Andyjr1515

Excellent job! You are really motoring at the moment

For plain binding, I would have given the top a slight chamfer to match the angle of the fret ends and glued it flush to the fret ends and then scraped the excess binding off the bottom of the fretboard. However, because I am using the feature stripes on the binding to give me the demarcation line, I had to do it the other way round. So I clamped the fretboard onto a flat board, then pressed the binding, also flat against the board, against the protruding fret ends. That gave me a line of indentations that I planed off, clamping my trusty block plane upside down in the bench vice and pulling the binding over the blade until it reached the marks: Quick chamfer on the top and then just added glue and clipped it into place under the fret-ends with the clamps to hold it tight. Once I've levelled and crowned the frets, I'll just run a single edged razor blade, scraper style, between each pair of frets to clean up any glue smears and to 'lose' the binding joint line. Don't know if that makes any sense....

And here we have the first side of binding being glued. I'm sure there was a little bit of advice about the number of clamps but I'm darned if I can remember it

For the fretting, I am going to try a different way of trying to avoid the possibility of scratchy fret-ends. It's going to be a bound fretboard but this time, I'm going to add the binding after finishing the fret ends. I must start a thread for us builders to compare how we do fret ends! It's not generally one of the greatest features of my builds! First, the frets were installed using my normal method of 'tiny bead of titebond, hammer in, clamp a radius block on top' method. The frets were tang nipped before fitting: Then I trimmed the edges to an overhang around the thickness of the binding: Next was filing down the fret ends on my levelling beam until they were about 0.5mm shorter than the binding and chamfering them. Then I rounded the fret ends with a diamond crowning file: So the theory - if I've got it right - is that the fret ends will not only already have the sharp edges removed but, once the binding is fitted, will be separated from the players hand by a touch under 0.5mm of (rolled, eventually) binding. It's different to the Gibson technique but hopefully will have a similar result:

Gosh - this build is on a whole different level. Amazing stuff!

Yup - I like that very much

@eude and I have opted for a bookmatched katalox headstock plate and a flurry of screaming AJR swifts. The plate will end up the same colour as the body once it's sanded and finished but this is broadly how it will look: This was also a good test of how well my little bandsaw can cut the katalox into a 2mm slice. Worked well which means that I can do the same for a contrasting katalox cover for the control chamber at the back (with magnets for easy access). I have an offcut of katalox which is JUST big enough (phew!)

Lovely

These are the ones on my recent acoustic build. It is a mixed set of the new lightweight ones that Axesrus have had specially made for them. They are a nice design and work well. The previous build to the acoustic was for my sister-in-law and she wanted a black and gold mix so I had a set of gold and black spare parts left over which I thought may as well go into my 'bitsa' acoustic build

We're going for a passing nod of respect to the Carl Thompson headstock vibe: - which means two slivers of wings that will sit under a headstock plate. I'll do something along the lines of the recent acoustic build of a thin strip of the walnut central stripe and the outer wood outside that (in that case maple and in this case mahogany). And the wings mahogany / walnut sandwich is gluing as I type

Carbon rods in place and the truss-rod fitted: ...and a quick check it's all in the right place and at the correct angles! ...which happily it is. Sequence now is: headstock plate and wings; headstock profile shape; glue fretboard; thickness and carve neck. And, of course, still a lot to do beyond that!

Oh WOW!

So, could I wait 36 hours? Could I b***ery Thing is, one of the remaining major co*k up potentials is fitting the machine screws. It has to be right because there's no wiggle room with machine screws. The inserts have to be absolutely in the right position and absolutely vertical. So rather than worry about it, it was better to just do it. First I dowelled the previous holes - they were originally drilled to 5mm and the machine screws are 4mm and they weren't quite in line with where the neck is now going to be: Then remeasured and drilled the holes for the stainless machined ferrules: Next, drilled the 4mm holes, using my mini press drill to keep it all vertical: Used the point of the wood drill to mark the exact centres on the assembled neck though the body, used some packers to make sure I was square to the mating face incorporating the neck angle, drilled a 6mm hole and fitted the machine screw inserts: Then moment of truth - would it all line up and would the machine screws fit (trust me, they usually don't!). Another 'knock me down with a feather' moment: And THAT means I can look to fit the fretboard very soon and start the neck and heel carve!

