Andyjr1515

Magnificent, @Chopthebass

And it's pretty much finished. Got to do the set-up and final polish before Rog picks it up on Saturday but, as the weather is going to go off, I'll catch the light of this afternoon to take a couple of fully assembled shots. So this is where we began: And this is where we've got to: And, for good measure, this is that it looks like from the back: As always, thanks for your interest and encouragement along the way

I can't remember what the conclusion was in terms of whether the rod is sitting proud of the neck and the fretboard needing a notch all the way down. If it is at all proud, you would have an issue with the nut which would need notching too and that would probably weaken it. On the other hand, if the rod is flush with the neck then most of the rod would be acting on the fretboard and, personally, I can't see why it wouldn't work perfectly well, albeit the need to lengthen the headstock access slot and the resulting need for a very long trussrod cover. By the way - I am intrigued why the headstock has spontaneously cracked like that. There is nothing that you could have done, as far as I can see, that would have caused that to happen and so it must have been a weakness to start with. I am guessing that by the fact that the truss-rod had originally run out of adjustment to the point where it actually broke, that maybe there had been unusually high pressure from the original truss rod on, what is, the weakest part of the neck under the nut/1st fret area. It is a massive learning opportunity for you, regardless of the outcome...

Oooooh….I should have read further down the thread! Apols

My diagram had the nut position range relative to the end of the adjuster, not the end of the bar itself, @stewblack - so I agree with @Jabba_the_gut that the rod is too long to use satisfactorily As placed, it looks about 20mm too long but, because you want to have an endstop to prevent the rod pushing right through, it is probably more like 25mm-30mm too long. While it's a pain having to buy a different rod, it will be a lot easier to find a trussrod the right length than try to mod stuff to make this one fit.

Just checked Rog's Status body ref the ongoing veneer thread - it's solid walnut and the total body thickness is 35mm. There's 13mm of wood under the neck pocket if that info helps

Looking good! My ultra slim builds were all neck-thru but yes, 25mm (in fact, Tom's African bass was sub 25mm). But with a bolt on, it starts getting challenging at much below 35mm. 40mm certainly should be fine, though. On a more general note, the thinner you go, the more you need to double check the hardware, pots &switches you are intending to fit - push-pull pots and some toggle and lever switches can be very deep!

Is it threaded on the inside? If so, you could screw a bolt from the inside fully home, then use two spanners in opposite directions?

I'm pretty sure that will be tickety-boo

Watching with great interest - and whether you use veneer or not As a guide, veneer is generally 0.6mm thick, so would add around 1.2mm to the diameter of the drum.

It's probably perfectly fine, @donslow If it is a modern two-way rod, it is probable that it will have been laid in the slot with an end stop at the heel end before the capping strip and/or fretboard has been fitted. Usually, the rod will be tight enough in the slot to stay where it is but the rod is never glued in. Some builders pop a couple of spots of flexible filler in a couple of places to stop the possibility of it rattling, but it won't rattle once it is tensioned so many don't. So - it depends on the rod and the slot - in many cases an un-tensioned rod could theoretically move. And yes - if it does, you can just move it back until the other end hits the end stop. I have built a few necks, on specific request, where folks actually want the ability to pull the rod right out for replacement. All you have to do is basically build it without a headstock plate and have a longer trussrod cover and then grab the adjuster with some needle-nose pliers and pull! In fact, weren't the early Warwicks done like that? Anyway - it will have done no harm and you were right to just tap it back

For those of you who looked at the recent SG-style thread, you will know that, for gloss, I brush on good old-fashioned Ronseal Hardglaze. The process is, on the one hand, straightforward but, on the other hand, quite heavy on the necessary tips and tricks. And one of those is that when a coat looks right - STOP! There are many times where I've got to something pretty OK and then thought, 'well, just one more coat' and the next coat has a ripple in it, or a missed bit, or a dust buggy, or the varnish inexplicably ripples, or etc etc. The result of this is that you then have to re-flatten and try again. The STOP! coat is one coat before that And sometimes it's after just 1full finish coat and sometimes it's after 8 . And I think I've got to STOP! for the top at the first finish coat. That means that I will then leave it for a week and finish with a light polish (you don't buff this type of varnish). The back and sides are easier and are also probably only one coat away, so the finishing should be basically done waiting for its hardening time by the end of the weekend. By mid next week, I will be able to reassemble, by end of next week final polish and - all going well - Rog picks it up a week tomorrow Rog has already stopped following the thread (the next time he sees it, he wants to see it for real), and I won't post any more progress shots until it's reassembled towards the end of next week. As always, thanks for the encouragement and feedback - and see you next week!

No idea - they all look good. But - wow again for that spalt!!! Looking forward to seeing how this fares

For what it's worth, for a modern 2-way rod, this is the range of positions I usually personally work with: For the function of the rod, the exact positioning isn't overly critical, but in terms of access of the adjuster and the strength of the neck: - the heel end ideally wants to be where the heel starts deepening as the neck meets the body. You want a backstop here too (just a sliver of wood glued in the slot), so that the rod doesn't push in deeper when you push the allen key in from the other end - depending on the rod design, the neck and the allen key access, I have the adjuster either flush with the headstock end of the nut (yellow) or protruding an amount (blue) I get a trussrod length that will, hopefully, fit within that range

No - there is rarely the need. The veneers are only 0.6mm thick (which is remarkable when you think they are taking slices of up to 2m or more straight off the side of a tree-trunk!). On this one, I am using two veneers together so, after sanding, there is maybe approaching 1mm there, but that would normally still be OK.

