Did a fret leveling and final fingerboard clean so that the bass is ready for playing.

I was playing the bass through and amp to check the output and controls. Sounds great - pickups are far enough apart to create a lot of mixable diversity in the tone of the instrument. All good in the electronics department.

Did a fret leveling and final fingerboard clean so that the bass is ready for playing.

Nut slots established but I can't finalize the nut slot depths without the strings being on the instrument. I'll be making numerous adjustments to get everything dialed in correctly.

The whole instrument is looking really nice - I just ant to get the setup done and consider it complete. Working on nut slots - bridge saddle heights, truss rod tension, pickup height placement.

Working on setting the outer two strings on the bass - after which I can place the middle four. Need to set bridge saddles and also cut slots in the nut.

I cut a very accurate template on the laser to allow me to accurately place the string slots in the nut.

I got the recesses jack output socket installed in place and grounded. All I have left now is the connection of the two pickup cabling to the Audere input wires.

The preamp is now fully connected and next step is to test everything. To do that I need to add strings and test through an amplifier.

Have all the wires pretty much in the right places and I am getting ready to start soldering everthing together.

Almost done with the electronics. I have to connect pickups to the system and make a couple more grounding connections and should then be able to test.

I needed specialized foam inserts which I made on the laser to provide the right base for the two pickups to be well supported and still allow for vertical adjustmenrt. Also drilling two holes in each cavity for the adjustment screws.

I resized the holes to fit the controls and now I'm planning how the wiring is going to layout inside the control cavity.

Bass is back to one piece again with the neck bolted on. Bridge is grounded and attached to the body. Picup cavities also grounded and I will try to get the two pickups set up into the body next.

This thing is starting to look like a real bass guitar! I'm working on the pickup installation and setting up the adjustment screw holes. Next will be fitting the preamp.

Tuners are now part of the whole instrument. I want to get the neck back on the body as soon as I have pickups and electronics installed.

Making sure everything is set up for a successful pickup and preamp installation.

Most importantly I achieved rotation on the top two pegs to make them as accessible and the lower set. I'll do some final adjustments but this approximates what we will end up on this smaller headstock keeping the player's access to tuning knobs as a priority. I think we did well based on our other work reducing some of the sizes on this bass with a goal for maximum compactness!!!.

I'm testing the fit of the two pickups so that I can get these two installed into the instrument body.

Back of the bass looks good with the two cavity covers fitted.

I moved both the upper tuner holes outward from each other. Can't go far with the end one as it is close to the BMC logo but this should help a lot.

Working on getting the power supply ready for the preamp system. That way I will have everything ready for the Audere preamp and the Nordstran pickups to go in.

I need to get the rest of the copper shielding into the cavity so that I can get the electronics installed. Just finishing it up around the top edges.

Strap lock hardware now part of the instrument body. Moving on to pickups and electronics, plus fitting bridge to the front of the body.

Getting the ABM bridge gounded and then installed in place. Probably install the Nordstrand Pickups next.

Will update on all of this - might be easier to plug them all and use the CNC to establish positions that will allow enough tuner flexibility to place them very close to my customer's preference. Stay tuned.

I'm taking an opportunity to get the holes drilled for the two flush mount strap locks installation. We're getting there!

These plugs are cut to just the right size to fit tightly in the existing tuner holes. I will get things set up to make a final decision on how far they can mbe moved and then set things up on CNC.

Because of the BMC logo and other features requiring space I can only move the 4 lower tuners a small amount. Top two can be plugged and re-drilled to yield a little more adjustment options so we should be fine after that's done.

I am setting the bass up on the CNC in such a way as to place the headstock parallel with the table surface and with the tuner holes in line with the x and y axes of the machine. That way I can re-machine the hole positions pretty accurately and achieve a small amount of extra space which will help with tuner placement.

The goal is to plug the existing holes with accurately cut blanks - let the adhesive set then re-establish the holes to achieve slightly modified placement. Tricky work and I don;t want to damage the exuisting finish or stray too close to the BMC inlay on the front!!!.

Got the tuners configured for bass and treble sides and I just need to open up the holes in the headstock a tiny bit so that I can get these fitted.

In the effort to keep overall length as short as possible we have a slightly smaller headstock and by necessity the 4 tuners are slightly closer together. I'm looking at making some small adjustments so give us more options on tuner positioning. Might have to be a CNC job though.

Copper shielding going into the control cavity and I will also do the same thing to the two pickup cavities.

