Jabba_the_gut

Yep, they are just that - two completely separate pots.. Look forward to seeing how the build goes. MEC pots are nice quality - not cheap, but you get what you pay for!!

Lovely! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out - very nicely I expect!! really nice piece of walnut and a bargain as you say. A really nice find that. Still got to get me a drum sander....

Cheers for these details Andy, interesting to see the other tools and jigs required. Also interesting to see which jigs you can make and which you need to buy. Thanks for posting this. Jez

Slowly, slowly...…. Finally got a little bit of time to get on with a few jobs on this build. I've been waiting for some fret wire for about 3 weeks and finally it turned up so off we go! First up I cut the fret wire to length and nipped the tangs at the end so I can fill in the ends of the fret slots with ebony powder and glue. This should leave the slots looking nearly invisible, but if not, at least very tidy. I have a small block of wood I keep the cut frets in so I know which one goes in which location. Next task was to use a radiused sanding block to radius the fretboard. Checked my measurements and used a 16" radius block starting off with 180 grit, then 320, 500 and finished with 800. I'm pleased with how this piece of ebony looks and how it has finished so far. I have an arbor press fitted with a fret caul and it makes fretting a neck reasonably straight forward. I've used masking tape on the board to protect the ebony whilst I do this. First few frets fitted: then some more... all fitted.. I've trimmed the fret end but they still need filing level to the board before I can fill the ends. Getting there, finally!!

Keep posting your builds on here when you get set up over there as they are fantastic! You can skip any pictures of the food, scenery, weather or your drum sander.....! All the best

Funny you say that, the other day I was looking at a (cheap) acoustic I have thinking exactly same.

That really is rather nice...…..

Cheers! The fingerboard on this build will be radiused to 14" to match the radius on the piezo element. I haven't tried a flat fingerboard yet - another thing on a list of to-do's and to-try's!! Jez

I finally got round to looking at my planer thicknesser. It isn't an expensive £160 but still an expensive enough tool for a hobby. I've had it just over three years and it hasn't been used that much, just the stuff I've done on here. In my previous post I said it was playing up, what it wasn't doing was cutting square, which is kind of an issue!! You could see looking at the top that the drum wasn't parallel to the planning surface - one side had dropped for some reason. Customer service were no help (out of warranty / Chinese import so no-one here that could advise) so I ended up taking it to bits to look for the issue. After a while of undoing bolts I removed the bearing for the cutter. Utterly knackered. You could even see where the axle had been rubbing on the bearing bracket making the shaft drop by a couple of mm. I managed to remove the bearing it fell to pieces so ended up being removed by cutting it carefully with a Dremel. The good news is that Is a standard size and a new quality Japanese bearing is only about £5 and will be here in a couple of days. Hopefully, everything will go back together without leaving me with some spare bolts and I can get on with this project and some others!! I'll see how this goes but I have been looking at other planers. Unfortunately there is a big jump in price up to the next level of quality - about £800 which is a hell of a lot. Must have a really good dig down the back of the sofa...….

Slowly, slowly but getting there....headstock shaping finished.

Lovely!

The DR Fat Beams measure 960mm, the Skjold are 950mm to the taper

http://www.rotosound.com/bass-string-scale-length-guide/ I notice that says 'to silk' - the ones I have don't have silk but they are a few years old!! Might be worth a mail to Rotosound….

No worries. Just measures the E string and its 950mm from end of ball to taper if that helps.

I think this cover looks better than this one So that's the one I think I will go with.

Just had a quick look and the sets I have that don't have silk are DR Fat-Beams, Skjold and Rotosound Roto Bass RB40. All are long scale round wounds if that is any help.

I know what you mean regarding the silk on strings. I found a bit of variation between different manufacturers. There are some makes of strings that don't have silk on them which might be a way to go (I've got a few sets knocking around - I'll check which ones don't have silk). If you post the distance between the ball end and silk, I'll measure some other sets with silks to see what they come in at.

These were just the standard screws that came with the neck ferrules. I've used them a few times before with no issues. They're hard enough to cut when I want to shorten them but must have been a weak point coupled with a slightly tight pilot hole. Yes, very lucky! As soon as it snapped the was an immediate 'Oh @#£%!!'. Quite pleased that I had drilled the holes in the body to clear the screws else the snapped thread would be holding the two pieces screwed together leaving no choice but to drill it out. Lucky indeed! I can well imagine there being a difference in the quality screws - I've used some for diy and the heads would have been better made from plasticine. Learnt a few lessons and tend to be quite selective these days about what I buy.

A few more little jobs done today. I'm just finishing anything that may cause scratches etc. before I get round to the final sanding on the neck. Drilled the holes for the neck and cut the neck screws down in length as they were long enough to go all the way through the fretboard. No idea why but one of the screws decided to snap! I was quite lucky as there was enough showing in the neck that I could remove it carefully with pliers. Any less showing and it would have been a nightmare of having to drill it out..... The screw came out without too much fuss and, most importantly, without causing any damage or scratches. I had another screw which I trimmed then fitted the neck. I've also made the cavity cover template a little tighter fitting so there is a little less gap around it (wasn't masses around the original, I'm just being picky!!) so I'll make the new cover tomorrow.

And the floor. None of that nasty laminate there....

Yep, like that. Everything seems to align nicely and it flows, if that doesn't sound daft!!

I quite like that but I'm not sure if I prefer it over the tuners being square. Glad it's not my decision as you have positive opinion on each option from quite a few folk!! Lovely builds whichever option you choose. Cheers

Mmm...that last angled one does look quite nice. Out of interest, what would it look like if the angles followed the centre line of the machine heads sort of like this: