Andyjr1515

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1437169413' post='2824269'] Not being a g****rist I'm wondering what's with that 'trick' bridge? The body wood looks fantastic [/quote] It's a floyd rose tremolo fitted with a drop D mechanism, Howie. Simple but effective. Bit like the hipshot drop D tuners but operating at the other end

Just to affirm that the bubinga beckons, this one's (at last) finished

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1437124038' post='2823725'] I didn't read it (all), a picture can tell me more than a thousand words, another very nice build you've done there. [/quote] Thanks, blablas. I'm pleased with it but I really want to get back to the bubinga... Andy

[quote name='Chris Sharman' timestamp='1437127682' post='2823771'] I have to say that I saw that 6-string gee-tar in all it's walnutty glory yesterday. It looks stunning. Is it bad that I want one? [/quote] Yes - it is, Chris. Very bad. Besides, you might not be so impressed with what it looked like a couple of hours later "...now is it the black wire or the green wire that I cut?????"

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1437122128' post='2823708'] Just read through the whole of the dirty stinking guitar build thread. [/quote] Yeah, Bryan - I thought of going to confessional but thought I'd probably be kicked out of the church on the basis that some things are beyond redemption

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1437040245' post='2822964'] ! That's a beautiful guitar! Is there a build thread for that that I'm missing? [/quote] Thanks, alittlebitrobot! There's a build thread ongoing on [url="http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/42422/walnut-re-body-of-peavey-evh/p1"]The Fretboard forum here[/url]. I didn't want to risk being clubbed by 1950's bass guitar baseball-bat-necks for posting a 6-string build thread on this esteemed forum... Andy

This is not forgotten, folks. The above 6-string electric has taken much of the time in the last week or so but is nearing completion: This should be done this week and then the only active full build I have on my bench is my bubinga bass

In the Greater Oxford Dictionary, one of the definitions of 'insanity' is "condition reached quickly when attempting to sand off a modern poly finish from a musical instrument, esp guitar or bass" I use a heat gun because, frankly, life's too short...

Well, certainly in the picture it's looking very good!

Superbly made and wonderfully finished, Jabba. What's on the build board at the moment?

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1436339604' post='2817130'] First I want to get a bit more comfortable playing this beast, but samples are planned. [/quote]

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1436113874' post='2815067'] Another lesson learned today DO NOT tape the pickup cavities so close to the top edge that when you remove it it chips the finish, not really a problem on the neck pup cavity but it looks a bit naff on the exposed bridge one. I'm not starting again so I'll live with it (for now) and with that in mind I got on with T-Cutting the lacquer. Ordered some Autobright car wax from Ebay. [/quote] Every build I do I have at least one of these kind of glitches. Most of them, as you say, it's best to just live with. Many times I've tried to tweak the error and simply made it worse! Looking forward to seeing the finished finish....

The innovation and build quality of this leaves me speechless... I agree, with an earlier comment - sound clips! We need sound clips

Here's the Jack Bruce Thumb tribute build I did for Pete, our old-gits band's bassist:

[quote name='rk7' timestamp='1435649466' post='2810878'] Great work! Haven't spent enough time on BC recently, so I've just read this thread in one sitting. Brilliant design and manufacturing skills on show here. thank you please RK [/quote] Thanks, RK - and your avatar is still the winner We're waiting for Tom's feedback of the first professional gig with it...I think it went well but only had the headlines so far Andy

Warmoth strat bodies are the same. They put a warning label on the heel telling you not use full length screws at the front. Not sure about their basses, but they may be the same.

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1435562734' post='2809925'] Blimey it is small! [/quote] That reminds me of my wedding day.....

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1435530708' post='2809828'] Looking excellent Andy [/quote] Thanks, scojack Slow, though...

I was doing some more on the 6 string electric but while the router was out.... Managed to route the pickup chambers: Earlier on, I talked about how dinky the thumb proportions are (bearing in mind that this is similar dimensions). Here it is next to the 6-string electric!: Cute or what Andy

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1435448422' post='2808962'] My view is, depending on the body style, it's the most sensible way to lay out a bass for most players. Excluding Reverse T-bird shapes and other very asymmetric shapes intended to hang differently, the bridge should be as close to the end of the body as possible to create the most portable and easiest playing instrument for most players. IME with a 32" scale Westone, which has the bridge moved rather than the neck shortened the full 2" from 34" versions, like the one below: It hangs a little farther to the left than my 34" scale P. It's very playable, but If I were to do one major mod, it would be to move the neck pocket and the bridge roughly 2" right as it hangs when being played. [/quote] Fascinating....it's something that I'd never really given much thought to before working on the Curbow. Clearly, much cleverer people than me had

[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1435406065' post='2808492'] I loved everything about my thumb except the long scale length. A short-scale version would be something to see so if the mood takes you Andy..... [/quote] Well, as the saying goes....for only a touch less than a king's ransom, such a beast could be yours The project is going a little bit slowly because I'm doing other stuff for people and this - being for me - is tending to come down the priority list. If successful, though, I do plan to try some other variations along the same theme. One thought is, as you say, a short-scale...so maybe not a full king's ransom... The other, which my last two bass projects have got me thinking about, is full scale, but with the bridge fully aft. The two that I've done are: The Cort Curbow walnut rebody: ...and Tom's African wood bass (which gets its first professional gig TONIGHT!!!): When I looked at the Cort Curbow at first, I thought it was a short-scale bass...it's DINKY! It's actually 34" scale but everything is set as far back as it can, so the nut is a good 2-3" closer to the player than a conventional bass. The light body is also compensated by the same difference...it's a very clever design. With Tom's bass, the thinness of the body and the extended scale (it's 34.5") meant it was likely to neck dive dreadfully. So I did the same on this and it balances fine, and also doesn't feel like an extended scale at all (Tom, when he first picked it up, fully agreed with my own view on these two points). In terms of construction, to do the same would be a doddle - single fixed bridge placed at the back, longer notch on the neck and it's done! What do people think - is there an interest in full scale basses that have the neck set well back?

[quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1435262923' post='2807166'] Finished! Immense build Andy, you've got some serious skills. And I always enjoy reading what you have to say. Nice [/quote] Thanks, Mel - means a lot

[quote name='HazBeen' timestamp='1435171608' post='2806242'] Very cool build! [/quote] Thanks

The other build I'm doing at the moment (walnut 6-string electric) is at a temporary halt while I try to work out how the hell to bend wood binding round an impossibly tight radius, so I was able to spend a couple of hours on the fretless this morning. I worked out that a neck angle of around 2 degrees was all that would be needed to get the correct action range. All I do, with this build method, is incorporate the angle in the dog-leg notch of the neck. Rather than having to set up routing rig, I just band-sawed it and planed/sanded the top face flat and level: Next was to create a cut-out in the bubinga for an overlap of the neck joint. This feature is a good example of learning by your previous mistakes . On the tribute, I slotted the neck up to the body /neck joint line. The result would have been a catastrophic thinning of the neck at the join for which I had to compensate with a very inelegant heel. NOT going to do THAT again Here's the extra cutout: ...which gives a decent amount of overlap so I can carve the heel properly where there is still a full depth of mahogany. Slotted in, it looks like this: Remember that the proportions are the same as a Thumb. The shot above gives a good perspective of just how tiny the body is and how proportionately long the neck is. From the back, it looks like this: Now I've got these major datum points fixed (after a bit of fettling to close up any gaps and routing of the pickup chambers while the top's still flat), I can slim the neck down and start the body carve. Thanks for looking Andy

Looks pretty damn good to me!