Andyjr1515

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1485860135' post='3227197'] This looks amazing! Great finish, colour & grain. I like the headstock & logo. Also like the contrast of the colour with the maple board I'm surprised that the HB looked such a great piece of wood to begin with. Looks better quality and construction than the price might suggest - which can often be the case with some of today's "budget level" instruments... Fantastic work sir [/quote] Thanks Marc I've found most of the entry level mainstream makes pretty good in terms of build quality. It is a pleasant surprise that the body wood is so good, though

Great job

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1485784712' post='3226636'] It certainly looks tasty, but I'm not convinced by the shape of the pickguard. The thing about the Jazz control plate is that its shape flows into the Jazz pickguard, whereas what you've ended up with here sort of bulges out and back in again. I feel like if you weren't constrained by the shape of the control plate, you could have come up with something more fluid. S.P. [/quote] Yes - that was one of the constraints. It would have been possible to grind down the plate to take the flare off, but that might have looked like a bit of a bugger's muddle . The shape of the bass also makes a difference - this is my Squier Jag and that is able to flow a bit better with much the same arrangement: If metal pickup rings for jazz pickups were still obtainable we'd probably have gone for a different solution, but they seen to have disappeared completely off the market (which is a bit odd). Having said all of that, in real life the richness of the colour and figuring simply takes your breath away and contrasts so beautifully with the black pickguard that it actually becomes a bit academic - the flow of the curve isn't where your eyes are looking. I'm more than happy with the result

The list of outstanding tasks is getting tangibly smaller I'll post occasionally as each gets ticked off. This is the first lick of varnish on the headstock. When that's had the requisite number of coats, it should tone well with the rosewood fretboard once that's also been finish-oiled:

For what it's worth, my take is that: As most have said, unless you are doing heavy bends on strings, flatness of fingerboard profile has nothing to do with ability to get a low action Flatness of the frets or board along the length of the fretboard is, however, critical. As is neck relief and absence of neck twist and absence of large temperature changes (such as cold garage to hot venue) The flatness of the fretboard profile itself is a very personal thing and depends on hand size and shape, thumb position, playing style and simple personal preference, in addition to neck depth, width and profile, which is why you need to try them - there is no universally perfect profile. But it is probably no coincidence that there are very, very few totally flat profile basses about...

It's quite a big subject, donslow, so probably need to answer in stages. Ref the basic definitions, levelling is where you file down high frets - or high spots on a fret or frets - so that they the same height as the other frets down the fretboard. In doing this, the bit that you file off is the top of the semi-circular profile - you start off with a nice rounded hill shape and you end up with a flat-topped hill! Crowning is simply recreating the rounded hill shape, without taking any more off the height. And yes, if you are levelling across the whole fretboard, you are absolutely right that you need to use the truss rod to straighten the neck before you start. Otherwise, you will be filing down frets that are only 'high' because of the curve of the neck. If the neck is as straight as possible to start with, you are now only filing down frets that are higher than their adjacent ones.

[quote name='Harryburke14' timestamp='1485705886' post='3225961'] Look at what weve caused Andy [/quote] I know "Light blue touch paper and then run like hell!!" Seriously, folks, we'd all love to see your projects and progress - it's part of the reason I do such detailed build threads

...and the pickup chambers copper lined:

[quote name='Harryburke14' timestamp='1485691378' post='3225803'] But unlike all the other ones, this ones mine [/quote]

[quote name='jimbartlett' timestamp='1485700350' post='3225894'] Amazing! Great job Andy! I'm now trawling eBay looking for something to tempt you with for maybe doing for me !!! [/quote] Always interested in exploring options, Jim There is something especially satisfying about these kinds of project...

I've judged that the varnish is now hard enough for normal handling. I also gave it a test light polish to make absolutely sure the final varnish coat was OK before starting the finish tasks. I think it's fine... Into the remaining tasks. The first one was quick and easy but strangely satisfying - lining the control chamber with copper foil: It's sticky backed so the joins inside the chamber will be solder-connected to ensure continuity, and also connected to the foil that will shortly be put into the pickup chambers. The top is also done - note the folded-over connecting tabs to ensure a complete Faraday Cage effect is achieved:

[quote name='aDx' timestamp='1485683457' post='3225702'] It sounds like a monster! (to my surprise) big sound from such a little fella! ok so the build quality is crap, the rear pup is useless ish, and the bridge has the adjust screws sticking out (which hurts my hand sometimes) have tweaked it tho and it is now playable! gonna replace bridge sometime anyway (babitz?) and may get bridge and frets done at some point I use the bridge pickup only turned up slightly (when turned up full it cuts the volume... a lot!) and the main tone turned down a lot I can get a chris squire rick sound!! if I turn the tone full up So .. I am surprised! [/quote] Great news! I'm a big fan of Squiers. Yes, they are built to a price, but they are pretty easy to make into little beauties, play-wise and looks-wise

It will have one last polish before it goes back to Harry next weekend, but it's finished The tuners were pretty heavy so have tipped it over the 9lb mark, but it still hangs level on my slippy strap and it's still 1.5lb lighter than its backbreaking former self! Here are the obligatory arty-farty shots: Thanks for all of the very encouraging comments along the way, folks

Wow - that's quite something Cracking job!

