SpondonBassed

You'll find a way Ivan. I have every confidence in you.

Looking closely at your new bridge I wonder if you might have a problem with the attaching screws. It looks from your photos as if the screws will bite at the point where the neck root meets the body beneath the top.

I'd have to agree with Bridgehouse and Andy. I mean, the only serious issue you have mentioned is that the bridge is not sitting level. Is that the only thing that would compromise the sound of the instrument? A light rout should sort that. I get how you must feel about the responsibility of the task you have undertaken. To leave much of the original work intact would be desirable. I'd say you need only provide quality hardware and fit it well.

[quote name='Joebethell' timestamp='1502391834' post='3351201'] Thanks I was wondering about chemical strip or just going st it with sandpaper and elbow grease. Scrapper might work but I'm concerned if I catch I might take a chunk out. [/quote] How are you going to maintain a flat surface when sanding? It's a tricky one. I'd save the scraper for when the coating is mostly removed then use the scraper in conjunction with a straight edge. Identify bumps with the straight edge and use the scraper to flatten them. If you're worried about using a scraper look for online clips. I'd feel safer with a scraper than with sandpaper.

Hey! I was thirteen. Leave it. Heeheehee

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1502372359' post='3351030'] A kid'll eat ivy, too. Wouldn't you..? [/quote] I'll have to ruminate on that one.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1502370877' post='3351006'] Virgin goats don't kid, obviously. [/quote] Indeed. I hear they are lovely in a stoat and kidley pie too.

You're kidding!

Good old Kenny! I heard him on his Capital Radio show one time when I was visiting that there London. He introduced Supernature by Cerrone and I wished I could take the radio station back home with me. Later he appeared on telly and I felt like I'd been reunited with a lost relative! There was never any nastiness with Ken's humour. He was fun personified. Starting out as a radio presenter he knew a good tune when he heard it too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgGK4qBTwpw

Deep.

I love that you've got "Fecker" in an appropriate font for the sentiment. Heeheehee. You bad boy you.

How deep is that finish? It looks like a good ten thousandths of an inch. (That's a quarter of a millimetre to the urchins and ankle biters.) I think you need to consider a light skim across the front to reveal untreated wood. Otherwise if you leave traces of the old coating in the grain and pores it may well ruin the new surface treatment that you eventually choose. It looks like there should be enough material to do it with no appreciable loss of integrity. The back, if it is flat too, could be treated the same way. The rest of the body should be okay with meticulous attention to sanding. In the course of this process you should be able to take the bridge recess floor back with light routing just enough to leave it flat for good mechanical contact whilst keeping its position true relative to the fretboard. I wouldn't dare remove the finish chemically however. Without specialist knowledge it poses a potential risk to the safety of the glued joints.

That is the way of the one man show. I haven't seen it yet. I may never see it given that Derby lost a big venue to fire three years ago and the signs are that we will not have it replaced for another four years!

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1502218959' post='3350084'] Well, just to chime in with an update. On Thursday... I'm meeting 2 new singers and a drummer. We've set ten songs and we'll see what happens. I actually logged onto joinmyband.co.uk and it took a lot of guesswork out, quite a useful little website that. [/quote] The site owner is not very helpful however. I was using it for a while when I hit problems. My log-in details would not work all of a sudden. I suspected a corrupted file somewhere or a hack but I got zero response to the issue. I asked for my account to be reset three times in writing. I couldn't make a new account with the same email address. I gave up. I think it's a case of someone running a website from home that has become more popular than predicted. One day I might change my email address but not for that. More in keeping with this topic however is this; I was once the flaky bassist that is the elephant in this room. A couple of years ago I was desperate for something to take me out of a horrible situation - I was caring for my mum at home on a full time basis, I believe 24/7 is the txt spk way to describe it. She was unsafe on her own. I had been practising harder than I'd ever done in my life because I was tied to the house and had lots of free time. The inevitable loss of my mum was looming but I could not allow myself to feel sorry for myself. As her main carer, to do so would have been irresponsible. If I hadn't got bass as the outlet for my frustration I'd have gone completely barmy. As it is I still have bouts of anxiety and depression. The thing that kept me focussed on what I would do after she passed on was the notion that I might be able to take my bass out and play. I had had a taste of it in my youth but stopped to devote time to my apprenticeship. Once my care duties were done, I'd be free to get cracking again, right? I had no job. No prospect of one. What was there to stop me? Well, that was the idea at the time. I answered an advert in the paper for three older lads who were looking to get a six-piece going and they auditioned me. I was offered the part and given a set list. They were optimistic that they would be booking pub gigs later in the year with their singer who was receiving treatment for cancer. I was waiting past the time when the auditions for the other new members were supposed to be finished so I dropped into the hall where the lads regularly practice. I found they had a bass player there already! To cut a long story short, the band leader (Drummer) had neglected to let me know he had another lad lined up. There was no animosity. I was just disappointed. I had enough to be dealing with emotionally so I left quietly. Six months later, mum was in residential care so I had opportunities to go out of an evening where previously I couldn't without getting a qualified sitter in. I got a call from the band leader to say that they'd lost their other bassist but that their singer had successfully completed his course of chemotherapy and would I still be interested. I was and I accepted. I got the revised set list and slept on it. There were some snags to the engagement that were glossed over the first time I had accepted. They could not be ignored this time. The big one is that I no longer drive. This makes me a flaky proposition right from the off. Although I have a driver at my disposal, my house mate, I can't expect him to be always ready to take me to practice and gigs no matter how keen he is to roadie for me. I decided in the cold light of day that I would not become the band's flake this time. I remember how cut up the other lads were back in Dublin when my apprenticeship took priority and made me the flake back then. Within a week of accepting the offer for the second time I sadly made the call to the band leader and said that it would be unfair to commit when I could not guarantee attendance at all of the practice sessions, 20 miles from here. I didn't see how I could be reliable enough for their project. We were [i]both[/i] disappointed this time. It is hard enough to get musicians who you click with on a level that results in decent music. Try limiting your options by looking for all of your band mates in a tight radius from your home. My only hope of getting a little band together is to find members within range of a bus ride and then piggy back on another band member's transport for gigs. My days of carrying my bass to practice on a motorcycle are done! I know.

