Andyjr1515

Beautiful. I just LOVE the way the back has been carved and it looks very playable. Top drawer builder! Andy

And ignoring what MrsAndyjr1515 might say about the subject, never let it be said that I don't listen, @scrumpymike You have dots

And so the original pickguard modified (I think that looks quite nice : And the new pickguard checked for the critical sizes before adding the ebony veneer: And the ebony veneer ready for me to decide what glue is going to be the best to stick it on with! : And the fretboard dots have managed to battle their way through the Christmas post! So that will probably be tomorrow's job.

I think this (marked in green) is what we're both saying @scrumpymike ?

Trouble is, this // is going to be this \\ kind of // as opposed to this ]I \\ II ll kind of // and, let's face it, I wouldn't want to confuse @scrumpymike any more than he already is Clearly the best way for me to illustrate to @scrumpymike that I know exactly what he has in his mind is going to be for me to get it in the scrollsaw, cut it to shape and then, if it's wrong I can just... ...oh.... Hmmm....this building by correspondence is trickier than I thought!

Sorry - I missed the vital 'pickup' word. I meant to type \\ to the bridge pickup - i.e. at an angle Yes - I quite agree, \\ to the bridge itself would look a bit odd. Never assume what comes out of my mouth is what is going on in my head

Yes - my money is on \\ to the pickup too

Well why don't I straighten up the original to match the bridge and then you can choose whichever you want for starters and always swop later if you want a change

I started by cutting out the external shape using a scroll-saw: Then sellotaped the original scratchplate to this one: And then attacked it with various drill bits, hacksaw blades and more scroll saw stuff to give me this. I'll take a better photo in the morning when, hopefully, there will be a bit of daylight!

Gosh, the weather's been c**p this past few months! Two pm and all the lights are on in the house while, outside, it tips it down once more. So forgive the quality of the photos. The body is almost ready for its final finish coats. The black dots haven't arrived yet. BUT - I can start sorting the scratchplate. @scrumpymike wants to go all black. Would ebony be possible? Well, as a solid wood plate I'm afraid it can't. It's too large an area to be able to get the right thickness (or should I say thinness) of ebony sheet of the right quality. But, it should be possible to veneer a standard black plastic pickguard. That's what I'm going to try to do next. I have the sheet of black plastic and, as a template, there actually won't be much of a change to the original shape - just that area that used to wrap around the slightly unconventional bridge of the original Rascal: Something a bit like this: And so that's going to be the next job

That's the first thing I noticed too. There are two connector blocks with a grey wire each going to nowhere. Where have those grey wires been attached to to when you've tried it? Certainly, the block attached to the pickup earths has to be grounded otherwise nothing is going to happen. As you say, these things usually are about a dodgy or missing earth. Tip: follow the earth connection coming from each and every every component and work out how it eventually gets to the earth tag on the jack. You are likely to find at least one where, following it round, it never gets to the jack. Trust me, I've done dozens and dozens of circuits and I still occasionally miss one!

Not often I guffaw out loud but I did with this comment.

I feel the much the same when I see the quality of bass building that come out of Messrs Shuker; ACG; etc,etc workshops

And now fixed with maple-dust laden epoxy, sanded and headstock shape cut. Although Christmas preps are starting to encroach, will be turning my attention back to the body finishing and pickguard while I wait for the black fretboard dots to battle their way through the festive season postal melee.

This ^ On both counts With my unquestioned qualification to an opinion by being a crazy b*****d who will mod pretty much anything with anything: - functionally and sonically, there is nothing wrong with the standard bridge. The Jazz and the Precision aren't world leaders for no reason - yes, a different bridge will look different, it will feel different and it may sound different. Not better, just different - if you have to drill different screw holes, you will almost certainly reduce the resale value of the bass, however fancy a bridge you put on. If you swop to a 'drop-in' bridge and subsequently want to sell, put the original bridge back on and sell the new bridge separately The Gibson three-point bridge is one of the worst designed bits of metal I've ever come across relating to bass guitars. What on earth were they thinking!!!! As @NancyJohnson says, there are improved drop-in one's available. Same advice if you come to sell, though. Put the original one back on and sell the better one with it as an extra or separately. That's my view, anyway

Out came the (not actually) Dremel precision router base and the trusty 1mm bit and let the routing begin! Headstock ones done ready to glue: And the 12th fret ones:

And yes, the maple goes really well. While in general terms I'm not a great fan of tele headstocks, that adds to the quirky vibe of the bass.

Looks great. That pickguard really does set the colour off well

Looking good

Ignoring my former friend's helpful suggestion... Onto the headstock shape. Mike wants a passing nod to the original Rascal - so a Fenderish vibe - but also wanted a three / one arrangement of the tuners. He's supplied me with some very nice looking open-gear Hipshots and those, many of you will know, are reversible so that is no problem. I like to achieve as close to straight as I can with string runs so I always start with a full-size drawing and start with the string runs - which lets me work out the possible positions of the tuners. This is what I came up with as the optimum: I also always double check there won't be any clashing of hardware: Looks fine. That was then transferred to the paddle which let me double check where the swifts will go: And meant I could trace round the ebony ready for routing the chambers when I have decent light again in the morning:

@scrumpymike - look into my eyes. Concentrate and count to ten backwards. Look into my eyes! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! Now I am going to click my fingers and then you will wake up and not remember anything that has just happened. Sorted

Next pre-sanding job on the neck is the inlays. I'll be putting dot markers on the board but also a couple of swifts at the 12th fret. I always think Mother of Pearl on a maple board can look a bit wishy-washy - and abalone, etc, can look a bit cheap on an otherwise undecorated instrument. So sticking with the all black theme, I've gone for ebony for the inlays: Now - it does have its own challenges. Because it has a grain - and because the tips are sharp - then it is very easy to accidentally snap off bits, especially when you are doing the fitting. We'll see how it goes There will be a couple of small ones on the board: ...and a couple on the headstock: Next job is sorting the outline for the headstock so I can work out where the inlay routes should go

From the profile gauge measurements that @scrumpymike took of his Rascal neck, I made a plasticard template: I was pretty sure that the new neck was going to be already pretty close to this. And I was right - Difficult to see on the photo, but there is the teeniest bit of asymmetry showing from Mike's measurements from the original Rascal - shallower curve at the treble side - that I will replicate when I sand out the heel-carve marks and sand off the protective finish from the neck and fretboard.

Not sure about the genius bit. Certifiable, certainly

I'll tidy up the heel when I finish the re-profiling, but the bulk removal has been done: Don't worry about the ropey finish on the body, by the way. It's had just a quick rough and ready sealing coat to stop the sanding dust getting into any grain. Once I've finished messing about, I'll be able to give the body a wipe over with a damp cloth to get it all clean and speck-free before putting the final finish on it.