Andyjr1515

Yes - the mpm-02 piezo/magnetic mixer is teeny weeny and works well. The info sheet provided is, however, rubbish. Jez ( @Jabba_the_gut ) had the same issue and John sent him a much clearer hand drawn sketch which Jez copied to me for Mick's Psilos bass. Why John doesn't just add a pdf of that on his web site or with the product I don't know, bless him, but if you get one give Jez or me a shout and we'll send you one.

In the early stages, my approach on this will be a bit brutal. The storage of the back and side wood has been poor - there's been a bit of dishing and there's been a bit of what looks like water damage on one of the edges of the sides set that was there when I bought it. So basically, rather than hours of planing, scraping and sanding - only to find out that there is not enough usable area - it's doing what you should never do with figured woods - through the Makita thicknesser down from about 7mm to 2mm at 0.5mm a time. And I've sort of got away with it so far. I say sort of because at the last pass of the last back piece like an eejit, I sent the panel through the other way round - and got some pretty impressive tearout! The other side is perfect, despite being reduced through a very, very harsh process. The sides too: I've lost a couple of inches off the length of the sides due to the unavoidable snipe of this type of thicknesser but - and I will check later today - this should still give me adequate length for a dreadnought The water (?) damage on the sides is on the opposite side to the bookmatch join and should be well within the trim allowance of the sides. Again, I will check later today the usable dimensions. So, assuming that the dimensions are usable, the next proper job is going to be bending the sides. If they bend OK, we have a live project, if they don't I'll use up the wood for headstock plates/inlay fills, etc.. Whatever, this will be a background project as it's only for my own use so may take some time!

Actually, John, the one I showed you was my smaller OM size: This is great for what I built it for - fingerpicking styles - but the king of strumming acoustics is the bigger dreadnought model and the OM is noticeably more limited. This is my own (look how much the top has darkened!) next to my dreadnought build for Chris, our band's vocalist: The reason I never made a dreadnought for myself before is that they are great for strumming (which Chris mainly does) but usually not so good for fingerpicking (which I mainly do). But - probably by pure luck - Chris's dreadnought just as good for fingerpicking as my smaller OM. If I can replicate that, then I have the best of both worlds

I've got a (welcome) gap between commissioned full builds. I probably have a rebody of a Cort Curbow coming up (more of which later) but, in the scheme of things, that isn't a major undertaking on a par with a full build. So, as some of you know, one of the things I've been doing in the extra time is sorting out a better arrangement with routing - I've invested in a self-assembled foldaway router table and am currently building a thicknessing rig. But I've also been looking at the crazy amount of 'oooh that looks nice' wood that I've acquired over the past few years. In amongst it is this - some of which isn't faring well in my far-from-perfect wood storage: On the left is a sister set of back and sides lacewood and mahogany/walnut neck offcut from Chris's (our band's vocalist) dreadnought acoustic that I built him back in 2015: Next to that is another neck offcut - maple /walnut and lastly an offcut of Macassar ebony fretboard from my recent 6-string electric build. Well....that's most of the wood for another dreadnought - with a choice of neck to boot! And I've got a bit of time on my hands And I've got a few new things in the workshop that need testing out. And I've always wanted, and never had, a dreadnought. Hmmmm….it's tempting!

There are some interesting observations above. With the risk of everybody telling me I'm wrong - because I usually am - a couple of further views to my earlier post: In my experience, the mass of the bridge can make a perceptable change to the sound of a bass - both unplugged and amplified. Whether that change improves it, degrades it or is just different is entirely down to the individual listener's opinion and taste. Adding a modern high mass bridge to a genuine 50's holy grail P bass therefore will change the sound. Whether that is a good thing or not, though... Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.

Me too .

Thanks, Neil I'll track down one of your gigs sometime soon and take a few live shots in between some enthusiastic heckling

Hi Yes - I've done a few. This tutorial I did on ProjectGuitar covers quite a bit of it (I think it allows none members to see but let me know if not) http://www.projectguitar.com/tutorials/finishingrefinishing/bedroom-builders-wipe-on-varnishing-r67/ The only things I would change - because since that article Ronseal Hardglaze (if you used that) has had a formulation change - are with the new formula, I would thin it a lot less - more like 10% rather than 30-50% I have started using the lint-free white polishing cloths from Halfords - the micro-fibre cloths are OK but the new formulation of Ronseal doesn't level as well and the texture can leave wipe-lines Of course, you might be using something else. The principles will be the same - just do a few trials to get the best proportions of varnish to thinners. Just shout if you want any pointers along the way Andy

Not sure about the physics, but in my practical experience, the mass of a bridge makes a tangible difference to the tone, volume and sustain of both electric guitars and basses The most demonstrable (and here the physics is maybe a little more intuitive - I guess inertia values?) is the humble tremolo block on a stratocaster. Put a heavyweight one on instead of a cheap lightweight one - on the very same tremolo - and the sound comparison is like chalk and cheese. I suspect the effect on a bass, again is quite discernable for anyone who's tried it, is from similar causes but is certainly less pronounced.

