Andyjr1515

Mind you, topical if you add 'ket' into the middle of the last banner...

Mind you, Richard - you've seen some of my other threads...there's never anything resembling normality in there!

You are quite right! 2lbs 8 3/4oz ... and falling

Other than the heel, which I will shape once I have the screw holes drilled, I think the basic carve is done: I can feel a happy weekend of sanding coming on! Oh Joy

And so...probably around 50% through the final carve stage, which is mainly about rounding the sides and other sharp edge areas and scooping out some of the waist areas at the back. 2lbs 9 oz and falling. I will be routing a standard magnet-held-cover control chamber that will take out a decent amount more wood and should start getting close to my target weight. Pretty soon I will fit the drill holes in the neck pocket that will allow me to temporarily fit the neck and do a bit of air-bassing to see if there are any sticky out bits at the back that need shaving off. Oh - and the paint has arrived

And once the pullshave work is done, it's down to the humble gooseneck scraper: And then the sander, just to sand down to the bottom level of any tearouts, etc, so that I know where I'm starting from with the final carve. After that initial sanding it's looking like this: The heel chamber is still at least an inch too long - that extra length has given me a decent area to use when securing with bench dogs and clamps for those initial carving steps. Soon that will be cut to length but, first, a quick check to see if everything is still in the right place: Next steps are to decide on the rounding of the sides and whether I can do something clever with the control chamber. Body above is 2lbs 11oz...and still dropping

Almost there in terms of the rough thickness-carve: Weight down to 2lbs 14oz and falling

And so to the back carve. This is basically what I will be scooping out: Normal thing with my builds: "most (sensible) builders do this sort of thing completely differently..." What most builders would do is hog out the bulk with a router - effectively cutting stepped contour lines - and then finish off with chisels, scrapers, etc. But I use one of these: It's a Veritas Pullshave. I think that it is designed to scoop out the seats for wooden chairs - but it's ideal for this kind of thing. Slow and hard work - but slow means plenty of time to think about the thicknesses and curves as you are going along, and putting my back into more hard work is what my GP and MrsAndyjr1515 generally urge, albeit for quite different reasons I'll do the carve over a couple of days - I'm actually designing some aspects of the build as I go along and it also means not pushing my luck with the arthritis. I start with lengthways removal, as above and then move onto cross-grain or angled to help form the shape evenly. The base of the pullshave is a compound curve and so I can create a curved carve in either direction: Today's workout has got me maybe a third to half the way there:

Excellent!

I'd be lost without this one. The standard 'short' bits are just too long for many of the chambers and operations we have in guitars and basses...especially if you have a strong aversion to templates (which I do! )

It's this one: From here: https://www.axminstertools.com/axcaliber-milling-cutter-with-top-bearing-952561?queryID=fbe6f27bc41ad8855bf0416d58540516

Hi @JPJ It's a diddy one from Axminster - I'll have a peep and see if I can find the actual one on their website

A further 20 minutes with my block plane and this is probably OK for rough shaping of the top at the moment: And so next is the initial scooping of the underside from where I will have a better idea of the final dimensions and weight. But before that, I'm going to have a ponder about some options relating to the control chamber that might influence the sequence in which I do the various steps

First step is to cut a plasticard template from the full size drawing I did: Then, with a few pencil marks to stop me going too far, too fast, out comes the plane to take away some of the bulk: While, as far as paulownia goes, this isn't overly soft, it planes pretty easily. Pretty soon, I get to here: Bit further to go, but time to move to the block plane so that I don't overdo it:

And no pressure applied anywhere? Just touching it? Hopefully some clever Basschatter can suggest why this would be and maybe even what could be done to make this the norm...

Same basic process for the pickup chamber as with the neck pocket. I generally aim for 1mm clearance around pickups to allow space not only for the up and down, but also - especially with soap bars - the ability to tilt the pickup a touch to balance the volumes of the bass strings and trebles. I start off by drilling the corners with a drill at 1mm greater radius than the corners of the pickups: Then a Forstner, to hog out the bulk Then take out the resulting 'waves' with a sharp chisel and mallet, creating a depth of 5mm or so dead on the original pencil line - this will then act as the datum for the top bearing bit on the hand router...and because it is already extended into the chamber, there is no possibility of it cutting beyond that chiselled line: And just continue deepening the cut until I have the depth for the full pickup and plug-in connectors: And so - unless I can think of any more excuses not to get on with it - the top carve can begin

Using the Fluence pickup positioning that Fishman used for Mike Inez's 'Moon Bass' special, puts the pickup here, scaled up for the 35" scale: And that looks about right to me - I haven't measured it, but I reckon the centre line is probably the same as a Stingray and, like the Stingray, should be able to allow the built in EQ sweep to achieve sufficient treble when needed without sacrificing pure bass 'thump'. So todays task is to cut that chamber and, time allowing, start the top carve.

Hmmm....that sounds important. What happens to the louder strings?

On a bolt on neck, the neck pocket is pretty much the datum for everything else. So, after one further check that I have the bridge in the correct potential position, the next step is cutting the neck pocket. The only router operation I trust is one that is totally captive with a bearing bit involved - and so I personally always start these types of chamber with a Forstner bit and some chisels. It's generally not the way other builders do it but it works for me: Then a trial fit of the chiselled outline: And, that all good, a top bearing router bit that uses my chiselled outline as the guide. This may be a mm or so higher than final depth - I'll check that once the bridge is fitted when I can again use the captive router bit. I will then also cut the pocket to length (the extra length at the moment gives me support for the router base if I need to use it any more): Next will be a similar process to create the pickup chamber, and then the carve can begin

Very nice. Some lovely details...

Indeed...we're on the final knockings

Nor me, to be honest

Definitely a time for 'measure 14 times, cut once' I've positioned the low B saddle as far back as I can while accommodating 'normal' silks (around 1") leaving @Happy Jack the option for through or top stringing, and then wound the middle saddle to a typical 'G' string intonation position to measure the scale from...and remembering that it is a 35" scale: I've marked both the bridge lengthways position and the very back of the neck heel and will then take it apart, reposition to the pencil marks and measure nut to furthest forward saddle...just to make sure it still says 35" ! Not that I ever get such things wrong, of course!

And here is the Big Bu**er Got it from Northwest Guitars. Very nicely made, solid brass for the desired weight (it comes in at 13oz, which is the sort of weight I was after), top load or through-string, adjustable string spacing, generous intonation adjustment...and half the price of a Hipshot (that wouldn't be heavy enough anyway). What's not to like? And with this now in hand (it's always better working with the actual hardware rather than just the tech drawing) I can position the bridge on the body blank and determine the exact positioning of the heel end to then drill/chisel/rout the neck pocket and position and do the same for the pickup chamber...which will be my next tasks

I'm still coming...I think it is quite likely that I won't be facing the same difficult choice