SpondonBassed

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.

It was time to tidy up the drillings and cavities in the body. The hole for the output socket was just a hole. It needed further work inside and outside to get the nut sat squarely and the flange recessed within the body outline. Before I could do that I needed to enlarge the hole to allow the body of the socket to fit at all. A tap wrench with a suitable bit did the job nicely. No wood was split. I still have to recess the socket. To do this I will make a temporary dowel plug that will take the pilot hole for the larger diameter drill needed to recess the socket flange. I can't guarantee the concentricity of the spot face otherwise. We have an accessory that turns the Dremel into a benchtop pedestal drill. The plunge router attachment wont do the floor of the control cavity but the cutter held in the pedestal works well enough to rough out. I controlled the depth of cut with the pedestal lever in one hand while moving the body beneath it with the other hand. I got the thickness I needed to get the pots secured with the nuts fully threaded. A small grinding bit used freehand with the detached Dremel finished off the cavity sufficiently. I still have to spot face the front of the body to let the nuts sit squarely within the body curve. I dropped the pots and socket into place and verified that there is ample room for wiring later. I went around the internal drillings and all the cut edges I could find with the grinding bit. There are no sharp or ragged edges now. I noticed that the neck attachment bolt drillings are drilled at random angles. I will investigate the possibility of re-drilling them so that they are perpendicular to the joint plane.

The elimination of creep. Love it.

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1502095782' post='3349204'] ...Simply the most fun I've had in ages. It was my kind of band. They totally accept artistic integrity goes out of the window. They know the job is to entertain the masses and have fun doing it. Anyone else managed to have this much fun lately? [/quote] No. Very happy for you just the same.

I am sure there are websites that indulge the notion of a witch hunt. As far as I know Basschat is not one of them. I'd leave if it became one. Anyone who does something as poorly considered as the knee jerk name and shame thing would put our forum in jeopardy. 'Happy Jack' Name & shame? 'The59Sound' Name & shame otherwise a pointless thread. 'dazza14' - The OP I don't want to name and shame a pub who is now being run by, hopefully, a better landlord. The pub has a bad reputation as it is without me adding to it. 'The59Sound' I look forward to playing the same venue then and being out of pocket. 'steve-bbb' its not the brewerys fault ... name and shame the pair of them to hopefully spare others the inconvenience of getting had over by them in future 'The59Sound' Yet the pub name isn't being bought up still. [u]Note[/u]: The site parser thinks I broke the mark-up language text. I didn't but I think that spanning two pages with the multi-quote button might have upset the system.

It isn't from Bass Guitar Magazine but is this the same bass? [url="http://www.musicradar.com/news/bass/cool-and-classic-basses-ernie-ball-music-man-piezo-stingray-bass-557376"]http://www.musicrada...ray-bass-557376[/url]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1502049685' post='3349017'] My balls are different sizes - would that qualify? [size=2]Obviously I'm referring to my football and my tennis ball.[/size] [/quote] [size=2]Of course you are.[/size] Lopsac might be a good screen name to keep in reserve if stalkers force you to change all of your accounts online.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1502047629' post='3348991'] Not my ad, but I loved it anyway. [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/vocalist-wanted/oddball-singer-and-bass-player-wanted-/1259657935"]https://www.gumtree....ted-/1259657935[/url] [/quote] I feel for them. This is the best quote I could pull from it; "Death to the X factor" Their words. I don't watch the X Factor so I can't say I agree wholly but I totally get the sentiment.

I know. Everything about them is approximate due to the plasticky construction of the attachments. It is a very useful tool despite that. It will get interesting when I do the floor of the control cavity. I may yet resort to a chisel and a grinding bit used freehand. I've been thinking about making a CNC router table. A desk top sized machine would do 3D body, neck and headstock shaping to tight specifications. It would also take away the involvement that comes from working with one's hands. For that reason it's an idea that is on a very long finger. I'd have to be into batch production to commit to it and that would make it too much like a job! While I could do with some work to bring in a bit more money, I have established that working from home would be a very bad idea. If I could get a job as a Luthier's assistant I'd have a go. Even an apprenticeship in Lute making would be attractive if I was younger. At this point in my life however, I am glad to have it for a hobby. It keeps me out of trouble.

Thanks for the detail. Seeing The Jam perform on TOTP with matching Rickys left a powerful image of a tight little band. I suppose I got caught up in the marketing image myself.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1502009482' post='3348687'] I tend to raid this collection and print off what I need [url="http://www.scorpexuke.com/ukulele-songs.html"]http://www.scorpexuk...lele-songs.html[/url] Steve [/quote] Good one. Many thanks.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1501964309' post='3348554'] Hmm interesting. Might just try this, since I have recently joined a Country band by accident. [/quote] I wish I could get into the same sorts of accidents as you seem to. Good luck. It sounds like fun.

