Andyjr1515

One of the things that I like about this forum and think is important in these threads is that the more experienced guys are never afraid to admit to whoopsies I think you know what's coming. The reason I think it is important is that when you start off doing this sort of stuff, all sorts of minor disasters happen and it is easy to think that you just don't have the skills to do it and that is made worse by seeing the work of the guys and gals you think have all the skills. That is very demoralising. The reality is quite different. The best builders in the world make c**k ups. Wood is fickle and unpredictable and we are all prone to mistakes and misjudgements. But the more experienced folks ARE often better at finding a way round it rather than scrapping the piece and starting again or just giving up Or, in simpler terms ...it was all going SO well For the tail stock, it has that bend in it and rounded ends. A flash of inspiration - drill three holes the right size , then pop a couple of straight guides to router the area between them. Like this: Here you can see where I have already routed between the end hole and the middle hole. You can see the two straight router bit guides underneath. So just a case of moving the straight guides, then rout from the middle to the drilled hole at the other side. Now in hindsight, what I SHOULD have done was thought - ah...now that material is cut...gosh, there isn't going to be much holding the brittle katalox strip while I rout it! So this was the result ...and this was just before I was going away for a couple of days. The left hand break was a very clean break. The right hand was where the router bit pinged it off and sent shards off in very directions. Tip - always pick up the shards and dust - it can be useful! It looks dramatic but is actually quite a quick fix. I'm back and it's already fixed. The left hand side, which also broke off at the centre join, was just a grain-to-grain invisible glue job: The final piece, due to the shards having come away, wasn't going to fit as easily. So here, I mixed epoxy with some katalox sanding dust and then used some of the shards to squeeze into the two join lines. It looks crude at this stage: ...but once the epoxy is set, sanding it exposes the wood chips and dust and you end up genuinely unable to be sure where the original break line was: So - we're back on track. Just got a bit more lightening of the top and it can be glued on

May have quite an important update in the next couple of days...

That looks much better to me . And I'm so pleased you are back with, and happy with, this overall look

Took the words right out of my mouth Next one - the stop tail - is a bit more tricky. I'm out of action the next couple of days so it may need to wait until Friday. We'll see what the next hour yields.

And now my attention turns to the top. This is one of the tricky bits - making sure the three holes for the stoptail, bridge and pickup are square, tight and in the right place. For the pickup, I needed to make sure it line up with the previous body rout. Back to the 'press a fingernail round on a piece of paper' trick For rectangular chambers, nowadays I always start with the corners - I find it much easier to get these in exactly the right place... Then, after hogging out with a forstner, I stuck some straight edges around and used a trimmer bit on the router. To my admitted surprise, it fits!: I may use the same technique for the bridge block. For the stoptail, I'm probably going to have to cut a proper template...

Welcome back! Still the best avatar on the site....

In the artificial light of the cellar through a Canon colour-challenged ccd it does. In full sunlight it's unmistakeably ebony

Applying the ebony demarcation veneer. You will hardly see it, but it makes such a difference when you look at the actual join. Because katalox is an oily wood, I'm taking no chances and am using epoxy rather than wood glue - which doesn't work so well on oily woods. When this is done, I'll be seeing how much weight I can take out of the underside of the top before gluing it on and starting to fit the neck joint...

It looks to me like you haven't got rid of all of the paint residue - makes is look a little bit dirty and uneven. Some of that might be the oil soaking in differentially, but just look at the original - it's quite an even and clean grain. Just a bit more sanding at 240 to really get past the grey finish is more what I was thinking...

Hmmm....a bit more sanding needed?

Clearly it's all about personal preference, but a rosewood board would give it nice contrast... And yup, I reckon recessed knobs would look good

Right move! The thing is, this has the vibe of an Aria - ref the wood combinations and style - and the shape of an ultra-modern. Honestly - I think it looks great. The 'piece de resistance' are the two stripes at the back. The whole thing is a lovely looking combination - quite unique.

