Jabba_the_gut

No worries. Hope it makes sense!!

Beautiful grain on that ash - should lovely when it's done.

And that is what is great about these forums - I hadn’t thought to try that locknut method and it may well save the hassle caused by these breaking. Cheers for that one @Andyjr1515!! You’re quite right about the variability in strength of the inserts. Sometimes you put very little force on the Allen key and it rounds the socket, yet other inserts bought at the same tome will be fine.

I particularly like 'Size: 40 inches"

So with the neck still bolted on the first but to the back of the neck can be made using the body as a template Once this was done the neck was removed and the edges all rounded taking a bit off at a time. As soon as this is done I think the look is completely transformed A quick fit of the bridge and nut and (thankfully!!) everything lines up nicely A bit of carving and lots and lot of sanding are the net jobs!!

Next task was to drill the holes for the neck bolt and threaded inserts. I drilled and countersunk the holes for the inserts I always use an offcut of the neck wood to try the inserts in as sometimes they are a bit soft or crack so always good to get the hole diameter right and test it first because this can happen: Even doing this, one of the insert snapped in the neck and had to be removed. I really need to find some better quality inserts - they are absolutely fine when they are in but getting them there can be a pain!! Anyway, got them all fitted and the wires for the LEDs are still intact (they have just been protected by a piece of masking tape). But once it was done and fitted together it looks like this

How it is at the moment next to how it should look when done.

Pockets and cavity routing has been the next task. As with most people, I find it quicker to remove the bulk using a Forstner bit then finish off with the router. I've had five bits of routing to do here; neck pocket, bridge pocket, pickup cavity, battery box cavity and control cavity. I've got template that I have used for each of these before so it isn't such a time consuming task this time! The pieces of spalted beech next to the body will be used to make the control cavity cover. Always nice to have a couple of pieces for this so I can either pick the one that looks the best (if all goes well) or use the spare (if it doesn't!!).

Could you post a picture of the eq connection please.

Nice. I like the white pickguard. and it being very orange!!

That's what I was wondering... I trawled for more pictures and found this link https://www.dhgate.com/product/top-quality-mayones-custom-bass-guitar-4/405960006.html Looks like this might well be some form of knock off then with a logo. Starts with the description '4 string....'.

No maker name on the ad - is it a Mayones Setius Bass??... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Bass-guitar-5-string-Fan-frets/164255778483?hash=item263e6846b3:g:eEUAAOSwmv1e7zU-

After work and going for a walk wasn't too much time left this evening but enough to get the neck trimmed and the tuner holes drilled. Careful use of templates and router table - always makes me nervous at this stage as it is the final outline and you really don't want anything moving or cutting were it shouldn't!! This had to be done in two stages due to the angled headstock - template for the fretboard and a second small template for the headstock. Next task to trim the body and start routing that.

Quick early morning bit of band-sawing - I've cut off the excess so the neck is ready to trim using the router. Now that it is trimmed, I'm glad I replaced the veneer on the front of the headstock as the replacement is a really nice match to the body wood. The black mini toggle switches I want for the pickup and LEDs have turned up. Easy enough to get a chrome finish but a black finish is harder to find and seems to have a premium attached - worth the extra though so they fit in with the general look.

Now glued and clamped. I check the LED function at each little stage of construction to make sure nothing has got trapped or damaged anywhere in the process as there is still the possibility of fixing up to this point.

This is the back of it with the LEDs installed. I cut a channel about 4mm wide and 4mm deep which everything sits in and is then glued in place. Two wires then stick out the back of the neck which will be connected to copper tape that makes the contact with the body. I'll stick a photo of that up (if I remember!!).

It is an option I've consider trying as there would be less fiddly wiring and it would be possible to use something like a tri-colour LED for more tarty options! The downside would be more fine routing on the back of the fretboard to accommodate each piece of optical fibre but also to ensure the light from the LED was evenly distributed as not to end up with one side dot being brighter than another. I might try this on a bit of scrap at some point to see how do-able it would be.

This has been really time consuming and quite fiddly but it's done. The LEDs are installed in the fretboard, glued in place and the clear plastic installed and trimmed to get the light to the edge of the board. It's always quite a bit of faff as you need to ensure that the (really thin) wires are away from the fret slots in case they need to be cut a little deeper after the board is radiused. Everything also has to fit in the channel in the back of the fretboard so it s flat and level ready to be glued onto the neck. It's always nice to get to this point as almost everything is now robust whereas prior to gluing everything is quite delicate. I've installed the truss rod so next task is to drill the hole through the neck for the wires then this can all be glued together. The last item to make the LEDs completely robust is to get the wires soldered to the connection on the back of the neck. Once that is done nothing is left exposed or vulnerable and I can get on with the basic shaping of the neck.

I like those Triton routers. Measure twice, measure again and again. Make yourself a decent template, remove the bulk with a Forstner bit, practice routing to your template on a spare piece of wood taking a little off at a time then go for it!!

That really is looking very nice! The hardware contrasts nicely with that top wood. I'm not sure if the square corners would be an issue or not as it's not something I've tried so I can't speak from experience. The only times I have seen cracking on square corners is where the finish is a thick lacquer/painted finish (thinking neck joint on P and J basses typically). My gut feeling would be that it wouldn't be an issue here as Status did it before with that neck and also there is a substantial amount of wood between the heel and the pickup and also down the sides of the neck. What finish are you planning on for this?

What a faff these LEDs are!! This really is quite time consuming and you really have to be patient to get everything carefully soldered and lined up. I've got some fine multicoloured wire from an old SCART lead that is perfect for this job and a very small soldering iron. The LEDs are wired in pairs in series with a resistor for connecting to a 9V battery. All the LEDs are now installed in the fretboard. They're connected to a battery and I'll leave it on for a while just to make sure everything works ok before I glue them in which is the point of no return. As soon as I'm happy with these I'll glue the fretboard on and start shaping the neck.

Hi. Sorry - was only planning on posting in the UK. Cheers

Very nice!