Andyjr1515

No problem and no problem I was actually mulling over the thought that 'actually, that might not be a bad idea!' Let me have a think...because it really might not be a bad idea...

Hmmm - GSR200 That was my first go at veneering on one of those - this: ...became this: It's where the whole modding malarkey came from ! Ideal basses. Always happy to demo, although, based on the last bash, I'd probably only get it half done and probably with dubious veneer. How bad do you want to make your Ibanez to look?

Daughter and baby grand-daughter fly back Friday so I won't need to be creeping round not making noise as I've had to the past week and a half! Still - grabbed a quick half-hour on the band saw and the back is now cut out: Tomorrow, I should be able to make a start on the purple-heart layer and then get going on the weight-relief chambering/etc - which is done before the top goes on - over the weekend

Cleaned up. The purpleheart (and Sapele to an extent) will deepen significantly in colour but this is broadly how the back is going to look:

And the back blank is now joined with a 6mm strip of purpleheart in the middle. Once the glue is fully cured, I'll tidy it up with a cabinet scraper and cut out the body shape from it.

Well, it took all day (6 hours of waiting for the moment and 6 1/2 minutes actually doing it) but got the opportunity to straighten up the join lines. These are just pushed together: And actually, I can't remember who said it, but been thinking about a join strip. Join the two back halves with a 6mm middle strip of purpleheart? I reckon so! Shouldn't be as much noise involved in doing that, so should be able to cut that purpleheart strip and join it all up tomorrow...

Looks like Axminster do them.... https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-precision-centre-finding-rule-ax962205 Never seen them before but they look a useful bit of kit

Very nice lamination job

The neck carve is sublime...

That looks top dollar, Jez. Never used buckeye myself but it's tempting having seen this.

I'm presently thinking a very traditional 35mm but with loads of chambering to keep the weight down... It's thicker than I generally do nowadays but will mean no issues with the custom pickup depth and suchlike

Hooorah! Thanks to a bright dry but cold day - ideal for pushchairs... The Sapele is thicknessed down to 15mm: Just need a similar fresh air excursion arranged tomorrow and I can joint and join the two pieces to make the back blank

Yes - like that.

Well, I'm banking on MrsAndyjr1515 taking eldest daughter and tiny grand-daughter for a (pushchair) walk this afternoon - I want to use the extractor-linked thicknesser in the cellar to slim down the (now) two pieces of mahogany/Sapele - AND IT MAKES A HELL OF A LOT OF NOISE THAT SHAKES THE FOUNDATIONS But I've made myself useful in the short spells between this morning's baby chaos. For the bridge height/neck angle, etc I always draw everything full size nowadays. Such stuff is absolutely critical with a set neck...and this build really does end up being a effectively a removeable set neck . Basically, I draw a string line from the nut at 'normal' action above the last fret and also another line assuming the string was sitting on the frets. From the latter line, I then mark the positions that the bridge bottom would set at, assuming the saddles are at their lowest point. On @fleabag 's Schaller bridge, because there is an optional 3mm spacer, there are actually two possible positions. From these measurements, and knowing the thickness of the walnut top and the purpleheart middle splice, I can then work out whether the neck should sit on the top of the Sapele, or on top of the purpleheart above the Sapele or somewhere in between the two. It works out that if the heel of the neck sits flat on the Sapele, with then the purpleheart and walnut surrounding the heel, then the bridge without spacer should have the strings just touching the frets with the saddles at their lowest point. Here's my to-scale side view drawing with both the neck end and the scale saddle position marked in actual positions vs the plan view above. Should work out OK. So I now can work out the thickness of the Sapele and hence waiting for my moment to start up the Makita and shake some foundations!

Not me, but would be well chuffed if it had been. Looks nice

Happily, snakewood isn't generally available in big planks Making progress with a small baby temporarily in the house is challenging. When she's awake, it's all hell let loose. And in the (very) short snaps of sleep time, grandpa isn't allowed to make nasty noises in the cellar! Still, less than a week before normality descends and major step done - full-size drawing with all join points and scale lengths, etc confirmed: Again, it's a wide angle lens so is a bit distorted, but I have it at the same total length as a F Jazz (46"), the horn joining at the 12th fret, the 20th fret at the lower cutaway join, the total body width 10mm narrower than a F Jazz, bridge saddles pretty much in P / J bass position. This looks a better proportioned bass to me and the extra thickness of the Sapele/mahogany should give me plenty of leeway to fit the deeper pickup likely to be going in

It's snakewood. The raw timber cost the equivalent of a very decent new bass...

Look a bit squarer in this shot? Still with a wide angle but zoomed a bit more

Trick of the photo. It's a wide angle lens and I'm just at 'standing on a chair' height vertically above it. They are properly square. The frets on the piccolo, however, ARE supposed to be slanted It's multiscale from 25" treble to 26" bass

Thanks Yes - it's the back of my Swift Lite 6 string electric build. It's my go-to gigging guitar: It's a 6 string electric version of the piccolo bass I built for Pete, our band's bassist: The electric is 5.75lbs and the piccolo bass is 5.5lbs

Looks nice.

Well, one does have standards one must maintain...

As it stands, @scrumpymike - count me in

Gosh - that's posh for decking! I've come to the conclusion that most woods used in decking, benches, fences, etc, all end up silvery grey in the garden! Certainly ours has - pine, teak, oak, sapele. It all looks the same - silvery grey. Matches the sky... Luckily, treated and indoors, purpleheart seems to hold its own. Just taken the above guitar off the wall to see what it's like a year or so since I made it: The body area - varnished in Osmo polyx - is actually quite pinky purple - pretty much the same as when I first did it: The neck and back of headstock - tru-oil slurry-and-buffed is more purple and probably deepened a touch over that time. But happily, not silvery grey It's funny stuff, though. When you first machine it, it goes completely brown. Then, when the light gets to it - and then particularly when you add varnish/oil to it - the full colour comes out. On your decking, after you've pressure washed it, try a little test patch with some decking oil (if you don't already). You might find that the full original colour is restored. The other thing (in between the young baby grandparenting duties) that I've managed to do this morning...no, let me correct that - the ONLY thing I've managed to do this morning, is get out the Sapele from the shed. And hmmm...it looks awfully like mahogany to me in this state. Anyway, it's off the same plank so it should look pretty close to the above when it's been through the thicknesser and had finish applied. This afternoon I'll be attempting to cut out the full-size cartridge paper templates of the new outer shape...

And the purpleheart has arrived: The colour deepens and brightens as it is exposed to light and the finish is applied and this is exactly the same as the timber used in my Swift Lite build which came out like the previous photo I posted: And actually - I reckon that back wood is also exactly the same wood as I will be using! Same plank unless I'm mistaken. So no excuse now but to start sharpening the tools and get cutting (other than grandparenting duties, of course!)