Andyjr1515

And a bit more progress. This time it's all about getting ready for gluing the wings to the neck. The back will have maple binding. It's a lot easier to cut the slot for this before the sides are glued. I used the great Radius Dish UK's binding cutting jig - with an added high-tech mod (rubber band) of my own. Spent some time working out the neck and headstock angles and then cut the side profile on the band saw, including the curve at the back: Starting to look like a guitar:

Yes - like that

As above...

Yup - Manton are great too

And, in my view, Alan is the luthier's luthier

In our band, we tried all sorts of stick-on solutions for the guitars and basses and a number of them worked for a reasonable amount of time. However, eventually, all of them shifted or fell off and so I started replacing the side dots with luminlay ones and have since fitted them almost all of my new-builds. There are alternatives, and Luminlays aren't cheap for what they are, but I have always found them the easiest and neatest solution. You 'charge them up' before the gig with a UV torch, just a few seconds for each dot - they glow brightly for a few minutes and then dull down quite a lot. But in low light, they are visible for at least an hour (sometimes more). We used to give them another zap at the break. The good thing is that they make perfectly decent dots in daylight too. They are not difficult to fit, but it isn't really a DIY job unless you are handy with a drill and scalpel. You basically drill out the existing dot. Drill 3-4mm deep at the luminlay diameter (there are various sizes), pop a drop of CA onto the end of the luminlay 'stick' and push it firmly into the hole: Then cut off with a razor-saw or similar and clean flush with a single-edged razor or scalpel: They do larger diameters too for the top of the fretboard, but we found the side dots best for use and un-intrusiveness. I'll try to find a retro-fit photo if I can.

To be honest, neck pocket depth/angle is more to do with geometry than playability. Whether you are aiming for a zero neck angle or a positive neck angle, you need to make sure that the strings are going to end up within the adjustment range of the bridge you are planning to use, and with enough additional adjustment to be able to tweak the action to suit your playing style, etc.. I find the easiest way is to make a full size line drawing of the neck top, including fret height and planned action and the bridge height adjustment range. That will tell you what depth and/or angle it is going to need to be.

Bit more progress on this. Before adding the tops, I have a few jobs to do. One is cutting and binding the diamond f holes. I used a scrollsaw to rough cut them and made a little sharp-angled sanding block to get them straight: Then cut some maple binding strip to line them: Life is too short to feed stuff through the f holes, especially as this is going to have Jaguar-type sliding switches and so I will have a small access hatch at the back to be able to feed stuff in and hold in place while screws, etc, are being tightened: I thought I'd do something similar to the grain-matched hatch on Matt P's recent bass-build: I started by cutting the hatch out using a Dremel, precision base and 1mm bit: Then added a rebate at the back that will also hold the magnets: Finally, lined the hole with some maple veneer (I did the iron-on trick as I do when I veneer guitar and bass bodies, ie: coat both parts with PVA wood glue; let dry; position and iron on inch at a time; hold until cool and glue grabs): Finally, trimmed with a single-edged razor: There will also be a 1.5mm pinstripe between the wings and the neck so hopefully it will all visually tie up together

Wow! That really is top drawer, Jez

But I did, of course, play it before I passed it over, although not through a proper bass rig. Very promising indeed and quite different to any other I've used. But I better not spill the beans and spoil Matt's glory

The bass is back with Matt Marriott. I've got one of his 6 string electrics I'm doing some mods on - I'll use it as collateral to make sure he doesn't get too distracted on other things

With the neck timbers having arrived, they have now been joined up which means that most of the major structural components are ready for their respective further stages of work: There are a myriad of small jobs on each, plus a few big and scary ones! The first falls into the small jobs category - fitting the cutaway sides. One is gluing: While the other one is glued and the excess removed. At some stage, the bottom edge will be routed for some maple binding to be fitted. Now that will be scary...

I'm afraid some unavoidable family stuff has got in the way and I won't be able to get there. But I will be at the next one! Have a great one, folks. Andy

Yes - perfectly normal and yes, it's just the geometry. Generally, with a shallow radius and taper, it isn't enough to notice. You could even it out, by tapering the blank, but in my book that's in the 'too hard' territory and for dubious benefit! Looking good, btw

Yup - looking very good. Nice clean routing there, too!

Splendid job!

Good call. Should be fine

And so I'll be moving into a 'planning before doing' phase over the next couple of weeks - not least because there are some grandparenting duties looming which means 'moving all your mess out of the way' But there's a lot to get right and it is worth the pondering without the temptation of cutting or gluing something before I'm sure! This is where I'm at with the wings: The ebony is around 6mm thick and will have a subtle top carve, following the same sort of curve as the back, a couple of diamond 'f' holes and some weight relief scoops in the underneath. And some very careful routing for the switches. Switches? Yes - we're going Jaguar guitar switch system, back mounted. "And so I'll be moving into a 'planning before doing' phase over the next couple of weeks"

And some more wood has arrived. First I added some kerfed linings to stiffen things up: And then repeated everything described above to make the second back: And so, although there are many tasks to be done before I glue them, it was time to rough-cut the tops. I chalked the optimum (only) position for the tops using my modified mould as a guide: This was the longest/widest piece of ebony I could find - not much leeway in any direction! Now you can probably see why I need a visible through-neck And cut, oversize, sitting on the backs: Clearly, there will be the weight of the through neck length to add, but, with some overage and carvings still to take off, all 4 components - 2 tops and 2 backs - are sitting at 3 1/2lbs total. Not bad. A 'standard' solid body blank often gets up to 5lbs, so probably comparable even though it's a much larger body than standard

Bit more progress. First, I made a mod to my thickness callipers. They had flat pads and that made it pretty much impossible to check the thickness across the area of the back or sides because the slightest angle would open up the jaws and give a false reading. I had a rummage in my 'general bits' box and found these caps from some old mirror fixing screws: Out with the dremel to cut away the screw, in with the 30 minute epoxy and now the calipers work perfectly And to thinning the back and sides from the supplied 3.5mm to the planned final thickness of 1.9mm. I'm sure there are better ways but, in the absence of a sander thicknesser, this is the best way for me. My little block plane: Then, once it was within 0.1mm or so of the target, smoothed out with the Mirka: Next was bending the first side and end: And, after lots of checking, using the long reach clamps to force the back into the radius- dish shape to glue it and the similarly shaped braces. Finally a reinforcement block for the florentine and we have a self-supporting curved back and the basic components done waiting for some kerfed (slotted) internal linings and the ebony top And, as I'm waiting for the kerfed strip, no excuse, I suppose, for starting the whole process again for the other side

Hmmm...not sure how that would work. Because the string goes through the middle of the cylinder, wouldn't all the strings behind the ones closest to the nut clash with their cylinders? It would be fun trying though - but not on this build

I can't really remember from the last ones I fitted, but I don't think so...

Lovely job.

Yes - new nut, I reckon

And actually, just a teeny drop of superglue at that, like on a nut - remember that the force on them is downwards, so there's nothing that is trying to move them once the string tension's on them. Doesn't need a lot of CA to stop them dropping out or moving when you take the strings off. Then, in the unlikely event of changing string type, you can just tap loose any that need repositioning and adjust and reglue.