Andyjr1515

I suppose if this was a fancy made-to-measure suit, this is the '2nd fitting' stage I'm working on the fretboard now that the neck and fretboard will have settled down and everything is OK to do a trial setup. There was a slight back bow on the unstrung neck, leaving the lower frets a bit low and a little unevenness along the fretboard so I've been gently flattening it with light work with a cabinet scraper and levelling beams. Almost there with the fretboard. It's now fine all the way from the 3rd fret to the top on a fairly low action on all strings but there's still just a bit of buzz on the 1st and 2nd fret positions so I've just got a touch more fettling to do. Also noticed two of my side dots are just a touch out of alignment - I'll redo those once the messing about with the fretboard is finished Andy

Well, of course they do tapewounds in all sorts of colours.... But the double string set sounds a GREAT idea...

Interesting video. As you say, you need a bity more control over the piezo side. However, when you added the slight amount of piezo volume to the neck pickup only, it added an enhancement to the sound that was quite different to the non-piezo sounds and was quite pleasant. The other thing, in my own experience with piezos on basses (although I've never used the graphtech system for a bass), is that the string type makes a HUGE difference. I had an acoustic that came with round wounds and it had that same ultra-hi fi metallic sound generally and high frequency incidental sounds from everytime you touched the strings - a bit like yours when you demoed with the full piezo volume. I swopped for black nylon tapewounds - and WHAT a difference. It's probably no coincidence that the Gillett Contour basses - which sound absolutely wonderful and combine electric and piezo pickups - also use nylon tapewounds.

These short days. I emerged from the cellar after doing the Jazz rout and it's dark! Ignore the artificial light but that's both pickups routed. That might be the last scariest bit. Pleasingly, there's no daylight showing through the back ...although that might be because it's night now...

One of the challenging things about a through neck is that you can't fettle a neck pocket to correct any build, er-hum, 'vagaries'. So neck angle for bridge height has to be pretty spot on as does the sideways straightness to make sure that the strings all line up with the fretboard and the pickup poles. This is particularly important for a P pickup because any misalignment is very obvious. As such, if is a case of 'check ten times, cut once. On a PJ, I always start with the P and then double check the J position once those chambers have been cut. Also, as described in more detail in the Len_Derby thread, I just don't trust router templates. Instead I: Drill a hole for each pickup corner, 1mm greater dia than the actual corner radius Forstner a hole for each lug - again using a bit 1mm greater dia than the lug Forstner out the bulk Clean up the top edges with some careful chisel work Check the fit against one of the pickup covers Clean up the sides and chamber bottom with a short bearing-guided trimmer router bit - which is now captive and therefore can't go on a holiday through the nicely carved top! The result is this: Which is then double checked with the two covers: And then checked against each of the string positions: You can see on the pencil marked position of the J pickup where I've moved it across 1mm from the original position...which is exactly why I do it this way round and always use the actual bridge and the actual pickup covers and some strings in the nut position. It's a bit old fashioned, maybe, but it is less often now that I end up saying 'Well, it was right when I measured it against the drawing in the first place!'

Every little helps - another tick off the To Do list. Magnets on the truss rod cover: I know it's tempting fate but, from a build point of view rather than the additional wait time for the finish to fully harden (probably a further week), this should be finished this week

Looks very good

Don't go giving @eude ideas!!!!

Ah yes - I've used their metal ones. Good, at any price for those! Superb quality. I'll try some of the wood ones - hadn't realised they did wood ones too. Thanks for the tip-off and link!

On this one it will be the nice and heavy chrome ones that @eude had on his original build. They go well with the chrome bridge and tuners. Ref wooden knobs, I've actually started making my own...I was fed up searching for decent ones. Which ones have you found?

When the finishing is being done, the threads end up being a bit like watching paint dry... But heck - I've drilled three holes too!!! Got to be worth a picture:

Another couple of jobs off the tick list. With the body dry enough to handle but not dry enough for the next coat, I shielded the control chamber and fitted the magnets. I'll be adding a small fingernail scoop into the rear body edge for easy access to open it. Note the original scratchplate screw holes in the rebate that are now hidden under the new cover Right - that's enough for one day. Besides, MrsAndyjr1515 is pressuring me for a gin and tonic. Maybe I'll mention the cushion once she's had a few sips

Absolutely! Black Friday Week on Saturday Deal - free colour coordinating cushion with every heavily modded 20 year old project! Haven't told MrsAndyjr1515 yet, but I'm sure she'll be fully supportive

