Andyjr1515

And the fretboard's on - and no gaps The next job is filing the neck overhang flush with the board, and in the background, preparations are afoot to start on the neck profile

I fitted the trussrod, checked the flatness of the neck face, including the run off to the body and worked out my positioning datum points for the fretboard: I kept the offcut when I cut the curve of the heel on the neck blank- exceptionally useful when it comes to clamping because G clamps really only work when the faces are parallel... : And, using fretboard radius blocks as my clamping cauls, it is gluing as I type: And yes - that blue one is bending! They are useful because they are longer reach...but bendy clamps aren't a good thing to have. Looks like I know what's going to be on this year's birthday list

Just a wipe with a damp cloth. It's a very quick and easy way of seeing what colour it will be when the actual finish goes on

Yes - great transfers. Good colours, ultra thin and very reasonably priced

And to the carve. Again, in the background there is a fair bit of backwards and forwards PM'ing between me and @Matt P as the carve creeps up towards final. I don't know if other builders are the same, but the final carve contour emerges during the process. I would say, 'the wood talks to you' except most folks would assume I'd been on the whacky baccy. We'd got to this stage: But the walnut was singing like a siren at me. MrsAndyjr1515 helpfully tied me to a mast and threw buckets of salt water over me, but it was no good (other than she, hurtfully, seemed to enjoy the process) - I had to leap into the stormy waves and answer the call. Well, what I actually had to do was PM Matt. What about following the skewed oval... (top tip: school chalk should be handy at every builder's workbench) : ...and do this: Now, personally, I think that looks flippin' gorgeous AND it means I won't get a reminder from @TheGreek to do exactly that because, almost certainly, he will have been ahead of me - he has an eye for such things and I hope that he takes some pride in the fact that I do, sometimes, take notice

Gosh, that's gorgeous!

This is looking very good. Very rapid progress and accurate looking components. It's going to be another splendid build

Another discussion @Matt P have had is the best position for the Super Quad. I 'borrowed' this very useful photo off a Google Search (and many thanks to whoever originally posted it ) The actual distances, of course, have no relevance, but the proportion of the saddle to mid point of the pickups to the full scale does, to an extent. We've plumbed for the standard 'P' position which should sit in a decent vibration point pretty much all the way up the fret positions. Happily, that's also pretty much bang on where Matt's 'it looks right here' original sketch had it So it will be here: And THAT means I could then forstner, chisel and rout out the chamber for the pickup. Note the additional rout for the connector block to sit: And THAT means that tomorrow I can start the top and edges carve tomorrow and - if the day goes to plan - glue on the fretboard too

Close to Uttoxeter. 20 something miles from Cannock, @Sarah5string - easy run.

Top drawer. Beautiful

Ah - a Stanley 71 Router Plane ... now that's my kind of router

Lovely job. Spot on

Softly, softly catchee monkey... Creeping up on the back carve. I've checked once again all of the carve vs chamber depths and am fairly certain I'm safe from any unexpected breakthoughs Rough carve not quite finished but probably one more session will do it ready for scraping - and by then, the Superquad will be here and I can start on the top . As I predicted, the carve has morphed and I've added some extra modest waist carves which I think will suit the look :

Excellent

With the Superquad on its way, it's time to start the back carve. While there is a broad plan, this will 'morph' as the carve happens. First, I carved the back of the lower cutout, extending the sweep of the heel cutaway. Then I started scooping bulk out to take some more weight out and also provide a bit of 'too many biscuits' relief . It won't be a @TheGreek 'contact lens' symmetry at the back - I am preserving the depth of the control chamber until I can be sure the SimS multi-wire loom will fit without the need for a screwed back plate - but that same vibe. So out comes my beloved Veritas Pullshave : The pullshave is designed to scoop the shape of wooden chair seats...so after a hard gig, @Matt P will be able to flip the bass upside down on top a tripod and sit on it! Because I have actual chambers and potential chambers and fixing screws to accommodate, I'm doing this a bit at a time, with plenty of pauses, measurements and ponderings. This is where it's at so far: That would probably already sort the effect of too many custard creams - but I'll be aiming for a full jaffa cake depth When that's done, I'll then go back to the heel and reshape that. And by the time that's done, the SuperQuad will be here and I can start thinking about the top carve

And done. Hardly an invisible mend, but silky smooth to the touch, structurally sound and sounds great!

It's an exquisite bit of craftsmanship...

The other way, if the builder is working off a thicker blank is to take a thin slice off - over a few mm, the grain pattern wouldn't be that different - and that would then mean that the gap could be quite a bit tighter than mine. But it does mean having an industrial size and quality of band-saw.

That is a stunning bass....

For the scarfe repair, we've decided to flaunt it! So the fill is epoxy mixed with ebony dust: @Fishman is going for playability rather than aesthetics and wants to go for a sanded neck silky feel rather than the flattering effect of a couple of coats of gloss (a little bit of gloss hides lots of things ). So the objective is a smooth-to-touch-and-no-sticky feel. This is relatively easy to achieve because the old Washburn finish is, of course, rock hard and you do not start exposing uncured nitro as you sand through the outer skin (unlike some other makes where is can still be like it years later mentioning no names but Gibson please note! ). The challenge will be more about getting the transition at the headstock and heel looking OK. After a scrape-flush of the epoxy, a progression of fine wet and dry, followed by progressively finer scotchbright has got me here so far: Playability-wise, objective already met - it feels great! But just to finish off I want to get the heel and headstock transitions looking intentional and bring out the colour of the original out a touch more. You see better what I mean in this shot here: So I will spend a bit of time tomorrow continuing the same treatment up to a masked line at the heel and headstock joint, and also run through a number of grades of micro-web which will bring the depth of colour of the neck itself out without loosing the satin feel.

Oh...and 24th fret access - even to the bottom B - is a breeze

Yes it does, @Jakester , yes it does. And it's glued and it's trimmed and the cut out carve is started and it's dampened and the bridge isn't straight and there's a drop of water on the fretboard... ...but it IS starting to look like a bass

While I'm still not decided whether there will be any further major carving at the back, it always pays to know where the hidden chambers are and how deep they are. I simply take a paper template to keep in the file: And write the respective depths of those chambers: I also pre-drilled the bridge earth wire holes in the top and the matching one in the back - it's a lot easier (and less scary) than once it's fully assembled. Then, after a final 'have I forgotten anything important' pause, the top is now gluing. And no, you can't have too many clamps Very soon and it really IS going to start looking like a bass

And today was chamber day Weight relief top left; shallow weight relief top horn due to cutaway the other side; battery slot in control chamber; access from the Superquad chamber to the control chamber for the SimS 140-wire (or that's what it feels like) wiring loom and connector; no weight relief at the lower horn because we are going to have a deep cutaway cutaway there (a particularly nice feature on @Matt P's design); no weight relief in the central area to maximise the stiffness and density between the neck and bridge (although, of course, there will be an enormous Superquad chamber in the middle. This little lot... ...now weighs around 7.3lbs, so, adding Superquad, pots, tuners but less wood still to be carved, I think we are on target for 7.5lbs maximum, with some remaining options up my sleeve if I'm wrong Time to ponder and take and record measurements so I don't inadvertently carve into the chambers once they are hidden...but we're almost ready to get that top on!