Andyjr1515

That is soooooooooooooooo good, scojack Andy

Lost for words....that is SO good.......

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1432315076' post='2780434'] You might be relieved to know they're amazingly expensive over here when you can get them. There was a supplier a while ago who had them up at £120 and wouldn't budge on price, looks like he sold them all too. You can buy import them for about £85 excluding duty etc, so after all fees you're looking at well over £100 for a single pickup which is a complete unknown. [/quote] Thank goodness for that!

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1432298179' post='2780157'] I remember this part of the process! Your thoughts and suggestions were a great part of the Thunder Jet build for me such a fun/interesting process to work out these evolving changes. [/quote] Which, ladies and gentlemen, is Bryan's very polite way of saying "Yes - and I knew MY idea would work too!"

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1432296151' post='2780120'] A much less scary (although more espensive) pickup option might have been the Lace USAB: [url="http://www.lacemusic.com/USAB.php"]http://www.lacemusic.com/USAB.php[/url] Was considering one for my Sinsonido (have a friend from the USA who visits here regularly) but they're too wide. [/quote] Ooooh - that looks interesting for any future super-slim projects..... .....what am I saying???? NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1432242652' post='2779721'] I'm loving that little fillet. Really works. [/quote] Thanks, Matt So the final strength worry was just how deep I was going to have to route the pickup slot. Think about it:[list] [*]the whole premise is that everything has to be bolted to the neck [*]it is the neck that connects the bridge to the tuners [*]and now I'm going to cut a bloody great slot through it, to fit a (theoretically) 1" deep EMG pickup into a 1" deep body [/list] The chosen pickup was the passive EMG 40HZ. I spoke to the nice people at EMG to find out EXACTLY how deep the pickup was, including the bottom-placed connector. I had also thought ahead ( yes, I know...yet another new skill for me...) and not carved the neck absolutely down to body level, but left a slight rise of a couple of mm. I judged that a gap between the strings and the top of the pickup of 2-3mm would be about right. If I'd got my measurements right, and with the pickup flat on the boards, it would leave 10mm of neck left. That's only 4mm thinner than most headstocks and it would be surrounded by body wood. I guessed that would be adequate. So the deed was done! : Yes....pretty scary if you didn't double check with calipers, but I did and, yes, there was 10mm of neck still there Now I could flatten the bridge base and temporarily fit it. Here again (always with bridge positions) was double check, triple check before committing the drill - a short drill hole...yes, you guessed it...normal bridge fixing screws would have poked through the back - these had to be checked and sorted for length. Here is the 'first fix' of the bridge. You can also see the hole that the Neutrik will fit in...even with the pyramid of cocobolo, this chamber is only 2mm short of breakthrough out of the back... But now it really was starting to look more like a bass and less like a potential pyre: So to the neck - this will be fitted specifically to Tom's ideal when he visits soon to pick up the bass - but I worked on getting a special volute carve at Tom's suggestion and a generic 'thick and chunky' profile that we will turn into the final shape when he has a chance to see how it feels to play. Tom's idea on the volute is quite a clever one...with a fretless, you clearly have a datum. However, that is affected by the bass's 'sit' on the strap and Tom will be using this bass with a number of others. It is also a slightly unconventional scale - 34.5". So, reasoned Tom, what if the volute was extended to form a thumb rest position? Actually, seemed a very good idea and quite easy to achieve. This is during the initial rough carving process: Again, the exact position of the thumb dip will be sorted during Tom's final fitting. Here's the generic neck carve: Incidentally, the nut width is the wider traditional 44mm - luckily Warwick do a brass Just-a-nut (my preferred nut for a fretless) in this width Then, before I could do the final carving of the volute, our thoughts needed to turn to headstocks....I'm away for a couple of days so it will be Sunday eve before that is revealed but even I'm excited by that bit and I know what's coming As a taster, let's just say it's the bit in the story where I put a number of suggestions that countered Tom's thoughts and Tom stuck to his guns and - inevitably - Tom's vision was absolutely spot on ...best headstock I've ever done... Thanks for looking Andy

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1432236714' post='2779638'] Very elegant solution! Looks good. [/quote] Thanks, blablas ! Very much appreciated

