Andyjr1515

Now that the 6-string Alembicesque electric has got to the stage of 'apply finish, wait for a day, apply some more finish', I'm at last into catch-up time on some of the woefully late smaller jobs that have been piling up. The first and most overdue on the list is for scrumpymike Many of you know Mike - the South West Bash which Mike and his lovely wife, MrsScrumpy, organise is the stuff of legend! Now....many of my builds evolve as they go along. But this project has been evolving even before a pencil put its first mark on a bit of drafting paper So I'm going to summarise briefly:[list] [*]Mike has a lovely Fender Rascal: [/list] [list] [*]He loves the neck; he loves the sound; he loves the electrics and pickups. But: he doesn't like the weight; he doesn't like the 'sit' [*]So he has asked me to do a reversible re-body job, based on a Precision Lyte shape: [/list] [list] [*]Transferring the neck, hardware, pickups and electronics [/list] OK so far?[list] [*]We talked about matching the headstock paint on the new body. BUT - Mike had a good friend who was a real (yes, real) tree-felling axeman...from young man to retirement. And, indeed, Mike actually got a book published of said axeman's life story. [*]And this piece of walnut is part of the last tree he felled before retiring. And would it be possible, Mike asked, to incorporate that somewhere in the build: [/list] [list] [*]Yes, said I. [*]In fact, this then became a bookmatched-topped natural body project. And here is the resulting bookmatched walnut to make it out of : [/list] [list] [*]And that's exactly what I'm going to do next [/list]

Final build task before starting the finishing is tidying up the neck profile. I will do one last tweak once the guitar is finished and all strung up but to get it pretty close, I go by feel and then, holding the guitar a bit like a back to front cello, I use a scraper - drawing up the neck length very lightly - to take away any lumps or bumps along the length or facets around the profile curve. And that's it! Basic build is complete and finishing has now started I use a variation of the tru-oil slurry-and-buff method as a combined sanding lubricant, grain filler and sealer. The body will actually be gloss varnished eventually, but I have found this method to be just as good as a gloss prep method as a finished method in its own right The only difference (if at all) is that I probably use coarser abrasive cloth at first - typically 120 grit but sometimes even 80 grit. This is the first application following the normal 'final sand': Five minutes later, I have this: And then fifteen minutes later I have this on the back and neck too: The slurry from the sapele, wenge and purpleheart will, if not wiped off, discolour the maple, so I always wipe off the wet tru-oil from the maple even before I start the actual slurry and buffing. When dry - this will look a bit naff - as the oil soaks in differentially. I will probably repeat with a coarse grit once more, once it has fully set, before starting the proper slurry and buffing Sunday/Monday-ish In the meantime, to MrsAndyjr1515's delight, there are a couple of small guitar and bass jobs that have been waiting a while that I'll be getting on with.

Onto last build jobs. One of them is slimming down the internal control chamber top so that all of the controls poke through as they should. Because it is routing down to 4 or 5mm thickness, I always drill at least one hole first to give me the comfort that I'm not going to break through the top! To do that, I need to know at least where one of the holes is going to be. Someone asked me why the control chamber was so big...well, and this doesn't include yet the 3-way switch or the battery clip or the general connecting wires or a bit of P90 sitting in the chamber...: It's going to be quite busy! Also, the pre-wired cables can be a real, real problem with small chambers. By the way - while this was on and everything else temporarily fixed, I popped the stacked P90's on top and found some scales that I'm-sure-aren't-from-the-kitchen-despite-the-flour So, take away the control chamber extra rout, add back the cover, the strap buttons and finish (negligible weight) should leave us comfortably below 6 1/2 lbs

Quick mock up to make sure it all fits. I've fitted the slightly wider nut to test 'worst case' - and it's fine The frets haven't been levelled, crowned and polished yet so there is a bit of tidying up to do at the fret-ends but the binding blends in nicely: The fret ends have been de-nibbed so the binding is fretslot-less

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1509645857' post='3400595'] What's that comment about hindsight being the only 20/20 vision? [/quote] Indeed, Mike For more than a few reasons, I could now do with getting this one to the finishing stage (during which there is little time taken actually applying the finish but lots of spare time waiting for stuff to dry )! I'll string this up tomorrow to make absolutely sure, but this feels SO much better:

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1509642944' post='3400567'] That binding looks the dog's whatsits! I can imagine you bringing this in regularly for other builds now [/quote] Yes - probably...but preferably applied BEFORE the fretboard's been glued to the thru-neck!

