Holiday Bass Build Episode 5 - Putting it all together 

I have actually done an experiment with potting the coils in epoxy in a silicone mold, it looked pretty weird but worked well enough, I then decided on a different coil design and the mold has become obsolete, but the idea is still very much there. I also really like the look of those plexiglass bodies, but they're legendarily heavy and I'm not down with that, so one idea I came up with is a semi-acoustic version, essentially a 335 style bass made out of 3mm acrylic. I think that would look rad and I have a lot of experience with acrylic, but it would be a costly thing to get wrong, I might try a ukulele first and check the processes before upscaling it to a full bass. Cheers.

That’s an interesting idea. I was thinking more of a steampunk style thing.. but the 335 thing could be interesting. Particularly because you will be able to shape the front and back with a mould and a heat gun rather than steam pressing or vacuum forming. Either way great work on your basses. I really am enjoying watching you go about it.

Thanks, it's a rare thing to find a place online that's consistently helpful and positive, I very rarely get nasty comments but I'm not the least bit tempted to engage, I have a policy that nasty comments earn the writer an instaban, but I almost never have to do it. Thanks.

Might have to steal the idea for the pickups!!

I did think of that when I blacked out the neck, definately something to consider for next time, cheers.

It's called "Briwax Colourfast Wood Dye", Antique Mahogany, spirit based. It's good stuff, easy to work with, dries fast, looks great, just don't get any on your hands, you'll be scrubbing for a week.

I'm quite partial to a precision myself, and occasionally a tone knob is useful but I've found more often than not they take away clarity that I want to keep. You don't always need that little bit extra on stage (it gets lost in the guitars anyway) but I do a lot of my practice at home with headphones on and I hate when it sounds muddy, I like it smooth and clear, thanks.

Aww, thanks dude, I really want to get over to Canada one day, I actually looked at emigrating a few years ago, we were in a blistering heatwave and an episode of Ice Road Truckers came on tv and I had an overwhelming sensation that I wanted to be on the ice road more than anywhere else in the world. I sent a few emails and It ultimately came to nothing but I'm still fascinated with the place. I really want to tour the Sabian factory too, all of the ride cymbal you hear on this channel is from a 20" Canadian Zildjian (really early Sabian), and I've never found another ride cymbal that I like as much as that one, had it since I first started recording and I've never used anything else. I'm also into a lot of Canadian bands, I'll sadly never get to see The Tragically Hip live, but I'd like to try and catch BNL in their natural environment one day and shake Jim Creegan's hand, see if any of his talent rubs off on me🤣🤣 Thanks, and spare a thought for me next time you're in a Tim Hortons😁

@@fanbladeinstruments Any time you find yourself in Toronto, hit me up! Happy to be a tour guide haha. Fun/quirky tidbit; Steven Page got permanently kicked out of my family's synagogue/congregation for showing up high as a kite one time (his family still attends, from what I'm told)! That's the nearest I get to any of the BNL alas... Winter has been shockingly mild thus far, so you'd probably be disappointed trying to get your Ice Road fix. Thanks, Obama ;)

Some of my building techniques make ME cringe. I'm just at the point where I really want to be able to make these to a consistently high standard, but I've been screwing around with weird multiscale/multistring things all last year. Part of the point of this build was to make something normal as good as I could and take stock of what I need to do to hit that professional standard. When I get the designs nailed down and the pickups figured out properly, and get a reliable parts supplier, then I'll be able to have a severe look at the process and make the jigs and templates properly, buy whatever extra tooling I need (drum sander etc), and really make a go of producing the best I'm capable of. I'm not there yet, but I'm enjoying the journey. Thanks

I agree...there are some cringeworthy operations here! What looks like just eyeballing the neck pocket location/alignment and hogging out the sides and corners with chisels is the main thing that makes me cringe (why no hand held router or router table for this?). But bass building ain't rocket surgery and his tone is pretty good when it's all said and done. On the flip side, maybe I am over working on my builds!?!? I take forever to build a bass as just an intermediate builder, but my basses look like they are from the store when I am done.