I would hope he'd do a show for the East Midlands in Derby. Since the Derby Assembly Rooms burned down, it's not going to happen any time soon. This is a quote from the people who service the city; [b][i]"If accepted, a new Music and Performance Venue could be opened in summer 2021."[/i][/b] https://news.derby.gov.uk/the-assembly-rooms-3-years-on/ Knackers!

Cheers Norris.

Looking good! I too like the idea of a concealed jack socket. Nothing other than strap buttons to break those nice curves you've carved out.

Cheers Luke. The body shown in the 'net description was made from four pieces. Mine is three pieces so another unexpected bonus. If you look closely at the butt joints however they aren't parallel to the body centreline. You'd have to be especially picky to notice without it up in your face though. I am using a combination of machine tools and hand tools. The Auger bit was held in a tap wrench that is made for a square shank instead of the hex shank that this bit has. It turns the bit okay but is imprecise. Still, I got a result that is better than the other methods that were available to me. The boss requires more hand finishing. Next time I might try to use a router bit in combination with a special fixture that I have yet to invent. Nyuk nyuk nyuk. I've been out and replaced all but two sizes out of the screws in the kit. All of the screws that you had problems with are premium grade stainless posidrives now. Shaftesbury Fixings weren't able to do stainless or any of the 2mm stuff but Pugh and Sanders came up with most of the goods. When I was measuring up I found that the springs that go beneath the pups are about twice as long as they need to be resulting in only two or three screw threads clear when they are fully compressed. That isn't right. If I tried to do them up as supplied I'd rip out the wood just attempting to get the threads started even with the pilot holes! I couldn't find shorter springs in town so I will cut the supplied ones to size. I agree, pilot holes are a must. Also, it is important to get the size of the pilot close to the core diameter of the screw at its thread root but never larger than it. Lead free solder needs about 20 degrees more heat and more attention to heatsinking of delicate components that's all.

I will use lead free solder anyway. To say it "isn't any good" is a bit anti. It is used widely in the electronics industry. There are different alloys available and I have chosen one with a percent or two of silver. My training and experience in metal working, heat treatment of alloys, welding and brazing leaves me happy to explore the lead free concept. I was thinking about the screws myself. Costs are often cut when it comes to screws and yet they are something that you don't expect to fail. Whether they are fit for purpose can easily be overlooked. It is too late to ask the question after shearing off a neck screw under normal tightening forces. I've been there too many times already. The kit comes with black hardware so the screws look the business because of the black finish. I don't expect that would last even if the screws turned out to be okay otherwise. The slightest deformation of metal on the screw head will compromise the black finish. I would not be surprised if the screws are susceptible to corrosion once the sweat starts flying. I drilled pilot holes for the machine head anti-rotation screws so that the oil would penetrate to some extent before putting in the screws. The intention is to sweat proof everything as far as is possible. I hadn't made a hard decision about it so you can claim the credit for me replacing all of the screws even if I might have got there on my own. I think I'll take all of the fasteners with me to Shaftesbury Fixings here at Derby with the intention of replacing all of them. It might cost a few quid but it is well spent. They've always been happy to show me a choice of bins that meet my specs. S.F. Direct can't give you that option where you get to freely explore the look and feel of the screws without a queue of impatient kitchen fitters behind you. Having plugged and redrilled the neck screw clearance holes it would be half ar5ed of me not to put high quality screw in. Thanks for sharpening my thoughts on that one. If I don't deal with it now I could be looking at a chewed or sheared screw head and that would knock the wind right out of my sails.

I will sand it to as good a contour as I can and just oil it. I like the idea of the grain texture looking and feeling almost as if it is not coated in anything. Also, I want to keep my first build simple.

Done. Spruce and ebony. I like the unlined idea too.

I had noticed yesterday that the factory drillings in the neck pocket were off square and a couple of them were badly off centre with their bosses. I can't skip over this because I'd still know it was bodged even after the concealment of the fact when the neck goes on. It's unavoidable. I must rework them. You can see how poor the upper left and lower right holes were. I made some dowels and plugged them. I mentioned the output socket needed work. I made a snug fitting dowel to temporarily fill the hole so that a larger hand drill could be used. A 2mm pilot hole locates the centre. The drill guide has something to bite into. It was necessary to stop the dowel from twisting with the drilling action and pulling out by holding it from just inside the cavity with vice grips. Vice grips can be a mighty ally. I left the work there as I became tired from a heavy lunch and I didn't want to cock things up. It's just a question of tidying up the hole and recess now. When the glue is set tomorrow I shall drill the neck pocket holes true to their bosses and the joint face. I can then mount the body to a fake neck for holding in the vice. The finishing of the body contour can be started at last. TJ used my teak oil on one of his ukulele fronts yesterday and it looks good. Can't wait to get it onto my build. Between the ash grain of the body in teak oil, the natural rosewood and the maple in danish oil with bird's eyes showing on the headstock, I seem to have got a good deal. I hope I'll have enough room on BC for the remainder of the photos of this build. I've had to delete all of my previous images.

Congratulations my friend. Well deserved.

Thank you. Your avatar puts me in mind of the early Light Purple Floyd number - "Careful with that accordion Ian." If it is not too cheeky of me to say; I bet his eyes water at the climax of every song.

Welcome Kaomny.