Too dark to take a photo, but all the frets are in I'm MUCH happier with the resulting width.

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1509294012' post='3397856'] It's here, and it's absolutely incredible! Eude [/quote] One of the smartest looking basses I've ever seen. Superb.

14 frets done, 8 to go! It's a slow, slow job. With the ebony being so brittle, I need to avoid having to re-do any of these so I'm clamping a fret at a time until the glue pretty much sets. So far so good You can see the binding in this shot - adds a touch of class...should have done this in the first place!

And one wenge-bound board You can see the figuring in the ebony quite clearly here - which is probably one reason why the wood is so brittle. Having said that - this is a close-up shot - all of the fret tang chips will be hidden under the new frets The finished job will be better for having a bound board so it's probably just as well I made the cock up

My ipad wouldn't download the pictures, so I've only just seen the result - and it's great! Lovely job. I think it's just as well that you didn't have a buffing wheel - the paint would have been far too soft after only an overnight cure. For buffing it is usually 2 weeks minimum for it to get hard enough. Great result from the way you did it

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1509177298' post='3397114'] I watched a YouTube video a while back where a guy used just that, but he had to make his own dremel attachment using a standard abrasive wheel which he wore away into a cup shape. It was for a fanned fret guitar with cnc milled fret slots. He pre-cut and rounded all his frets before fitting them. Looked amazing whenever he was finished. Can't for the life of me remember who it was... Edit: easier found than expected! [url="https://youtu.be/moxUw3Ke2Q0"]https://youtu.be/moxUw3Ke2Q0[/url] [/quote] Clever stuff - I might try that...

[quote name='thegummy' timestamp='1509118921' post='3396820'] Unfortunately, that site only has a SPST push-pull by CTS; is that all that's available? [/quote] Didn't even notice that. A bit odd and, I agree, a bit restricting... Not sure if CTS do DPDT or not....

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1509108922' post='3396689'] Sorry to hear about needing a fret rework but the binding you described is something to look forward to. Your efforts to get it to premium standard are admirable. [/quote] More like "my efforts to hide a rookie cock up" Anyway, if in doubt - throw in a few swifts :

Well...being so [s]smug[/s] pleased with the spherical fret ends you were all waiting for the '...and then I had to take them all out again' As you know, I was a bit bothered by the narrowness of the neck. I did a mix and match of a gold tuner set and a black tuner set to match with the fancy bridge: Which let me string it up. I concluded that the strings are just too close to the edge of the fretboard giving the annoying possibility of the top E 'falling off the side' - a bit of an issue with some stratocasters. At the same time, having dutifully de-tanged the sides, I was already thinking, 'Blast! I should have gone for a bound fretboard'. As well as covering the fret slots, this would widen the top of the fretboard allowing a more comfortable width of fret to be used. So that's what I'm going to do! Luckily, the sides of the neck are still more square than the finished profile will be so I can retrospectively add some bindings and then scrape them to blend into the final curve of the neck profile. So those frets have had to come out The sort-of good news was that the frets were very nicely seated (you really don't know unless you try to pull them out) The very good news is that, using slodering iron heat and a specialist ground-ended pair of fret pulling pliers, there was very little chipping. The binding strips are on the way and, in the meantime, I can turn my attention to finishing off the headstock and control chamber

Axesrus.co.uk sell the CTS push pulls nowadays, including a metric 8mm version. I would be surprised if they are not very good.