Do you remember the neck pocket that, as originally carved, was wider than the neck? Well, the intended cutaway curve at the bridge end of the fretboard gave me an idea. Rather than add an out-of-place fill-in fillet, how about continuing the curved lines seagull style? I did a rough carve in cocobolo, set it in and dry-fitted it to see if it would work: With a bit of luck, once it was sanded, it might even look like it was SUPPOSED to be there The cocobolo fretboard wood that Kirk at www.exotichardwoodsukltd.com sent me was lovely - but again, it was a pig to use. Putting a 12" radius with a radius block took for ever with the need to wire brush the waxiness off every 30 seconds or so. The finished result was worth it though: Next was gluing it to the neck. The carbon rods were put in place and trimmed, the truss rod was capped and tested...the cocobola was going to need to be epoxied on (yes - quite!) so no room for error: So nothing for it but to commit it to the epoxy... as the old adage goes again, 'you can't have too many clamps!!!!' Note also the addition of the two cocobolo strips either side of the headstock - needed for the width and matching the two strips running along the body either side of the neck. Once glued, I could start firming up the final position of the bridge, start looking at the pickup position options, and I could carve the fretboard curve. Ignore the epoxy splashes on the fretboard - those would come right off in the final post-messing-about micro-sand:

Very nice indeed

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1432217028' post='2779310'] A lesson in perseverance! Amazing work Andy [/quote] Thanks, Kert - means a lot

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1432217617' post='2779320'] looking good! I think the curve on the fretboard will really add something to the overall look, is the jack going to be front mounted? could it not be hidden on the back to keep with the smooth minimalist look of the front? some kind of angled cover/ socket? like a strat jack plate but inside out and made of wood., I know I've seen something similar on a guitar or bass but I can't find a picture of it. EDIT! I've just remembered where I've seen it, GUS guitars! Matt [/quote] Hi, Matt Yeah - considered that but then, depending how you play, they can sometimes get in the way and the lie, position and sit of the body in relation to the player was at that time unpredictable. The expectation was, because of the lack of body weight, the sit would be unconventional and the neck would probably dive dreadfully. We worked on the basis of 'if you've got (to have) it, then flaunt it!' I like the system, though...and GUS guitars are sublime Andy

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1432216160' post='2779294'] ahhh, brilliant! This is really coming along. This is infectious, though. I'm not even finished my current build and I'm designing my next one. [/quote] Yup - that's how I got into this mess in the first place

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1432219807' post='2779345'] Looks good Andy...how thick is that body blank? (I know you remove more than usual with this style of carve). It's one end of the spectrum to the other when you look at your other project that's on the go. Ian [/quote] Hi, Ian Yes - this one's about the size and weight of four housebricks put together at the moment It's 2" (c 50mm in new money) back to front. As you say, most of that, however, will be needed for the curve. The body cross-section will be as thin as I can get allowing for the depth of the electrics, probably 1.25" ish Andy

[quote name='Joebethell' timestamp='1432220072' post='2779348'] Looking very very nice. Could go for one like this myself. [/quote] Commissions always welcome...

The next challenge was the jack. Tom and I had already agreed that there wouldn't be any room for potentiometers, so the pickup (EMG 40HZ) would be wired directly to Tom's preferred locking Neutrik jack. The trouble was, that a jack was about twice as long as the body was deep! The only option would be to fix the Neutrik on a platform. I had some cocobolo left over so started with a spade drill to create the chamber for the neutrik to fit in: Once I'd drilled right through, I hand-carved a simple pyramid platform (tried a tear-drop shape too but that didn't look quite right and so this was the preferred one) I also cut the cocobolo fretboard to width so I could test out for sure that the bridge height - and thus the pickup height (of which more later) - was going to work. I also drew on the cocobolo a little feature stolen off the recent Cort Curbow project, the nice curved carve at the end of the fretboard, for Tom to consider: As always, thanks for your encouraging feedback and patience! Andy

Thanks for the kind comments, folks Decent bit of progress today - done the outside shape routing and cut the amazaque ready for straightening and laminating the neck. I flattened the top of the joined bubinga: Then stuck the routing template on with heavy duty double-sided tape: I use a top-bearing trimmer first: which gives me this below (note where the router tipped a little as I ran out of base-stability at the horn!): ...then the body is flipped over and a bottom bearing trimmer used, which now follows the line of the first rout: One outline-profiled body: I also cut some generously width'd lengths from a large piece of amazaque, mirror-orientated to minimise warping: Once I've glued the two pieces either side of the wenge centre-splice, I'll then plane the whole neck to size. As always, thanks for looking! Andy

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1432194837' post='2778982'] Amazing! I'm glad you managed to put some of that spare veneer to good use ;-) This is such a cool build, and finally explains why you've been keeping it under wraps all this time! [/quote] Yes - nice to have a bit of extra Thunder in the build

The roughed out neck could at last be glued to the body! It had a couple more clamps than this, but to be honest, it was such a good fit, that it just needed holding in position rather than forcing together. Because of the cocobolo gluing issue, this was again epoxy...in most 'normal' builds it would generally be Titebond I would use. Once in place and epoxy set, I got the chisels out to start the final carves down to the body level: It was now not going to fall to pieces and was actually starting to look like a bass!