Not yet sanded, but the basic top carve is pretty much there. As usual, I put an early coat of oil on to see better any planing marks or lumps and bumps. The back has still got a few sharp corners to round off and then I can start sorting the neck. The wood is quite figured!

Well, other than my teeth marks are narrower than that, that's EXACTLY what @eude 's looks like now! I think he'll be pleased...

And that looks even specialer!

That looks special.

OK. I'm feeling very pleased with myself, surprised and, well, maybe just a little bit smug? Having done my pondering, I came to the conclusion that a hardwood biscuit at the heel was, from a strength of the neck joint point of view, the most effective way of preventing the front edge of the neck lifting or distorting from the neck pocket. But, looking at every tool I had, I couldn't think for my life how on earth I could cut a 3mm slot, accurately following the angle cut into the neck joint, and in EXACTLY the same position on both sides. In fact, I couldn't see - because of the 50mm tenon on the neck, how I could cut a slot at all!! Now, those who have a Dremel. You know that flexi-drive they give you with the Dremel kit that you think, 'wow, that's cool' then NEVER use... ...well, if you take a scalpel and a bl**dy great big file to it you get this! : Ok - it's not pretty, but it's actually flat. So...if you lie that on the angled face of the neck tenon, and move it from side to side while routing into the heel, you can get this: And that slot - about 10mm deep - parallel to the tenon face which has the neck angle routed into it. So if you push a length of 3mm ebony into it: ...and then say a little prayer, then it should be parallel to the angled face: Which surprised and delighted me in equal measure So then, if you clamp the flat face of the Dremel now onto the workbench: ...and then put the body flat on the workbench, and adjust the height by putting a couple of sheets of veneer and a sheet of cartridge paper to get the height exactly right, then offer the body up to the Dremel, you can cut another slot like this: Then, saying another little prayer, slide the neck tenon into the neck pocket and get a joint like THIS!!! And that was straight off - dry fit and no fettling. Before I drill the holes for the machine screws, I'll close the vertical joint nice and tight with a bit of judicious sanding - but even that is easier now there's the tab holding it in the correct position in the other plane. The shock of this working has left me so exhausted I'm going for a 36 hour lie down - but now I know what I'll be doing at the weekend

OK... ...well maybe just a nibble. Never seen a cutaway with teethmarks? Trust me, they'll all want one before long...

The slurry and buffing later in the finish process will enhance the figuring but yes, it is essentially a tight-grained richly coloured wood. When I put the coats on, which is closer to how it will look at the end of the process, it looks good enough to eat

You all know what they say in guitar building circles: "If you haven't got anything else to say, then just do a quick mock-up" Here it is in better light. Once the tru-oil finish has been done properly, the surface will be silky smooth satin but the colour tones will be pretty close to this. In real life the red hue comes out a touch more (Canon CCDs are notoriously poor for accurate red shades) but it's starting to look like a bass: Today is all about the neck joint. I'm going for stainless steel allen-head machine-screws and inserts with set-in ferrules rather than the plate shown in this shot here. I'm going to plug and re-drill all the existing holes first so that they are an accurate 4mm dia. I have some machined ferrules - slimmer than the 'normal' ones - on their way from Kay's Fasteners and I MIGHT add a couple more, angled inset from the front two in order to prevent any movement resulting from the string pull. It I was clever enough and skilled enough, I would put a hardwood biscuit joint in the heel area - but I don't think I am Once I've got the joint sorted, I can start carving the neck and heel transition. This is definitely one of the 'measure 14 times, drill once' days...

Fabulous job

Those of you who follow my builds know that I give the wood a coat of slurried tru-oil quite early in the process. This because it needs a 'soak in' coat anyway and I find it easier to spot if there are any lumps and bumps in the carve or sanding scratches. These shots were taken in rapidly losing light but probably give a reasonable representation of what the final colour tones and overall look will be:

That finish looks just as you describe it - LUSH. Great job and excellent detailed run through. There's a few tips in there I'll certainly be trying on my next finish job

No - it's going to be oiled