Andyjr1515 Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said: How do you prevent the fretboard from curling as you install the frets? Is it just the adhesive tape on the template? Like a crazy person, I didn't take a photo - but basically I hammer them in then clamp a radius block onto the freshly installed fret onto the flat workbench. I'll have to mock-up a photo to explain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: How do you prevent the fretboard from curling as you install the frets? Is it just the adhesive tape on the template? I put a teeny bead of titebond along the tang, then hammer in the fret and then clamp a radius block on until the titebond has gripped: Here's the board now with frets trimmed and chamfered: 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 And that'll be the trussrod and nordstrand pickups, then 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I'm interested in the Nordstrand vs Bartolini debate that is sometimes mentioned in the forum. Although one of my basses has Bartolinis, they are the mkIs. I have read that these are licenced by Bartolini but not as good as genuine ones. I suppose it's a bit like the Fender/Squier thing. I may upgrade to "real" Barts one day but the ones I have are satisfactory for this hobby bassist at the moment. Never the less, I am keeping one eye on the two brands for news as it seems folk tend to choose one or the other, Bart or Nordy, when doing upgrades at this level. May I ask, @Len_derby, what made your decision to go for Nordstrand and was that having taken Bartolini into account as one of the candidates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 Hmmm...opened the slightly tatty Nordstrand box, sent admittedly very promptly by Bass Direct, and this was what was in there : I don't know whose or what they are but they are old and tatty and dirty and certainly not brand new Nordstrand NJ4s It's a bit disappointing - cutting the chambers is on the time critical path and, with Jazz pickups, I NEVER cut chambers before I have the physical items in my hand. "Standardisation" and "Jazz pickup chamber shapes" are not compatible concepts! I've emailed Bass Direct immediately. As I always used to view such things in my professional life, mistakes do happen - and when they do, it's the reaction time and accuracy to put it right that I judge organisations on. I'm hoping that Bass Direct come up to the mark... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Hmmm...opened the slightly tatty Nordstrand box, sent admittedly very promptly by Bass Direct, and this was what was in there : I don't know whose or what they are but they are old and tatty and dirty and certainly not brand new Nordstrand NJ4s It's a bit disappointing - cutting the chambers is on the time critical path and, with Jazz pickups, I NEVER cut chambers before I have the physical items in my hand. "Standardisation" and "Jazz pickup chamber shapes" are not compatible concepts! I've emailed Bass Direct immediately. As I always used to view such things in my professional life, mistakes do happen - and when they do, it's the reaction time and accuracy to put it right that I judge organisations on. I'm hoping that Bass Direct come up to the mark... I'm assuming these were sold as being brand new. I'm a tit. Sorry, I should've sat down to read that first time 'round. Edited June 20, 2018 by SpondonBassed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 Very quick response from Bass Direct who have put a replacement in the post immediately. They pass the test - great service 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 2 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Very quick response from Bass Direct who have put a replacement in the post immediately. They pass the test - great service That's good news, those are really grubby looking, let's hope the replacements are new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 7 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Very quick response from Bass Direct who have put a replacement in the post immediately. They pass the test - great service So are they letting you keep the old ones as compensation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 2 minutes ago, Christine said: That's good news, those are really grubby looking, let's hope the replacements are new They're also absolutely not Nordstrands! It's obviously a box of the old bits they've taken out of someone's bass when they replaced them with some decent parts I've had profuse apologies from Bass Direct... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 Just now, Jimothey said: So are they letting you keep the old ones as compensation? They are not worth holding onto from the look of them Anyway, I'll send them back in the morning. There might be some anxious soul at this very moment saying, "Where on earth did I put those bits????" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 12 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: They are not worth holding onto from the look of them Anyway, I'll send them back in the morning. There might be some anxious soul at this very moment saying, "Where on earth did I put those bits????" You might have saved some yoof their trainee job. Good man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 21 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Hmmm...opened the slightly tatty Nordstrand box, sent admittedly very promptly by Bass Direct, and this was what was in there : I don't know whose or what they are but they are old and tatty and dirty and certainly not brand new Nordstrand NJ4s It's a bit disappointing - cutting the chambers is on the time critical path and, with Jazz pickups, I NEVER cut chambers before I have the physical items in my hand. "Standardisation" and "Jazz pickup chamber shapes" are not compatible concepts! I've emailed Bass Direct immediately. As I always used to view such things in my professional life, mistakes