I am happy that the home made string retainer using the ABM clams worked out in the end. Payed the bass this evening and it has LOTS of different tones built into that Nordstrand setup!.

Took a pic of the back of the instrument while I was getting things ready for packing in its case and being ready for its customer.

Doing the late shift working on the last few details and we'll be DONE.

Fitting the bass in its Protec case - just made it on this bass in a GUITAR case!.

Just making sure I have shielded everything on the bass and may do a quick modification to the battery cover to make it easier to remove. Got sound out of it today but need to check preamp manual to make sure all these inbuilt features work!

Should be the last time I have to remove strings - just leveled and polished frets and added conditioner to the fingerboard wood.

Strings are on and the bass is in a condition where I can test out the pickups and preamp options.

Finally got the nut slots done - more work than a standard bass because of the proximity of the retainers but seems looks like this part is done.

Has to do a few engineering adjustments but seems like everything is working as planned. Strings are going on for testing..

All strings on - fine tuning nut and will be making many other adjustments.

Getting very close here - I will have the nut finished and string retainer assembled soon plus I'll be able to get the strings on and test out the preamp etc..

Working on getting the strings on the bass. Almost done.

I cut and installed the nut and will be shaping the top surface and establishing the string slots.

The not is now having its string slots established. They'll be finshed for depth once the strings are on.

Just drilled mounting holes in the retainer so it can now be attached to the headstock area.

JHeadstock has been pre drilled with pilot holes and I am now attaching the retainer block. So far so good.

Got all five of the ABM units secured on place. Now to get the securing holes drilled.

Black knobs have been added and I am currently working on the final details of the string retainer attachment.

String retainer block almost complete - I'm cleaning up the surfaces and will add two holes for attachment to the neck.

It's been quite a lot of detail work but I was able to modify the screws to successfully bolt the ABM retainers in place. There's nowhere you can buy assembles like this so they have to be custom made.

PLate perimeter is machined out and I now have to establish three sets of holes.

Main set of holes has been drilled. Will now tap the threads into the retaining holes. Lastly I will drill two holes for screws that will hold the whole thing onto the headstock area of the bass..

Working on the arrangement of the ABM string retainers and getting a couple of programs done to do the work.

This plate will serve as a location plate to attach to the headstock. It will also provide threaded attachment holes for the ABM units.

Have all the critical dimensions drawn out so I will be assembling the components next.

This base plate will hold the five ABM string retainers. It's basically my last job on this bass and should no present too many problems.

A little bit of work but I got all the pots installed, output socket installed and wired up and cleaned up the mess of wiring to make it took neat and tidy.

Cavity covers have now been fitted with their magnets and can be installed on the back of the bass.

Just being careful to connect numerous wires to the correct places, shortening some of them that are way too long, and getting the output plug connected to everything else.

I swapped the two-frequency push-pull mid control with the stacked treble/bass control. The stacked pot slightly restricted easy access to the other four non-stacked controls. Feels much betted like this.

Just a quick illustration of what the controls do and how they are most likely to be arranged in the cantrol cavity.

Got the pickup wires connected and tie-wrapped inside the cavity. Now adding the pots with the longer cables and the wires that run to the output jack assembly.

Starting with the battery power connector and getting that run to the control cavity.

Installing output plug, preamp components and required wiring etc.

Adding recesses in the top for the nut and washer on each pot. Will also make the bottoms of the knobs more flush with top surface!

Recesses fopr knobs has been successfully done and I will now be moving on with the preamp system install.

Bass looking a lot more complete with tuners and pickups installed. Moving on - I need to get the string retainer assembly and the nut done next.

Internal wiring process is started. More on this very soon!!

Now working on the placement of the holes for the five grounding wires.

Grounding wires for the five tuner assemblies has now been established and I can permanently mount the five tuners.

The outer 2 tuners are the most critical. Got these attached and will now work on the center three.

Working on positioning of final 3 tuners. Once they are set I will do that individual grounding and this part of the work will be done.

Pickup recess grounding done. Now working on the 9v power supply.

Being very careful to mark and drill so that I can get these five tuners attached to the top of the instrument.

I made two paper templates to fit the cavity recesses and then dropped magnets on them. The magnets automatiocally bond with the ones in the body. I then mark the positions and flip the paper over on the lids to mark the magnet locations.

Control cavity is now fully shielded. I have grounding wires from pickup recesses and the 5 bridge/tuner units to set up. Then I will run battery power through the body from the battery recess..

Pre-drilled the control hole positions so that I can verify everything. All being well I will open them up to the diameters that suit the potentiometers.

I got the five control holes to finished size. I'll probably do the copper shielding in the control cavity next and also get the grounding wires from pickup recesses through to the common cavity ground.

The inter-connected stacks of magnets allow me to place pot positions on the outside based accurately on inside space restrictions.

