Andyjr1515

Certainly Sellotape and similar have a bit of a tint to start with and I don't think I would guarantee that wouldn't darken further. That's why, for the actual decal, I'll be using a reel of some ultraclear commercial tape I got hold of years and years ago. It's fancy stuff - glass-clear even as a full roll. I've recently seen a couple of the original decals where I used this method (I built pretty much all of our band's guitars and basses) and - must be getting on for 10 years later - they still look fine. But yes - some of the commercial decal papers are also OK nowadays, although you do have to be more careful with the first subsequent clear coat which can take the ink off. A spray dusting is the best way but, as I generally don't spray, it's a bit of a wasted can of clear. The nice thing about the tape method is that the ink is underneath the tape and not on top of it so you don't get that issue. ...but the main reason I use this method** is that it's such a cool and unexpected property of sticky tape and laser ink that it gives me a kick every time I try it! **and a reminder that in these threads I'm always happy to explain how I personally do stuff and why...but please NEVER assume that it's how it should be done!

And I've been promised the video by Matt this week! (it's taken a long, long, long, long time!)

Fascinating! The one thing I don't know (happily not relevant here because this was always going to be black) is whether the method works on a colour laser print. That said, there are a number of decent decal makers around nowadays.

Oh...and there is no technical reason whatsoever why maple shouldn't be used with it...

A pal of mine has a Cort Curbow that has a wenge neck and rosewood fretboard and...it's a lovely, lovely neck. Disadvantages: - it is a heavy wood...the wood database puts it at 54/44 compared with rock maple and 54/37 compared with mahogany - from a builder's point of view, it is a challenging wood (certainly out of my league) But that Curbow was the nicest neck I have EVER played. Beautiful to look at, smooth as silk and very rigid (which does indeed make a difference when it comes to sound ) And I played it a lot. The reason was that my mate liked the Curbow, he LOVED the neck...but he didn't like the luthite body (luthite is a man made material). And so he asked me to make him a walnut replacement body for it. This is it with the new walnut body - and the wenge neck:

All masked up, paint coat is on and first coat of clear varnish on top. I'll do a couple more clears and then a tinted coat, and finish with a couple more coats of clear before putting on the transfer - and then two or three more coats to seal and hide the transfer edges. And as for the transfer(s) themselves - I can't remember which genius it was who came up with this but how cool is this? This isn't the actual design I'll use but hopefully you will get the picture - You print any type or picture on a laser printer (note - has to be a laser. An ink jet printer doesn't work): Then cover the print with Sellotape (actually, for the actual one I will be using some ultra clear packing tape): Cut it out: Leave it to soak in water for a minute or so: Then rub the paper fully off the film: And one already sticky and re-peelable transfer ready to use:

OK - we have a plan We're going for clear-finished maple for the neck and headstock back and sides and a colour-matched headstock front. The top one of the sample stripes is probably getting pretty close: That's white primer with clear varnish mixed with b****r-all yellow dye. The ivory-looking sample at the bottom is the same but two times b****r-all yellow dye. Tiny amount more makes a big, big difference. As it is a painted finish, the logo will be decal - I have a cunning plan for making the decal. I shall reveal my method if it works... The neck is ready for final sanding and so one last check with the side-by-side profile check. This is how I checked: The observant of you will spot the reason for doing the double check - the profile here, just before the heel, was a teeny, weeny bit flatter. Tut tut! Fixed These were better: 1st 7th 12th So next job is luminlays, then final sand and then finishing while I muster up courage to fit the machine screw inserts

My thoughts would be that the whole neck and headstock would be natural maple, but I understand that amber has been used so often and for so long that the natural wood look is not to a lot of folks' taste.

No problem, Jack - I have the same stain as the back of the slimmed fretted and have also been experimenting with some white's I have here. If we go for tinted, the swifts can be inlaid in MoP or ebony. If it's paint, it will need to be a transfer, but that would be OK too

As luck would have it, my brother-in-law's 70+ year old tortoise has been looking a bit peaky for at least the past 20 years (like all of us older folk, he also has a tendency to drop off now and again...usually around November to February). I'll get the fret-saw ready just in case

Before I set the heel angle and depth, I have to level the fretboard. For a fretted neck, that is straightforward - you get a dead straight levelling beam with fine emery on one side and run it up and down the fret tops evenly across the width of the board. The fret filings tell you when the tops are all flat and even (or not yet in this example): But for a fretless, it's a bit more awkward. You still use a levelling sanding beam, but black dust on black makes it difficult to see if you are getting there. So I tend to use an old mechanics' 'Engineers Blue' trick, but with blackboard chalk. I cover the beam with chalk and run it from one side of the board to the other. Where you see chalk, there is a high spot: All I have to do is scrape or sand gently wherever the chalk is: This is repeated until the beam leaves an even layer of chalk over the whole surface. With the fretboard levelled, I strung it all up and then measured the string heights at the same places that I measured with the fretted neck: It was about 0.5mm lower than the fretted at the G string and 1.5mm lower at the B. I measured and drew an accurate pencil line round the bottom of the heel and used a jack plane with a very fine cut to bring the heel down and angled, checking frequently for flatness (using the chalk trick here too). And here it is - within a 10th of a mm of the string heights when fitted with the fretted neck. And it sounds great! A nice subtle touch of mwahh And so the geometry bit is now complete and so that just leaves the side dots, the probable conversion to inserts and machine screws and the aesthetic bit And here I have a thought I'm going to pm @Happy Jack with. This is the colour maple goes with finish but without the ubiquitous amber stain: And AJR's moniker swifts don't have to be mother of pearl. In the past he's done them in ebony too: Just saying...

