I went ahead and routed out the "F" holes with the 1/4" bit. Needs a little cleaning up, but I'm pretty happy with the way they came out.

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That's the back, by the way.

I'm not sure I want to do those huge cavities in the body, though it would certainly help with weight. And cover up the flame in the maple. I'm thinking about a clear or translucent finish now.
 
Yes, that looks just right. About two years ago, I restored another Ampeg Devil Bass, where a previous owner had filed out the corners of the triangular cutouts to sharp points. It didn't look good at all. I can't really say why, but the sharp corners didn't look right with the rest of the shape. I filled and recut the corners with wood and epoxy, to bring them back to the 1/8" radius (1/4" diameter), and it looked much better.

The proportions that you've ended up with for your Devil Bass are interesting and nice looking. Smaller, slimmer, more practical. The Ampeg Devil Bass body is really quite large, very wide and quite long. Note how much farther the body extends behind the bridge. Yours is the Devil Goddess Bass.

Have you decided where you are going to put the upper strap button? On the Ampegs, it's on the back of the neck, right up against the body heel. Terrible design. Bad neck dive, strap interferes with your thumb, strap easily pops off the button, etc. On my new Devil Bass, for a while I was thinking of putting the strap button on the tip of the upper horn, and adding an aluminum reinforcement plate inside the horn. But I gave up on that. Too complicated; too many potential problems.

I came up with this extender plate, for use on the original Ampegs that I'm restoring. It's made from 1/8" aluminum plate, and attaches to the back of the body in place of the original neck joint cover plate. The plate has an arm that extends forward about 2", with the strap button on the front face, facing forward. The center of the button is about even with the bass side edge of the neck. This has worked out very well. The balance is fixed, and the button is mostly hidden from view to avoid breaking up the symmetrical look of the cutaways and horns. And it doesn't interfere with your left hand playing up high. Your thumb slides between the neck and the plate. And it's very difficult for the strap to pop off the button. I'm going with a more refined version of this on my new Devil Bass, integrating the curved extension into the recessed neck plate with a recessed brass name plate.

I recommend something similar for yours. Saw it out of 1/8" aluminum plate and round off the edges. Bolt the strap button on with a 6-32 socket head machine screw threading through the plate, and a nylock nut on the back to lock it. Leave it satin finish or polish it up. The one on this Devil Bass, #317, is satin finished. The ones I've made more recently, I've polished up and had nickel plated, to match the original hardware.

Also, another Ampeg tradition is to put two strap buttons on the back end of the body, spaced apart evenly. It keeps with the symmetrical look, and the bass doesn't tip over when you lean it up against something.

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Thanks! Yes, I shrunk the body size down a bit. I also moved the neck deeper into the body.

I'm tending toward your neck plate/upper strap button idea. I don't think the horns would be sturdy enough for a strap button, and even if they are, I think it may look less than optimal. And I'm definitely using two lower strap buttons. I really like that idea.

The red and black sunburst on that bass looks fantastic, by the way. I really like how the color also fades to black around the "F" holes.