I think this distribution would look best from the front of the instrument and stull be functional inside the cavity.

Controls need to be arranges in a logical order. I'm thinking Volume, Balance, Treble/Bass, Mids and then Passive Tone.

Neodymium magnets installed for the two cavity covers.

It can be done - it's just a lot of hardware and I will need to be very careful about placement of everything. More news on this soon!

Neutrik jack soccket is now fitted and the strap locks are on.

NGetting this job done late in the evening so that the glue can dry overnight.

Repairs on recesses complete and the copper shielding in now installed. Moving on..

I cleaned out the holes and recesses in both covers so that they are ready to go into the bass.

Not a big deal - I just have to drill and plug so that those two pickup screws get a full length of operating thread.

This is the battery area where I will be installing two magnets. Also will install 3 in the control cavity area.

These Protec Hybrid cases are strong and light and I really like them.

Working on grinding out excess finishing resin from the recesses in which the covers will fit.

Working on grinding out excess finishing resin from the recesses in which the covers will fit.

Neck pickup recess required a lot of cleanup inside until I was able to fit the cover in place. All good now..

The two bobbins that we had custom wound fit nicely in the finished covers. I'll make sure the screws fit the corner holes and counterbores and when that's done these will be secured together and installed into the body of the bass.

I've had a lot of success with Kalium strings on the multi-scale headless basses.

Black Schaller locking strap button assemblies. These are the higher end of strap lock options in the marketplace.

Waiting for the fringerboard wood conditioner to dry before moving on.

I'm gringing the pickup recesses to remove about 1/32 inch overspray buildup so that covers can fit inside each.

Getting ready to do final finish on fingerboard.It will end up just a little darker with the conditioner in the wood.

Prepped the fingerboard with fine sandpaper and then steel wool. Now applying a protective conditioner to the Pau Rosa wood.

Back of the bass looks very impressive and all the wood colors work really well together.

The satin finish on the neck is a great feel. The whole instrument is pretty lightweight and should end up very well balanced.

The bass came out looking spectacular - they put a subtle trans tint around the perimeter which enhances both the color and the body shape. Gloss on body - satin on neck.

This preamp looks like a great and flexible product and I am anxious to see it installed as part of this very unique instrument.

I ordered a custom preamp from Nordstrand which I just heard was complete. I'm hoping the finisher will be ready with the bass soon so that I can get both of them in the same trip.

Driving to Norco and Redlands Thursday for Bass and Preamp respectively!.

Bass heading to my finisher. It will come back an entirely different animal!.

BThese string retainers are new from ABM in Germany. I ordered 5 of them in black to see if they would fit and work on this bass - won;t know till I have them here - if not I will still use my original string retainer concept.

Working on the fret ends to get them dressed before finishing. Some sanding left but only the smooth stuff. Bass feels good already.

I think everything is ready for going to the finisher!.

Last round on the lengthy sandpapering stage. Thw whole instrument is silky smooth and ready for the next transformation!.

The two back cavity covers have been sanded and fitted in place.

Cutting a seat to the optimal depth to suit the string retaining block.

Couple of small areas I wanted to fill and resurface - just the way burl wood is. My finisher will take care of the rest.

Machining the string retainer block so that I canhave that ready when the bass comes back from finishing.

I will be doing a quick machining operation to seat the string retainer into the end of the neck. I will work on the details while the instrument is baing finished.

I'm now working with finer grit papers to get the whole body down to about 220 grit or better for finishing. This is always a work intensive phase of building.

Lost a little production time to family events over the weekend so back with a vengeance to get this bass to finishing.

Nordstrand is building us a preamp that will be a great addition to this instrument More news on this very soon as I will be driving out there to pick it up!.

Sanding the body and I will also be adding a serial number insert that I am cutting in thelaser right now.

Lots of shaping and sanding going on right now.

Getting the neck to acondition where I will be happy to see it go to finishing. Sand and test, sand and test.

Pickup bobbins have been wound and potted and tested.

Completed pickupssuccessfully fitted in their wood covers.

It's actually easier to drive through the mountains than to tackle the freeweys.

Almost there with the neck thickness and profile!!!.

Working the neck dow to size and refining the joint areas at the same time.

Bobbin assembly under way. Should not take long.

Bobbin assembly under way. Should not take long.

These came together well and should end up being good powerful pickups.

Ongoing carving of the belly cut, neck and headstock area.

Talked to Nordstrand Audio about a 3B custom preamp.

Ready to assemble bobbin flatwork and magnets.

Getting into some of the hard to reach areas with the spindle sander.

Fingerboard attachment went according to plan and I will now be moving ahead working on the body and neck etc..

Getting into the final carving of neck and body features. Kinda dusty work so doing it outside.

IThis is the truss rod in position and waiting for me to apply the adhesive mix and clamp everything together.