Second slurry and wipe for the body and first for the neck and headstock: Piling this and all of the hardware on the scales, it's going to end up just over 8lbs and should balance nicely Not too many items left on the to do list, to be honest... Andy

And the last word on this before we go back to the most important thing - that is: me! ME! MEEEEEEE!!!! Yes - happily everyone has different tastes and that's absolutely fine. For example, I personally cannot see at all the aesthetic appeal of a standard, painted Fender Telecaster. Happily for Fender, tens, if not hundreds, of millions of folks around the world strongly disagree with me. The most important thing to me - actually, as @eude rightly says, the only really important thing - is that he, the original builder and owner, loves it The next important thing to me, personally, is that I love it too. And I do. I love the history of it - a dream of twenty years ago that was dashed. If I can be part of fulfilling that dream, then I will be utterly delighted. I love the katalox. I had never heard of katalox before and it is a bit of a revelation. The photos to it no justice at all - Canon DSLR's are notoriously bad at reproducing accurate reds. It's got a natural oxblood hue to it and that redness contrasts beautifully with the ash. In real life, it looks really, really classy. Bit of a pig to work with, mind you... I love the scale length. @eude had said to me that the 31.5" would make it feel totally different and it does. I love the original carve. I suppose I have the normal paranoia of a builder and modifier whether the changes I make detract rather than enhance. The original carve was VERY tactile. A bit like those wooden comfort stones you can buy. Albeit the body wood alone weighed only a touch less than @Len_derby 's fully finished full scale bass! So, to summarise: I love @Marcoelwray 's builds I love this build Most of all, I love ME 😍 So I'm going back to concentrating on THAT

First finish coat. Well, I think that looks pretty classy already I'm still amazed what a difference 0.6mm of veneer makes...

Phew! I added the demarcation fillet to the neck joint and sorted the pickup pocket to double check it didn't need lowering and also to cut the clearance grooves for the pickup cables. Just about to start the final finishing processes on the body

Managed to knock off 3 of the remaining 14 jobs on this, including installing some blue luminlays: Assuming I remembered correctly, @eude wanted the dots on the fretlines rather than between. Assuming I didn't remember correctly, it makes no difference... @eude is getting the dots on the fretlines Probably going to start the final sanding and finishing pretty soon, then that can be hardening off while I finish the other bits and pieces.

Still got the final shaping to finish, but grabbed a spare moment to do a few of the smaller jobs. I cut some swifts: Cut the control chamber cover from another offcut of the top wood: And fitted the tuners and bridge to pop on some strings, just tightened enough to straighten them, so that I can work out the exact positions of the PJ pickups before the scary bit of cutting the chambers: I will be sinking the bridge in so that the plate is flush with the top as I did with @Len_derby 's - but that and the pickup routs will wait a day or so while I make a bit more progress on @eude 's 6-er

Lovely!

That's very disappointing... We've all been there and know just how disappointing that feels. But you will get there, trust me.

Many congratulations for being awarded No Treble's "Bass of the Week" !!!! Just spotted it. Very well deserved.

No problem. Ref your options, if it is a modern 2 way trussrod (which I'm pretty sure it is) there isn't a removable nut like on a Gibson / Fender so the option of adding a washer probably isn't one you can consider. When you tried to adjust the trussrod further, did you loosen the strings and add some medium pressure to aid the backbow as you adjusted?

Did you try turning the trussrod nut the other way?

I read somewhere that the Maruszczyk truss rods turn the 'wrong way round'. That is, looking from the heel towards the nut, turning the allen wrench to the left (ie anticlockwise) tightens it. Does the nut turn in either direction? If it turns anticlockwise, try that. For those who wonder why that may be - a standard modern 2-way trussrod has two rods - one above the other. Normally, the rod with the nut sits at the bottom. This is so - on a neck with headstock adjustment access - the nut is still hidden with the downward angle of the headstock. But, you can fit the truss rod in the other way round so that the adjusting nut is at the top. This can be useful in a heel adjustment because the nut sits higher and gives easier access for the wrench. However, if you turn the rod upside down, the rod is now bending the 'wrong' way and the nut needs to be turned in the opposite direction to have the desired effect. Easier to illustrate with a photo, but I'm away from my desktop at the moment. Anyway, @benjo - try turning it the other way unless you are already doing that