Andyjr1515

Binding acoustics is probably amongst my least favourite tasks of anything to do with building guitars and basses. It's a lot of faff and my confidence of getting a fully successful outcome is slim. Nevertheless, it has to be done - so to prepare the binding channel I used a chisel, a scraper and also made a mini sanding block: Having double and triple checked the body itself for continuity, squareness and clear corners, it was ready to start to bend the binding over the bending iron. Again, like the sides, I used the body mould to clamp the bindings in while they dried: Then checked the fit again and set about gluing the first set. This is where it has to be firm against the guitar top AND the sides. And it has to be square. And the dry binding is springy and quite stiff. So, it requires at least two extra techniques to try to achieve that for the hour or so before the glue is set. First, fibre-glass reinforced tape - pulling the binding into place pretty much as hard as you can. Masking tape or similar would simply rip under the strain: Then, after running round another couple of times pressing the binding very firmly to ensure full contact at the edge and the bottom of the binding, out come the bicycle inner tubes - and really it needs more than this... ...but the next door neighbour's kids might get suspicious if I steal any more wheels off their bikes...

I'll do an update in a little while, but just checking imgur - anyone had any issues recently? Yesterday couldn't log in at all, and then today, I can get in but a number of images missing and it stalls when I try to add a new image. Just posting this old image to see if it actually posts OK (this is the binding strip I'm in the middle of adding to the body: OK - that worked.... Anyway, for the post, I'll download the images directly. Back in a bit ***Post post - just found an imgur status update on twitter. They have done a major maintenance exercise and there are issues at the moment updating new images - so it's not just me.

I'm talking about pressing in a depression to locate the tiny drill and stop it wandering. As you say, bradawls and the like are far too big

Beautiful job

And the top is successfully routed, including the additional slot for the b/w/b purfling lining strip: So I declare my unofficial mod to Stewmac's dubious tool A SUCCESS! And now there is no excuse but to start the tortuous binding process. Luckily, the purfling - which is applied first - is fairly easy. It's bendy enough to fit round the perimeter and be held by tape while the titebond is setting. Note, by the way, that I've given the top a couple of coats of protective varnish. This keeps the dirt from soaking in, stops the scratches and dints to an extent and - most of all - allows tape like this to be used without the risk of pulling the top surface away as the tape is removed. In their sanded state, the tops are very delicate things...: The binding is quite another matter. It will need: - pre-bending, just like the sides - a long length of joined together bicycle inner tubes - luck - a following wind Luckily, I'm tied up tomorrow so have a day to build up the courage

OK - major scary bit number 1. Routing the body binding channels. Why is it scary? Well, as far as I'm concerned - because it is using a router - because it is using a router on a pretty much finished body with all that work already done and a top and a back pretty thin and pretty much thinned to within 0.1mm of it's final size - the above, then remembering that the top is dished, and varying radii to the dish centre all the way round - the above and noting that the binding channel is as deep as the sides are thick - the above and then remembering that it is the BOTTOM of the routed slot that has to be accurate all the way round the body Other than that, it's a walk in the park There is a rig that the multi-acoustic builders sometimes invest in which is a large, complicated and quite expensive rig for a Bosh trimmer router - but I don't build many acoustics so can't really justify the cost and, besides, it's too big for my tiny workspace and storage area. Then there's this from Stewmac to fit onto a Dremel: Hmmm...the general view of this amongst builders I know is that it is rubbish. I've used one before - and I got away with it. But the risks of serious eyesore digs and unevenness in the binding joints is high to very high. And when I used it, there was quite a bit of judicious gap filling needed. The problem is that the top is dished. So the front edge of the jig doesn't (mustn't!) run along the edge of the guitar body - instead the back edge of the jig must. The Dremel - top heavy and while hitting the hard wood of the sides at 40,000 hits a minute - must be kept vertical (assuming the top is the other way up to the photo above - which is pretty impossible to use as photo'd) MANUALLY in both planes. When it tilts - even a smidgen, it digs in and that affects the depth and you get wavy lines at both join lines. So I had a think about it last night. And got a couple of strips of binding and some super glue out and stuck it on (honestly!) Could this act as a visual guide that the rig is parallel to the sides? Would it stay on long enough to prove the concept and then, if it helped, how would I stick it on properly? Well - and here you could knock me down with a feather. Because the concept worked: And it's even stayed glued for the full multi-pass rout of the back!!! And, it is even and wavy line free with only the very slightest amount of tidying up. OK - now it's time to wreck the top!

I'm going to set some time aside to read this properly! Hmmm...whetstone grinder...not got one...always wondered...

