Andyjr1515

I like your choice of woods, Ian . I'm also impressed with anyone who starts multiple large projects at the same time. The sheer efficiency of finishing two basses at the same time is something that would make my head spin

Headstock top done - still got to finally slim down the neck to suit the nut and sort the volute carving out, but it gives an idea how it's going to look: Still to do - volute; finish trim of the neck width; back covers; final sanding and filling; wax; side dots; assembly

That's bloody gorgeous, Rumple! Great job - one to be proud of

Thanks, Roman_sub! This afternoon was rough neck carving and fretboard profiling time. My favourite tools for the neck are spokeshave: ...and scrapers. Still got to do the volute and back of the headstock, but this is the first carve. I say 'first carve' because I get the whole thing strung up and then do a 'final fitting' when I can actually feel how it plays: Then got the 12" radius sanding block out and, roughing it first with a scraper, got the radius sanded onto the ebony: The headstock will have an ebony plate on it with my moniker swifts inlaid, but this is how it's starting to look: Thanks for looking, folks Andy

[quote name='Jabba_the_gut' timestamp='1439501410' post='2843469'] Cheers Andy for all the details and the link. I was wondering about putting a 2mm wide/10mm deep strip either side of the truss rod as should be easy to fit. Might just give it a go and see what happens!! [/quote] I would be interested in the result, though - especially if you did a neck the same but without the strips to compare The other reason I went for round rods was so it didn't end up TOO stiff. The 'I' value on 10mm straight will be very high and might prevent any movement at all... I think what I'm saying is that there may be a positive benefit, but I don't know the level of that benefit, the negative impacts and how you maximise the positives and minimise the negatives. I am not aware of anyone (there may be) who has done controlled experimentation with measurable results but would be genuinely interested to see them. Also, what problem are they trying to solve? Is it excessive flex, is it stability, is it reduced strain on the truss rod. My fear is that they gain a 'ooo, not going to buy it if it doesn't have carbon rods in it' trend based on dodgy evidence that they actually make the neck better. If they tangibly DO make it better, I'm all for it...they're easy to fit.

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1439505525' post='2843511'] 10mm would be a lot for me, 6mm would be around my range ...still be muttering 'whits the point?' though. So im going without then, good thing about just going this yourself...if it does all go tits up it just gives me a good excuse to slip out of the madness for a few hours and build another one [/quote]

[quote name='Jabba_the_gut' timestamp='1439501410' post='2843469'] Cheers Andy for all the details and the link. I was wondering about putting a 2mm wide/10mm deep strip either side of the truss rod as should be easy to fit. Might just give it a go and see what happens!! [/quote] Hi, Jabba This is my concern, though. Draw the neck profile full size and work out how close to cutting right through the neck you get. You don't have to go very far away from the truss rod before the neck is only 10mm deep in the first place. The only way to avoid that is to have the rods set well in towards the truss rod, where the profile is at its deepest, or to use rods that are less deep. I am certain that the rods give you a stiffer neck, but I'm less convinced it's a stronger neck in all cases.

The one niggling concern I have is having two extra slots down the neck. When you draw the neck profile at the nut end - and then pencil in the two rod slots and the trussrod slot - there's an awful lot of air and not a huge amount of wood left!

[quote name='Jabba_the_gut' timestamp='1439499280' post='2843453'] If I am going to fit them what size should be used? Andy's eBay link chap sells 2 x 10mm strips - would these be any good? Cheers [/quote] Hi, Jabba The actual sizes I ordered and used were round ones at 6mm OD and 4mm ID (ie 1mm thick)

Hi again, Ian It was from[url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/laptopconnections/"] this ebay store[/url] He sells hollows, solids, rectangular and round in various sizes and wall thicknesses. They use them for kites, R/C aircraft and R/C helicopters. You can also use carbon arrow tubes but they tend to be very expensive, with specific properties unnecessary for our types of use Andy

Hi, Ian I fitted them on my african bass build but, to be honest, only because Tom specifically wanted them fitting. To be fair, he takes his basses to all sorts of climates (including, of course, Africa) so I suspect it adds the psychological comfort of a little more potential stability but, like blablas, I've never really experienced issues where they would have helped. Unless my mech eng background is deceiving me, they certainly don't help prevent twisting, although they will reduce the amount you need to adjust the truss rod between extreme changes of ambient temperature. All the same, I'll try to track down where I got mine (I used round ones and am pretty sure they were from a kite supplier). Andy

