Andyjr1515

Nic sent the bridge with other bits and bobs which allowed me to calculate the neck angle (roundabout 1 degree). After battling for sometime with my very cheap (and on the very edge of its capabilities) bandsaw, got the neck rough-cut in side profile: The headstock will clearly be cut down, but at the moment, the far end is absolutely parallel to the top of the neck - useful as a datum I will be cutting the bottom wings and attaching them to the neck before gluing the top on, but this is broadly where the top fits:

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1479824738' post='3179569'] A camera video of 'Bed of Roses' from my new band 'Just Jovi's first gig the other night. Sound is a bit harsh but you get the idea! [url="https://www.facebook.com/739111803/videos/10154730018291804/"]https://www.facebook.com/739111803/videos/10154730018291804/[/url] [/quote] Was that the Sterling 5, Paul? If so, wow...it sounded great! If not........wow, it sounded great!

[quote name='W1_Pro' timestamp='1479796234' post='3179284'] Yes I believe it is. They are also very helpful on the phone- well Skype anyway. Really nice people as it goes. [/quote] Excellent. I'll pop a multimeter onto the pickups today and check we have continuity, then start swopping everything over

[quote name='W1_Pro' timestamp='1479746851' post='3178934'] Thats looking great Andy. Sterling work as usual. I'm sure you already know, but just in case- there is a pickup blend knob on the current setup, which is not standard, this is replaced in Neals rewire kit with a toggle. which can only be a good thing, IMHO. Best S [/quote] Spotted that but hadn't worked out what all the controls do yet I'm assuming there will be a wiring diagram on the Neals web site. Is this the only mockingbird version they do?

The work on the hand-plane and thicknesser seems to have gone OK, with the neck blank square, straight and the final through-neck width: David Dyke has done us proud with a nice bit of maple and rosewood I draw and check the neck dimensions, etc, directly onto the blank. However, won't do any cutting or routing until Nic and I have firmed up the intended bridge - the dimensions will directly influence the necessary neck angle, which will be built into the body top cutout of the neck:

[quote name='martthebass' timestamp='1479736108' post='3178836'] Same question from me Andy [/quote] PM sent

...and we have a playable bass Here it is with the extra two spacers...SURELY it doesn't need to be that high?? Well - even with these I've had to raise the saddles 1-2mm to get to my nominal action height. But it plays. Nicely and buzz-free. The extra height of the bridge doesn't show at all on the fully assembled instrument: Later this week I'll have a go at putting the new electrics ... and, assuming all goes well, it's then pretty much ready to return to Stuart

Wow - this is so much like a finished bass, it's spooky Next job won't show much of a difference but is super-critical .... squaring-up the top surface of the neck. I'll do that by hand-plane and sanding beam and then run the back through the thicknesser to square that up too. That way, I should have perfectly square datum surfaces to do the follow-up routing operations.

Here's what the headstock looks like. Not perfect, but the main objective - to soften the look of the crack without jeopardising the very delicate decal is, I think, achieved: The Schaller spacers are due today so we will soon know if we have a physically playable bass

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1479659579' post='3178206'] I'll PM you Andy [/quote] PM sent Just for general interest, by the way, here is the same veneer - this time applied to one of my own 6-strings electrics - dyed red :

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1479659130' post='3178204'] Looking at the supplier you mentioned I can see why you would want to see the exact piece as there is so much variance. I haven't really thought about this before but do love that green birch burl finish. What sort of money are we talking about to do one? And how long does it take? I won't be able to afford it in the short term but would be interested once I have collected all the other bits I need. And you are close to me too (I grew up in Spondon and still visit my Mum yo there at least once a month). Feel free to pm me if you don't want to put figures on an open forum. [/quote] I'll PM you Andy

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1479658245' post='3178186'] There's a couple of good places in London that I've used. [url="http://www.exotic-veneer.co.uk/"]http://www.exotic-veneer.co.uk/[/url] [url="https://www.capitalcrispin.com/"]https://www.capitalcrispin.com/[/url] Both have an amazing stock of veneers including impressive burls. They vary in prices. The burls can get quite expensive (IMHO). [/quote] Yes - they are good suppliers. too. With veneers, I always like to see the actual piece I'm buying and tend to avoid 'generic' photos suppliers. To be honest, some of my best veneers have been got just by keeping a weather eye open on ebay for ones that catch your eye

Veneers done this way work great for flat-topped basses and guitars with simple (ie, curved in one plane only) curves such as arm relief, etc.. For compound curves (think of the multi-plane curves of the carve of, say, a Les Paul 6 string) this way doesn't really work - you are generally into vacuum presses or similar. Always happy to talk about any project you might have...or help to pick up the pieces if you want to have a go yourself Seriously - if anyone does have a go themselves, feel free to contact me anytime for hints and tips along the way.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1479657489' post='3178173'] They are beautiful, what veneer is the green one? [/quote] It's a birch burl. Bryan found the supplier with a web search (DesignHolz, based in Germany). The quilted maple I used on this orange one was ordered at the same time. They've got some great veneers and they are delivered, flawless, rolled up in an impossibly small box! I haven't done much veneering recently but they would be my first port of call...