Got almost all of the copper shielding applied, and before the last pieces go on, I want to install the neo magnets that will hold the two cavity covers in place.

Just wanted to clean up the inner surfaces of the pickup cavities before I lined them with the copper shielding.

Getting ready to install copper shielding in the pickup recesses and aldo to get the bridge attached to the body.

I am moving on to the installation of the bridge. Has to be placed right for intonation and string alignment.

We now have a fitted truss rod cover and a nut set in the fingerboard. Once the glue is set I can shape the nut and then get the string slots cut into it.

Nut is almost ready to be installed into the fingerboard. It will be shaped tp match the curve on the fingerboard surface and slots will be cut for the strings.

Neck has now been fitted and bolted on. Doing some final checking on bridge saddles and bridge positioning and will have more photos very soon.

As soon as I get these neck retainer washers fitted I can attach the neck.

3 of 6 little magnets that will hold the truss rod cover in place. I have to install matching magnets in the exact same locations in the little cover too.

Neck now fits correctly into body but before finalizing and bolting it in place I want to test alignment for strings between nut and bridge.

Getting the nut cut and shaped for installation. Then nut slots and tuners.

Working on dressing the ends of the frets and then rounding and polishing them so they feel nice and smooth.

Getting the truss rod cover to fit nice and snug. I'll add neo magnets to attach it to the headstock.

There's always a little work after finishing to get the neck pocket and the neck heel to fit properly - just a little removal of buildup..

TNot a horrible job - the finishing on the neck sometimes bleeds under the masking onto the fingerboard. Doesn't take too long to resurface the board and get it ready for final treatment with conditioner.

Neck and headstock looking good. I'll be working on this pretty soon to get the frets dressed and the fingerboard surface conditioned. Then will add nut and tuners.

Body is satin finish with a trans tint around the edge. Looks and feels really nice. Will be posting more photos.

Got my Audere 4 band Preamp today complete with a set of black stacked knobs!

This is the back of the instrument and includes the two continuous grain covers - everything looks very nice!!!

Sanding included all of the body and neck plus the two bridseye maple back cavity covers and the truss rod cover!

I will be taking this instrument to my finisher for an all-satin finish with a matching trans finish to accent the edges. We are pretty confident it is going to look beautiful!

Working on a nice logical placement for the four knobs on the top of the body. Just about to run a program for holes and recesses.

Doing a final inspection on all the parts of this bass so my finisher can get started - should look pretty awesome when done!

The two back covers are currently thicker than they need to be so I am getting ready to sand those down to their final thickness.

Back of the bass looks good with the two cover plates sanded to final thickness! I need to get started on sanding everything in preparation for finishing.

Neck is being attached to the body so that I can finish up the carving of some of the details.

I want to be sure at this stage that the alignment between the neck, strings and the vertical saddle adjustment on the bridge are set up properly.

Now that the neck retainer ferrules and screws are ready I can attach the neck and get this bass into one piece!!

I cust the little serial number insert for the recess in the battery compartment.

Now have a set of strings on the way for this bass. I think I have everything else hardware-wise!

Got the inlay work on the headstock filled. As soon as I get a moment I will lelek that off and post a photo of the finished inlay!

Did some sanding and shaping to break the edge of the body where the player's arm would normally rest on the instrument body.

Working on the final shaping and sanding of the body and the neck.

Belly cut and the slightly shorter upper horn of the body have been roughed out. Might take a little more off the horn, but right now sanding everything back to a nice smooth finish!.

Neck almost ground down and sanded to size - feels pretty good and will re-evaluate thickness and profile after I bolt the neck and body together.

Tuner holes are now done and I will need to dremel out the excess glue from the inside of the truss rod cover recess. When that's done I will seal the wood and fill the inlay recesses.

The neck of the bass is now a lot closer to finished size.

I trimmed the edges of the headstock veneer down to match the perimeter of the headstock itself.

If you look at the pencil lines you will see the rough ides of how I am planning to cut for the bottom of the neck heel area and the belly cut area. These can be modified as I progress and we'll see how everything feels from the player's point of view.

Almost ready to get this headstock veneer stuck onto the headstock. Need to machine a clean joint edge with fingerboard first.

Just about ready to glue the veneer plate onto the headstock! Have to make sure it is accurately aligned as these tuner holes are critical.

Collection all the supplies and tools I need to attach the fingerboard onto the neck!