Thanks, folks Having cut a lovely bit of ebony too short (hmmmmpfff ) I slimmed down another thick-ish piece I've had for a while. I used the jack plane to take about 3mm off and finished off with a straight sanding beam. Wrapped the truss rod in plumbers' ptfe tape (in theory, it should therefore be removable!) and then glued on the fretboard. I've said it before and I'll say it again - you can't have too many clamps! The violin spool clamps, by the way, feature in my 'most useful tools Andyjr1515 has ever bought' list They put a stunning amount of pressure onto the all important fretboard/neck edges: As always, thanks for looking Andy

Great job! Great story!

Hi, Jabba The finish on this is top-drawer stuff Simply superb....and what a line-up! Also, the LEDs are simply sublime... Andy

Never tried the bass pickups. But Tonerider are my pickups of choice for 6 strings...I fit them in preference to Gibson Burstbuckers even when cost isn't an issue (and the Gibsons are at least twice the price). The single coils are also very good. I suspect that the bass p/ups are just as good!

Great progress! I look forward to seeing this develop...

Started on the top today. First getting the basic curve with a jack plane: Then a combination of spokeshaves and scrapers to start forming the curves: Quite a bit more carving and sanding before I start on the neck but at least it is progressing! Thanks for looking Andy

Hi. I will follow this refurb with great interest . I agree - nothing wrong with laminated wood for tone. Tends to be heavy, but one of the best sounding 6string electrics I ever had - an Epiphone LP Junior - was also plywood. Andy

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1438619730' post='2835821'] Always a pleasure watching you work! [/quote] That's what my boss always used to say

Sounds like a result! Very satisfying, isn't it...

Was able to spend a decent amount of time on the bubinga bass this morning. Today's task was to break the back of the rear body carve. I rigged up my routing slide jig to be able to cut the contours: It took a while, but I ended up with a decent base to start the curve-planing: For the planing, I thought I'd try a couple of most unlikely (in my head) recent acquisitions - first is a little curved sole plane from China: ...which was a lot better than I expected, but second is the teeny-tiny Ibex plane: ...which was FANTASTIC! Unbelievably efficient, in spite of its utterly diminutive size - and bubinga is a pretty tough wood!!! Within no time, I had this...and please note that the ONLY tools I've used so far are those two planes - no scrapers, no sandpaper. Well impressed, particularly with the Ibex. Rest of the week is going to be a bit disrupted, but hope to get the top carve done in between all of the other stuff Andy

That fingerboard looks superb, Kev

Not for the faint-hearted but yes-ish. To keep the same basic shape but simply thinner, then yes. Basically, take the back off, mark the sides with a line at the desired depth equidistant from the back edge. Cut it with a japanese pull saw or similar (eg FatMax). Add some kerfing, glue the back back on To change the shape, more tricky - you would probably need to take all the braces off the back and reapply new braces cut in the correct profile to assist the back to bend to the desired shape...and you would need to work out what shape to cut the sides too...not easy.

Actually, since I bought that particular palm model, I have never used my big one since. BUT pretty essential to buy also the plunge base to go with it. The only thing I don't like is the on off switch.

Hi, Norris / BobVBass Just a point on the colours - remember that this is what the colour is like on white paper - the wood will impact the shade to a greater or lesser degree. The great thing is that you can order samples from Diamine at a very small cost so you can try a number of colours before deciding which one to go for. That said, 30ml is plenty for a body and is only a few pounds in any case BobVBass - if you are interested in this approach, I will find a thread I've done in the past. However, my experience is that it [b]doesn't[/b] work well to do the full buffing treatment. What you do instead (it is thinned down by 30% - 50% with white spirits) is get to the last coats, let it dry, then flatten it with 2000 grit wet-sanded...so far similar...but then simply apply 1, 2 or 3 VERY thin coats on top. As long as the main coats are smooth and the varnish is well thinned, it will not need any further buffing and to do so will give you unpredictable results. It does polish well, once fully dry, with good quality auto wax if you feel the need.