Andyjr1515

Yes - that looks lovely!

Hi, @Richard R As the above, the general rule is 'as many as possible!' In reality, I would typically use around 8 to 10. This was my last build, a guitar and so with a shorter fretboard and got away with the lower of that range: And as @Si600 correctly says, some form of radiussed caul is quite important. You need to protect the back of the neck too. I happen to have a number of radius blocks so I use those, but a piece of 15mm thick pine/deal from B&Q would do fine - just use a goose-neck scraper to scrape a small radius clearance to allow the caul to be acting on both sides of the fretboard - or add a couple of thin strips to the caul for the same effect. The deal is what I generally use to protect the back of the neck and again, I find it stays better where it needs to be if I've scraped a bit of a radius in it. Personally, yes, I use Tonetech because they are simple, decent quality and have a good range of lengths. I try to avoid the ones that some other outlets sell that have a sleeve over the adjuster - a sleeve isn't needed functionally, and it is a few mm wider which means taking even more material out of the neck!

It doesn't need to be like for like (and personally I would generally recommend an open Switchcraft rather than an enclosed or barrel jack) but it does need to be a 'stereo' jack. The spare terminal of the stereo jack socket is used to connect the battery circuit when you plug the jack in. A stereo Switchcraft looks like this: You solder the black battery wire to the extra tab (which is attached to the shorter of the two springs), the 'hot' to the tab attached to the longer of the two springs and the earth to the tab attached to the socket centre. Then, when the jack is fully inserted, the signal is sent to the jack tip, the earth is connected to the jack shaft - and the battery earth is also connected to the jack shaft, switching the battery on.

You are very kind... but there is a difference between an experienced amateur and a seasoned professional. As Ronnie Corbett would say, "I know my place!"

And Jon Shuker is one of the best...

Hi @Cadenclarkson If you search 'Trussrod nut' on ebay you will find a number of metric and imperial replacement nuts for less than a tenner. The metric ones (which I agree with @Bassassin is probably right for this one) seem to come in two sizes M6 (6mm diameter thread) or M5 (5mm). Go for the allen-key ones - easier to get more leverage...and do use the correct-size allen key.

Not standard in terms of headstock shape or scale length, etc? If it is the former, then there are some fully useable and exceptionally cheap paddle-head necks around (we are talking 1/3 of the UK cost of the timber!). If so, shout and I can find you some links. If it's the latter, then yes, it's probably going to be needing a custom builder.

I agree with @Hellzero here. It looks good to me

I'm flattered, @Hellzero - thanks. Looks a relatively straightforward but interesting project, @cetera. Unfortunately, I'm fully committed at the moment and so can't throw my hat in the ring - but there are a number of talented folk round here that may be able to

Thanks! Alex picked it up yesterday...he pretty much said the very same thing

Hi @Dazed As you say above, I'm pretty sure the body dimensions for a Fender 4 and 5 are identical. That said, from a functional point of view, it actually doesn't matter anyway if what you are planning is to do the work to fit a 5-string neck...the body is really just a convenient way of holding the neck, the bridge, the pickups and controls in their correct places - beyond that, it can be pretty much any shape or size If you are planning to fit a 5 string neck, don't forget the pickup routs and bridge fittings will also need to be changed too to accommodate the 5 string pickups and bridge. If you go ahead, don't forget to show us the pics

Beautiful job. Top drawer!

And...it's finished!!!! The 'last few jobs' always turn out to be a 'myriad of final jobs. Anyway, all sorted. I'm passing it across to Alex tomorrow - I will try and get him to do a bit of recording at one of their band practices but, in the meantime, you'll have to trust me when I say it sounds great Although it is just a small wiring change and no hardware change, I've opted NOT to go for the P-rails standard wiring system which gives: Full series humbucker; parallel humbucker; P90; Rails. I've used that system in a number of my own gigging guitars and I found that: - the fact that both pickups are always in the same configuration for the four options is actually, ironically, quite limiting. I was always hankering for, such as, 'neck pickup full series humbuck for the depth, mixed with bridge pickup in split coil mode to add a bit of extra treble and dispel any muddiness' and similar - I also never, in practice, used the rails by themselves...not enough ooomph - and I never, in practice, used the humbuckers in parallel...not enough depth I talked that through with Alex and, for kickoff, we decided to have a standard split coil option for both pickups where the operating coil in each case was the P90. So he can go full series humbucker with 3 way options, P90 with 3 way options and one (either) pickup P90 and the other series humbucker. It's a 30 minute job to change the wiring to the 'P-rail standard' options if he wants to try that in the future. Anyway, here are some of the arty-farty finished pics: Many thanks for looking and for your kind comments - in spite of the fact that it is another one from 'the dark side'. It's hugely appreciated

All getting very, very close - Pickup rings are fixed - Hatch and trussrod cover magnets are in - shielding done - bridge earthed - pots, jack plate and switch in place (not wired up yet) - spacer/nut shaped ready for final slotting - luminlay side dots fitted - strap buttons fitted All being well, the next two days should see it finished and playable. Here's how it's looking (ignore the overage on the two strings - the final set of fitted strings will be clipped):