It's going to look greater!

I won't be doing the actual graphic - it's not a Lull neck - but actually, it's not something we've discussed. I'll have a think and maybe put forward some suggestions.

Decent progress today. It's safer to start from scratch in terms of the tuner positioning to ensure that the string runs from the nut to the tuners are going to be straight. After doing the geometry, always a good idea to physically position the tuners to make sure that is 'looks right' and also that nothing is going to clash between each unit: Then - to replicate the recess that Lull put in for the tuner washers, that's the first size of Forstner bit to use: Then simply line up the central prong of the smaller bit to drill the through-holes: Also, the first rough cut for the fretboard ebony extension to at least give me initial string clearance for my first trial fit of the neck: And this allowed me to fit the Licenced tuners: And finally, a slice off the heel to get it to broadly the right thickness. I was pleased with the accuracy of the cut as, for hard maple, this is at about the limit for my hobby-grade bandsaw: And taking that slice off allowed me to - in made-to-measure suit terminology - do the 'first fit'. It's actually pretty close for a first fit Tomorrow I will cut the nut (more of a spacer than a full nut on a fretless - the slots will take the strings to within a gnat's of the surface of the fretboard) and then I can bring the strings to tension and see how much I need to tweak the angle of the heel so that the action is correct under tension whichever neck is on without having to adjust the saddle heights (even though, as discussed earlier, the intonation probably will need to be tweaked due to the different strings that will be fitted).

Christmas/family stuff all sorted and so it's back to the important stuff So that Jack doesn't have to keep changing the tuners round, we agreed that I should get a set of tuners for the fretless neck. Problem is that - like most things guitar/bass build related - the prices of stuff is going through the roof. The Hipshot Ultralites fitted to the Lull are now £40 EACH! That's £200 just for the tuners!!! Happily, Hipshot have started allowing 'Licensed' tuners to be sold - and even happier is that Bass Direct have quite a few models in stock...and they arrived today. Hipshot USA at the back, Hipshot Licenced at the front: The licenced ones are about 10% heavier (still very light) but 60% cheaper. And very nicely made. That'll do. And so there's not much stopping me from getting on and finishing this...

It's going to look great

I like the fit of that top Happy Christmas, by the way !

No, the board was plenty long enough. Unless you go for a zero fret, then the board has to be either slotted to fit the nut, or split there, assuming an extension beyond the nut is required. In this instance, it was easier and neater to split it

Done that now (twice) and even more fascinated! That was me It was a neck repair/mod and rebody for @Fishman 's Pro 1e neck/plate and pickup. The thread is here: https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/443139-finished-a-very-special-save It's a bit of a tortuous thread (all of mine are ) so you will be relieved to know that the bit where I take the fretboard off is on the first page And yes - all components (including the player's finger-end hardness) make a contribution to the sound, but the lion's share on a Wal is, in my own experience, influenced by the pickup(s) and EQ. I'm loving this thread

Well, the basic carve is done, ready for final sanding: This is why I like the cabinet scraper - you wouldn't think that this hasn't been sanded at all yet. And so in terms of what's been progressed: The headstock is now at finished thickness - a really nice bit of maple, this. The heel is still presently deeper than the fretted neck, but the neck depth from the spine to the top of the fretboard is now the same, as is the overhang: A volute on a P Bass?? Heresy! (But @SpondonBassed might want to treat it as a Christmas present ) And an offcut of the radiussed fretboard is ready to be cut-and-carved and then added the other side of the nut: I don't know how much extra will be done before family duties for Christmas start taking over, but the next jobs will include cutting the nut/fitting the fretboard extension and drilling the tuner holes so that I can temporarily fit them to allow me to cut the heel to the final depth and angle.

True. It's also a doddle to achieve straight string runs whatever shape you want the headstock to be

Thanks They are Steinbergers and were designed as a replacement for the banjo tuners that were fitted to the original Gibson Firebirds, etc.. They are - even though at one point they were fitted as standard to the low cost Epiphone versions of the Firebird - the best guitar tuners I've ever used. Exceptionally easy to restring, fully locking and really nice and controllable tuning. They went off the accessories market for a while but are now available again through Stewmac (although like hen's teeth in Covid times). This was a set that I fitted to our band's bassist's genuine 1964 fake Firebird: The top T shape is actually the string clamp and the tuning knobs actually raise and lower the cylinder it sits on into and out of the tuner body. To string up, you: - turn the tuner until the cylinder is fully extended. The exposes the string hole drilled through the cylinder. - attach the ball end of the string to the tailstock and thread the string though the hole - pull it tight - clamp it - turn the tuning knob to draw the cylinder/clamp unit into the tuner body - this tautens the string up to pitch A complete re-think of a tuner

No - grows very well but no flowers

Dark or not - that's flippin' gorgeous

There's still stuff to do, but visually this is pretty much there so I'll do the 'finished shots' Photographing this, with or without total cloud cover, is...er...challenging. Anyway, here's a few arty ones: And two or three in the great outdoors: