lettsguitars

pics of truss rod access cover and new nut.

always worth going, if you're nearby. sure to get a bargain as it's not a sales driven thing. more for product visibility, and companies are more prone to selling stuff cheap, than load up the van again on the way home.

maplins dont do it, and neither do b&q. you can get slug repellant tape from garden centres, but this is thinner than sheild tape, and also, has a non-conductive adhesive, which means you have to solder every peice together to form a 'circuit'. ebay. look for the stuff with conductive adhesive.

[quote name='jonunders' post='1042342' date='Nov 30 2010, 01:37 PM']i saw the adverts in my bass mag this month. who's going to go and are these shows good?[/quote] i want to take some instruments to a few shows in 2011. when i do, i want to go home empty handed as far as stock. this said, i'll be 'giving them away' towards the end of shows. i don't know about this show in particular, but as shows are more about visibility for companies and not sales, you are sure to get some great bargains. if theres a show near you, and you've got some pocket money, go.

as for max'ing out a rod, i can't imagine that ever happening. if somethings 'rattling' and the rod is in tension, you've got problems.

sounds like a single action rod to me, though i could be wrong. basically single action rods will only pull the neck to its original straightness and the only fix once a neck is bowed at full truss rod tension, is to level the board and refret.

of course, you could always get somebody to build you a custom. i offer a basic setup for £500 with a satisfaction guarantee, or your money back. no paint jobs though, just natural handcarved exotic wood. checkout my current build diary if you're interested, titled 'from log to axe. . .'

[quote name='scojack' post='908724' date='Jul 28 2010, 09:52 PM']38" Electric Upright this time ... Im going to use some type of piezo pups on this one. Figured Sycamore Body Goncalo Alves FB Was a real task planing this stuff, think it will go well with the Sycamore. Maple Neck/Scroll This is where im up to now .... [/quote] yea, that goncalo alves is the hardest thing i've come up against. did you get this piece off ebay by any chance? there was a lot on there for a while. alas, it seems to be all gone now.

[quote name='sprocketflup' post='1042047' date='Nov 30 2010, 10:16 AM']Gotta be honest, when this thread first appeared I looked at the raw woods and thought Im not going to like this bass, but Im eating my words (thoughts) now coz this has turned out to be absolutely beautiful. Its lucky that not everyone is as short sighted as me eh? lol Much kudos to you both[/quote] thanks. always a bit of a gamble when choosing woods. but when you're working with timber of such a high standard, the results are usually pleasing. the high contrast of the ash and ziricote turned out nice. plus, the tone and resonance is really something else.

we are literally waiting for the pickup now, i'm hoping we'll have it tonight. got the new bone and cocobolo nut on, which is quite special! had about 6 coats of oil and i'm deciding whether or not to finish with wax. pics t'morrow, possibly finished, we'll see. it'll need to go to ben for wiring up after pup goes in. so wont be totally ready to ship for a few days yet. easy now. jon

thanks everyone. massive help!

[quote name='jimijimmi' post='1037560' date='Nov 26 2010, 11:21 AM']Picato strings will make them for you..im sure of it. if not, ill get them for you j[/quote] nice one, i'll check that out.

got some strings on for a test drive. signature burned into headstock. starting to look like a bass. plays beautifully. no buzzing, great resonance and really cool tone. it'll be stripped down before we fit the pickup and controls. Ben is working out a cool circuit for pete who likes to experiment a lot. coil tap at 3000 turns, blend pot, a couple of switches and tone controls. it'll be fun to play with. still no dots, i'll get them in and when its stripped down for pickup and clean up. will also get a ziricote truss access cover. i may ebony for a bone and cocobolo nut, not sure whether i like using animal bits or not. any veggie players with opinions on that?

doesn't affect the pickup at all my man. the only thing that would affect the pickup is a metal case, which could have a desirable effect on the mag field, or distance, the further away from the strings you get, the weaker the signal. the way to do it is to buy your emg or whatever, disc sand the flats flat (a pickup is not square, as you need a slight angle when you vacuum form your case), and then glue your wood to the case. however, i couldn't bring myself to spend 70 boys on a pickup and then hope to get it right 1st time and crapping out a decent pup. the other way (and the best option in my view) is to get someone to make you a pickup without a case, and make a solid wooden case by routing out the hole before cutting it out and squaring up the sides on the disc sander. it just so happens that i know a man who can make you a custom scatterwound pup for £40-£60 that will blow away any factory made jobby, and will sound like no other pickup on the market.

i struggle to find strings that are long enough for my builds. i only do 34" at the minute and even then, ernie ball 'long scale' are barely long enough to deal with a bridge/tailpiece setup. obviously companies only cater for basses with standard hardtail designs where the saddles are very close to the anchors. i made a 36" once and couldn't find anything near long enough. now, i plan on making 35", 36", and 38" scale in the long term and can see a huge problem in finding the right strings. companies never state the actual wound length of the string and on my 34's from tail to nut is 36". any suggestions? i mean, how about a string through? what then i ask you? i believe a standup is around the 40" mark, thats a proper length for a bass note in my book. what g'wan?

[quote name='umph' post='1031729' date='Nov 21 2010, 07:30 PM']right so i maybe took a little longer getting photos up than i thought i would ;p Pre final coat of laquer after final coat of laquer and before final flatting etc. doing some fret work [/quote] don't look down!

is it a lefty?

[quote name='umph' post='1033411' date='Nov 22 2010, 11:49 PM']found fret work alot easier than i thought it'd be. Essentially involves flatting them to the same height then reapplying a curve and smoothing them out etc. if you take up this course be prepared to do epic amounts of sanding ;o[/quote] you can eliminate most of the sanding with cabinet scrapers. those things will save your life if you spend a lot of time with dodgy carcinogenic hardwoods. bass looks cool, should be alright routing pups later. i had to widen a danelectro neck pocket for a mate after making a new neck for him. router cut through that thick cheap sparkly sh*te with no trouble.

thanks for your comments!

[quote name='danbowskill' post='1034924' date='Nov 24 2010, 11:47 AM']the coulors on that body look lush! sweet[/quote] yea, the ziricote turned out less grey than i expected. nice dark chocolate brown. hope it don't melt!

reet then, next up, side dots still to go, pickup on its way, clean up, wax and polish, setup and she'll be off to pete next wednesday ish. the access cover in these pics is just resting, just in case you're thinking it looks a bit scew wif.

[quote name='henry norton' post='1034776' date='Nov 24 2010, 09:41 AM']Respect to all the Fender cloners out there but it's nice to see someone applying some original thought to their basses. Like the little (cocobolo?) chunks on the ends of the wings - is it just for show or is there a purpose to them?[/quote] cheers. you are right my friend, 'tis cocobolo, and yes, just for show. however it does leave those edges less prone to dings.

frets in, ready for a bevel and dress. all good.

been a bit lazy the last coupla days. got the fingerboard dead flat and radiused today, looking great. also, ebony bridge, tailpiece and nut blanks cut. frets tomorrow and catchup with i.m.p for the latest on pickup. should be good to go pretty damn soon. pics tomorrow. easy now. jon

new pics. neck carved, holes drilled, and all that malarky. she'll get a nut and some frets in the next couple of days. then we're just waitin for the scatterwound soapbar from ben. should be ready next week. not sure whether to vacuum form the pickup covers, or go with wooden uns. what d'ya reckon pete?