Well, I think this is probably where I should stop tweaking and now just start building up the finish:

There are other suppliers who stock other lengths, @stewblack. What is the length from the headstock side of the nut to either the retainer slot or the end of the neck? Also, what length is that rod?

Not being a tease - I've done a bit of flaunting and am happy with the result and so have started the finish coats. And for those, I go back & sides, then top & sides, which I repeat however many times needed until I do a final top & sides. So of course, at the moment, you can only see the first coat of back & sides which is now hardening enough for me to do the top & sides

Perfect. That's three of us. That'll do

Thanks! It is certainly starting to get there. In real life, of course, the quilt follows you round the room. However, a bit of sunshine always helps! : The 'reveal coat' as well as showing up the glue lines, also throws up the next decision point. Forget the couple of stain seepages, here you see most exaggerated both the plain demarcation strip but also the natural figuring of the top where the stain is sanded away - a bit like faux binding: And here I have a choice of three options: - just tidy up the glue smears and stain seepage - scrape the finish off the top layer only and stain it, so you only see the demarcation strip - flaunt it. That is, sand further to widen it so it is clear that it is the natural figured maple It's a question for Rog - I'll PM him Where the angle is more acute - basically everywhere except this gentle slope, the effect is still there, but the two exposed surfaces are so thin and so close together, you don't get quite the same effect. Theoretically, though, it's the same three choices: I'm pleased with the walnut and how it has darkened with a standard clear finish. Once the proper gloss finish has been applied, the contrast with the red is going to be quite special

Couldn't resist a quick mock-up

The edges are sanded and I've put on an initial 'revelation' coat of clear varnish: I do this coat, primarily, to reveal any spots of glue that haven't been sanded off the walnut at the edges. They show up as white patches like this: There are fewer than usual. I think the titebond - while a little less 'grabby' when applying the veneer in the first place than my usual Evostick 'W' Wood Glue - dries a little harder and is therefore easier to sand away from the join line. When this coat is dry, I will give those areas a quick sand to get rid of the residual glue and then the finish gloss coating can start.

And this is after just the second sealing coat. I must point out also, that CCD SLR chips are rubbish at capturing a 'proper' red. This shows an orangey red - the thing in real life is a proper blood red. Unfortunately, the only person who will see its actual colour (leastways until Bassbashes are possible again) is going to be Rog (which is fine ). Anyway, wrong red or not, it's starting to look OK: So this will harden overnight enough for me to start the delicate work of sanding the overhang off which is tomorrow's job. Then the finishing can start

Often, depending on the wood and degree of figuring, the veneer will split and those splits need filling. Now, as it happens, this veneer seems to be very crack resistant, so the only major area I will need to use filler to make sure there is no gap whatsoever at the join line. For a natural veneer, filling is easy - pop some tru-oil on, slurry it up into a paste with some wet and dry and you have instant sandings-coloured gap filler. But that's not so easy if you are staining. For this job, this is wonderful, wonderful stuff: Last time I looked, I had to search hard to find the stainable versions (there's a light and a med/dark) but decent builders merchants or joiners merchants should stock it. 'Stainable' here means that you can mix stain into it (water or spirit) and also, to an extent it will absorb stain in its dry form. The great thing is that it is easy to apply but dries rock solid (including in the opened tub!) but you just need to add a drop of water and it will soften up again. So - as I have had this tub for a few years, I literally chiselled some scrapings of the solid filler into some of the red stain, and I instantly have a fully colour-compatible filler: So I leave that to dry (about 30 mins) and then sand it down and any gaps are colour-filled So what stains am I using? Well, those who have followed my previous threads know that I favour inks. Yes, yes, I know that everyone (especially guitar dye manufacturers) will say "They'll fade!" And yes, some colours do. But other colours are pretty stable. Especially calligraphy inks, which are designed to remain fully legible for hundreds (if not thousands - think Lindisfarne Gospels) of years. And the particular colour in the particular calligraphy ink that I am using for Rog's, I actually know, is fine. How do I know? Because this guitar that I built for our band's bassist, hmmm, 8 - 9 years ago?, and which is kept on a stand in his house next to a South facing glass patio door and which - before Covid - he was using to accompany my dubious sax and singing every week , definitely still looks like this...and used the same ink : ...and there are others. So these are the inks I'll be using on Rog's Status: I don't go for the technique of staining black, then sanding off - the results can look a little artificial and forced. I just do a couple of coats, let them dry, and sand lightly to lighten the high spots in the figuring and then add the final couple of coats. This is where @Roger2611 has to look away, because he will say, 'Where did that figuring go? And know I said I wanted red, but that red is too...too...well, too red!!!' To which my answer is, "Don't panic." Because, with quilts, it ALL happens with the gloss coats. And the more the gloss coats that there are, the more that happens This is just with the very first sealing coat - it's not even gloss yet... : When this sealing coat is dry, I will then sand the sides and see if my gamble well considered plan for keeping the light demarcation veneer light has paid off As always, thanks for looking

Phew! However, the next bit is going to be a bit more tricky for you the viewer(s). I will be showing the whole staining process to all - but be aware, in progress it will look nothing like it will when it has its finish applied! As the famous phrase goes, "Don't Panic!!!!" I have the advantage of knowing what it is eventually going to look like