Single Cut Camphor and Alder PJ

[deepbass5]

Love what you are doing here but would suggest you should make the head stock look more like the bass e.g. ( upper and lower horn ) I feel this would look much better in context with the bass as an entity, rather than approaching them both separately.


all the best

[alittlebitrobot]

always a joy to follow your builds, Andy.
After all the to-ing and fro-ing on page one about the design, did nobody think to point out that Alder + Camphor = Alpher?
Spooky.

Anyway very nice work

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1449095783' post='2920819']
always a joy to follow your builds, Andy.
After all the to-ing and fro-ing on page one about the design, did nobody think to point out that Alder + Camphor = Alpher?
Spooky.

Anyway very nice work
[/quote]
I came up with Camder....but then again what do I know

[allighatt0r]

The D and G tuners look very close together too, would they be awkward to operate that close?

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1449135446' post='2920959']
The D and G tuners look very close together too, would they be awkward to operate that close?
[/quote]
Hi, allighatt0r!

No - as long as they don't touch at their extremes, I think it's fine. My bubinga is VERY close to the point the the lobe on one tuner, fits into the cutaway of the adjacent one! When you're tuning up, you have the luxury of making sure you are turning one and not knocking the other. The difference with the drop D is that you want to be able to do that between numbers and not knock the other tuner in the process.

[Andyjr1515]

There are two items in the design brief I have been getting my head around - to try to make this as light as possible without neck dive and to have covered pickups.

I have combined those two requirements by routing the pickup chambers both to the largest width / length - which is basically the neck pickup, squared up, taking a bit more wood and weight out. It has the added advantage that if FuNkShUi ever wants to replace the PJ's with super-triple-gargantuan-flipper buckers, it'll be a doddle

The challenge was covers. Never made those before and I only had enough camphor left over for a single shot at it. I decided that I would go for free-hand routing the chamber and then cut the shape out. The camphor offcut still has the wenge veneer stuck to it, but I thought I would leave that on for the time being. Here it is during the chamber-routing process:


I went for the small router base on the little bosch because it's easier to see what is going on. I was aiming for a 1.5mm - 2.0mm thickness at the top and 5mm max sides (which will probably be sanded down a bit)

I then cut the shapes out with a pull-saw and did an initial tidy up with the sander. They will be sanded further to angle the sides a bit and dome the top a touch, and will have the veneer taken off and sanded down to finished height, but at least I now know I don't have to revert to redoing them in ebony! They finished at 1.5mm thick which I'm very pleased about



Andy

[FuNkShUi]

There was never any doubt

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1449151040' post='2921111']
There was never any doubt
[/quote]
Your confidence is flattering, FuNkShUi. Totally misguided, but flattering all the same

I did the final 'really scary' bits today. ie, the final routing. Most other things (not all, but most), can be got round, but a flyaway router = instant firewood. Happily, this one went OK.

Started the rout of the control chamber with a guide bush and template:


Note the exposure of the pre-routed control run channels and pot drill holes.

Then, for the last 5mm, used a bearing trimmer bit to get down to the final depth. Ignore the black marks on the neck - they will disappear as part of the final sanding. Something I was using (not sure what) when I was clamping the neck acted as paint-stripper on my clamps!



When the final sanding on the back has been done (probably 2mm-3mm to come off), I will use a router bit with a smaller bearing to cut the ledge for the cover. If I can get my cheapo bandsaw to cooperate, the control chamber cover will be off one of the alder offcuts.

Also routed the chamber for the battery holder. I like the battery to be easy to get to. This one is a Gotoh holder - very good design IMO.



Still LOTS to do, but now I can get on with the final carve, including the neck (the heel will be progressive from the top join line to the bottom join line which should give lovely unimpeded access to the very top frets).

Thanks for looking
Andy

[Andyjr1515]

A couple of small but important jobs done this morning.

Glued and scraped flat a leftover length of acoustic guitar binding to act as the truss rod cap and finished the main carve of the body, ready for filling and final sanding:





I've retained the rounded look, but scooped the back out a bit to slim down the overall feel.

After I've done the main body fill and sand, the fretboard will be glued on and then I can get on with the neck and heel carve

Andy

Edited December 9, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[deepbass5]

looks very organic, will probably look like a turtle that's been hit by a speed boat once the top is varnished up Nice lines. may be nice to cut an angle across the finger board to follow the contour from the upper bout to the lower. It is gonna be a fantastic looking bass

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1449680324' post='2925934']
Nice lines. may be nice to cut an angle across the finger board to follow the contour from the upper bout to the lower. It is gonna be a fantastic looking bass
[/quote]

Thanks! And yes - there will actually be a scalloped curve...

