Andyjr1515

Well, they do say the the only good router's a captive router

And yes, the hatch all-in-all has probably taken more time than the neck carve did...but it is, nevertheless, probably the best hatch I've done to date . Now complete with the all-essential fingernail cutaway: Trussrod cover and jack plate next

Because it is going to be important that the purfling is fit well round the rebate, I've decided to use the 'iron on' method I use for veneer and bindings. This is what I will use: A thin coat of PVA round the rebate, a thin coat round the outside of the bent purfling, then let it dry. Then use the travel iron to 'weld' the two pieces together, a few cm at a time and then holding it tightly into the recess while it cools: Then a trim of the excess with a single edged razor and we basically have the binding fitted other than a coat of tru-oil to blend it in: The hatch needs a bit more sanding for smooth edges and a to give a bit more clearance and also I need to create a fingernail recess so that Matt can get it off once the magnets are in (the hatch here is sitting a bit proud because it's tight and I don't want it to get stuck!), but this is broadly the idea :

That pickguard is just right! It's looking splendid

I agree. It adds a major touch of class

And out comes the acoustic guitar sides bending iron. Note the positioning of the waste bin - it saves time when you are throwing all the snapped ones away But it's a lot easier bending purfling than acoustic side sets ... I reckon this is going to work OK. I'll tidy up the sides of the rebate to get smooth continuous curves so there are going to be no gaps and then get it trimmed to length and glued.

Strictly speaking - and important if you are discussing with other luthiers - it's a "purpleheart-stringers-bound-between-oak-and-maple" joint Also known as ein "lilaHerz Stringer zwischen Eiche und Ahorn gebunden" gelenk in Germany, @Si600 ?

So what I will have a go at is bending this type of b/w/b purfling (generally used for detail features on acoustic edge binding and rosette holes) to go all the way round the edge of the recess. This should give a passing nod to the same b/w/b of the fretboard/neck demarcation line: It will need bending over my acoustic side bending iron first. While I'm fiddling with that, I'll carry on doing the final sand and putting the additional tru-oil coats on the hatch itself.

For the rebate that the magnets will fit into, I've cut a couple of pieces of the offcut from the walnut top: Not the prettiest, but it should be functional (and it's hidden ) I have a decision on whether to add a binding to close the gap a touch, but this is basically how the grain will match so I am glad I did it this way: Tomorrow will be the trussrod cover

For levelling, these are the main things I use. First I adjust the truss rod (it works!) to flatten the neck and then use the Crimson rocker (you can use a snipped credit card but I find this durable and better in avoiding mis-readings) at 4 points along each triplet of frets and note the high spots for each of the frets up the board. The levelling beam is just a length of aluminium box section with emery cloth stuck to one side. It acts as my straight edge as well as sanding beam. It's always gratifying when the sanding beam filings correspond with the previously measured high spots! I then use the two diamond sharpening stones for more localised work - if you have one or two particularly high high-spots, you can end up inadvertently sanding frets that don't need it while you are taking down those particular high spots. It's better to file the high spot down and then level out the minor variances. Double checked with the rocker and next job is recrowning the tops of the frets that have been affected.

And I think the finish for the body and neck may be there. Still got to do the headstock plate but that is a straightforward job. What I'm trying to do is achieve a 'light gloss' with the tru-oil. That is, enough thickness to get the figuring really popping but letting it sink in some of the grain to retain the organic feel of the wood. On the neck, a classic Tru-oil slurry and buff silky satin. Here's where I've got to:

Tang slots filled and fret ends rounded. Just the levelling, recrowning, polishing and final tidying up left to do

Bet you all thought I'd forgotten about this! Next job is filling the tang slots and any remaining gaps between the fret-ends and the board edge. I use Z-poxy mixed with rosewood sanding dust. The epoxy is squeezed into the end slot and then overfilled to allow for any sinkage. Should look and feel OK once it's sanded flush and clean of the wood: After this, it's just a case of levelling, recrowning and polishing the frets and it can be shipped back to Andy. Should be all done by the end of this week

All looking good from here

The reason I do such detailed build threads is so I don't forget on the present build what I forgot on the previous build

Our opinions matter not a jot. But if you were to ask, I think the one with the stripe is quite, quite special

The second shot is in direct sunlight but yes - it's like a tigers eye semi-precious stone

Yes - little by little it's getting there

There are now enough coats of hardened oil to be able to do a light flattening. I use 2000grit with plenty of water on the paper and regular spray downs to prevent the sandings clogging the paper: This gets rid of any specks, bubbles, minor dips and also prevents the build up of application ripples in the surface while sanding only the oil and getting nowhere near the wood underneath. That done, I pop it onto a wiped down shoe box to get it away from any dusty surfaces, wipe it down with a clean microfibre cloth (I use the ones they sell for cleaning windows with), open a new bottle of tru-oil so I know there is no dust contamination and apply the first of the finish coats wiping it on with a clean lint-free soft cloth. This process may happen three or four times until I get a coat that looks right...and then I STOP

It took me a while, but I worked it out in the end

Magnificent!

Lovely!

For the top, I've done a number of re-sand, re-slurryandbuffs as I've found sanding scratches, etc, and now this is the second 'build-up' coat. The process I will then use will be a bit like I do when I slurry and buff stained wood with tru-oil - I build up enough coats to be able to slurry the tru-oil itself, but not deep enough to reach the wood. That will give me a super-smooth satin base layer and then I will wipe on a couple of final finish coats to add back the shine. So I reckon another three undercoats, with a full day's drying in between, and then I'll do a slurry coat, followed by a couple of very light wiped coats. In between that I will be doing the slurry and buff coats for the neck to give me that silky-smooth organic feel. The fretboard won't be finished until the frets have been levelled, re-crowned and polished.

Only just caught up with this. FABULOUS paint job!

Ah - the old 'Razzle Dazzle' camouflage trick: Look into my eyes Have you ever seen a bass as beautiful as this? No you haven't. No You haven't.