As my wife would say, "NOW look at what you've done!" Sounds a great project - give a shout if you want any hints or tips (or look at the various threads and if you do it the opposite way to me, it will probably work out much better ) Or as my boss once said, "We've achieved a lot, in spite of your help, Andy."

[quote name='Bastav' timestamp='1485610444' post='3225291'] Looking good! [/quote] Thanks, Bastav & Harry Couldn't resist a quick photo while I work out where the string tree is best placed....

I spent most of my career in Planning and Logistics, which inevitably means I'm usually rubbish at planning However, I've obviously had a passing flash of 'in-cycle activities' inspiration because, mechanically, this should be complete today. It then needs a few more days before I can polish it, ready to hand back over to Harry probably next weekend. That then ties in nicely with gelfin's Mouradian-style, whose varnish should be hard enough to handle normally by tomorrow, which means I can spend time over the next few days sorting ITS mechanical finishing tasks before the final polish stage in a week or so . This morning I cut Harry's original scratch plate in line with the planned design: Although I have got a replacement scratchplate, the fit on this was just a tad better round the neck end - and I wasn't sure I could replicate Harry's scratched initials well enough!! What it does mean, is that if at anytime Harry wants to revert to original scratch plate for own use or sale, there's a full and bright sparkling new one there to use. The central fixing screw on the original HB is odd, because it was unnecessary, but with the black fixing screw in place it will look fine The other thing that I've had to 'fit' are the replacement tuners. Even though I would be surprised if the originals aren't Wilkinsons, the base plates on the Wilkinson replacements are bigger, requiring grinding away of the preceding ones to avoid overlap! From that I can only assume that the peg spacings on the HB are subtly different to Fender and Squier. Worth noting if any of you are thinking of upgrading a HB yourselves! Still, they look OK - almost like they were designed to do this :

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1485559793' post='3225014'] Oooooooh loud! [/quote] Certainly strong magnets...need to keep my credit cards away from these! (subtle reference for the pre chip 'n pin generation )

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1485556343' post='3224992'] is that a JBXN I see in there? [/quote] Yes - it has two JBXN's and a KiOgon loom

I'll be cutting the pickguard in the morning so I've mocked it up with a paper template. I might tweak it just a touch but I think this is OK: It's going to show enough of the figuring while still retaining the look of a pick-guarded bass:

Well, I think that deserves another picture....sure looks pretty good from that sneak view!

Looks a beautiful job

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1485431140' post='3223883'] It's looking fanatstic and I love the way the varnish has coloured the maple. [/quote] The rest of the neck should go a similar shade, albeit satin and silky

[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1485375920' post='3223539'] Im guessing the bridge will be black too? Babicz perhaps? Love that pickguard design. Goona look killer. [/quote] Just a standard wilkinson one, but black with brass saddles. All the black hardware is on order Last night finished the headstock, including Harry's sunflower:

The finishing is always a bit fiddly and iterative, but this one brought a few challenges I don't usually encounter. The bit that was much easier than my normal method was using an artists fan brush for applying the laquer. With Ronseal's formulation change, the new brew doesn't thin well - essential for my normal wipe-on approach. So this used an artists fan brush (this is an old one - NEVER put a brush on a carpet unless you like dust in your paint ): I left the varnish un-thinned and it went on quite nicely (I think the new formulation is thinner than the old, just a tad), and it flattened well with very few drips to sort out. BUT the natural tint in the varnish, against the light cream, was the devil incarnate! The slightest variation in thickness (such as when you merge the next strip into the one you've just applied) resulted in a colour change In the end, I applied more, but thinner, coats and the colour variation is pretty much sorted. This is pre-polishing - that will be done after a couple of weeks to ensure the varnish is fully cured - but in the greatest test of full daylight: If it was a car body-shop, I'm sure I'd be given my P45, but for a pre-polish hand-paint job I think it is probably 'fit for purpose'? And I'm pretty sure it is the colour Nic was looking for