Walnut / Koa bass

[James Tonguet]

Black walnut / ebony 24 fret 10.5" radius neck through with diamond paua abalone inlay. Claro Walnut core /Curly Koa top.
The pickups are a Bartolini soapbar for the neck and a TV Jones Thunderblade soapbar ( both black the bridge has gold blades to match the hardware.)

[Bob Francis]

Very nice!

[James Tonguet]

Thanks Bob! This is the 3rd Koa topped bass I've made . The first 2 were Alder body .

I'm surprised how light it is so far. The Koa is 3/8" , The Claro is 1"

[Bob Francis]

Well please keep it commin'!

[Gordon Bellerose]

I'm really looking forward to what it will look like with finish.
What are you planning for finish?

[James Tonguet]

Lacquer finish will be used .

Today I cut the pickup holes, glued on the top , routed the center channel for inlay and did some profile cleanup . I usually use Stew-mac binding for the center strip , but I had some flame maple left over from the last project that has better figure so I cut my own . It's a bit wider , and will be trimmed with paua abalone .

(shown wet ) Still have lots of sanding/ cleanup to do , hopefully inlay tomorrow.

[James Tonguet]

spent the day on the inlay and general sanding . so far so good .

[James Tonguet]

I spent several hours working on the final shape and feel . The neck and body are the most ergonomic I've built or played .

Added a headstock cap of the same curly koa , sanded down to 400 then two rounds of french polish ( so far) I rub it in until it stops sucking it each round , wait a day or two and sand down to 400=600

[James Tonguet]

The black/ claro walnut back with 4 coats of french polish ( not rubbed out yet)