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1479655310' post='3178148'] That looks stunning, would there be other options for the curved edges if the ply didn't look as good? [/quote] Not really with veneer. If the sides and/or back aren't great you'd usually stain it dark and do a back and front burst, or a dark back and sides and burst for the top. This is Bryan's (allighatt0r) Westone: Depending on the state of it, it is sometimes even possible to leave the back and sides original paint job on and just do the top. I did that with this Epiphone Junior: Doing that does tend to lose the illusion of a solid fancy wood, however. Even if you ignore the stripes, it is clear this is a thin veneer on top

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1479652326' post='3178118'] Lovely - I'm sure that Charlie will be more than happy.... [/quote] Thanks, Mick

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1479645802' post='3178037'] Fantastic transformation! [/quote] Thanks, blablas !

Finished and, waiting a week to let the varnish cure properly, ready to go back to its owner. In the end, I did a single wipe of Ronseal over the excellent tough and quick surface-finish the Melamine gave me. It would have taken me too long to learn how to achieve high gloss with the melamine...I'll try that on one of my own guitars in the future rather than risk someone-elses. Not bad for an entry-level jobee. This: Becomes this:

Bit more progress. The body top is joined: ..and after gluing the rosewood centre splice onto one half of the neck blank last night, the other half is being glued as I type. Remember the mantra...."you can never have too many clamps!". The two workbench clamps can put on a huge pressure too Over the weekend, I'll slim and true-up the glued blank and start sketching some thoughts of headstock shape to bounce off Nic.

Thanks, Paul A nice project on a very nice bass. And the trip to Northampton Services always gives me an excuse to 'just pop in to' Axminster Tools Andy

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1479545444' post='3177319'] Just to top this off - I picked up the bass on Wednesday and it looks amazing - just like it had come out of the factory. Cosmetically perfect. Used it a last night's gig and the sound has blown me away! The Aguilar P pickup is also perfect - mellow and old school exactly as I had hoped. Interestingly (or maybe not? I don't know enough) the MM pickup has been tamed by making it passive - nowhere near as aggressive as it is with the preamp driving it along and thus, for me, more useable. The blend will get some welly, too - it adds a bit of bite to the P in a very interesting and useable way. Different to a PJ, as you would expect. I really couldn't be happier. [/quote] Great to hear, Paul It's also worth experimenting with tweaking the bridge volume a tad when you're in the P-J middle position. Although it is still very sensitive even with linear volume pots, changing the bridge volume knob across the range of 8.5 to 10 produces a whole spread of quite different sounds. I'm not entirely sure what is going on with the interaction of the two circuits but I think it's akin to the old 50's wiring of a Les Paul single pickup junior where you can get from deep jazz to acoustic clean to roaring overdrive just with subtle tweaks of the guitar volume and tone without going anywhere near the amp...

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1479545444' post='3177319'] Just to top this off - I picked up the bass on Wednesday and it looks amazing - just like it had come out of the factory. Cosmetically perfect. Used it a last night's gig and the sound has blown me away! The Aguilar P pickup is also perfect - mellow and old school exactly as I had hoped. Interestingly (or maybe not? I don't know enough) the MM pickup has been tamed by making it passive - nowhere near as aggressive as it is with the preamp driving it along and thus, for me, more useable. The blend will get some welly, too - it adds a bit of bite to the P in a very interesting and useable way. Different to a PJ, as you would expect. I really couldn't be happier. [/quote] Phew!

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1479483256' post='3176930'] The body shape somehow suggests slanted soapbars to me... a bit like the Gibson Victory basses? [/quote] Some of them did - and if you look at the upper half of Nic's, that does too. But for this one, we're going for good old rectangular muscle. I think Nic and I have firmed up on the spec...perhaps we'll need to forewarn the National Geological Society so their seismometers don't record the event as an earthquake going on in S Wales!!!

(I think gelfin's happy) ^ Top successfully cut out (phew!) I'll be joining this together and assembling the sections of neck before cutting the back panels so that I can use the whole assembly as the cutting template. In the meantime, Nic and I are starting to firm up on pickups, etc., including discussing my recent dalliances with both Music Man pickups and the DiMarzio Model One - otherwise known as 'chalk and cheese' .

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1479467162' post='3176749'] Cool! It will be fine for anything other than close inspection :-) Are you leaving the broken screw in there? [/quote] Hi, Bryan Yes - absolutely. It's actually just covered by the trussrod cover