Hi If you've followed any of my build diaries you will know that I've been doing quite a bit of experimenting in recent years making basses (and 6-string electrics) lighter - either by design or modification. My last bass build - built for @Len_derby is a full scale 34" and weighs 2.9kg: @Len_derby is probably a better judge, but it sounds pretty much like a Fender Jazz to me! I've also done a number of rebodies. This Cort Curbow, originally very heavy and made of plastic, now in walnut and lighter, still sounds the same as it did: This Fender Rascal of @scrumpymike 's at the bottom, became the Precision Lyte in English walnut at the top and, to my ear (but again, ask @scrumpymike ), sounded the same: So, in terms of actual amplified sound, will it sound the same to most people - yes. But there are some buts. So - for what it's worth, these are some of the personal conclusions I've come to: However nice in all other respects, a bass that is too heavy eventually becomes unplayable What you are proposing sounds to be TOTALLY REVERSIBLE and therefore the risks are low If all else is equal - ie an exact copy, same hardware, strings, electrics - then the amplified sound is very unlikely to be perceptibly different It will, however, feel different. And to some players, that will make then think it is sounding different. And it certainly can make them play differently. But if in doubt, do a blind test on recordings before and after, playing exactly the same thing the same way! Acoustically unplugged, it will sound different The strap button on the RS924 is in the 'goldilocks' zone of 12th/13th fret. It is unlikely that, on the strap, neck dive will be an issue. It might be a bit more when played over the knee. You can always get lightweight tuners (and they make a BIG difference) but they wouldn't be in the 'heart' shape of the 924. My view is, as long as you are careful to make it reversible, then go for it. Let us know how you get on Andy

The useful thing about doing this in parallel with @eude 's project is that, with setting up the equipment being a decent amount of the time involved, I can make progress on both at the same time. So as I was squaring up @eude 's neck blank and cutting the truss rod slot and the side profile, I did the same for this one. Here's the neck blank, almost ready for the rear ash wings to be glued on: ...and it's definitely starting to look like a bass now

Spent some time today squaring up, flattening and sizing the neck blank and adding the truss-rod slot ready for sorting the heel routing. This will incorporate the neck angle so I won't be doing that until the body top has been glued on and the bridge chamber cut, allowing me to work out accurately the neck angle needed. From this photo, the neck will end up 60mm or so shorter as the neck pocket is deepened, and a corresponding notch put into the bottom of the heel, allowing the neck to move toward the back until the tenon is fully in place in the pocket. I'm aware the above probably makes no grammatical sense at all - I'll post photos when that stage is reached and all, hopefully, will become clear. Clearly the neck will eventually taper to the nut but it is, nevertheless, a wide neck and I am tempted to pop a couple of carbon rods in there to keep everything straight and stable. What do you reckon?

...and by the magic of two pieces of mahogany, one piece of walnut, a thicknesser, a band saw and lots and lots of clamps, we have a neck blank ready for squaring up and shaping:

Which, thinking about it, is what @SpondonBassed says above Parallel would mean the radius at the top of the frets would be more than 7.25" so, if they used the same block, it would appear to be tighter

Me too - on some of the photos. The only thing....and it might be an optical illusion...is that on a number of them I've looked at, I reckon that the FRETS might be a tighter radius than the board. Doesn't it look the same to you? But bear in mind I have astigmatism and varifocals. Which is another reason you might want to disregard my comments...

Actually - I think you are probably spot on! And remember - on this subject, I REALLY don't know what I'm talking about

Mmmm - I think you are right, looking at those. So @rubis would be probably talking only one set of radii Looking just how thin that rhs fretboard is, I would be very surprised if the bottom of the fretboard had to be concave carved. Dunno - whether it could be just clamped?

