Jabba_the_gut

Andy, I think that hits the nail on the head. There are some items that are discussed that [i]assume[/i] certain background knowledge / experience, or follow on from other threads and could be read out of that context. We all fall in to this trap when we discuss ideas or try to problem solve! Jez

First pass at edge rounding done...I'm starting to like the look of this! I add a block to the neck pocket to save anything from splitting whilst I'm doing this And the back has had the first bit of rounding done. Need to decide on shaping now back and front for arm and belly.

Neck ferrule holes routed and control cover template cut.... And spalted cover made.

Cover pocket cut - just need to make the cover now.... [url=http://imgur.com/b7lnB4p][/url]

That looks like a pretty clean break - are you going to get it repaired?? The Greeks Spector looked worse than than but turned out a treat.

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1489917067' post='3260720'] Lovely work as usual Jabba. Will this one make it to the Mids Bass Bash? [/quote] Yep - even if it isn't complete I'll be bringing it along. Hopefully it will be working even if I haven't completed the finish. Looking forward to the bash - be interested in seeing how you Tele is coming along. Cheers

Keep an eye on Freecycle or similar for unwanted wooden things or possibly pay a visit to your local recycling place. Potentially places for free or cheap wood - good to practice on if nothing else. There are also wood recycling places that have all sorts of hardwood - have a look online and see if there is one near you. Cheers

Just looked a the drawing from that link an it reckons 29mm long. If you do need to use a drill to make a larger hole, fill in the old one with a wooden dowel first so the drill doesn't wander. If you do use one of these sockets with a bigger diameter hole, you could move the position by a few mm which may give you a little more room i.e. The new hole doesn't need to be centred over the old one so long as it includes the old one (if that makes sense).

You could increase the hole diameter and use something like a Neutrik latching socket which are about 27mm long including pins. http://www.neutrik.com/en/audio/plugs-and-jacks/locking-1-4-chassis-jacks/

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1489878271' post='3260577'] +1 on David Dyke.... the good thing is when your finished and your not [i]quite[/i] happy.....just build another And so its starts [/quote] 'And so it starts ' made me laugh out loud!!

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1489604833' post='3258351'] It does seem like there will be an awful lot of kit there if everyone brings what they have mentioned. I won't be bringing anything except hopefully be thinline Telecaster guitar I've been building as I know it's of particular interest to some of the other builders that are attending. I live in the village though and can quickly pop home to fetch anything else that people may want to try. I'll also try to sort a suitable raffle prize and maybe a cake too [/quote] I'm looking forward to seeing your Telecaster, even though it has too many, thin strings...!!

Next job is to cut the control cavity cover - I'll use an offcut of the spalted beech for this - and to make the pocket on the back of the bass for this. After that will come the rounding over of the edges of the body, then neck shaping......

I used a rough template to make a neater one for cutting the control cavity. The pocket has been cut to the depth of the wenge veneer. The neck pocket has been cut and the neck sits quit nicely - I'm pleased with this. Just need to cut access to the truss rod.

Managed to spend a few more hours on this so have completed a few routing jobs. First up was to tidy up the outline using the body template and a template cutter on the router. Then I made a simple template for the pickup and routed the pocket for that. Then I needed to make templates for each one of the remaining cuts so I started making these from 8mm MDF. I need templates for the neck pocket, control cavity and for the cavity cover. Stating the obvious, but the neck pocket needs to be accurate and aligned with the centre line of the bass so this aligns with the bridge. This really is the step where you measure twice and cut once!! I find it useful to have two rulers that lie down each edge of the neck in order to determine the alignment. The template needed a little repair as the bearing on the cutter worked loose during this and took off a little more than I wanted. MDF template can easily have strips of cardboard or veneer superglued and sanded to make small differences to the pocket sizes to get an accurate fit - you can see both on this neck pocket template.

I've bought some nice light(ish) swamp and from Tonetech before. David Dyke is another place to try. Both of these suppliers have been really helpful, especially David Dyke, even though I've only buying one of two pieces at a time. I would think both of these would look through what they have to select you a lighter weight piece. I recently bought two neck blanks from David Dyke over the phone - the two pieces that arrived were really nice and generously sized. One of the neck blanks might even be big enough to get a second neck from... Timber yards have nice selection but might only sell you an entire board which may be 6 feet long minimum. Or you could use a front door....

That is looking really nice so far - that top has a lovely grain.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1489490602' post='3257321'] Excellent to see another one of you builds, Jez Great concept and I just love that shape. In elepsed time, how long so far to the stage you've got to? It looks fast work to me [/quote] Cheers Andy. It has been pretty fast so far - I've faffed around a lot less with the design this time!! I've also had practice on previous builds making templates so that has been much quicker this time too. I'm not sure how long but I'd guess I've probably spent a day actually building so far. I'll try to keep a track of material costs as well for this one out of interest. Won't be a true cost as such as I'm using some off cuts I already have but here's an approximation so far: Sapele wood for body £20 Truss rod £10 Tuners £6 Bridge £7 Neck wood £0 (offcuts) Central block on body £0 (rejected from another project) Fretboard £0 (recycled) Spalted beech £0 (offcut - I paid £15 for the piece this came from which also made the top in the previous post) Wenge veneer £4 (cut from a larger piece bought for £16) EMG pickup £5 (from bargain bin in local guitar shop) Nut £4 Still need a few bits of hardware like pots, strap buttons and fret wire. Haven't decided on the finish for this yet.

The spalted beech was just a left over bit from where I cut another top which was wider than I needed. This is the other top waiting to be used on another build later..... The black arc is just a mark from the saw - will soon sand out.

Then roughly cut to shape... And that's where it's up to so far!

And glued and clamped again...

One thing I didn't have was anything to use for a body. I bought some sapele from a local hardware store - cost £20 but has quite a straight grain and is quarter sawn. There was an offcut that will be long enough for another neck....... I've used a piece of wenge veneer between the spalted beech and sapele just to provide a little contrast. All glued together and clamped.

The neck has been cut to basic shape...

I've got some black tuners and individual saddles - they're only cheap ones from China I bought off eBay a while back. I also bought a pickup from the bargain bin of a local guitar shop. It's an EMG 45CS, a little bit scratched on the face but works fine - can't got wrong for £5!!! I like EMG pickups because they are silent, though they're not to everyone's taste. I made neck and body templates from 6 and 8mm MDF. I'd like to have a bit of an angle on the bridge to match the neck join but will probably have to adjust this to get the saddles in the right place for intonation.

I've done a bit of scribbling and settled on a shape for the body and neck.

I've cut the spalted beech into four strips, each about 5mm thick with the aim of joining them to make a top. I'll put these either side of the sycamore block left over from a previous idea. There are a few places where the spalted beech is a little thinner (because I used a normal handsaw to cut them and it didn't go entirely to plan...) so this an the length of the central block will start to dictate the shape of the body.