Well, on the final furlong. Basically, the finishing is finished and now just have to do the shielding, fretwork, electrics and final assembly/setup. The final stages of ebony sand-only and alder/maple Tru-oil slurry-and-buff is coming out nicely:

Close - the final grade that will use for the final sand (this is the 'reveal' sand), will be the 12000 grit microweb, which is "like brushing the ebony with angels' eyelashes"

I mallet-tapped the outline of the rugby-ball jack plate with a variety of radius chisels and then used a small chisel to start creating the rebate: Once it was all level, I rounded the sides, drilled the hole with a 20mm forstner and popped a drop of tru-oil to match the alder before doing a trial fit: And after a couple of experiments, I had a go at the ebony. The great thing about ebony is that it will sand/polish to a good finish. What I didn't know was whether the brown streaks would behave in the same way. They do This is after around an hour, progressing through around 15 grades of emery/micromesh from 180 grit up to 8000. Nothing else - just sanding through the grades: There are a couple of dints that I will lose by repeating the process, but this will be pretty much how the top will finish up.

I've added a corresponding ebony thickener at the back of the headstock and applied the second reveal coat of tru-oil after a bit more slurrying: While there is often madness in my method with my builds, every now and again (I suppose statistically, it must happen occasionally) there is some method in my madness In this case, it is that, because the two lower tuner positions from the upper view are the top E and B, then the break angle is maximum for these two strings. And yes - there's plenty of sanding to do here : Here's the top after the second reveal coat. That's at least starting to get there... My 'still to do' list is actually quite short. All being well, we should have a playable guitar by this time next week

I spent some time this morning with the guitar strung up and on a strap for me to 'fit' the neck profile to suit Alex's style of playing. Basically, he played, I then scraped material off the neck haunches and then he tried it again. This was repeated over an hour until it 'felt right' for him. We can do further tweaks once it's finished and he can play it with amp/etc but it's probably close enough for me to start the final sanding, which I started this afternoon. As folks who have watched other builds will know, I often use some Tru-oil slurry and wiped to act as a grain filler and also as a reveal coat... to spot dints and lumps or sanding marks that are difficult to see on dry sanded wood. The good thing is that it also lets bot Alex and me see how the final colours and grain are going to turn out to be. I think it's going to be quite nice:

Those should work fine

You will find that a teeny thickness of (tapered) shim makes a huge difference. I'm sure you are aware but, for others reading, the thick end of the tapered shim will want to be at the bridge-end of the neck pocket to correct very high action. Whose shims are you using? By the way, adjust the relief back to 'just perceptible movement at the 7th when fretting at the 1st and 16th' before you fit the shims.

Yes, your approach is the right one @northcountrybob - your first job in the set up is fitting the shims to sort that action out. The intonation sharpening of, particularly, bass notes is caused by the tension increasing as you press the string down onto the fret - basically, you are bending the string like a lead guitar player, albeit vertically (and not as much ... and much more elegantly than a lead guitarist ). So the action height directly affects the intonation. And neck angle, of course, directly affects the action height.

To the back hatch. You will note that there is always a bit of madness in my method when it comes to guitar and bass builds. Does that rebate rout above cut into the ebony strip? And doesn't that mean that the black line will be broken with an alder hatch when it's fitted?? Well...yes...and no. Yes it would if I didn't add a matching strip to the hatch I made my normal paper template with some A4 and a fingernail: Cut out with a scalpel, I then had a template for the wood that I could double check fitted properly into the rebate, and also a reverse template so I could choose a 'sympathetic' grain pattern from my various alder offcuts. This would probably work: So next job was to cut out the hatch - a teeny bit oversize - and add a matching ebony strip: To fit the hatch, I usually start at one of the curves and sand/check the radius repeatedly until it fits the rebate exactly, and then progressively sand the overhang from there at one side or the other to progressively create the close fit all the way round. It takes a while because you don't want to over-sand anywhere! But eventually, it's done: And the ebony strip lines up! Next step is stringing it up for Alex to be able to play it while I fettle the shape of the neck profile, and then I can start the final sanding and start on the finish

Well family stuff and domestic 'projects' largely clear and so I'm back to the build I'm not quite at the final furlong stage, but certainly getting closer to it. Next jobs were to finish the rough carving on the back and getting ready to sort the control chamber hatch. For the carve at the back, because it's curved, I am mainly using the larger of the two round-bottomed Ibex thumb planes and also the gooseneck card scraper: Don't let anyone tell you the Ibex planes are toys - they really are precision planes: Those curly shavings are rock maple and ebony! I used a bottom bearing rebate router bit to follow the chamber and mark the outer edge of the rebate - but the curve of the back makes it difficult to get an even depth of cut and so the rebate was cut to final depth using carpenters mallet and some sharp chisels. Done, ready to create the paper template and cut the hatch:

As the others have said, if it plays OK, leave well alone