The fingerboard is being glued onto the neck - a bug step in the final progress of any instrument. Will know in the morning if all is well - should be OK.

The two pickup covers have had their height adjustment screw holes drilld and counterbored.

I will mix some special adhesive to do this and then add a LOT of rubber bands to apply even clamping pressure all over the joint area.

Got the insides of the pickup covers machined. Will now test fit the bobbins.

Almost ready to attach the fingerboard.

I will have these side dots done as soon as the adhesive sets.

Want to get these covers done as they have to with the bass to the finisher along with the cavity covers.

THis bass will look really good with the fingerboard attached. Just getting all the tooling together for that job.

Doing the prep work to not only cut the pickup bobbins but also machine the rest of the pickup covers so thqat we can get this bass to finishing!!!.

Sleeves for the side dots have been inserted into the side of the fingerboard.

Pickup covers fitten in top - just need to be machined on the insides.

PBattery cavity hole has been machined, also holes for magnets and slot for serial number.

The control cavity has now been machined out of the back of the body.

Fairly tricky operation dialing in the recess sizes to make sure the accurately match the pickup geometry.

Pickup holes came out fine despite their non-standard geometry.

Next is sanding the outsides of the covers. When that's done I'll machine the insides on the CNC.

Setting up CNC to carefully cut the two pickup recesses. Once that's done I'll machine the battery and control cavities.

I will be gluing these two tops onto this material and machining the pickup covers from the resulting assemblies.

Gluing pickup body material to the two pickup top pieces.

Top went on nice and clean and had plenty of time to cure. Next will be some sanding work around the perimeter.

getting the perimeter edges shaped and finished on the spindle sander.

Once the top goes on I can machine cavities and get the fingerboard attached!.

Bass is in the vacuum press getting the top plate attached.

All the requires channels for power, grounding and pickup wires have been machined into the top surface of the body.

Testing the fit around the neck area before I commit to gluing the top on.

Plusg machined and fitted. They will be glued in place and sanded flush. When the top is on I'll center the cuts to the recesses I created on the front.

These wiring channels will provide space through the bopdy for me to run grounding wires, battery power and pickup wires all to the control cavity.

This back cut will eventually meet the front cut and release the harvested pieces.

Now have pickups harvested which means I can also machine wiring slots.

The locations and sizes of the pickups must be established before I cut into the top plate.

I'll go as deep as the cutter will permit and finish the removal from the back side.

Making sure placement of the two pickups is in the correct place on the top plate before I commit to cutting them out!.

Drilling the holes for the side dots on the CNC.

The program will remove the continuous grain tops of the pickup covers from the top plate .

I was thinking as an alternative to use aluminum tubing with a white or colored filler. That would really stand out on the side of the fingerboard.

I will be making custom pickups and creating the physical bobbin assemblies and carefully setting those into special continuous grain pickup covers. I will then have them wound.

Pickup geometries have been finalized allowing me to harvest material from top plate, create covers, create bobbins and a few other things.

Since the top was cut slightly oversize I am now running around the perimeter sanding everything down flush.

Neck position, scale length and intonation compensation being considered so that I can accurately place everything and plan the locations of the pickups.

Glueing two carbon fiber rods into the neck structure. Makes for a very rigid assembly.

The two CF rods are now part of the neck structure.

Carbin fiber rods have been cut and fitted.

I was worried because ABM told me they had a 90 day waiting list and no items in stock!.

I did two test cuts just to be sure - easier than replacing the top!!!!.

Lots of new things on this particular bass, I have never worked on a top this thick before but so far everything is going to plan!!.

Fingerboard now needs to have the frets trimmed flush with the sides.

With a multi-scale neck it's always much safer to cut a test piece before risking anything on the actual top.

End of the neck has now been machined so that I can get the top plate fitted.

Frets are going into the fingerboard. Will trim them to finished width after they are all in.

On the CNC I will be surfacing the top of the body and creating a matching angle to the fingerboard on the material at the end of the neck.

Almost finished leveling the top surface of the body.

The birdseye inserts look pretty good on the fingerboard. Nice contrast with the Pau Rosa too.

Top is rough cut and now will go up on the CNC for some machining so that I can fit it onto the body of the bass.

Happy that my suppliers are still shipping products out to me!.

Hand selecting birdseye maple grain for fingerboard inlay.

I'm busy cutting the fret slots.

This is the fingerboard with the fret slots and the inlay recesses cut.

Fingerboard cut to size - now going to machine the radius on the top surface.

Almost done with the top surface radius.

Programming outline and fret slots.

Ready to get this fingerboard machined.

This fingerboard will now be going up on the CNC for a few operations. Cutting profile to match neck, establishing the top radius, cutting fret slots and nut slot and also inlay recesses.

