Andyjr1515

Next, the spacer. Because it has a zero fret, this is needed simply to ensure the strings are positioned and spaced properly at the nut. @fleabag had supplied me with a Graphtec blank which was cut, radiused, grooved and a drop-away filed to maintain the break angle : The grooves actually line up with my original pencil markings, which is a total surprise pleasing Another one off the to-do list

Probably time to change the subject Trussrod cover magnets in/on : Check is complete for full allen key movement and withdrawal: So that's another item off the To Do list

And so there goes my last stick of Luminlay: Farewell, sweet Luminlay - I hope he treats you gently Very sad... ...but, heck, it's another one crossed off the To Do list!

Ready to be squared up and then have the final two outers added:

While the epoxy on @fleabag's neck is curing and the wood cutting equipment is still out, a great opportunity to make a proper start on this neck. There's a lot of careful measuring and re-measuring involved in this kind of thing. This is the headstock shape that @funkle has asked for on the maple blank: Because of the angle the headstock needs to sit at to give straight string runs to the tuners, even a relatively slim shape like this takes up a fair bit of real-estate. Given that there will be 8mm of mahogany splices added in, though, it looks fine at first glance. But there are lots of buts: - the 'straight edge' of the blank actually is cut on an angle which will need squaring up - each splice that is cut needs to be squared and planed to the correct size and for a dead flat glue surface - each stage of the the splices being glued together needs a check for squareness to avoid cumulative tolerance 'drift' - each cut loses around 1mm from the saw blade kerf width And each of those stages involves taking wood shavings off. It's very easy to lose more than 8mm! So check, recheck and check again is the name of the game To square up the top edge of the blank, I used the router table. The far side of the fence has a spacer bar fitted so that it is a mm proud of the nearside. The router bit is set to take a mm off and so the timber is supported by the fence before and after the cut. Result is a dead square and dead straight length Now I have a square straight edge, the centre section can be cut from the blank: The blank is a beautiful piece of flawless quarter-sawn and very straight maple. But as soon as that 22mm wide strip was cut, it already took on a teeny bow. So that's why Wal make the centre a two-piece! Yes - the rest of the laminations will more than hold it all straight...but if you don't have to have that extra modicum of stress in the wood, then why have it. So after a lot more measuring - because this would mean one more cut with more width lost - I sliced it down the middle, flipped on side over, squared it all up and glued it together, bow against bow. So yes - we are going for a 6 part neck, following Wal's method and, probably, for the same reason And here we have the centre 4 of the 6 splices (the two centre maple and a mahogany either side) gluing under the pressure of G clamps, two hefty bench clamps and as many sturdy clamping cauls as I could fit in the space:

Yup - happy with that: So left to do: - Tuner holes - Side Luminlays - Fret level and recrown - Final sand - Fiebings stain **post post - trussrod cover magnets - nut/spacer cut and groove

Yes - I know. This is like watching paint dry - or more accurately, like watching epoxy set.... So, for those who aren't comatose from boredom, the heel is slotted, the overhang has been epoxied to the ebony back plate, and the whole assembly, including fret 22, is now being epoxied to the neck, with the cling film in the pocket to prevent the whole thing being epoxied to the test body: If this all works, it will be a minor miracle - I'll know in the next hour But if it does work, we're almost there...which, trust me, will be a blessed relief to all of us

How about combining the two - veneer AND distasteful colour scheme:

If it wasn't for the bridge, that would be quite a viable alternative, running at a 6/10 difficulty level. The bridge puts it up to around a 18/10 difficulty Know any any artists, @Maude ? With a coloured trans finish, well applied inked grain put on before the colour could be made to look like any other grain...

Looks splendid!

And so this is broadly what I have in mind (this is a mockup - as the neck is going to be black, the shelf will probably be ebony rather than the maple shown here): I will be cutting a short saw slot into the neck heel for the base plate to slide into and be glued. The overhang will be, in turn, glued to that and then the fret popped back into its slot. When the neck is fitted, the plate will remain dry fitted to the body but should fully fill the gap under the overhang. When the neck is removed, the plate should add some strength and support to the overhang which would otherwise only be held on by a mm of richlite.

Excellent - no gaps

Perfect - thanks

It's a quick check of the depth of the A or D saddle from the bottom of the roller groove to the back when the saddle is fully lowered Thanks

There's nothing more frustrating than a truss rod slot not long enough for a standard allen key - so best to measure it first. The spacer is a graphtec piece that will be cut to make the string spacer later on: Then out comes the jewellers saw - one shot to get it right so that it will be a gap-free fit when the magnets are fitted: And even for a headstock plate, you can never have too many clamps!