I think it's a great idea For me, it would have to be a single pickup capable of moving from the Stingray position all the way up to the Jazz neck position, just to be able to see once and for all if there is a sweet spot or spots without the distraction of the other factors involved in most other such comparisons. Very tempted to do a sister build...

I used to make anodised aluminium extrusion and know how much it costs per metre, so biting my lip at the huge profit margins clearly involved by someone along the way (and I suspect that's not the Taiwanese), it does seem to be very well made...

Assuming the Andyjr1515 conversion of 3 Andyjr1515 months to the minute, then - for a mere king's ransom - of course...

I've taken a chip out on pretty much every build. Luckily always rectifiable so far but I think I was pushing my luck

You're most kind, Mick It's more about reducing the risk of an unplanned router gouge somewhere important late in the build - and also reducing the shower of chippings I usually end up being covered in every time I get the router out...

Hi Those of you who follow my threads will know two things: My workshop is TINY I absolutely HATE routers Well, based on MrsAndyjr1515's assertion that I fill every room in our house with my c**p already, the first item is unlikely to change But I ought to do something about the second one - if only because there still are certain things I have to use a router for and, hand routed, they remain the messiest and most risky operations pretty much of any of my builds. So, with a short break between actual builds, I decided to rethink my cellar / workbench arrangement and ask the question of whether there was any chance of all of getting a small router table in there. And I've just done it and I am so, so pleased with how it's turned out. The research and thinking process was long and painful (especially the thinking bit ) This is what I ended up with: Anyone who has also looked at tables will know that it is a complete minefield of partial and/or ambiguous information of what each option will do or not do, how portable, how big, what routers they are compatible with, what guide rings they are compatible with, what comes in the box and what is extra, how heavy, how easy to disassemble, how stable, etc, etc.. I also had a requirement to be able to easily store it in a very small space when not in use and small enough to be able to use it in the narrow standing space in front of the workbench And this latter requirement knocked 90% of the options out. So a bit of lateral thinking. Was it madness to consider using the folding stand from my £12.00 (yes £12 !!!! from Maplin, god bless em and RIP) lightweight workmate and do a 'bitsa' job on the table itself? Could I use my Draper router fixed base (on the right in this pic) that - against all odds - actually does fit into a so-called universal sub-base: ...and therefore be able to still use it as a hand router with the plunge base and remove it easily for storing the table and changing the router bits. And the answer was yes. Not cheap, but I think meets all my requirements. And - if early trials are anything to go by - SO, SO, SO much safer, more accurate, easier to set up and cleaner than hand routing. This photo was taken immediately after rounding all eight sides of a test piece. The sawdust in the tracks were from an earlier tryout without the vac attached. The rest of the chips - ie none - were what were left after the cuts: Can't tell you how chuffed I am

Thought had never crossed my mind Wonder if @Si600 would be happy to Parcelpost it across to me every now and again

Catching up on some much neglected threads! I've been following this on one of the other forums and @Bridgehouse is aware of how impressed I am with his build. Indeed, he is now a fully-fledged member of the 'Why Do Great Sounding Basses Have To Be So Heavy? Answer - They Don't' club And this one does look great. And it's super light. And it sounds fantastic!

Fascinating thread. A lot of thought is going into this build

What next, @Si600 with this? It looks a nice bit of kit. Continuing to watch with interest.

Somehow missed this along the way. Great transition! I agree also with the maple neck - very classy

Splendid! Love them

I have indeed had a sneaky preview listen. Very cleverly, the overdub is of @Bridgehouse 's 64 Precision and, separately, this lightweight beauty, both in the mix of the same 'live' track. Different tone to the 64P, but absolutely the same level of gravitas and clarity and yes...I can feel a bit of essence of Ric there too . Trust me - it sounds great.

Somehow missed your earlier post. I think all of us have probably had to do at least one 'try, strip off, try again' moments with our finishes. In my case, it still happens!

Yes - and there's a hatch into the cellar, directly over the bandsaw Well, I keep seeing these Russian/ US election interference documents where every 4th word is redacted, I thought I'd try it here

..and by the magic of a rough hack with Photoshop, we have the full progression: Left to Right: Pete's piccolo bass, my Swift Lite, Jane's Nyhavn Swift and Neil's Swift Lite Bass