Andyjr1515

Cable routing routed: Wenge veneer trimmed: ...and top glued on, pending trimmer-routing of the back wings:

Just gets better and better

It looks the same but it's properly flat now So now the bench and flat plank are free, on goes the first length of wenge 2mm demarcation veneer, clamped down by some mahogany offcut acting as a caul:

Next task is preparing for the top to be put on. My work with veneers has told me to always have some method of knowing exactly what and where things are under anything you're going to cover up. The easiest way is simply making an impression on a paper template: The first job was preparing the mating surfaces for cable rout channels, demarcation veneer, top chamber routing, etc.. And the first task was measuring the flatness of the assembled back wings....and not happy. Would the top 'ease' under clamping to give a good fit? Yes Would that have niggled me like crazy for the rest of the build? Absolutely So one of the wings had to come off. Quick wizz through the band saw: Then a re-flatten and mating angle adjust with a jack plane and levelling beam, then back clamped onto the flattest surface I have in the house to re-set and glue:

Good news. Good choice

That's looking really good

[quote name='MarkG3' timestamp='1505145885' post='3369797'] I might have to give up on this. If I move the bridge, it'll be in my way of playing, if I move the neck the screws to hold them will be going into the back on the thinner part of the neck [/quote] I think you are probably right. All options are likely to lead you down to quite a bit of skilled work and compromises which, from the sound of it, isn't really where you really want to be. Those options, from what I understand to be the problem, are going to be: - moving the bridge back. Issues can be practical in terms of how far back the bridge can go or aesthetic in terms of finish or fixings, or playability in terms of bridge position to playing position - or modding the neck or pocket so that the nut to saddle length is the same as the original. This is not something for the inexperienced to tackle lightly, and may compromise the fixings of the neck or the match up of the neck heel. It would be safer to sell the new neck and rethink what it is you want to do with the bass

Good progress, Jez

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1504877869' post='3367987'] I think this would look really nice with that piece of quilted Ebony you have - IMO it would compliment the light body beautifully... [/quote] The quilted ebony is designated for Tim's - and as I think I've got the only piece in the world, don't suppose I'll get any more But I'm a happy enough chappy - I think, with the way the camphor will darken, this will look pretty good with the snakewood

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1504875601' post='3367958'] Ooh, that's lovely. I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing as quilted ebony; every day's a school day. [/quote] I wasn't aware either!

I would buy the Squier (assuming it has a decent 'feel') and consider a future upgrade to the p/ups.

A small but visually important step...the f-hole is cut

Someone asked for a closer look at the quilting on the fretboard. I've certainly never seen it before and a very welcome bonus on a board I bought as standard ebony

That is flipping gorgeous!

Did the contour steps on the other wing while the router was out: In terms of weight, the total wood content is going to end up around 5lbs, assuming I don't do any more chambering. That's fairly comparable with the piccolo bass (which ended up at a touch under 6lbs total finished weight) but the hardware on this will, of course, be heavier. Just got to cut out the control chamber and the back wings can then be glued to the neck

Been working out the area needed for the control chamber. There's a lot of real-estate taken up by Tim's chosen piezo/magnetic pre-amp (Schaller 'Flagship'): Working that out has meant I could cut out the control chamber shape. Here are all the main wood components (it'll end up about 5 1/2 lbs wood content) with the back wings now ready to glue to the neck: You can just see the quilting in the ebony of the fretboard in this shot...

Next machine set-up for Tim's Alembicesque sister build is getting the scroll saw out to cut the control chamber. So while the router jigs are still out, I've done the main cutting for the main back wing of this build. This, if you remember, is going to be curved in cross section, so I needed to know just how deep I can cut the weight relief chamber at different points from the neck join. From the back, it will look something (very approximately something!) like this: The actual cutaway will be on the bottom only. The upper dotted line is just a datum. So this is how deep I can go in mm. The fact that I can only go 6mm deep near the neck illustrates just how skinny this guitar is going to be: Still got some chiselling to do, but the bulk is out: And then at the back, to save a bit of effort, I've routed some carving steps: So the router can be put away and the scroll saw brought onto the bench for both builds...

Tim's spec includes an enclosed (ie no f-hole) semi-acoustic-with-centre-block approach, trying to get it as light as possible but without compromising balance, etc.. This means a major chamber in the top half, most of which is routed into the rear mahogany wing: Note truss rod slot is also now cut. The wall thickness of the chamber thickens at the top horn to give plenty of meat for the strap button, but also thickens at the top of the lower bout to allow the 'sucked lozenge' (as Tim describes it) cut through that he has also asked for. This will be similarly done as on Kert's camphor-topped bass which many of you will have seen before: Tim has sent me his recently purchased fancy Schaller pre-amp so that I can now work out the optimum size and shape of the control chamber to sort out the lower wing cuts and routs before they are then both glued to the neck.

Sounds like one of those 'special' acquisitions, ped. Great stuff. I'm really looking forward to the progress with the GK system...

It's looking great, Jez

That looks really good. REALLY good

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1504288958' post='3363965'] Probably tears of joy... I'm liking this....even though it's a [i]geeeetar.[/i] [/quote]

Taking advantage of the equipment set up from the Alemic-esque build, I whisked the components for this one through the same processes. Here are the components: And placed in position: The notch has been routed in the neck blank, at around 2 degrees angle so that when the mahogany wings are glued flush with it, the top and body will be at the correct angle to the neck for the bridge height. Although it looks very similar to the Alemic-esque, it is in fact quite different. Here, the neck is thinner than the body sections to allow for the convex and concave carves of the top and back respectively. The neck, and thus the body at it's thickest, in the centre, is around 1". But because of the neck angle dropaway, at the tail it is closer to 3/4". Told you it was different. Could all end in tears....

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1504270369' post='3363818'] original stain ain't working [/quote] OK - was worth a try... Did you try the sharpie?

Anyway...I'm pleased to report that this is now back on track. Here are the components: That will fit together like this: The two mahogany wings will line up with the notch in the neck, giving a full-width flat surface for the top to be glued onto. The notch itself incorporates a 2 degree drop to create the correct height range for the bridge (a lovely Schaller piezo jobbee) Next task is to sort the position and sizes of the various chambers and cable runs before gluing the wings to the neck...