Yup - the colour's got my vote

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1431969753' post='2776767'] Nice work, and nice documentation of the process. I still have no idea what's up with that neck heel though! Should be plenty strong as long as the screw's don't line up with air! (seeing the reverse of the original neck heel - that won't be an issue!) [/quote] I agree, PlungerModerno - can't see any logic to it. Then again, on the original, can't see any logic to the extra wide counterbore below either : The bushes are 12mm OD and 10mm ID, the spindles are 10mm right down to the mating surface, so why have the extra counterbore??? Who knows... With the string positions being in different places and the head being a slightly different shape, I checked the string runs. The original positions put the strings a tiny bit closer together than I would have liked, so I moved the positions 5mm further up to take advantage of the rising and falling curves of the headstock sides to gain another couple of mm of separation: Like always, then checked, double checked and triple checked before I started drilling. For tuner holes, I now ALWAYS use a stepped drill - much easier to control, much easier to keep perpendicular and much less likely to 'burst' the headstock than conventional drills. Does anyone else use these? Then job done Just got to do the final sand, final stain then varnish and this can be shipped back to Paul Andy

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1432118446' post='2778269'] yes, tell us more! [/quote] I will when I've finished dusting and polishing the patio...

Hi Rumple. That's a REALLY nice pick guard. With tortoiseshell, it has to be good to look right...this looks perfect!

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1432109817' post='2778136'] I am impressed that you are hoovering your patio as you go along, Mrs Vader would love me to do the same when I am breaking guitars in the garden. Awesome job by the way [/quote] Yes - clearly MrsAndyjr1515 is significantly more frightening than MrsVader. She certainly scares the life out of me...

Tom wanted a trussrod and also carbon rods for stability of the neck. As we were talking of the possibility of asymmetrical neck profile and also the extremes of temperature and humidity the bass is likely to be exposed to (it will be hopefully shortly going on tour in Africa!) it seemed a very good idea. My preference is to go for the simple rod and strip truss rods - less to go wrong. I routinely test them before fitting. The only thing that could fail is the weld, so I pop them in a slot, clamp them in a workbench and stress them way beyond normal usage. The other thing I try to do is to make them removable! I really don't understand why the main manufacturers don't do the same. With this particular design, the back of the truss rod does not widen as in some others: So to install - before applying the top cap, I simply overlap a strip of plumbers ptfe tape which does three things:[list] [*]keeps the glue off the rod [*]stops any rattles [*]eases the ability to slide the rod out in the future if needed [/list] To remove the rod, it then just needs a decent pair of needle-nosed pliers, grabbing the adjuster between the allen key hole and the o.d., sharp tug and out it should slide. Take new rod, wrap ptfe tape round and slide back in. Because the headstock has a facing plate on, this would need to slotted a little to allow the rod to pass and you might therefore need a longer truss rod cover after the operation - but nothing compared with the hassle of the alternative of removing the fretboard! Anyway, back to the build. A process of check, double check, double check the double check went on to determine a number of factors, sliding the body forwards and backwards on the neck and placing the actual bridge and a spare representative pickup in various positions Once the neck is in and glued, that's the end of it if anything is wrong. The checks were to determine:[list] [*]The correct position for the neck, bridge and pickup. Tom wanted a 34.5" scale, fretless and, to prevent neck dive as much as possible, I wanted the bridge to be as far back as possible, to be able to shorten the neck as much as possible. The combination of not much body mass and long scale made that quite an important factor [*]Whether the neck needed a dogleg slot to raise it at all. Once the bridge position lengthways was determined, I knew which bit of the wavy top the bridge was going to fit. This allowed me, placing the fretboard onto the neck, to place a straight-edge along the board to the bridge to see if the neck needed lowering or raising in its slot. [*]Whether the neck needed angling or not. [/list] A bit of luck was on my side here. No angle was needed and - if I'd got it right - once the body had been flattened to give the bridge a firm base, the fretboard height would be OK without the need to step or deepen the neck in the body area. The slots for the carbon rods were routed and the neck could now be rough shaped ready for gluing: It now could be glued in and the whole thing stabilised and less likely to form the basis of an unusual combination of smokes on the BBQ Andy

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1432067996' post='2777912'] I am loving this. I would love to have these skills. [/quote] It's more making it up as I go along actually, Owen Each step of this build has been preceded by a week or so just looking and thinking 'how on earth am I going to do this?!?' Often, the answer became easy simply by the elimination of all the other options!