Andyjr1515

Splendid job. Kudos!

Absolutely splendid build and result

Bear in mind the hypocrisy here - in that I have pretty much modded every bass and guitar I've ever owned BUT: If it was a bass you already had, I would be inclined to suggest to try to learn to love the maple. If it was a consideration of buying one and the look is more important than the playability or sound, I would suggest buying a different bass. Yes, it's doable, but it is quite likely to end up looking like a dog's dinner. As folks above have said, the surface at each fret position would need to be scraped or sanded down to the wood and, even then, there is no guarantee that the stain would soak in evenly. And it would always look like rosewood-stained maple. Replacing a fretboard is quite expensive. Having it done can be very expensive. Decent rosewood is expensive in itself and then there is the fret slotting, fitting, levelling, recrowning and polishing and final full set-up (it is likely that the sit of the frets would be different). I think I would be surprised if a commercial luthier would consider it for less than £300 and quite probably a fair bit more. And it might not sound the same, and it might not play the same. And it would decimate the re-sale value.

You can use cutters (best if they are ground down like fret pullers) but you do tend to still have a stub left over. Decent tang nippers will shear the whole tang off flush with the bottom of the fret. But it's pennies on the scale - both methods will work.

Hmmmm....I don't think Chris Alsop does them. I think I got mine from Tonetech. When I have a moment, I'll have a check. All I remember was that they were quite expensive...but I wouldn't be without them.

Very nice. What timber is it?

This is going to look really nice

I do the same except I don't use any solder - just the soldering iron

Hi @Norris Anyway - this ^^ Fret pulling pincers have to be flat-ish shallow and sharp. So pretty much any budget set of end pincers, held closed and flattened/slimmed on a grinding wheel will do nicely. But why bother with that when you can get a pair already done from the excellent Chris Alsop web site for less than £12 https://www.chrisalsopguitar.co.uk/shop/guitar-tools/fret-pullers-and-fret-cutters Nut files have to be decent quality. I also use Hosco and have never regretted it.

Sorry to hear this. Had a very interesting chat with him at the Bash. A knowledgeable and friendly man. Thinking of his family and friends...

Looking good!

Fabulous!

Got to be worth an arty farty or two Ready for packing up and sending back:

"That's a nice colour..." said MrsAndyjr1515 as she walked past. Trust me...praise indeed! For natural timbers, Tru-oil slurry and buff remains one of the easiest, cheapest and most effective finishes. This is after slurry and buff 2. Slurry and buff 3 will be this afternoon and then first thing tomorrow morning it will be ready to be packed up and shipped off back to @PaulThePlug, who has waited VERY patiently for it to come back to him

My guess is laser. Do I get a prize if I'm right???

That's crackingly good building

Trust me...been there, done that. And more than once...

This will get better than this after a few proper slurry and buffs and after I've sanded down some of the areas that still have a trace of the Ibby primer coat - but it's not bad with just the rough 'reveal' coat. Some of the burns were quite deep and so there remain a few darker patches, but it's much better than it was and there's a limit to how much wood I should sand away

And so to cutting the new chambers. @PaulThePlug has given me loads of photos and accurate measurements of the positioning so this morning was all about marking on the body the centre-lines and corners of the pickups and then the outline of the two halves of the P pickup, including a 1mm clearance at the sides and ends: On point worthy of note for other builders is the lugs on these types of pickups. The lugs are offset. And the radius of the lugs is actually MUCH bigger than you think. Including the clearance I had to use a 14mm drill!! Surely not???? Yup So first job is the drilling the radii for the lugs and corners: Then roughing out part-depth and up to the line with a large forstner bit: Followed by tidying up of the edges exactly up to the external pencil line with mallet and chisel to create an accurate and smooth run for the router bearing: And finally routing to depth: And new chamber done: Next and pretty much final job is sanding down and a quick slurry-and-buff, which I should be able to get done by the end of tomorrow

A bit more progress with the filling - the back battery chamber is done and the surplus controls holes likewise: Next steps are cutting the new chamber and widening the hole for the tone control. Hopefully will be able to do both tomorrow.

OK - we're off. First off is filling the existing chambers. And yes, Andyjr1515 still hates routers, but for cleaning up the bottoms of old chambers including the conductive paint well, they have their uses. And with a bearing bit fully enclosed in the chamber so that the word not allowed-ing thing can't leap out and damage the bass body or Andyjr1515's own body parts it's worth a bash: And it does do a decent job, s'pose... Next is another 'this could spoil your day machine' - the band saw. Note the essential pusher stick. As a factory manager once said to me, 'always remember that butchers use these to cut through cattle bones...' Everything squared up and corners rounded to suit the existing chambers, final dry check that you can ease it down and back out again: Then a generous amount of Titebond in the chamber bottom and sides, press it fully home and bash the hell out of it: Fit the second one in the same way and then, once the glue has hardened, a quick whizz over with the block plane: And yes - it's cross-grained. Partly stylistic (if you can't hide it, then flaunt it) and mostly practical (suitable wood available thick enough for the chambers' depth). Next job is the battery chamber at the back, which will be done the same way, and then cutting some plugs to fill a number of the controls holes that will be surplus to requirements.

It's on the bench! Update soon

Yes - all bodes very well

Yes - I hear it (nice song BTW ) Something we should have asked earlier - can you hear anything like it when it's played the same but not plugged in?

And all being well, should be able to get to it in the next few days