Andyjr1515

And looking at that ad, this wasn't the one I worked on, which was the same body woods and style but was a fretless . They are, as I said earlier, stupendously well made basses!

Solved the mystery. It's Rippled Ash, sometimes called Olive Ash

Hmmm....I worked on that Wal, Mick. I didn't think it was olive wood. It was beautiful, though . One of the best built basses I've ever had my sticky mitts on

By the way, they do an amber tinted version too...

It needs testing to make sure it doesn't react with the decal (although I doubt that it will) but I would strongly recommend Osmo Polyx in Satin - you can get a small 125ml tin (in fact the 5ml sample size would probably do fine if it's just the headstock) from Wood Finishes Direct here Just wipe it on with a soft lint-free cloth or soft brush, let it dry and then give it a second coat. That's all that it will need

To my eye, the white macassar looks nothing like Ash - but they are all pretty decent! I'm sure you'll make the right choice

Oh, OK - most probably you are right. I think it would be odd for them to sell it as a nitro finish and put a poly neck on it. Anyone else confirm?

This ^ Are you sure it's nitro? It looks more like poly to me. Same solutions if it is poly but probably gives you more options of lacquer products you could use.

Looking great! And yes, please - more pics!!!

That white macassar looks splendid!

Waiting patiently

Great minds think alike... Although I've used standard MoP, this is what I remade last night: I've also made some more to replace the brass knobs on my own build

There are a number of builders on this forum, @Bastav , who are my inspiration and act as my aspiration to improve certain aspects of my own building. To do carves like this without a single lump or bump evident is what I presently strive for. I haven't got there yet and will look at these photos as a reminder of how close I'm getting - or, looking at them here, how far I am away.

Actually, re-engaging brain - this is a 2+2? If so, the angle over the nut should be sufficient anyway without a tree. The angle of the G and D should, theoretically, be the same as over the E and A on a typical Fender headstock, which don't need a tree...

Well, in theory, a well glued titebond joint is as stong as solid wood. However, that does assume a perfect joint, well clamped during gluing. The thinner headstock (15mm ish) leaves a significantly shorter scarf length than the more usual neck position so I'm not sure. It should be fine.....but It's a lot of trouble to go to, though. What's the issue with a Fender type tree?

I'm rubbish at scarf joints so can't offer any advice, other than I can't see why it wouldn't work. As you say, you would need to veneer or put a headstock plate on to hide the join. I look forward to seeing how this develops

Actually....nah - the MoP dots are too big, now I've looked at how they look on the guitar. So...hmmmm....smaller dots...swifts... Who knows. Only thing that's certain is that there's more workshop time coming up

I thought of adding some inlayed swifts instead of the dots but then figured life is too short...

I haven't bought the pots for this build yet so could use either. For split splined shafts, I use the old trick of screwing the grub screw into the slot of the split shaft which I always personally reckon is more secure than on a solid shaft because, as well as the splines splaying firmly against the sides of the collet, the split also 'grabs' the grub screw itself which then rarely loosens

I followed up @RichardH 's supplier leads from the previous build thread (Thonk is SUCH a great name for a company) and some of @Norris and other kind folks' suggestions and have made myself some knobs! Got the inserts from Thonk and a cheapo diamond hole/plug cutter from ebay: Then, after a few trial runs to work out the best sequence, started with a 9.5mm hole in some scrap oak: Then used a Forstner for the nut relief in the bottom: Then the plug cutter: And added the screw access hole before filing out the bore to a very slight interference push fit for the insert: Then took some macassar offcut and drilled a 6mm hole: Then plug-cut that: Then glued the two together, added a MoP dot, and rounded the sharp edges: Well pleased! Thanks for the tips and encouragement, folks. They are a fraction of the weight of the normal powder-coated brass ones I usually fit. When I get a moment, I'll make some more and replace the three on my own build

Not really necessary IMHO - certainly, 5mm for the back of the pickups is plenty. It's also quite rare for the back to hit anything that would be capable of doing that kind of damage. No, the care taken was more to make use I didn't inadvertently break through with the router or drill - which with my measuring skills is a much higher risk! With the control chamber, there is a theoretical risk - and you do see from time to time guitars and basses that have fallen on their fronts and the knobs have punched a hole through into the control chamber. But again, by and large, it's a fairly low risk. When you think about it, acoustic guitars have a side and back thickness of around 1.7mm and tops typically at 2.5 - 2.9mm and, certainly in my young days in the pubs of Wolverhampton, they used to survive being used as clubs to fight off angry skinheads fairly well. Used to play havoc with the tuning, mind....

That's looking really nice

The pickup chambers need some care. There will be less than 5mm thickness under the chamber so precise measurement and cutting is essential. Many of you know that I hate routers and I hate using routers. But for a flat-bottomed deep chamber, it's almost unavoidable. So personally, I use the router for the least number of operations. I start with defining the depth and corners with a drill: Then make a relatively shallow hog-out with a forstner bit: I then straighten the cuts around the outline with a sharp chisel down to the depth of the amboyna top. And only then do I use a bearing router. I use a very short one so I can safely tidy the sides of the existing shallow chamber before I start cutting the chamber bottom. So again, I basically use the top as my template - I know that is not the usual way but all I can say is that it works for me and I've massively reduced pickup routing c**k ups since I started doing it like this Then, using the bearing trimmer against the tidied up chamber sides, I just deepen a couple of mm a time to the required depth. And here we have the chambers with the sub-5mm thick bottoms: And the inevitable mock-up. I may well use black pickup rings on the finished article - but I happened to have these gold ones in the spares box so they will have to do for the mock up: As always, folks, thanks for looking and for the ever encouraging feedback.

The back carve is pretty close to being done and the neck carve is also starting to get there. I've also recessed the control chamber enough to be able to cut the hatch shape, although - depending on how deep the electrics are - either the recess still has to be deepened or the hatch itself thinned a couple of mm. The swifts are also fitted in the headstock plate... ...and so, in terms of the front, probably the next job is fitting the bridge so that I can properly line up the pickup chambers before forstner roughing and then chiselling them out.

I'm probably about half way through the neck and back carve. As I've mentioned before, I finish the neck profile off once the guitar is finished and fully strung up - yes, I know. I'm weird like that - but there's still a bit of bulk to take off to get to my preferred softish 'V' profile. After just a few minutes with a spokeshave, most of the carve has been done using micro plane blades, just held in gloved hands like a scraper. The towelling underneath is to stop any dints on the top - you can see it's been used for many times for past staining jobs. Based on the fact that a number of my staining jobs are red ink, it has the unfortunate look of the results of a serious router/finger incident! At this stage, I tend to do a lot of air-guitar playing I've got some more bulk to take out at the heel / body transition, but the thumb anchor points and 24th fret access feel fine so far. You can see why I took impressions earlier of where the hidden weight relief chambers are! Breaking through at this stage of the process would definitely spoil my day Total weight so far is spot on 4lbs - about 4oz lighter than my previous build. Having a bash at making my own wood knobs - which will save 2-3oz over the brass ones I previously used, a final 5 1/2 lbs weight should be within reach