Beautiful, beautiful job.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1508837693' post='3394691'] It's not an either or, of course Agreed, if you are into planning mastery as a professional player on a particular instrument, then the practice time becomes a bit prohibitive for mastery of many more - but most of us can make quite respectable progress on a second or third instrument while not losing the edge on the primary one. And I would argue that each new instrument becomes progressively easier than the previous one and, indeed, makes you a better player on those earlier ones. I started out with 6-string acoustic, moved onto 6 string electric, then tenor sax, then alto sax, then bass and even an outing or two bashing on my bongos. Other than not getting my bongos out too often in public (I think there are laws about that ) for most of our gigs I now play all of those. I think enthusiasm is all it takes, really. If you have that, you'll find a way around all the rest of the challenges, musical or general life getting in the way [/quote] I should add - and can't quite put my finger on why - that, even though playing bass is by far my weakest competence of them all, in the band situation it is head and shoulders the most enjoyable. I usually get to play bass for 4-5 of our set list and they are always, always the most satisfying...

It's not an either or, of course Agreed, if you are into planning mastery as a professional player on a particular instrument, then the practice time becomes a bit prohibitive for mastery of many more - but most of us can make quite respectable progress on a second or third instrument while not losing the edge on the primary one. And I would argue that each new instrument becomes progressively easier than the previous one and, indeed, makes you a better player on those earlier ones. I started out with 6-string acoustic, moved onto 6 string electric, then tenor sax, then alto sax, then bass and even an outing or two bashing on my bongos. Other than not getting my bongos out too often in public (I think there are laws about that ) for most of our gigs I now play all of those. I think enthusiasm is all it takes, really. If you have that, you'll find a way around all the rest of the challenges, musical or general life getting in the way

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1508774320' post='3394320'] I'd love to see what files etc you are using to get fully-rounded ends on your frets. My attempt to make the Pitbull feel like my B2A in that regard was close but no banana. [/quote] Not terribly sure I'd get a banana either For what it's worth, I use a fine flat needlenose and also a triangular one where I've ground one of the apexes smooth. With the flat blade I round it from the fret through 90 deg to the fretboard edge and then with the triangular one, with the smooth edge in the corner between the fret-end and the fretboard wood first take off the sharp edge on one side and then round to the fret apex, then the same on the other side. If any of that makes any sense!

And the frets are in The fret-ends were pre-dressed on the bass side and now trimmed on the treble side ready for those to be rounded too. I'm going for spherical ends to give maximum usable playing width. Tuners are on order - I won't drill for them until I have them physically in my sticky mitts! After that there are just two or three small jobs to do before I can start the final sand and finishing process. Probably be able to start that on Wednesday

Thanks, cheddatom

And onto the fretting. The ebony fretboard has that very interesting figuring all the way through it which should show through once it's been finish sanded. Less good, and probably linked, is that it is VERY brittle. And to the point that my normal method of fixing the frets isn't going to work. Instead, using a radius block, G clamp and packer, I've rigged up a DIY press/caul method: It's very slow but seems to have worked fine so far: Because of the time to allow the titebond to set enough, it's taken most of the day to get this far. I've stopped at the convenient point where I'm going to need to change the clamp arrangement as the neck deepens towards the body. Time for a beer, I reckon... The bridge is fitted and a couple of strings put in, by the way because this is no time to find unplanned alignment surprises!

[quote name='Amyton3043' timestamp='1508431784' post='3392184'] Hi wow this is my first ever bass built by Nick Springett from my requested design. My name is Alistair and you will see in mother of pearl at the 12th fret it has "Ali" which Nick did for me. Originally the bass had x2 humbuckers but I and active passive controls. We changed to EMG pickups to try and get a richer bottom end.The bass has a lovely laminated finish underneath the white but I had it changed as I originally wanted it to look like a Jaydee supernatural (my mistake). I loved the bass and always thought of trying to get it back one day....sigh [/quote] Wow - that's a bit of a result . Great thread (and looks a nice bass...)

It looks absolutely fantastic, by the way