Jabba_the_gut

Slowly, slowly but getting there....headstock shaping finished.

Lovely!

The DR Fat Beams measure 960mm, the Skjold are 950mm to the taper

http://www.rotosound.com/bass-string-scale-length-guide/ I notice that says 'to silk' - the ones I have don't have silk but they are a few years old!! Might be worth a mail to Rotosound….

No worries. Just measures the E string and its 950mm from end of ball to taper if that helps.

I think this cover looks better than this one So that's the one I think I will go with.

Just had a quick look and the sets I have that don't have silk are DR Fat-Beams, Skjold and Rotosound Roto Bass RB40. All are long scale round wounds if that is any help.

I know what you mean regarding the silk on strings. I found a bit of variation between different manufacturers. There are some makes of strings that don't have silk on them which might be a way to go (I've got a few sets knocking around - I'll check which ones don't have silk). If you post the distance between the ball end and silk, I'll measure some other sets with silks to see what they come in at.

These were just the standard screws that came with the neck ferrules. I've used them a few times before with no issues. They're hard enough to cut when I want to shorten them but must have been a weak point coupled with a slightly tight pilot hole. Yes, very lucky! As soon as it snapped the was an immediate 'Oh @#£%!!'. Quite pleased that I had drilled the holes in the body to clear the screws else the snapped thread would be holding the two pieces screwed together leaving no choice but to drill it out. Lucky indeed! I can well imagine there being a difference in the quality screws - I've used some for diy and the heads would have been better made from plasticine. Learnt a few lessons and tend to be quite selective these days about what I buy.

A few more little jobs done today. I'm just finishing anything that may cause scratches etc. before I get round to the final sanding on the neck. Drilled the holes for the neck and cut the neck screws down in length as they were long enough to go all the way through the fretboard. No idea why but one of the screws decided to snap! I was quite lucky as there was enough showing in the neck that I could remove it carefully with pliers. Any less showing and it would have been a nightmare of having to drill it out..... The screw came out without too much fuss and, most importantly, without causing any damage or scratches. I had another screw which I trimmed then fitted the neck. I've also made the cavity cover template a little tighter fitting so there is a little less gap around it (wasn't masses around the original, I'm just being picky!!) so I'll make the new cover tomorrow.

And the floor. None of that nasty laminate there....

Yep, like that. Everything seems to align nicely and it flows, if that doesn't sound daft!!

I quite like that but I'm not sure if I prefer it over the tuners being square. Glad it's not my decision as you have positive opinion on each option from quite a few folk!! Lovely builds whichever option you choose. Cheers

Mmm...that last angled one does look quite nice. Out of interest, what would it look like if the angles followed the centre line of the machine heads sort of like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Guitar-Custom-Made-Fully-working-electric-Unique-4-string/372702287086?hash=item56c6c994ee:g:srYAAOSwvYJdG7X2

I've seen a few basses (and guitars) mainly with the machine heads in a line where they aren't perfectly aligned and your eye can be drawn to any misalignment. I fitted some new Sperzel machine heads (that have a locator pin rather than screws) to a friends Telecaster neck and I took several attempts to get these aligned so they looked completely right. These basses are real quality and I think perfectly square machine heads just finish them off. But, that's just my opinion!!

I think they look much better square to my eye. I love the one on the right with the darker fretboard, very nice!!

Yep - I've go some sheets of 1.5mm ply laminated to give the cover strength and to stop any warping of the cover. Well, that's the idea....

Hello Mr Spondon! The piece top right is a laminate of veneer and several sheets of thin ply. This was a much better grain match to the body than the original cover (not shown) but it has a very slight dish to it and I want it nice and flat. So I made another, bottom right, using the next consecutive piece of veneer (luckily I had two pieces of this) and have tried again. This time it is looking much flatter, but I'll give it a couple of days to make sure it doesn't move. The other two things are an mdf template, for trimming the cover and a Perspex template I use to make sure the holes/magnets are in the right place. Hopefully, I won't be needing to make a fourth cover......

Well, it doesn't look like I've done much but have been sanding, checking, sanding some more to get the neck how I want it. I've finished the neck profile and neck joint, now to radius and finish the headstock. I'm also having a third go at making the control cavity cover as I just haven't been happy with the first two. The original one didn't match well enough to my eye and the second one had a slight bow to it. Third time lucky....

Sycamore is lovely to work with and finish. This is sycamore and wenge and another from a few years ago that I still haven't finished...

Very slow progression on this due to other home stuff but the sanding is getting there. I'm really liking birds eye maple - second time I've used it and certainly won't be the last!! ]

Turned my attention to sorting the electrics. I decided to remove the copper film and re-do the cavity with conductive paint. First I stripped the cavity back to bare wood then used masking tape to cover the side walls where the cover will go With plenty of masking tape around the body to prevent any little splashes, I painted a couple of coats in the cavity: I have also been looking at the original cover I made. I found some veneer that I think is a much better match. The old cover: The veneer for the new: And the two pieces side by side for contrast. I've also glued a couple of blocks together from which to make some wooden knobs. Not sure which will look better so will plan on making two sets to see: And finally, I've started getting the actual wiring sorted. I'm following the same layout I used in the previous bass as that seemed to work well:

The fitting of the j pickup isn't the tidiest, or the additional knob position. Shame as the rest of it looks nice.

Not much chance to progress as much as I hoped over the past couple of weeks but this week should be better! I need to get the neck sanding finished and get on with the frets.....