Winter Build-Off 2019 - Grovatlanschion

Beej

Beej

Supporting Member
Feb 10, 2007
13,493
26,552
5,251
Vancouver Island
#1
Hi folks, I'm joining the fray: Winter build Off 2019 – Mash Up

My mashup will be made up of these design elements:

· Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird (upper "horn")
· Ovation Magnum III (upper and lower bouts)
· Atlansia Stealth (head stock, tail point, beveled lower horn, pickup "finger-wells")

Specs:
Body: Walnut body, plain maple accent, book-matched walnut top
Neck: Walnut, plain maple accent, walnut head-cap, ovangkol fretboard (changed to walnut fretboard partway through), zero fret, aluminum "nut"
Neck Construction: Double acting trussrod, head access, two aluminum stiffeners
Neck/Body Join: Set neck
Scale length: 32"
Frets: 24 medium nickel silver
Strings: 5 (BEADG)
Electronics: Jazz pickups, 3-band Guitar Fuel preamp
Controls: Volume, Blend, Bass, Mid, Treble
Knobs: Cream plastic mini chicken heads
Bridge: EBMM Stingray Style
Tuners: Gotoh GB707

A few other details include custom pickup covers, and a cream plastic control cavity cover on the back.

My obligatory wood shot. Absent is the ovangkol fretboard (again, walnut was used). Once it arrives, I'll have to see how it looks with the other woods before deciding to dye it or not.

Mash-Up Entry Pic

Mash-Up Entry Pic

Mash-Up Entry Pic
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker, Spidey2112, 83_Silberpfeil and 6 others
#3
I actually wasn't planning to build this mash-up, I just created it as a joke and put it up. :D Then my daughter commented that it was the first instrument I'd designed that appealed to her. My son's friend made a similar comment, and that got me thinking about how beauty is really in the eye of the beholder. Funnily enough it started to grow on me, and I drew it out a couple of times before deciding to actually build it. I spent some time messing with a few details and ended up with something that still seems a bit weird to me, but I'm hoping it works. :)

Here's the original pic of the elements thrown together:
Grovatlanschion

Grovatlanschion

Grovatlanschion
 
  • Like
Reactions: BritFunk, Freekmagnet, bholder and 11 others
#4
Here's a shot of most of the parts. I know the jazz pickups are somewhere in my shop, but I can't find them right now. :D
Parts Shot

Parts Shot

Parts Shot

If this looks familiar, it's because I'm recycling a bunch of parts that did not get used in one of last year's build-off entries that I've since decided isn't going to be built. I've got the neck earmarked for another build and I'm just going to keep the walnut body for the time being.

I did a bunch of stuff today as well, but I'll post up more pics later on... :smug:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freekmagnet, Spidey2112, ReasonablyHappy and 1 other person
#9
Here's a shot of the body template - you can see how it's been mildly refined. :D
body template

body template

body template

I initially tried a mockup body with the full "angular" cutaway like on digital mockup. It was an attempt to riff on the same thing on the original jupiter thunderbird, and also on a couple of Atlansia designs (Pegasus and Galaxy):
Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird Bass

Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird Bass

Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird Bass
Atlansia Pegasus

Atlansia Pegasus

Atlansia Pegasus
Atlansia Galaxy

Atlansia Galaxy

Atlansia Galaxy
Atlansia Bass

Atlansia Bass

Atlansia Bass

The reality though, was that the access sucked without a full cutaway. I worked out a few pieces but came out with the one on the template above. It will be deeply beveled allowing access.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freekmagnet, moonshinegtrs, ReasonablyHappy and 2 others
#10
Bright and early this morning, like a kid on the big day, I jumped out of bed and hit the shop. I glued up the walnut top, maple accent and walnut core/back. I used quick set epoxy, so was able to handle them pretty quickly.

All of the wood used in this bass is "crap" wood. :D It's sold as run-of-the-mill walnut and maple. I get both acer saccharum and macrophyllum locally. Because of this, its not expensive in the least. Western maple is 2.00 bdft, eastern is 2.50, cherry is 4.00 and walnut is 7.00. They have quite a bit more selection, but I like the domestics. :D The beauty is that they don't mind me coming through and cherry picking whatever catches my eye. :) So everything used in this build (or any of my builds) was not expensive. The catch was it was all raw 4/4, 6/4 and 8/4 lumber, so everything needed to be milled and dimensioned.

The top with some denatured alcohol on it to show the grain and flame a bit:
glued top with denatured alcohol

glued top with denatured alcohol

glued top with denatured alcohol

The plain eastern maple accent:
plain maple body accent board

plain maple body accent board

maple stripe

And the walnut boards used for the slipmatched core/back:
body core topside

body core topside

body core topside
 
  • Like
Reactions: BritFunk, ReasonablyHappy, I-Am-The-Slime and 2 others
#11
I'm also using the holiday season to build myself a 7 string guitar that I'm going to bleedin' well keep this time! I did a bunch of work on the 7 string body today because I already have the neck, so can bang it out quickly. Because of that pesky seven, I didn't get too much more done on this bass today. I did some template work, but that will come up in a short while when I make the pickup covers.

What I did do to wrap up the day, was plane down the top, accent and core, and then glue together the accent and core. Tomorrow, I'll be able to rout out the body chambers into the blank, and then glue the top on. :)

Here's a shot of the body core slathered with epoxy, just waiting for the maple accent. Gives a sneak preview of what this body might look like with some finish. :cool:
body core with epoxy

body core with epoxy

mmmm...walnut...

And the obligatory clamp farm pic:
clamp farm

clamp farm

gluing maple accent to body core
 
  • Like
Reactions: 83_Silberpfeil, ReasonablyHappy, Matt Liebenau and 1 other person
#16
Did a bunch of stuff today, including chambering the body and gluing on the top. Pics will come tomorrow after work. Who works on christmas eve? Jeez... :vomit:

I was about to glue up the neck beam at the end of the day, but I found that the walnut stringers needed to be "re-trued", so I planed them flat again and they will be glued up tomorrow afternoon. :)
Neck beam

Neck beam

ready for glue up
 
  • Like
Reactions: BritFunk and ReasonablyHappy
#17
A few more pics from yesterday. I pulled the body/core/accent out of the cauls, and routed out the chambers in the body:
Body Core Chambers

Body Core Chambers

"chamber"... just sounds so cool, don't it?

Then it was time for Clamp Farm Part Deux: The Reckoning
Top Glue Up

Top Glue Up

Clamp Farm

Even though I put on a few more clamps, if you don't believe this is actually another glue-up, I took a shot of the side view of the sandwich, so you can see that we are indeed at full height. :D
Body Sandwich

Body Sandwich

layers

More tonight! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: BritFunk, Freekmagnet, ronaldpdbrandt and 5 others
#20
Spidey2112 said:
@Beej , how are you accounting/calculating for 'even' weight distribution, between neck and body... especially chambering, like that.
Click to expand...
When you say weight distribution, do you mean like the balance of the instrument when it's on a strap? If so, how I address that is to keep my head stock small and therefore light, I use an upper horn that reaches to the 11th or preferably the 10th or even 9th fret, and also mount the bridge near the very end of the body. Doing these three things has meant that I can seriously chamber a body and still have an instrument hang nicely. My lightest 5-string full scale bass weighs only six pounds, and balances perfectly.

This one should weigh closer to 7 and 1/2 I'm thinking even with the chambering, because Walnut is heavy! This design also has a very compact headstock, and unlike Atlansia, mine will not be 3/4" thick, I think it'll end up a little over 1/2" to help save weight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BritFunk, Spidey2112 and ReasonablyHappy
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back