I spent a lot of time setting up and then got the whole thing glued up. Looks good at this stage and will pull it all apart in the morning and see what we got.

The truss rod cover plate has neen machined out of the headstock veneer. Next will be the inlay work.

Having an accurate template helps a lot. I need to make sure there is no conflict with the engraving and the rings around the tuner posts.

Spent some time carefully sawing most of the support material off the fingerboard - I will do the final cleanup on the belt sander and the fingerboard will then be ready for assembly onto the neck.

I want to get the headstock plate attached to the neck but have to cut out the truss rod cover first and get the inlay recesses established.

Close to finishing up with the fret installation. I'll get the ends cleaned up and separate the fingerboard from the support material. Also have side dots to put in.

Fingerboard looks pretty good already. I need to separate the board from the support material and get all the fret ends dressed flush with the sides.

Frets are doing in to the fingerboard - should be done with this soon. Looking good.

I have now rough sawed the profile of the revised headstock. Next move will be to apply the headstock veneer material.

I decided to get the side dot holes drilled before installing frets so ready to get that rolling.

Moving on to the fret installation. Will have this done soon and at that point I can remove it from the support material.

I have to be careful that we have enough space between E and A strings to clear the E tuner!.

I plotted out the string and tuner placement in a vector program and then used that to cut a template on the laser.

Quite a lot of work to level all the maple inserts but got that done level to the existing compound radius of the fingerboard. I followed that up with some fine sanding to get us a nice smooth and even finish.

I have enough bass fret wire to get this fingerboard completed so I am busy setting up the tooling for that. Fretwire needs to be bent relative to fingerboard radius, then rough cut, ground, installed and then cleaned up flush to the edges.

It's still a good amount oversize but this will make a beautiful headstock veneer for this project.

Lots of clamps involved to get the headstock place assembled. Once this is done I'll clean it up and add a dark veneer to the bottom. After that's done I have to machine out the lid for the truss rod access.

In this photo you can see the extra material that I glued onto the headstock in order to handle the revised headstock 2/4 shape. Just need to trim this up and carefully sand it to the final geometry.

Working on getting all the inlay inserts sanded down flush with the fingerbord surface. Once that's done and sanded to a nice clean finish I will get started on the fret installation.

I want a nice clean cut so that I can attach a matching piece of maple to enlarge the rough headstock area. Have a very nice piece of Spalted Maple for a headstock veneer.

I will be gluing a larger piece of maple onto this section of the headstock which will then allow me to create the revised headstock shape.

If I remove the upper area of maple from the headstock and replace that with a larger matchin piece I will have enough raw material to creat the desires 2/4 tuner headstock. Working on that formula right now.

Getting the first three inlay pieces glued into the fingerboard.

Now ready tpo machine the recess for the Neutrik jack socket assembly. One more task out of the way.

Got the recess for the Neutrik output machined into the instrument.

Glad to get the fingerboard inlay pieces all cut. I'll be working on getting them all glued in place next.

Measuring some critical features to make sure everything is aligned. Moving forward and starting to look more complete!.

Started machining the Spalted Maple inserts for the inlay on the fingerboard.

These Spalted Maple pieces look pretty good against the black fingerboard.

Fingerboard is ready for inlay and once I get that done I will do the fret installation and the side dot work.

The back of the body has been carefully ground down to a slightly different end profile in order to reduce the overall length as much as possible.

Battery cavity has been successfully machined and I also cut a recess for the serial number insert.

Got the control cavity machined and I will try to now get the recess for the Neutrik jack output machined into the side of the body.

Programmed the two back cavities and will be machining those out very soon. Also making plans to do some additional body contour shaping where possible.

Getting started on machining the two back cavities (battery and control cavities).

Planning for cutting the two cavities on the back. I already have continuous grain cavity covers which I harvested from the back material earlier!

Grinding off some of the excess wood on the back of the neck to move this instrument forward a bit. The wood laminates will look awesome whan complete!

All the support pieces for the inlay are leveled and all the fret slots have been finished manually. Now have inlay and side dots to take care of.

Yes I could have just done simple dots - but I had a vision of big fancy bold shell inlay on this fingerboard.

These veneer spacers stay in the recesses until I have sanded the support material flush with fingerboard radius. When the veneer pieces are removed the supports will drop down about .030".

I need to get the surface of the fingerboard material sanded down to a nice clean finish so I am busy doing that with the inlay inserts in place.