Haha, I've never thought of myself as a boutique builder, I suppose I could stick a $9k pricetag on it and give it some marketing hype, would that qualify for boutique status?🤣🤣

​@fanbladeinstruments Hey Geoff, I am currently using your 4 coil pickup design for a bridge pickup in a ric-esque bass. Thanks for the inspiration, and all your hard work. 👍

@@glennhynes5263Ahh, fantastic, the bridge on a rick is right in the sweet spot too, that'll sound phenomenal 😁

Duuuude, excellent! I couldn't find your original comment to credit you, thanks for that idea, it's been super useful to me for ages now, I do it all the time😁😁 Cheers

For all the reasons you say, yes, I'll always choose a good sharp chisel over a router every single time. Especially for a neck pocket when it's got to be super accurate, one millisecond of inattention while using a router and you scrap your project. Or worse you injure yourself. I used the router on this body way more than I normally would because I was trying to save time, but I usually just use it for truss rod slots, maybe binding channels, and as little else as I have to. Thanks

@@fanbladeinstruments I think I'll do that the next time I have create a neck pocket (not required on my current build since it's a neck through Telecaster).

Speaking of Warwick Fortress...watch this space😉

@@fanbladeinstruments I really regret selling my old Fortress One, it's my favourite ever bass shape.

When a man gets to a certain age it can become apparent that hemorrhoids may start to become a concern....

@@fanbladeinstruments Aaaaaaaand that's more than I needed to know 😂

Yes. I was a bit worried about that so I made the neck a little thinner - essentially there's no neck heel so to maximize the amount of elm that the neck is bolted to. I'm not so much worried about lateral movement because the neck can't really move side to side anyway, the pocket is holding it very tightly. as for the heads imprinting....yeah....I'm monitoring that situation to see if I need to install a plate to spread the load. It's only been on there for a couple of days so I'm not seeing any issues, but I'll take it out for a few more shows and see if there's been any extra compression and if I need to do anything about it. Spruce....should've known, never again. Thanks

I was literally doodling with a compass circa 1994 and came upon that little pattern. At first it was nothing and then I erased three sections of the outer rings and thought it looked like a fanblade, and there's really not much more to it than that for years and years. Then in 2016 I started a facebook page and needed to call it something, and that was the first time I used "Fanblade Instruments" for anything. I've long since abandoned the facebook page btw, I still keep up with a couple of bass / woodwork groups but I rarely post anything anymore, much happier keeping everything in one place on youtube. Cheers.

@@fanbladeinstruments Interesting, thanks for sharing. Origin stories are fun, but I always kind of love when something doesn't really have a story behind it either. A fun/absolutely terrible idea would be to make a guitar in the shape of your logo.

One day I will, I'm still figuring out the designs I want to use and the processes to build them, as things are right now I could either spend the time to make a template I may never use again, or I could sharpen a couple of chisels and get on with it. When the designs are nailed down and I know that I'm going to be making a lot of one thing then I'll look at streamlining the process. Part of that will involve routers and templates, but I'm not quite there yet.

I have thought about it, a sliding pickup would be fantastic for testing purposes but on a production bass it's a lot more complicated to do than simply putting in a second pickup. It might be a bit of fun but ultimately I think you just pick where it sounds best and leave it there.

Here's a big long thing I typed out when someone else asked the same question, it's valuable info about how I do it: I'm using polyester cleaning towels, I buy them on a big roll from the hardware store and cut them into little squares so I get the most mileage out of them - they really suck for environmental reasons but they're lint free and work quite well. Some things you need to know: 1. Superglue is bloody awful to work with, you want to have gloves and either a respirator or a VERY well ventilated area. The fumes that come off it as it's curing is basically formaldehyde gas and it's deeply unpleasant. 2. The pads will stick to the gloves. You will tear holes in the gloves. You will go through a lot of gloves. 3. As the glue starts to set in the pad it has an exothermic reaction and can get quite hot, be prepared to whip your glove off as soon as that starts, sometimes it gets a little hot, sometimes it gets VERY hot, don't hold onto it to find out. 4. Atmospheric conditions are pivotal, I've found that 16-20 degrees C (60-68 F) is perfect. Too hot and the glue will cure in your hand with rapid heat, too cold and you're waiting an hour for each coat to dry. I believe humidity also plays a role, 50-60% is usually fine though. 5. The first couple of coats will raise wood fibers that will tear the pads apart, I lightly sand with 600g in between each of the first 3 coats, then I go to town, you can do up to 6 coats before sanding with 400g to flatten everything then another 6 to fill the rest of the grain and you should be getting close depending on the type of wood. So there's a lot more to it, and it takes a bit of practice but with a bit of experience the results can be outstanding. I recommend practicing on scrap to get the hang of it, good luck.