[quote name='dazza14' timestamp='1501848644' post='3347750'] I don't want to name and shame a pub who is now being run by, hopefully, a better landlord. The pub has a bad reputation as it is without me adding to it. [/quote] Good man. It is clear that the management at the time in question was just passing through. It would be pointless naming the individuals and in law it would be questionable if you ever needed to defend a case down the line. These sort are everywhere. You did the right thing by standing your ground and no more. I think tied pubs are where this happens most. They are usually under a tenancy agreement and the management are looking to move onwards and upwards within the brewer's inner circle. Sometimes they're not bothered who they rip off in the process. I'd be surprised if anyone who owns their pub outright would risk their reputation by stooping so low.

[quote name='dazza14' timestamp='1501842282' post='3347701'] Had a gig last night at a pub we've played a few times in the past but is now under new management (the gig was booked through the previous landlady but management informed us they would honour the bookings) and when we'd finished our playing I, and our singer, approached the bar staff and asked to see the manageress about being paid and it went downhill from there. We were left standing for about five minutes before I reminded the barman what we were waiting for, he told us to go to the other end of the bar where the manageress was standing, so off we trotted. She asked us "who was it that booked you?" (knowing full well it was the previous landlady) Then "well the booking wasn't made through me... I don't really know much about it..." - more head scratching and delaying. We played along, showed sympathy, but in our minds thinking 'just f***ing pay us'! She then told us our booking wasn't in the diary, as she did this she thumbed through said diary only to land on last nights date and there we were, in black and white, listed as entertainment. So back to the 'I didn't book you' line of denial. I then said that we had been booked last December, had contacted the pub three weeks earlier, had delivered posters, had contacted the pub to discuss fee - I always do this via text or email to have a record for this eventuality - and if she was unsure who had booked us or who was paying for us why had she not asked us when we arrived three hours earlier? At this her partner/boyfriend/husband came up (a big fella standing a good 6ft 5" and probably 19st in weight) and asked her when the lady who booked us was coming in. By this point I was ready to pick up a bar stool and introduce it to the optics and glasses in the bar, and if the police came, so be it. So more head scratching, heavy sighing by our singer, dirty looks between me and the boyfriend, and then suddenly she resolved that she was going to pay the fee. The whole conversation took 30mins from the moment we approached the bar. I've since learnt that last night's manageress (and her co-manageress) left last night, it was their last night before a new landlord takes over today. I wonder if our fee was her intended 'goldne handshake'...? Needless to say we won't be playing there again, unless we get the fee upfront. [/quote] Rob dog b4stards. They'll have another tenancy already I bet. "Co-manageress" Hahahahahaha! Nineteen stone hits the ground hard when you knock it over.

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1501991643' post='3348631'] That sticky ricky sounds pretty... what's the word that rhymes? [/quote] Gritty? Bruce Foxton's sound was anyway. [attachment=250711:BruceFoxton.png]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1501886646' post='3348088'] [media]http://youtu.be/-lwKyBW8W-Q[/media] [/quote] Just like "Chicken Knackers". [attachment=250710:FoghornLeghorn.png]

Newtone strings are quite close to me. I had them make a set of five for me in their old premises. Very easy to talk to. http://www.newtonestrings.com/

[quote name='honza992' timestamp='1501962784' post='3348540'] ...([url="http://www.biarnel.com/liuteria/scorcio/seriescorcio.html"]http://www.biarnel.c...riescorcio.html[/url])... [/quote] Eighties? I get that. I am not proud though. Heeheehee That's Italian style right there. Thanks for the pointer, I am going to spend some time over there with the eye candy on that site. If I'm not back in ten minutes send a loan shark to pay for my GAS.

[quote name='honza992' timestamp='1501962784' post='3348540'] Yes, I had seen that thread. Now that is ambition. Headless, Fanned fret, torzal.... It makes me feel slightly seasick just looking at it. One day though, you never know. The headless thing is definitely very close to being next on my list. One of my favourite builders is an Italian luthier called Biarnel ([url="http://www.biarnel.com/liuteria/scorcio/seriescorcio.html"]http://www.biarnel.c...riescorcio.html[/url]) who's based in Pisa close to where my wife is from in Italy. I love his headless series called Scorcio. They have a slight....80s feel to them. Which, having grown up in the 80s I quite like. Now you've got me thinking I've used veneer fret markers with rosewood and it looked great. The same as ebony though one problem is sanding dust getting into the pores of the veneer. I don't have an air compressor so it's hard to get out and you can find the veneer markers look a bit 'dirty' from the dust. It's not bad, and probably the average person wouldn't even notice, but that's the trouble with building....you know where every mistake is. I read once (though now can't find the link) about soaking the veneer markers in shellac first, to fill in all the gaps in the veneer so the ebony sanding dust has got nowhere to go. I may do a bit of experimenting this week - I've got a bottle of Zinsser SealCoat (which as far as I know is 2lb cut shellac) and some veneer so we'll see. Thanks everyone for the welcome. Biscuits all round. [/quote] I have one of these; https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/mini-vacuum-cleaner-lg61r Would that help? (Make mine a ginger nut ta.)