The fine-tuning takes a little longer, but the basic rough carve can be surprisingly quick. That's why moving to lighter cut methods sooner rather than later is quite important...it is very easy to cut too deep with, say, a spokeshave

The neck profile carve is now finished and ready for final sanding. But wait a minute? What's happened to the overhang?? Don't panic - I've temporarily (and intentionally) removed it. The reason is that because presently there is no neck or body to support it, the 22nd fret pushes the gap and curves the overhang towards the body. And when you are fitting the heel...or when you are attaching the plate that will be fitted under the overhang to fill the gap, the chances are that either the neck heel fit in the pocket will be compromised because the overhang is fouling the body, or that the strain on the overhang will snap it off in an uncontrolled manner. Better to take it off in advance and stay in control. So the neck will be: - temp fitted to the trial body and the heel adjusted (if necessary) to give the right adjustment at the bridge - the fill in plate under the overhang will be fitted to the neck - the overhang will fitted to the plate - the fret will be re-fitted to the overhang What could possibly go wrong? So next job is the heel. My donor body is, theoretically, identical in the key dimensions as @fleabag's and I have the dimensions of the bridge and the all-critical saddle height ranges. To check the present theoretical action height of fret line to the saddle position, I fit the neck firmly in the pocket and lay a carbon rod along the top of the frets. I've popped the loose overhang piece on also to see how thick an underplate I am likely to need: At the saddle position, this is currently just under 11mm. Hmmm...might be about right even without the use of the optional spacer available on the 3D. I'll get @fleabag to do some calliper double checks on the physical bridge but in the meantime move onto the headstock plate. Oh - and the Fiebings dye has arrived - I'll also be doing some trials on the maple off-cut

The towel-rub sanding next. Two handed side to side. That's getting pretty close. Probably a bit more off the haunches near the heel but the rest of it looks OK: And the clamps did their stuff - a completely gap-free join for the fretboard (phew ) :

Lovely job! That oak fretboard with the blocks looks an absolute treat

And so, probably 2/3rds there and ready to go to the final shaping stage - towel-rub sanding Here it is so far: Before: After:

Working on the builders adage of "it's easy enough to remove wood but it's f******g (******=lippin ) difficult to put it back!" the hand carving of a neck is very much a case of creeping up to the final shape. So pretty early on I move off the spokeshave onto a medium razor plane blade, which I use two-handed like a pullshave: ...and quite quickly to the even subtler card scraper. Note that a card scraper is designed to act as a plane. You know you are doing it right when you get proper shavings and not dust: So I reckon this is heading towards half-way there: At the thin end, it's getting pretty close to the planned circular arc: But further down the neck, it gets progressively flat-topped: These are the 'haunches' that still have to be removed. And it is these haunches that makes a neck feel chunky much more than the actual depth of a neck: So still a decent amount of timber to be removed sliver by sliver - but, all being well, the basic carve should be finished before the end of the day

Working on the builders adage of "it's easy enough to remove wood but it's f*******g (*******=lippin ) difficult to put it back!" the hand carving of a neck is very much a case of creeping up to the final shape. So pretty early on I move off the spokeshave onto a medium razor plane blade, which I use two-handed like a pullshave: ...and quite quickly to the even subtler card scraper. Note that a card scraper is designed to act as a plane. You know you are doing it right when you get proper shavings and not dust: So I reckon this is heading towards half-way there: At the thin end, it's getting pretty close to the planned circular arc: But further down the neck, it gets progressively flat-topped: These are the 'haunches' that still have to be removed. And it is these haunches that makes a neck feel chunky much more than the actual depth of a neck: So still a decent amount of timber to be removed sliver by sliver - but, all being well, the basic carve should be finished before the end of the day

Next jobs will be the neck carve and headstock plate. Neck profile will be a pretty much standard 'C' shape. I will rough it out with some templates and then fine-tune it by feel - plenty of air-bass coming up For the headstock plate, I'm going to do an inset/flush truss rod cover in the same ilk as my recent ebony 6-string electric build, where the cover is fine-saw cut from the blank itself. It creates a really neat and clean looking solution: And this morning, we have shavings! Most builders will tell you that the most satisfying part of a guitar or bass build is carving the neck. Trouble is, it's usually over the quickest too! I use a variety of tools. First, I take the corners off the volute with a block plane: And that lets the spokeshave, that comes next, to take full-length sweeps from heel to headstock to rough out the shape. The spine is pencil marked as all of the carving will be up to this point to preserve the planned neck depth: And that gets a rough oversize shape ready for the micro plane that will take less material away at a time and allow me to guard against going too far at any one stroke - which is easy to do with a spokeshave...this is after less than 15 minutes spokeshaving! :

What neck?

OK - ref the neck, small beginnings...but beginnings nevertheless. A brief opportunity has been provided by the long set epoxy I used on @fleabag's neck build having its proper time to cure For the Wal-ish one, we have the maple, we have the mahogany and, with great thanks to @Fishman, we have a genuine Wal rosewood fretboard @funkle measured the mahogany laminates on the Wal he has been using in this project at 4.71mm thick. I don't have a sander-thicknesser, which is what the proper builders would use, but the makita planer-thicknesser is actually pretty accurate And that blank is wide enough to be cut in two to ensure absolute match: And so there we go. Started