donslow

It's not as easy as it looks....

Not strictly guitar related but.....I thought a moment of sly genius was worth sharing.... a few weeks ago I noticed I had an insane amount of wood stored in the shed, noticing I had basses and guitars strewn in every corner of the house I decided to try and make some racks on a budget. fast forward some planning, cutting, drilling I have three racks in which to hold most of my guitars. the kids kept pulling them out so I had to think of something to keep them "locked" into the racks moment of genius incoming, I had some spare straps and strap locks, so I decided to screw the buttons into the rack and use the strap as a lock, ok maybe not THAT genius but for me, it was a good idea so for any budding guitar rack makers, this works very well on a budget if you have a couple of spare strap locks The racks still need a lick of paint and finishing but here's the idea

Sorry guys, should’ve said, some other person offered the seller a little more cash so he sold it before I managed To get to his place to pick it up despite the original agreement It’s not something I would do myself as an agreed Sale is an agreed sale but as they say, cash is king and will come trumps if there’s more of it Gutted!

Once again, as I suspected so many thanks for clearing that up On to collecting in a couple of days and then the fun begins! Just got to work out the refinishing and retaining the binding issue now

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1506862090' post='3381555'] I've done this many times when making a right handed neck left handed or in one case making and 8 string from a 4 string. My method is to cut off the bit you want to change make it perfectly flat and square, then do the same to the bit of wood that you want to add. Glue the 2 together and when the glue is dry, clean up and shape and finish as desired. Works great. I bought a box of maple offcuts on Ebay a few years ago and I've been working my way through that. Just re-read your post, do as above to both sides of the head making a paddle and then shape and finish as desired. [/quote] I figured that would be the best course of action so thank you for clearing that up for me, What do you find is the best glue for this sort of thing? Do you think there would be a need to insert dowels through the new wood into the old sideways to help straighten the joint?

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1506807787' post='3381309'] Cut the headstock to make it square, glue the additional wood required, cut to size...feel dissatisfied with the result, contact Andyjr1515 or Jabba the Gut to do the job properly.... See?? Easy. [/quote] I’ll be honest, I did think of them first but, admittedly without asking first, I fear my budget wouldn’t stretch to the deserved prices of such skilled craftsmanship, although, if and when it all goes wrong, I may not be left with much of a choice ha ha

Hey all, I’m due to pick one of these up for a VERY good price in the next couple of days or so http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/San-Francisco-Semi-Acoustic-Bass-by-Gear4music-Red-Wine/1ICK I have plans which I will progress through these very pages but I need some advice before I take to the tools and land of the unknown Bit of background, I’ve “built” guitars and basses before, I’ve refinished guitars and basses before but this project is going to be all kinds of new for me so I’m hoping some of you guys might be kind enough to offer valuable advice before and as I go along The plan....... Add wood and reshape the headstock to a more “traditional” open book (ok, ok, G****n type) I’m thinking template on top, template on bottom with added wood sandwiched in between, would this be unnecessary if I’m refinishing after? Strip and refinish the neck and body as the headstock rear won’t be matching any more Advice needed / questions before I start...... What would be the best way to add wood, strip headstock as is and match wood to it, or, sand it square, add wood bigger than my template and sand according to template? Best way to add wood so it won’t fall apart? Use existing tuner holes or fill with dowels and drill new ones? How would drilling new ones affect any added wood? How would I know where to place new tuner holes if this be the course of action? Stripping paint is no problem, refinishing is no problem but how would I refinish and still retain the binding round the body without removing it or does it HAVE to be removed? I’ve never worked with binding per Se so am new to this sort of thing Happy to be corrected / told what to do / follow ANY advice that is within my capability For this one, I’m in the hands of others as to what to do and how to do it Any help and advice before I get started would be darn grand

Thanks for the replies guys, it is mostly as I suspected, probably a replacement as I'd never seen it like this before, didn't know if I'd missed something somewhere I shall let it bother me no more Cheers guys

hey all, just picked up a 2001 Jazz bass deluxe bridge this bridge was a string through only bridge, took it apart and drilled holes and now is top loading too! GREAT!! In my haste to take this bridge apart, I didn't notice until it was time to put it back that, out of 8 height adjustment screws all are the same length bar one! one of these height adjustment screws is considerably longer, my questions is one supposed to be longer? were do I put it? what does it do? many thanks in advance

Just found a bass I completely forgot I even owned at the back of a dark cupboard just recently It’s a Hofner Ignition?! B Bass violin bass, I don’t really like them much at all, I bought it used about 18 months ago for a small recording project I got involved in as, recorded, they don’t sound too terrible, I used it, I forgot about it. I’m currently finishing off my latest Precision build so have a bit of a builders bug at the minute Just for the fits a giggles, I’m wondering how it would sound de-fretted, has anyone here ever had a fretless one of these basses or even de-fretted one their selves? What would be the general opinion on this? Would it make it a better bass? Worse bass? Is it worth doing as an experiment or should I move it on and consider getting a full scale fretless? What would be the up-sides and down-sides of having a short scale hollow fretless bass in terms of tone?! If any at all! Opinions all greatly received

Almost forgot, if I remember rightly, there has to be a good 5 or 6 coats of lacquer of varying degrees on it

That's all fantastic advice guys, really appreciated Just to clarify it's been close to 6 weeks since I finished spraying it as Ivejust moved house so haven't had a chance to touch it since so should be good to go now In terms current flatness, there's just a slight ripple that really only can be seen in the right, or wrong?! light Think I have some wet a dry laying in the shed, unsure of what grades are left but will have a look and see what I have Am I right in thinking then, start at about 1500 and then 4000 isn't a terrible place to finish before buffing?

That's fantastic advice and well heeded so thank you for that Just a quick question, would I get the same result with the polishing compound if I did use 0 grade wire wool to flatten it down instead? Many thanks again

For what it's worth, my local PMT and even independent music shops both have "spares drawers" just boxes and drawers of odds and sods, commonly found in the shops that have "repair" or "set-up" departments A few times I've taken what I want there and had a finger through and found what I needed, They normally let things like screws and springs go for pennies, 20p here 50p there worth an ask if your passing......

Hey all, I'll try to keep this brief.... Currently in the middle of a project build and I have sanded and refinished the headstock on the neck Now the aim of this was to get a high gloss finish on the headstock, I do have a high gloss finish so all good...... .......or so you'd think....... The finish, albeit glossy, isn't the flattest I've ever seen, do any of you more knowledgeable guys and gals know, if I rubbed it all flat with, say, 0 grade wire wool, if there is a way/method to get it glossy as heck again without adding too many more (or even any) coats of lacquer?! Tools and budget are to a bare minimum so buffing machines etc are out of the question, it'll have to be a good ol elbow grease type jobby but cheaper if possible Cheers in advance all

That finish and the general restoration looks ink-redible!