T-Bay

Don’t buy kids Jigsaws for Christmas, they may plug them in and cut their fingers off. cut a big hole in the fridge so you can check the light goes off and prevent wasting electricity.

The miller in a drill was only used for the shaping on the back (pic 2) but was surprisingly effective. The router I use is a beast but with no variable speed which didn’t help. I might try a burr bit as well next time and see how that compares.

The reference to the router was with the end guide removed and just completely free floating -not a good idea it seems! All the main holes were done with a template for the reasons you mentioned. It was just opening up the jack socket for the neutrik (now not to be used after spring a spec with KiOgon, Sod’s law). It’s interesting to hear about using the climb cut to get a better finish, I will have to try that out. If you do that on metal you end up with a sort of rough engine turning type effect which isn’t very smooth to say the least!

The mill in the cordless drill is really gentle, because the speed is low it’s very controllable, very different to the router....... i am the H&S Guy at work as well

I think the room aspect is more likely, it has highlighted the deadness to you. I use Roto66s and they sound great, but not for long and you can hear them go off over a long rehearsal.

Not wrong! From the noise I was convinced I had trashed the whole thing but it was fine, bit of a brown trouser moment. Stupid thing is I forgot about using the mill bit and that would have worked I think.

Thanks Andy! I have kept all the body offcuts so have a few pieces to mess about with before I finally decide on finish. I have never use dye for wood so wait will be a new experience. I assume one bottle will be enough for a bass body? (I only ordered one bottle as assumed a luthier supplier would sell it in sensible amounts to do at least one body). Thanks for the comments on the body. The pics hide a few minor issues I will be sorting. I haven’t neatened to holes up at all yet and around the sides there are bits I want to improve. I have done a lot of woodwork projects in the past but always furniture so it has been an interesting one to do for a change. As always some things went better than expected (using a slot mill in a cordless drill as bulk wood remover) and others not so (stupidly trying to hold the router in hand) but everything is still ok so alls well. I haven’t suffered from the horrendous breakout that Sepele can apparently suffer from and it has machined well. Routing the cavities was interesting, I always avoid ‘climb milling’ with the router but even so it would occasionally grab as though it had hit a denser piece even tough the wood seems incredibly regular in grain. Would I use it again? Probably not but only because of the weight, this is not going to be a light bass!

Good point, turquoise hands is not a good look.

That would be interesting if it’s not too much hassle.

Open mike Tuesdays at the Feathers usually have a decent turn out, not a payer obviously but well attended.

Not sure but presume it’s been demoed on a light and dark wood, or possibly on ow much is applied. I am happy with the general sort of colour and will test on an offcut before I commit anyway.

Thanks guys, I have ordered some alcohol based dye. Does anyone have any experience/ tips on its use?

Not quite, just ridiculously busy with work and home so something has to give and the bass project is hardly an essential. Just ordered this: https://www.rothkoandfrost.com/wood-finishes-c15/stains-dyes-and-pigments-c33/dartfords-alcohol-soluble-aniline-dye-p4#attribute[3]=49 And a couple of other bits so they will be ready for when I get a chance to do some more.

It never stopped, life just has a habit of getting in the way at times

Finally! The stars must have aligned or some crap as I mananged to find time where I had everything I needed and nothing else needed to be done urgently. I used the time to cut the neck pocket first. Then flushed with success I cut the two pick up holes and finally the rear control cavity. It all went very well despite the super cheap Chinese made router bit I had to resort to. Then the job I was most cautious about- joining the pick up holes. I was unsure how it would go but I used the longest drill bit I had and went from both ends. By some bloody miracle they only went and met, hence the pick with the wire showing. Feeling unbeatable I then decided to have a go at the Neutrik socket I had, it’s a locking one so a bit of a biggy. I did make a bit of Fooooo up and learnt a very important lesson. Never ever ever try to use a BFO router at full speed hand held and floating. Thankfully while it churned up the wood a bit I got away with it mostly and will either make a neat little ally surround or may even just fill it as it’s only about a 1mmx2mm gap. For a first attempt using a stupidly hard and less than ideal wood I am very pleased with how it’s coming on. I put a thread on for dye suggestions so will be buying some tonight and giving it a test soon. Only problem is that I doubt I will get any time on it for a few weeks now, but no rush.

Careful people, this could be someone’s partner posting a sting after sensitive information

How wide/ deep is it? I have a spare hard case that is completely empty. I bought it for a semi acoustic that I sold before I got around to getting foam for it.

I know members of a local band who really struggle to get bookings and I have been asked how our band manage to get the gigs we do (they are pretty much limited to playing for free at personal charity events or for someone they know). I have to be very diplomatic in my responses for reasons I don’t wish to go into here but the reality is that the lead singer has no charisma at all and makes the band play everything 10bpm slower than it should be. They are fantastic musicians but are so boring to watch. It’s very much the lead singers band and everything is done HIS way so I can’t see it changing anytime soon.

I must have been lucky by the sounds of it. Such a shame.

The spectracomp does t do that at all, the volume is as close to identical as it could be on and off. I can only guess it’s either a setting or how the pedal has been designed on yours.

I have just spent a few minutes messing with my spectracomp. I normally have it set around 9 o’clock, so pretty low. I tried switching it on and off in the middle of various songs and on every one the tone suffered. It’s the ‘fatness’ it gives. Not sure if this is purely a compression effect or a secondary processing also carried out by the pedal but it’s noticeable. If I dial it up to 12 o’clock it begins to affect the dynamics of my playing but not seriously so, by 3 o’clock it seriously messes up the loud-quiet-loud elements of songs such as Zombie or teen spirit. I never touch it normally, it just sits at the 9 o’clock position always on and there it shall remain.

When did it start? Last time I was in was about 6months ago and the band on that night were decent.

I would be looking at second hand Ibanez’s, you can pick up some real bargains. The build quality will be better than some of the cheaper offerings from the major players.

It’s a shame as it used to be great :-(