Random piece of wood

[JBoman]

2 hours ago, Henrythe8 said:

Excellent thinking. I tried with some nail varnis then phosphorescent paint but it was too messy. The powder + glue in tube is a good idea. Thanks. 

 

 

Be sure to use super-thin CA glue, preferably with this kind of whip-tip.

In my testing I was just using some random bottle of locktite, for the actual installation I'll use this starbond.

The key is to get the capillary action, it will suck the glue inside, but the glue needs to be really really thin/low viscosity.

 

Oh, and it was not my idea, copy with pride: 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Neck pocket started. Not yet in final depth, I'll do the final depth after I have frets installed and decided on what bridge to use.

Routing a neck pocket is a bit stressfull as well, it's very easy to mess up the centerline and the overall fit. But I managed to nail this one, phew....

Also drilled the screw holes, quite a moment to have the neck installed, even for a brief time.

 

[JBoman]

Frets came today in the post 😍

Supplied by https://gasguitarworks.fi/en/

Appropriate name for this company 😁

 

Got these pre-bent, I had no intention to make a bending jig for just one project.

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Frets went in. Slots turned out to be ever so slightly too tight. I managed to sand them more spacious with lining up some sandpaper with feeler gauges.

Tight fit, should stick in there firmly. I went a bit overboard and seeped in some CA glue, probably overkill. At first I hammered the ends and tried pressing in using my radius block. Was not really working, still needed hammering. Eventually I skipped the radius block and just hammered away, with a plastic tip hammer. Trimmed the ends and sanded a bewel to the edges using my sanding beam.

 

 

 

[JBoman]

Got started on the neck shaping. Weapons of choice: Shinto saw rasp and coffee.

At this point, this project definetly moves from science to the art regime.

 

[JBoman]

By the way... I was also trying to figure out that neck pocket depth. I have some ideas abou this, but it would be interesting to see what this dimension is in general: the distance from the top of the body to the top of the fretboard, to the wood, not the frets. From basses that do not have a pickguard. If you can, can you measure this from yours and post here? I'm thinking about a couple of things regarding playability and such, so I would like to know what is the general approach for this measurement, ultimately affecting how far from the body the strings will end up.

 

Thanks!

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Magical unicorn is telling that it's time to connect A to B

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

3 hours ago, JBoman said:

By the way... I was also trying to figure out that neck pocket depth. I have some ideas abou this, but it would be interesting to see what this dimension is in general: the distance from the top of the body to the top of the fretboard, to the wood, not the frets. From basses that do not have a pickguard. If you can, can you measure this from yours and post here? I'm thinking about a couple of things regarding playability and such, so I would like to know what is the general approach for this measurement, ultimately affecting how far from the body the strings will end up.

 

Thanks!

 

 

To be honest, neck pocket depth/angle is more to do with geometry than playability.  

 

Whether you are aiming for a zero neck angle or a positive neck angle, you need to make sure that the strings are going to end up within the adjustment range of the bridge you are planning to use, and with enough additional adjustment to be able to tweak the action to suit your playing style, etc..

 

I find the easiest way is to make a full size line drawing of the neck top, including fret height and planned action and the bridge height adjustment range.  That will tell you what depth and/or angle it is going to need to be.

[JBoman]

Neck is starting to take the final curves.

Also worked on the party trick 😎

White dots are not that visible on maple but it was easier to line them up with the dot center on the border of the two woods. But dots will be more pronounced with the finish.

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Here are also some pictures of the dot installation procedure, for posterity.

First I figured out the middle point between frets.

Then I made a small indent with something pointy, I recall it was a pin needle this time. Then I made it into a small counter-sink with just a small drill bit and finger power.

This was to prevent chipping and all that nasty stuff.

 

 

 

Then I made the final hole, 3mm I recall it was. And stuck the plastic pipe inside with a dab of regular locktite superglue.

Added some tape for protection and used my mini-saw to cut it flush. The saw is just a metal saw blade cut in half and added some tape as a handle. Totally works.

 

 

 

Then I cleaned the cavity with a smaller drill bit, just by hands.

 

 

Packed in that glow-in-the-dark powder and added a drop of the super-thin starbond CA glue. It just sucks straight in, capillary action. Couple of times I even got a green flash of light due to the exotermic reaction, that was weird to see  The CA glue is so potent that it generates a bit of heat when reacting.

