Jimothey

I’ve just been looking online and would this be an option Instead of having underneath the neck?? http://www.lysator.liu.se/~wizkid/music/thunderbird_mod/

Hi Andy thanks for the advice This is just a mock-up excuse the finish on the neck I haven't flattened it yet The strap button is exactly in line with the 15th fret The bridge is about 10mm from the edge of the body it doesn’t really show it that well in the picture but I will have to lengthen the neck pocket as it stops at around the 19th fret I think that having the strap button where you have suggested will be the only option as I've just been looking at short scale necks and the cheapest I can find is a Warmouth one for £180 which is a bit excessive for this build So yes please Andy if you could send me the link that would be much appreciated

I was going to try and do a long scale, that’s a good point I hadn’t thought about the balance of it!?! I’ve got a 34” scale neck off one of my kit builds that I might test on it to see how it feels?? Is the heel width of the neck different on a medium scale to a long scale?

When I looked online to get some inspiration there was quite a few with a single P pickup but I didn’t see any with split p’s so I thought it would be a bit different, also I’ve already ordered the split P’s but thanks for the advice anyway

Whilst I’m waiting for stuff to dry and harden on my other projects I thought I’d make a start on a new one I had a Telecaster copy that I never used so I thought I’d change it in to a bass instead I’ve stripped it down and listed everything apart from the body on eBay So the plan is.... 1. Get a neck (I’m thinking maple/maple fretboard) then widen the neck pocket to suit new neck 2. Fill in the old bridge pickup cavity and screw holes 3. Rout out for split p pickups 4. Repaint the body, cut new pickguard (I can’t decide what colour but I’m thinking black body and black pickguard?) 5. Fit Chrome hardware that I’ve got spare from my Jazz kit build 6. Hope it turns out ok!?!

Looking really nice can’t wait to see it in all its polished glory!!!

Managed to get a bit more done today, cut out the timber to fill the cavity Then glued it up and filled it I’ve decided to do a ‘72ish style so I’ve left part of the cavity not filled to make my life a bit easier I cut the out the pickguard out of some 2mm MDF I had kicking about which I’m going to paint cream And I’ve now done 4 coats on the neck so now I’ve got to flatten it then give it a polish It’s getting there just got to re-rout the pickup cavity then paint the body

Theres some on eBay (paulownia bodies) £30 + p&p, (Ash body) £115 + p&p

I agree Warwick’s YES!!! Fenders NO!!!

Yeah I’m going to seal them in with a couple of coats of poly, hopefully when I’m finished it will blend in and look the same as when you do a headstock logo which once I’ve reshaped the headstock that’s my next job

No that’s the actual neck, on this build I’ve gone for the easy option so they are basically homemade decals (sorry to disappoint you)

I’m onto coat number 4 on the body just gonna give it a few days to completely harden then have a go at flattening it to see if it needs anymore coats So I decided to sort the neck inlays out as I didn’t like the dots I’ll reshape the headstock tomorrow Ive ordered my black hardware and pickguard so just waiting for them to be delivered

My one was a really old record one which I can’t find at the mo The technique I got taught when I did French polishing was to bend the scraper when you are removing the shellac as it gives you more control so that’s naturally how I use it all the time I found learning how to burnish the edge took to a little while to get right with cheaper scrapers so then I went and bought a crown scraper set and burnishing tool and then it was much easier except when trying to do the ‘goose neck’ which is still a nightmare to get right

How do you find bending the scraper with your the arthritis in your hands? When I used to use them after about 10mins my right hand thumb used to lock up because I’ve got a form of arthritis in my right hand as well, so I started using a spokeshave scraper which made it a lot easier and a screw bent the blade for you.

Cheers mate I’ve just been looking at it

Looking very nice!! Can’t wait to see it finished!!!

That’s the right choice, looks good!!

Yeah I thinks so I’ll take your word for that

The bloke I bought this kit off sells the bodies on eBay for about £30 which I didn’t think was too bad I think tram Olympic white will look nice but I have a aversion to tort!!!!

No worries sounds like yours will be a bit more interesting than mine anyway

I know someone who changed their cap from a 0.047uF to a 0.1uF and they reckoned it made a big difference to the sound it removed a lot of the brightness

Did you end up using Hardglaze? If so how did it come out? I’ve just found some I had kicking about so I’ve started to use it on mine (still on 1st coat tho) I think the grain is looking quite nice!?! I don’t know whether to make the finish gloss or satin I’m kinda swaying more towards satin but who knows what it will end up being!?! I think it will look good in the end with Black pickguard and Black hardware?

Yeah teak oil does dry quickly but if you can get quite a few coats on it before you put it outside then that would be good

I would probably would go for teak oil as that’s for outside hardwood items, only problem would be it would need to be re-coated every other year really to keep it properly protected

I preferred the look of the two humbuckers they balanced the look but each to their own, looking great tho!!