RichardH

I would work out how much of a weight saving this would be before going over to 12mm ply. I can't see the slight dimension change you mention making a difference. The panels will definitely need bracing (adding more timber to the total), and don't forget the weight of the kappa driver will remain the same - so the cab may not end up that much lighter. Poplar ply would be much lighter - in fact 18mm poplar would probably be lighter than 12mm birch. Poplar is softer though and can "ding" without a decent covering - rat fur, tolex or tuffcab (which has the advantage of being easy to touch up if scraped/dinged).

Looks like it might well be graphite - this might be of interest Wal Pro 1E neck rebuild

Pat was a great seller when I bought his Squier Precision 5 special. Well packed, great comms, and a friendly chap all round!

That looks terrific!

No, not yet I'm afraid! Mike (who's putting the cabs together for me as a favour) is very busy with "proper" work, and it's not like I have any gigs coming up.... Hopefully soonish though!

Thanks to Frank for the passing on of a bass neck and bridge - very friendly comms etc!

The matching headstock looks great to me - not "too much" at all. The spalting on there almost looks like slightly tangled strings!

PM incoming!

I'll see what I can arrange.... I'm over in Lewes, but might be able to get the band's singer to pick it up as he lives in Brighton.

By all means you grab it over me, @3below - it shouldn't cost much to arrange a courier to ship it via Interparcel if soldersqueeze is willing to package it up.

I'm interested! What sort of pocket does it fit, any ideas?

As I understand it, it's not a proper regulation as such, but around 450mm seems to be an accepted depth for general work. However, for gardens where it is less likely to get disturbed by deep digging, then it's not as hard and fast - I've seen "a spade's depth" mentioned. Where it's covered by your paving slabs I suspect the electrician felt it was safe under there as it was unlikely to be accidentally disturbed. I'll ask the electricians what the deal is when they come along to get it sorted.

We're on clay here, and until we had the rain come through over the last couple of weeks, it's been mega dry, so the soil's been like iron. Now things have softened up, I could probably do the "spade in, wiggle around to create slit and repeat" method, but it's near enough 50m, and although it would be across grass in the main, who knows what digging might be done in the future, so probably safest to have it the recommended depth.... they have said they should be able to get here for a day fairly soon, so fingers crossed.

Oh dear! We've been waiting for the guy with the digger to be available for blimmin' ages now.... Even if I clipped the cable to fences where I can, I'd still end up having to dig trenches, so for the moment I'm waiting for a digger to come and do it all for me.... especially as the feed for the workshop is coming from the other outbuilding which also needs cable run to it before that has power anyway.

Good grief! I've only gone and done it.... ...Actually put the bench in! In fact this is the second build of it - the first time I put it in place the bench was too high, so I took it all out again and reset the height - it's now at just under 36" to the top surface. I've used the worktop offcuts - so I have a joint in the middle which is a bit ugly - I guess I could have tried to clean up the edges of the two meeting surfaces, but I had a feeling they'd not get that much better than they are at present. The bench is supported on a 2x3 bearer fixed to the wall - I had the stud positions marked so was able to fix into the studs rather than the 11mm OSB. 3x2 along the front edge as well. Shelf is supported on some 2x1 batten on the wall and 3x2 at the ends, plus also a bearer on the back of the central leg. Again, this had to be jointed as the length of the bench is just shy of 3m. I had thought the front edge of the shelf would need a batten, but it's 18mm OSB, and once it was screwed down into the back and side bearers plus to the back of the central leg, it's really stiff. I may run a piece of 2x1 along the underside to ensure it stays stiff if I feel it's needed, though. Bench surface is fixed from underneath using brackets and swearing. Apart from the 3x2 and the 2x1, the rest of the bench was made of "free" materials - the OSB was left over from when the shed was built, as were the lumps of 6x2 used on the legs. Worktop was offcuts from the kitchen fitting. I decided to turn the worktop upside down as when using the worktop as a temporary bench on a couple of sawhorses, I realised the "proper" surface was way too slippy. Now all I need is power!

Yeah, I need to dig a trench for the cable though..... and it will be around a 40m run. We are supposed to be having a patio put in and I was going to get them to dig the trench when they had the digger here. Though the soil is softer now we have had some rain, so it might be feasible to do it myself. For WiFi I have got some Tenda MESH hotspots - they are pretty good, and so I will be adding one more into the mix to extend the wifi further. Already works OK in the workshop, and I won't be doing anything that needs major bandwidth so they should do. I may well run some ethernet into the studio building though - "just in case".

Missed your post before - yes, I realised that PVA wasn't right for this stuff - particularly as this paint is spirit rather than water based unlike the stuff I used at my old place. I thinned the first coat with white spirit, and it really sunk into the concrete, so should have keyed in nicely. The second coat went on nicely and gave a decent finish. I used pretty much the whole 5l tin for both coats - floor area around 3.6 x 5.8m

I'll do another thread on that.... I'd thought about doing that - particularly ceiling - even if it's just a quick roll of some masonry paint we have knocking around. D'oh! I still have to get a cable run to the workshop, at the moment I have an extension lead running over to it from an outdoor socket just so I can run some lights to see what I am doing when on my early morning painting exploits.

....and yes - I did paint the rest of the floor..... just put the second coat on. I'll let it harden off for a few days and then I can get the shelving put in its proper place (if I can decide where that is, of course!)

Don't Stand So Close To Me - Police

I tried them too - no help to me either, so sent them back. Weren't very comfortable either, and I could see them falling out without me noticing.

....another top tip. Don't paint anything in the garden at this time of the year, unless you want it to be decorated with dying daddy longlegs - just had to go and pluck about half a dozen from the (now dry) floor paint 🙄

....Knowing my luck, soon to be filled with crap and never to be used as a workshop ever again. Nearly painted myself into a sticky situation adding the second coat yesterday. It stopped raining, so I opened the big doors to get better light, and thought I would take my boots off (since they were wet and muddy), then paint from the far end out to the doors then close them from the outside once I had re-booted. Of course it started raining again just as I got to the last strip, so I had to close the doors quickly and stand on a narrow strip of unpainted floor waiting for the rain to abate. Thankfully it was only a few minutes so I could open up again, get my boots on and do the last bit before fleeing to the comfort of the house... and other DIY jobs... I'll give it a couple of days then move the gear over to the painted side and get the other section done. Then I can build the bench!

Ahhh - yes, when "shed" is mentioned, I guess the assumption is that it will be on timber. We keep the ride on mower in there though, so it is really more of a garage (it's single garage size - 3.6m x 6m). Forgot to say, this initial coat was thinned with white spirit as per the instructions on the can.