I like the "turtle hit by the speedboat" imagery...I think!

[Bastav]

I like the symmetry of the grain on the back carve if you get my meaning!

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Bastav' timestamp='1449691516' post='2926072']
I like the symmetry of the grain on the back carve if you get my meaning!
[/quote]
Thanks - and yes, I do. Even though a two piece back would have been cheaper, I got a one-piece and cut it into two so that the grain pattern was contiguous (if that's the right word) either side of the neck. The grain pattern's nice for alder...sometimes that wood can be a little plain.

[scojack]

Nice carving on the top Andy, Oh and the neck woods are a great combo too ...lovin it

[Andyjr1515]

Thanks, scojack. Much appreciated

Couldn't resist posting this. It is the first slurry coat to start to fill the pretty dramatic end grain evident in places on the camphor. This is one very special piece of wood I'm really pleased it's going on this project....

[Bastav]

That looks tasty what kind of finish are you using?

[Andyjr1515]

Initially tru-oil, using the slurry and wipe technique. Depending on how that looks on the alder, and depending on FuNkShUi's preference, I will either finish on that, or overcoat it with a very thin wipe-on poly varnish. My concern with leaving it tru-oil, is that the alder is quite soft and will easily dint if there is no added protection.

Either way, I have the distinct feeling this is going to look [i]fabulous. [/i][i] [/i]

Edited December 10, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[Norris]

Zing! We have colour! That's going to be stunning

[Andyjr1515]

Thanks, folks

While the slurry was drying, I looked for another job that could be done indoors.

Headstock plate!

Cut out my moniker swifts from Mother of Pearl and also cut and routed the trussrod cover:



Then routed the headstock plate:



I'll epoxy them in with ebony dust mixed in to fill any gaps and sand the plate flat in the morning

[Norris]

Nice work. I'm hoping to get a StewMac Dremel router base for Xmas. Then I'll start playing with some inlays - but not on my telecaster build, that's complicated enough already

Edit: What do you use?

Edited December 11, 2015 by Norris

[FuNkShUi]

Colour me very pleased

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1449823113' post='2927103']
Nice work. I'm hoping to get a StewMac Dremel router base for Xmas. Then I'll start playing with some inlays - but not on my telecaster build, that's complicated enough already

Edit: What do you use?
[/quote]
Hi, Norris
I use the same. A precision dremel router base (from a UK supplier but basically the same) with a 2mm, 1mm or micro bit, depending on the size of the rout.

For cutting the mother of pearl, I use a jewellers saw and a bit of mdf with a single saw cut in it as a cutting table.

I also always keep some sanding dust from the woods I use to mix with clear epoxy to fill any small gaps. Certainly for ebony, when it's sanded back down, the filled gaps are pretty invisible.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1449823280' post='2927104']
Colour me very pleased
[/quote]
Phew! Thanks, Kert

I set the inlays in and sanded them down. Just a couple of missed gaps to fill but looking good!




You'll all be getting fed up of this, but I'm not! I've done a bit more sanding and slurry tru-oiled the whole thing. I do this to seal and grain fill and also to see the bits that need sanding a bit more - it shows up much more clearly like this. It also gives a pretty close match to how the wood shades are going to look when it is fully finished. I like the alder against the camphor now it's toned down a bit:



I now know for sure that this is going to be the best looking bass - or guitar - that I've built yet

As always, thanks for looking
Andy

Edited December 11, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[Norris]

Never fed up! It's fascinating to watch you work so quickly and with such great results. Keep it coming

[Andyjr1515]

Kert and I had a PM discussion about wood features vs number of frets. While the fretboard would have gone to 24 frets, it would have covered up all of one of the particularly nice figuring features. Based on a 'normal' PJ being 20 frets, we have gone for 21 frets on the treble side and 20 frets for the two bass strings:



This figuring, when it has been gloss-varnished, will look wonderful:



I've still got to narrow down the fretboard progressively to the nut width (and finish gap-filling the big swift!) but the fretboard and headstock faceplate should be able to be glued before the end of the weekend:



Then....I'll be able to start carving the neck