Ah - OK. You are - and based on the quality and attention to detail of the body, of course you are - talking about recreating the original Fender 60's neck with a thin fretboard glued to a radiused neck. In which case disregard pretty much everything I said! And - in addition to the associated original method that Fender used of sliding in frets from the side - it's probably the only two aspects of necks I've never tried! Are you aiming for 7.25" radius or 9.5"? My understanding is patchy and maybe wrong - I'm sure yours is greater than mine. But to put forward some thoughts. I think that the original necks were: blank neck without fretboard radiused to 12" thin fretboard glued - probably using radius blocks - bending it to the 12" radius finish to final fretboard radius What I am absolutely not sure, is the "bending to the 12" " bit or whether the underside of the fretboard was concave radiused. Ignore most of what I say - but if I personally was doing it (but I'm a pragmatist not a perfectionist) I would consider the following: 1. Cheap and 'one-off' assuming it's a bent board Radius the top of the neck blank using a 12" radius block Thickness the fretboard to as thin as possible while retaining enough thickness to maintain decent edges with the increased radius of the final sand Glue the fretboard, using a series of 12" radius blocks as clamping cauls all along the fretboard length. We're talking serious G clamps here! And lots of them Radius the top of the fretboard using a 9.5" or 7.25" radius block 2. Cheap and 'one off' assuming it's a concave backed board Make up a simple rig of a line of 12" radius blocks, making up a length 6" or so longer than the fretboard length Turn the neck blank upside down and sand the neck on the static radius blocks Using the same radius blocks jig, make a 12" convex radius block using a suitable piece of pine or similar 3x3 timber Use the convex pine radius block to radius the back of the fretboard Glue - again using the 12" radius blocks as cauls Radius the top of the fretboard using a 9.5" or 7.25" radius block 3. Radius jig I would make a modified version of my home-built radius jig: The modifications would include: a set of end guides which curve the other way to be able to rout concave; a set of 7.25" ends (bear in mind that the radius of the guides is LESS that the finished radius because you have to allow for the length of the radius cutter too). You would still need to tidy up the radii with sanding blocks I would still radius the neck itself using blocks in any case - it's just too difficult in my view to clamp a neck as accurately as these types of jigs need to be. I would use the above jig, using the two sets of ends, for the fretboard blank, starting with the 12" concave, then flipping it over and doing the 7.25" top radius With some careful thought and a much bigger rig, you could actually use varying lengths of router bit projections to get both convex radii out of one set of ends...but that's too much thought for my little brain. Hope that helps get your head round some possibilities but, as always, feel free to disregard Andy

There's a lot of stuff here! To try to pin down the options, you could: Buy a quality built, radiused and fretted unfinished maple P bass neck for around £120 to £220. The £120 would be someone like Northwest Guitars. The £200 ish would be someone like Allparts UK, Fender-licenced and Made in USA or Japan (bought one very recently and it was SUPERB quality). Buy a second hand one on ebay. Anything Fender will be hugely overpriced. There are then good ones and there are bad ones. Build one yourself. Big, big learning curve if you haven't done one before but perfectly feasible with a Workmate and an array of tools to thickness, rout, carve, slot, fret. But we are looking at quite an array of tools... The simplest and cheapest way of radiusing a fretboard blank itself is a radius sanding block (wooden one £20 or so). It takes quite a long time and there are tips and techniques to keep everything even, but perfectly feasible. You can make a radiusing jig, but it would be a lot quicker to just sand a one-off with a block (even with a jig, you still need to finish off with a radius block). Slotting the fretboard, you need a decent saw - but then can, with care, get away with hand measuring and using the radius block clamped at each fret position as your 90 degree saw guide. But you can buy a ready slotted fretboard blank (David Dyke charges £10 to slot one of his unradiused blanks) I have photos and good experiences and bad experiences on all of this stuff, but of the above options, not sure which approach meets your needs. Let me know and I would be happy to expand on any of those aspects

That is VERY authentic looking. Greatcwork

I concur with what @Stingray5 says above - even the bit about finally being able to make time to sit down and listen to it! And easy listening it is too. Loved the Wal feature, @TrevorR (and, having worked on one once, love Wals. They are a cut above in many ways). Very informative! And also interesting and relevant discussion between Bo and Si. And yes - much better length. Excellent result, folks, for the herculean effort and time this must have taken for all of the participants and organisers. Well done and great stuff! Andy

Having got the fretboard basically done, that meant I could work out the neck angle - a touch over 1 degree. I squared up and ensured that the through neck blank was completely straight and level. Then, having rough cut the body slot in the neck blank on the bandsaw, I popped it onto my routing jig and packed up the back end of the neck blank to get the correct angle: This then gave me the slot that the back wings will sit flush with and the top will sit in: Having got that sorted, I now knew exactly where the back wings were going to sit and could trace round, slightly oversize, the top and cut out the shapes on my bandsaw: So, when they are ready to be glued, they will sit flush with the slot in the neck blank: And, although it is AGES off being finished, at least it's starting to look a little bit like a bass!