Andyjr1515

It will be fine

Fettling done and a trial fit of the trussrod also done. Less fettling than I expected so a lucky guess with which trussrod supplier to use: And the all important bit that was missing on the old one there and accessible (the adjuster nut!) Note, by the way, that the G&L necks clearly have a couple of carbon rods fitted...

Trussrod is here and side dot material is in transit. This afternoon, I'll fettle the slot to get the new rod to fit snugly. All being well, the fretboard will be refitted before the end of the week.

It's a thought. Trouble is, that's a lot of bits floating around. But I was thinking that maybe two or three spread over the length of the fretboard...

Yes - I'll be doing that as well, I will pop a couple of panel pin holes in the nut slot. I'll take a photo when I get to that bit.

Camera battery is recharged Here are the side dot holes: I have a cunning plan...

Yes - I use the same technique when I'm mending folks' guitars and basses. As I said to Owen when he contacted me about the trussrod, 'There's always a risk with these kinds of jobs...'

I'll do a photo run-through when the rod arrives. There are a number of ways folks do it. Owen's has a particular challenge that will be interesting - the side-dots had been inserted right on the join and it would be useful if I can line up the two halves of the drill holes exactly all the way up so I can use the same size markers when it's re-glued My camera's battery is just re-charging - I'll take a couple of shots when it's got some battery life back to show you what I mean.

Trussrod on order and should be with me mid next week

Owen has a problem with his neck! Or more correctly, Owen has a problem with one of his necks. Or to be utterly precise, Owen has a problem with a G&L 5-er neck that has a snapped off truss-rod end. Getting fretboards off in one piece always carried a risk - but I haven't lost one recently and so it is worth stacking up the odds a little further and giving it a go. It's a very nice neck - but those edges are mighty thin, with the fret slots almost fully through to the maple: And so there is the possibility of ending up with 22 rectangles of fretboard rather than one whole one. BUT, it's a case of taking that risk or scrapping it. Most fretboards (but not all) are glued with heat-softening wood glues - and so you basically heat the fretboard up with an iron or similar (I use a travel-iron) and then ease a blade, and eventually a thin steel sheet slowly, slowly, slowly along until it's off: And it's still in one piece! You can see that the truss rod was fully tensioned when the adjuster-end snapped off. Interesting, though, that only one half of the strip is bowed. Sort of defies physics - I've never seen that before but maybe this is why it wasn't doing the business: Should be a pretty straightforward replacement as long as I can get a rod that fits properly.

Lovely job!

As @neepheid and @Norris say, trying out the colour either on a piece of scrap mahogany or in the neck pocket of the body (assuming it's bolt-on) is the only way of knowing for certain, but personally I don't think purple does very well. Dampened, which all stains do, mahogany is quite a dark and richly tinted wood. Ideally you want a stain that is either bright or complimentary to the wood's natural tint. Purple is neither and is likely to darken the mahogany considerably. As @Norris says, the different part of the spectrum of the purple to the oranges and reds of the timber can also make it brown. But the only way of knowing for sure is to try it Personally, I would be looking at reds, oranges, yellows - even greens sometimes work but that depends on the tone of the specific piece of wood.

This is the same guitar with an added coat or two of Ronseal Hardglaze polyurethane varnish brushed on:

Loads - but you have to love Cherry Red. It compliments the deep colour of the mahogany rather than tries fighting with it: This was done with red calligraphy ink and finished with Tru-oil

Very smart indeed. Going to be a corker!

Me too. I love the laminated body bass. Nice work and great result!

Excellent. Thanks for the update

Lovely

There was a guy at one of the bass bashes I was at a few years ago, maybe the South West one but could have been the South East one, who had an unusual but very effective strap arrangement. From what I remember, it was for just this kind of issue. If he's reading this, maybe he could chip in? For my tenor sax, I've just invested in a higher-tech strap than the general 'car-belt webbing and a hook' ones most of us use and it's transformed my ability to play - which was starting to get very difficult.

Yes - that matters a lot. Arthritis is a b****r. I have it in my hands and, for me, often I actually do use a neck heel button (bit like an acoustic) to tilt the guitar or bass body away from me a touch. It means I can't see the frets, but it means that my fretting hand isn't twisted as much as in the more conventional body angle. If you are able to try one out in a shop or a 'return if it doesn't suit' arrangement, I would have a look at some of the Ibanez short scale offerings - I think you would find that they sit quite differently to the types you've had in the past. And go for a medium weight rather than lightweight - the strain of a light but neck-heavy bass is worse than a heavier well-balanced one...

I think I am not alone in being surprised and bemused by the original assumption that a shorter scale = a propensity to neck dive. All other things being equal** then it is the exact opposite. The leverage effect of the headstock weight at the end of a bass neck is high. Reduce the length and you reduce the leverage and the probability of neck dive. ** But of course all other things are often not equal And so I started looking at the shortscale basses on the market, from a bass and guitar-builder's perspective. And that perspective is, from a neck dive point of view: Lighter body = greater chance of neck dive Smaller body = greater chance of being lighter = greater chance of neck dive Strap pin further back from 12th fret line = greater chance of neck dive Longer the neck = greater leverage from the headstock = greater chance of neck dive In line tuners = greater leverage from the headstock = greater chance of neck dive High-mass tuners = greater leverage from the headstock = greater chance of neck dive Greater number of tuners = greater leverage from the headstock = greater chance of neck dive Larger headstock = greater chance of neck dive And you can play 'swings and roundabouts' with the above factors. Or, if you like neck dive, you can play 'pennies on the scale'. The Fender P Bass has: A heavy body; a strap pin very close to 12th fret...and it balances So my assessment for @thebrig 's two basses that have given him problems is: Fender Mustang 30" (great bass, by the way!) Strap pin OK ; Short scale GOOD ; Small and light body BAD Conclusion: It should be OK, but the body is probably just that little bit too light and short (which affects also the back strap pin position). Solution: lightweight tuners will help reduce the neck dive Gibson SG Short Scale (iconic, but...) Short scale GOOD; Two a side Tuners GOOD; Strap pin Position UNBELIEVABLY BAD Welcome to the SG/EB owners self-help community I can guarantee, without looking at any reviews that the Gretsch G2220 Junior, the Epiphone EB-O short scales will also be bad, but that the Ibanez GSRM20 Micro is probably going to be good.

I haven't used Ghost stuff for bass guitars but I've used both Acoustiphonic and Hexpander units and piezo elements on a number of my own solid and semi 6 string guitars. Pricey but very competent - other than the 'collector block' that the connectors for each of the piezo wires plug into. Shockingly bad bit of tat that can (and does) stop the show. If they've changed that design/supplier then fine - it makes a good but flawed system great. If they are still supplying it, then shame on them.

Splendid job then and now

Great stuff. Looking forward to the next one!

OK - thanks One more question. If you hold down the G string at the 1st fret and 16th fret at the same time, approximately how much a gap is the bottom of the string above the 8th fret. Business card thickness-ish? Credit card thickness-ish? More than a mm-ish? In the meantime, I'll PM you.