Wow! That is starting to look VERY nice

OK - so far so good. One of the things I've done before a few times is, in adding a couple of strips to bind the fretboard, I've used acoustic banding - rosewood with a b/w/b feature strip. This gives me a couple of advantages as well as the binding itself. It gives me a faux veneer feature demarcation line - which I always find to be a pain to do without any wavy lines using three pieces of actual veneer: The other advantage is that, before I trim it to the fretboard radius, it gives me a flat surface to use for the Dremel router base when I do the pair of 12th fret swift inlays (a job for this showery afternoon) The second thing is one I've never done before and might not work. Because the neck is an offcut, it isn't as deep a blank as I would usually use. As such, the heel needs three pieces to extend from the top of the body to the bottom. Three sections of maple stacked up is, at best going to catch the eye. At worst - eg with a tiny bit of offset of one of the walnut centre splice positions - it could look awful! So I'm trying with a section of decorative wood sandwiched in the middle: To make it look like I meant it to be there, I added an angle to that and the adjoining bottom block. I won't know if it really works until I rout the tenon and shape the heel - and there are a few things I need to do before I tackle those jobs - but it will be an interesting experiment

That looks brilliant! It's immensely satisfying playing a bass you've made yourself, isn't it! Welcome to the club

Been doing other stuff most of today but found an hour to do two things neck related - one I've done before and one I've never tried before: When it's all dry, I shall reveal both - unless they haven't worked, in which case I'll quietly bin them and do it differently

S'alright....I s'pose (Thinks - how the HELL am I going to be able to knobble him?????) " Moriarty - THINK OF SOMETHING!!!!!"

Hmmm... I think I am inclined to agree with @fryer - they are indeed amazing. And yes, so much nicer than a decal...and some!

Well - huge amount still to do, but definitely at the end of the beginning! The next bit on the body is getting a router out and routing the top and bottom binding channels. I might spend time on the neck before getting to that terrifying prospect!

Once the back is glued on is no time to remember that you've forgotten something so this is a time for a pause, note the remaining jobs, do them, pause again. Hopefully, I've paused enough times! First there's the cross-grain maple strip across the join line. Because the back has a double curvature as it slims from the main chamber to the neck, I let the glue for the strip set while bending in this direction by using a fillet underneath at the bend axis of the panel: Then the all important label In the past, I've marked the top at this stage or similar and - because it's pretty much final thickness, those can be difficult to get out. So for the clamping, I cut out a comprehensive set of clamp cauls, chamfered so that the edges don't dig in (fingers crossed!): And then - after one more fit check - the 'well, it's too late now' step :

If it all goes wrong candles might come in useful...

Yes I am but a simple soul

You just know you're going to have to put it back in, Si...

Something about flat bottoms by any chance, Si???

And the top is on and gluing!

I'm expecting (forgive the pun) that...and it is if it's late that the dates will clash! As I say, if only the son-in-law had restrained himself for a week or so, all of this unnecessary inconvenience could have been avoided!

Yes - I think we all do these things our own preferred way. My paranoia on tearout is more to do with my dubious radius rig than the likelihood of square chambers tearing out with normal radiusing approaches. With Neil's bass, using the template system meant that my block chamber bottoms were flat. If I do what I suggest above, I will end up with curved bottoms and will flatten them off with a chisel - ebony blocks won't bend any better than MoP (ie - not at all). For the last couple of builds, I have changed to fully finishing the fretboards - including the fret installation - before gluing to the neck. I found it much, much easier - and it produced a much better result for me - and will now do that as a norm. But many (most?) builders do exactly as you describe above.

That looks great! You have a precision in your work that I aspire to.

And onto final preparatory jobs before gluing the top and back on. I put the soundhole braces in place and double checked that the hidden pre-amp of the Shadow Doubleplay will actually be hidden! Then double checked the basic fit of the top: And the back: Then checked how well the spool clamps would secure during gluing. Now then 'you can't have too many clamps' and this is no where near enough. This is dry fitting: While it is actually giving me a tight fit all the way round the kerfed strip, the wood will tend to move about during the wetting from the glue. So what I will do is cut some shaped plywood cauls to spread the load round the curved and allow me to use some metal clamps to supplement the gentler spool clamps. Also got to add a sliver of veneer on top of the heel and tail blocks to then chamfer in and give it a fit with the radius of the top. And THEN I can glue it Certainly, by the end of the weekend, I am hoping to have a sealed body, ready for the scariest bit of the whole build (as far as I'm concerned) - routing the binding channels and routing the neck mortise! It's a long way to have come with still a huge opportunity to completely wreck it - but that's acoustics for you!

Back braces in place and looking OK. The back of the back, though, isn't so good. If this was for a customer, it would be a scrapper - and therefore scrap of the matched sides! The problem is the massive tearout at the top end! It was bad to start off with and I tried to improve it and made it much worse (that DVD might have to be a boxed set )! For my own use, this will be fine, though. I will fill it with a slurry of sandings and tru-oil and, because of the irregular patterning of the lacewood, it won't be too obvious Next job is trimming the sides to get a good fit for the back to eventually be glued to.