Mario Labonte's Jazz bass build

[Mario Labonte]

Finished this one at the end of September. Took 6 months to build and I used the remaining Korina I had from the Explorer build of last year. Made my own body template but used my Ronnie Trigo's Precision neck template

34" scale lenght
1 5/8" nut width
Korina body and neck
East Indian Rosewood fretboard
Hipshot tuners
BadAss I bridge
Lindy Fralin’s Jazz bass pickup set
Ebony buttons
Timber Mate filler
Mohawk lacquer (M102-0450) and sanding sealer (M102-0423)

This Korina piece is really softer than most wood I have used in the past. The body was dinged so many times during construction that my soldering iron was almost always on  Really frustrating! Fortunately, this bass absolutely sings (thanks to the great Fralin pickups). I love it so much it's now my number one bass

[Mario Labonte]

More pictures...

[Jason Rodgers]

I really like the uniformity of the one-wood construction. Very clean rendering of a classic!

Are those deeply notched bridges part of the design of the bridge?

[Gordon Bellerose]

I like the block inlay work, and the tortoise shell pg sets the Korina off nicely.

[Mario Labonte]

Thanks guys

Gordon, if you look closely at the 12th fret, you'll see I've modified the inlay slightly by insterting black dots

Jason, no I've cut the notches deeper than what it was originally. It seems to be a common problem with the BadAss 1. They are not deep enough for a Fender type bolt-on setting

[Jason Rodgers]

I've cut the notches deeper than what it was originally. It seems to be a common problem with the BadAss 1. They are not deep enough for a Fender type bolt-on setting

Do you mean the bridge is too tall and you had to cut them this deep to achieve an acceptable action?

[Mario Labonte]

You got it! Bridge too tall and I wasn't bright enough to do what I have read here and in books so many times over, make a side view drawing of the body and neck so you can calculate neck angle and other mesurments. I used nut files to cut the notches deeper. Not hard to do but I could have avoided it all with better planning in the design stage.

[Greg Robinson]

Nice bass Mario!
You could have also made a shim for the neck pocket to achieve a neck angle rather than file the bridge saddles.

[John Kingma]

Nice looking bass Mario.

REAL nice.

[David King]

I love the looks of this bass, I've never heard a black limba (white limba?) neck so I'm curious about how that sounds. You did a great job on the wood work and carving.
I would consider filing down the tops of the saddles now so that the strings aren't so deep in their slots. You generally want the top half of the string exposed on a bass or you are likely to get weird buzzes and possibly a broken string from time to time.

[Jeff Mills]

Really clean classic design rendering. I''m wondering about the truss rod adjustment is it in the heel, I think I see a hole in the scratchplate by the heel?

[Mario Labonte]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Really comforting when considering the fact this really wasn't the perfect easy build. Most notable blunder, the body slipping between my belly and bench while sending the sending sealer on the body horns (body upright ) and falling on the protruding miter saw fence under the work table. I swear I've never swore as much in my life

Greg, I thought about the shim and tried it for a few minutes but didn't like the look of it

Dave, it's White Limba and thanks for the saddle tip. I'll see how it goes the next few months and try it if necessary.

Jeff, you are right. There is a groove underneath the pickguard for Truss Rod adjustments. I'll post a pic when I have a minute

[Jeff Mills]

When I was a foolish teenager, I had the great opportunity of learning woodworking from a very old wise man, He shared lots of wisdom nuggets with me. Many of his nuggets did not apply to woodworking persay but more to life in general. At the time I thought a lot of those nuggets were non-sense but now that I've grown older some of his words repeat themselves most every day.

Two nuggets come to mind here regarding the body falling on miter saw fence.

1) If your not doing anything, your not making mistakes.
2) Mistakes are nothing more than an opportunity to do better the next time.

Thanks for taking time to answer my question about the truss rod. That's a supper clean build you should be really proud of it.

[David Schwab]

Are those deeply notched bridges part of the design of the bridge?

That's a Badass I bridge. It was intended for Gibson basses so it's very high. The notches should not be cut that deep! Half of the string's diameter is the general rule.
The Badass II bridge is made for Fenders and is a lower profile.

Nice looking bass Mario.