do happen - and when they do, it's the reaction time and accuracy to put it right that I judge organisations on. I'm hoping that Bass Direct come up to the mark... That's not the first time this has happened with Bass Direct. A couple of years ago I ordered some rack ears for a TechAmp Puma and got someone's brand new pickups and pre-amp instead. The mistake was rectified and Bass Direct did refund the return postage on the wrong items, but due to the mix up, the rack ears arrived too late for me to complete my small(er) bass rig in time for the gig so I had to take my set up as a bag of bits rather than a ready assembled rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 4 hours ago, BigRedX said: That's not the first time this has happened with Bass Direct. A couple of years ago I ordered some rack ears for a TechAmp Puma and got someone's brand new pickups and pre-amp instead. The mistake was rectified and Bass Direct did refund the return postage on the wrong items, but due to the mix up, the rack ears arrived too late for me to complete my small(er) bass rig in time for the gig so I had to take my set up as a bag of bits rather than a ready assembled rack. Hmmm - interesting... Anyway, I'm promised they are on the way so I've been doing the final fretboard pre-glue jobs so that I don't lose time while I'm waiting. Truss rod installed and demarcation veneer applied: The smaller luminlay dots for the over-body dots (the main dots will be the larger ones) which are best done before the fretboard is on - because, trust me, these particular ones are a beggar to do when the fretboard is already fitted: And - as you may have noticed, I've decided in the end to do a 24th fret block. It looked a bit bare at the dusty end without. This looks better to my eye: I'm hoping the replacement pickups will arrive tomorrow so I can rout the chambers then get the fretboard on 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said: Hmmm - interesting... Anyway, I'm promised they are on the way so I've been doing the final fretboard pre-glue jobs so that I don't lose time while I'm waiting. Truss rod installed and demarcation veneer applied: The smaller luminlay dots for the over-body dots (the main dots will be the larger ones) which are best done before the fretboard is on - because, trust me, these particular ones are a beggar to do when the fretboard is already fitted: And - as you may have noticed, I've decided in the end to do a 24th fret block. It looked a bit bare at the dusty end without. This looks better to my eye: I'm hoping the replacement pickups will arrive tomorrow so I can rout the chambers then get the fretboard on I wondered about the 24th fret marker and thought it might not have been on the template. Having looked back, I see it has at the top of page two. Was it hard to do what with the frets being in and all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Wot no Swifts??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 37 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Wot no Swifts??? Headstock not ironed yet. Patience 😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 1 hour ago, TheGreek said: Wot no Swifts??? Well, they've been flying all the way from South Africa and only just arrived...I suspect they are kn******d 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 24 frets look spot on, a wise choice aesthetically , I do like the demarcation veneer too, very classy on an all Maple neck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 24, 2018 Author Share Posted June 24, 2018 First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEIL! With the proper Nordstrands arrived, I could move forward today on this. For cutting pickup chambers, I've found a way that works for me. Although many will do it quite differently with equally good results, briefly, this is what I do. I draw round the covers and centre point the critical radii: I use a bradpoint and forstner to drill those points to full depth: I then use a forstner to hog out the rest to 5mm shallower than final depth: Having at last learned how to sharpen and use a chisel (trust me - it's worth learning), I chisel to finished shape: Then rout to finished depth using a short trimmer bit. You can see here where I've broken into the cable channels: And - to my great relief, first try, no trimming or sanding: This means that the fretboard can now go on: Which means that tomorrow, I can start carving the top 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 3 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Having at last learned how to sharpen and use a chisel (trust me - it's worth learning) I'd like to add a good quality chisel makes a hell of a difference too its worth spending a little bit extra and get a 01 high carbon tool steel set as they will keep a much better edge on them! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 (edited) What I really like is the way that you don't leave the witness marks made by the forstner bit. Is it really Len's b'day or were you referring to the long awaited pick-ups arriving? Edited June 24, 2018 by SpondonBassed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 41 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Which means that tomorrow, I can start carving the top The forecast for tomorrow is that it's going to get seriously curvy with breakouts for pick-ups and controls. Be prepared for drifts of shavings accumulating in sheltered areas of the workspace. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: Is it really Len's b'day or were you referring to the long awaited pick-ups arriving? Indeed it is. The Diamond Jubilee! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 37 minutes ago, Len_derby said: Indeed it is. The Diamond Jubilee! Many happy returns! 🎂 Is this build a cheeky little birthday present to yourself? 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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