Lots of work done on this fingerboard. Will now have to work on some inlay ideas I have - more on that very soon.

These inserts will be the bases of the shell inlay on the neck. They will be sanded to the finished radius and just a little lower than the top surface. Shell will be applied once these are installed.

Ready to cut 24 fret slots in this board. Also making plans for what I will do for fingerboard inlay..

Got started on cutting the fret slots. I am also thinking of making red shell inlay - more to come on that.

I'm ready to machine the neck pocket into the body of this bass.

Neck pocket and both pickup recesses have been machined into the instrument body.

Feels good to get one more machining operation done on this bass. Fingerboard is now finished width and length. Next will be the radius on the top.

I have now machined the top radius down to a point where I have also created the final fingerboard thickness.

NJut got the pickups for this bass and as soon as I have the neck fitted I will machine the two pickup recesses into the body!

Just got started on machining the fingerboard material down to close to finished size. When that's done I can machine the actual perimeter of the board to its final width and length.

I don't think this bass will be very heavy but I always try to mitigate weight where ever possible. I will cut ourt some of the mahogany in these areas.

Now have a nice solid instrument body. Looking pretty good and will probably look impressive with a color tint or sumburst!

I guled veneer into the two back plates and them machined the joint faces so that I could glue the to plates together. I am now ready to glue the top onto the body.

Probably setting this bass up for Nordstrand pickups.

Took some material off the top plates to get them closer to finished sizes. Will have then glued together soon.

Gluing white maple veneer onto the joint faces of the two top halves.

I don't have a piece of wood fingerboard material on hand for this bass so I am going to use a recycled paper based product.

Fingerboard is rough cut and being attached to an MDFboard for support.

Gluing process went well for the body and I can now move ahead and work on the final perimeter shape.

Nice to get the CF rod into the neck because I can now look at getting a fingerboard added to this neck!.

Got started on gluing the body parts together. Then I will work on neck and the top plate.

Machining a slot for a custom carbon fiber insert along the center of the neck.

I made the body halves a little bit narrower to minimize final body width. Now I have to machine nice clean joint faces so that the three pieces can be accurately glued together.

All the body joint faces have been machined flat and square and I will now apply a coupl eof decorative veneers to each joint before I assemble everything together.

I now havetwo continuous grain covers and I filled the back of each cover area withapiece of similar maple. Now I can attach these pieces to the body halves.

The two back pieces have now been glued onto the two mahogany center pieces. This gives me two body halves which will soon attach to the center section of the body.

Although it takes a bit more time and work I really like the effect of having continuous grain cavity covers on an instrument with nice wood. I'm getting started on the process of cutting out the lids from the back plate material.

First step of harvesting out the two continuous grain back covers has been done.

I'm just pushing to get some of this veneer work done because there is so mch of it! It will be nice to get this body glued together.

These pieces are ready to be assembled into pairs to create the upper and lower body halves.

I will be adding at least one veneer stripe between wood joints - maybe two if that works better. Time to do some gluing!.

Getting started on the multiple gluing operations required to prep the body parts with decorative pinstriping. Will be worth it though.

I just sanded the center section of the body material so that I can continue assembling the body parts.

All the parts look nice together, my next task is to machine all the body parts accurately so that they will fit together.

Redy to do some cutting to complete all the body parts and get them assembled.

I just sanded the center section of the body material so that I can continue assembling the body parts.

This ABM bridge seems to be the best choice for this bass. The string spacing is a good match for the neck geometry.

This chunk of mahogany will allow me to get most of the instrument's body assembled.

I rough cut some birdseye maple which will be the back panels of the body parts..

I am trying to use up quality stock material so I created two center pieces for the body halves..

I have this piece of maple in the shop - not a crazy grain but has some nice natural color. Will split the piece in half and see what we are really dealing with.

Looks pretty nice - especially when you imagine what it would be like with a custom finish!.

Since I am using some maple stock I am making sure that the body geometry works for both front and back sets.

Quick machining adjustment to the widthe of the center section of the back plate.

I have curly maple for top and bottom body halves and bridseye maple for the center. Should look impressive with a finish and tint to bring out some very nice grain.

Doing some experimenting with the linear placememnt of bridge neck and body. Once I am happy with that I can cut the pieces and start to get them assembled.

This bass entirely depends on what materials I have in the shop to create the various parts. Found some nice curly maple which could be used for the top.

THis maple grain should respond really well to either a natural finish or perhaps a transparent color tint when the bass is done.