 

 

After some filing and fine grit sandpaper, et voilà!

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Headstock face will be black. Building up more layers with sanding in between for a smoooooth surface. Tricky thing also to get a sharp transition. Scotch Blue to the rescue. Whole neck (except the fingerboard of course) will get a satin lacquer finish, using this method with 50% lacquer and 50% mineral spirits.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

The body... I decided to investigate what kind of result I could get with a black grain filler. It's going to need a filler anyway, so might as well try this: Grain pattern enhanced with black filler + satin lacquer using that same 50/50 method with mineral spirit. If it does not look nice, I can always spray over.

My black filler is made of regular natural color wood filler + black dye powder used in staining + mineral spirits. Mixed up to a kind of sludge consistency. Similar stuff that children like to play outside with water and dirt

I did the top first using an old credit card to smear it around, then I discovered a much more faster method. Just use a pair of rubber gloves, pick up the sludge with a couple of fingers and smear it all over.

 

Just like children do outside.

 

 

[JBoman]

Sanded down and added a thin layer of lacquer to see how it looks. It's still very very very...

 

Brown. 💩

 

I need more color in my life.

 

(neck, pickup and bridge are just hanging around here for the pose)

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by JBoman

[Velarian]

It’s coming together nicely but I agree about the colour. Are you not planning on cutting a channel to allow truss rod adjustment?

[JBoman]

2 minutes ago, Velarian said:

It’s coming together nicely but I agree about the colour. Are you not planning on cutting a channel to allow truss rod adjustment?

 

Yes, I still need to add a cutout for the MM style spinwheel. After that, a test build would be possible to see what kind of noises this makes.

[JBoman]

Tuners fitted, neck screw holes finalised and electronics cover screw holes done. Did also the cutout for the truss rod adjustment wheel.

The back of the neck has only a thin coat of finishing, I have a feeling that after the first notes I want to fine tune the neck shape.

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Finding that spot. About 1h of measuring to make a single srew hole (the middle one, 5 screw bridge). But you need to get it right.

Actual alignment was done with sewing equipment, meaning a thin thread. To eliminate measuring problems introduced by thick strings.

Here I'm just doing the final checkup that the outside strings line up nicely.

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by JBoman

[durhamboy]

Yes, good fun isn't it? I always use sailmakers twine. (just because we've had a great big roll of it sitting around the place) 2 piece bodies joined in the center make life easier, that removes one variable.

When I only used to make laminated through necks, it was easier still!😉 Find the center of the middle strip in the neck and double check with the thread and you're home, bar setting the scale length.

 

Good job by the way, looking nice. Hope we get to hear it soon.

[JBoman]

I got to hear it a little bit. Have you ever tried this: put your jaw on the body, so that the jaw bone picks up the vibrations and sends it to your ear through your skull.

 

With this one, I got a satisfying BRRRRRRRRRRRRR ringing in my skull.

[JBoman]

Played the intonation game with some old strings. Before that, I also cut the nut slots. But the nut came out kinda ugly, I'll probably make new one later. Works now for setup testing.

Had to reposition the bridge. It was not terrible, but 5mm further to the rear leaves me with more adjustability. And when intonated, the saddles land nicely along the middle area of the adjustment.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by JBoman

[JBoman]

Damn French, cannot be trusted....

 

They sent the wrong tuners. Well, kind of. They sent the older model of these GB11W's. These older models have a different shaft with sharp edges. String breakers.

I was really happy to find these tuners from EU, they seem to be kinda hard to find. Found this one luthier supplier in France.

They listed these as GB11W on ther website, but the model I got is this older model GB11.

Sent them a message, although it is past 30 days....

[JBoman]

Frets leveled, crowned and polished. Fingerboard treated with gun stock oil.

Shiny.

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

It's looking good from here

[JBoman]

The nut slot had some inconsistencies at the bottom. To level those out and match up with the nut, I made these strips of double-sided sandpaper and pulled through. This sands both surfaces and makes a quick work of any high spots.

 

Oh and the nut: made this new one from a tusq blank.

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by JBoman

[durhamboy]

Smart idea, I'll have to remember that one.