TDecided to use the vacuum press to get a good bond with the baseplate.

This piece of Pau Rosa is definitely hard enough for a good fingerboard and will look impressive on the instrument. I'm going to get it shaped and ready for installation.

Top material will now be nmarked out using the body profile and I will rough cut the shape. After that I will need to machine a clearance area for the end of the neck section.

Just getting ready to establish joint edges on the two top pieces so that I can glue them together into one piece.

Top halves being glued and clamped into one bookmatched piece.

Getting the exterior perimeter shape established around the body area.

I will be setting up CNC to cut a clean and square glue joint on each of these pieces so that I can get them joined together.

First body half attached successfully. On to the second one.

Both body halves were attached successfully and will now spend some time cleaning up body and neck geometry.

Sawed off a few un-necessary pieces of wood, sanded down the body half edges and now checking placement so that I can glue them in place.

First pf the two body halves being attached to core section.

Another very involved clamping procedure but this will give me both body halves ready for assembly.

This is starting to look a bit like a bass guitar now.

Working on a gluing fixture to guarantee that these parts get joined together with perfectly flush joint surfaces.

WoDoing a fairly involved gluing operation to get the two back plates neatly and accurately joined together.

MLooking good so far - this thing is starting to look like a real instrument!.

Throwing the pieces together to see how it all looks, will have all this glued and assembled soon.

I cut matching material to create the required steps to house the lids. Now to get them glued together.

Machining the final back surface of the core section.

Machining from the back of the plate to release the cover.

Covers have been harvvested, now need to fill from the back.

I have to machine the back of the core parallel to the top surface I recently machined. I'll also be establishing body thickness in that machining operation.

No cutting the control cavity lid from the lower Koa back plate.

Setting up to cut the joint faces for the body halves.

Core section has both sides machined and is ready for sides to be attached.

Core section with all of the initial machining done.

I'm marking out the areas on the core where I need to machine joint faces for the upper and lower body halves.

The perimeter of the entire core has been cut to size. Moving on to other machining tasks.

Third machining operation done cleaning up to establish neck to body angle. Now I need to get a truss rod slot cut.

Up on the CNC for several operations to create the core geometry.

Top surface of the neck area is now cleaned up top a nice flat surface. NExt I will establish the core perimeter..

Getting a little closer with the body components.

I will be removing cavity covers from these pieces so that we end up with continuous grain covers held in place by neo magnets.

Gluing the last of the core laminates onto the assembly.

I'm sanding a lot of body parts to get them ready for assembly and machining.

First two pieces of the core have been glued together.

Starting to look like part of a bass. Ready to glue on the two outer Maple pieces.

I now have all the five core laminates cut and sanded and ready for assembly.

Glued joint integrity is very inportant so I use plenty of clamps in this gluing process.

We ended up choosing 35.5" to 33.5" scales with the square fret at Fret 9.

Maple, Koa and a central strip of dark brown hardwood for contrast. They should look really nice together.

I'm machining the two koa laminates to create the tapered core section. Should look awesome when complete.

I tried a few different options but this seemed to be the best. Not too angled at either end.

I'm creating a full scale drawing of the bass (as I usually do) to help place features and facilitate CNC programming.

I have to accurately plot both scale lengths relative to the nut, then compensate with an offset based on which fret should be the common square one (most likely 7 or 8) and then plot the actual paths for the CNC to cut the fret slots..

Second gluing operation to finish up the blank.

One of the nice things about doing this is that the back plates will match the Koa laminates in the core section because they ALL came from the same original piece of wood..

I'm hoping this all works out - had barely enough Koa for the job but if I slice and dice it well enough it may work!.

Koa for upper body half needs to be carefully assembled.

Mechining joint faces on teh two Koa back plates so that I can get them glued together and see how they look.

I'm gluing the two saets of back pieces together. If all goes well this will look cool and I can plan on using it for the back plates.

Top plate cut and sanded and ready to be glued into one bookmatched piece.

Something I have never done before - using two bookmatched plates for the backs of the body halves. Should look very nice though.

Two of the core laminates rough cut . These are a nice curly Koa.

This will be the top plate material on teh instrument and I'll use a little on the top surface of the headstock/string retainer area. I'm wondering of I should also use it as inlay on the fingerboard for continuity...???.

Marked out the top plate material and I'm ready to trim it - then split in two and sand to a nice clean flat finish.

Drum sanding the top plate material so that I have a good reliable flat surface to run through the bandsaw.

This is one of our candidates for top wood - should look really nice. Getting ready to saw it up.

Since I know the Koa is a definite choice I am setting things up to get some blanks cut for the core section.

This is the Swamp Ash with the body profile marked on it. Koa and Maple blanks in the center.

These two pieces will be the body halves attached to the multi-laminate core. The top plates will be bookmatched and cover the whole top area of the bass. .