Andyjr1515

Hmmmm...sitting round for a while is a great time for sketching out and planning out the next ones

If it is similar to the camphor laurel I used, it was very stable. I am pretty certain that you won't need anything above your normal finishing for either rigidity or stability. The filling of the voids is basically aesthetic.

OK - slightly different answer to my earlier post. The single cut above, which is actual Camphor, wasn't actually very holey. As such I got away with just creating a slurry by sanding with wet and dry but using Tru-oil as the wet (basically a variation of the 'slurry and buff' approach). Also, the slurry is the sawdust of the predominant wood - and this camphor was similar hues all around so filling small voids with that lighter slurry didn't detract from the darker burl This one below, was Camphor Laurel (it is actually a type of laurel as far as I understand) which was holey like yours: And this one, yes - I mixed ebony sanding dust with epoxy and filled it with that. This gives a true black fill of the voids: This one below was the same Camphor Laurel, but this time I did a tru-oil slurry and buff. Bear in mind this is not full gloss finished, but you see how the lightness of the slurry tends to soften the burl effect: So, I would say for maximum effect, mix epoxy (Z-epoxy would be my choice) with a decent amount of a very dark sanding dust, for a lesser effect, you could slurry and wipe. Or - you could opt to leave unfilled, as I have for @Len_derby 's very recently finished burl poplar lightweight bass:

Yes! Yes, I have. Kert's (FuNkShUi) single cut custom was camphor burl And I THINK I used epoxy mixed with wood dust - but that might have been one of my other builds. Give me two ticks and I'll find the photos. This was the bass:

Well, I think we've pretty much exhausted the timbre stuff (please, please, please! ). In the meantime, thanks again for the nice words - always means a lot. Got a nice gig bag for it today, did the final pickup height stuff, micro-web'd it and added a signed label for the back of the control chamber cover. Just waiting for the MN blend pot - hoping tomorrow but banking on Wed latest - and we can relieve @Len_derby of his very patient vigil!

Actually, you're both wrong. The timbre I used was poplar

Just added the strap buttons and I'm relieved pleased to say that it balances upright and level. On the knee it's fine too. So, just got to swop that pesky blend pot when it arrives and do the final wipe over with micro-web and it's ready to pass across

Yes - it is. There's a lot of ambiguity on most of the sites I use where they call pan pots blend pots and show complicated diagrams but without any description and those simple words 'centre both 100%'. They need to employ someone like @LukeFRC in their marketing departments ! In the meantime, I will write down in my little book of 'things I bet I forget next time unless I write it down right now' that they are called MN types. Luckily, an MN is one of the two replacements I've ordered on my 'well ONE of them should be the right one!' approach Thanks for the clarification

Soldered the electrics but reckon I've put in the wrong type of blend pot. I seem to remember doing that once before. Trouble is, pinning down the correct pot type from even the most reputable guitar and bass suppliers seems to be a too difficult ask. And searching on google is a bit akin to asking on a astro-physics forum for a quick layman's explanation of the space-time continuum Anyway, ordered two more types - one of them must be the right one. By the time that's fitted next week, the finish will be hard enough for the final micro-web flattening. Next weekend latest, I reckon, Neil

Two more jobs - soldering the wires and fitting the strap buttons. However, took the advantage of a little bit of cloud (not often in the UK we say THAT!) to take the arty-farty shots - taking photos in full sunlight is not an easy thing to do! Before those shots (and forgive the self-indulgence!), someone asked me why I've started scooping the back. Two reasons that can be seen in these two shots: It takes out a LOT of weight. Just look at how much wood has been removed - and this is a relatively thick body this time: It allows a superslim transition of the neck to the body. Again, this one has been made a little deeper (this one is 30mm at its minimum - my last build was 25mm where the body was basically the same thickness as the neck!) but still retains those pleasing lines at the transition. I've also left the transition relatively modest starting with a taper just past the 13th fret - I can always get the surform out if, after he's had a proper play with it, @Len_derby wants it slimmer further up Anyway, enough of the technicals - here are the fancy shots: As always, many thanks for sticking with yet another tortuous thread and for your kind words and encouragement - always HUGELY appreciated Andy

A very professional approach. This is the sort of stuff I skimp on...and it shows!

Final playing weight, 6lbs 6oz

Been on this all day. Two or three small jobs to do, but here's a sneak preview:

And another couple of jobs crossed off - cleaning up and adding finish to the fretboard and levelling and crowning the frets:

Blood and sand, Jez! For a start they look wonderful (mine's the one at the bottom if you are sending them as free gifts to deserving sycophants ) Secondly - we retirees rely on you employed folks to keep us in the manner we once dreamed could have been possible until we all realised that money purchase pension schemes are just charity donations to rich financiers. So it is always a concern if the employed tax-payers start letting their attention drift away from their prime purpose - that is of keeping the state pension provision afloat. So to come to the leading question - when on earth do you have time to work on your proper tax paying job if you have all those beauties on the go and should Phillip Hammond be informed? More specifically, do I need to tighten our family's belts and hide the gin from MrsAndyjr1515? Trust me, she's a very scary woman when she's sober! Ps. My wife's solicitors have served a cease and desist request based on the hurtful comment above. She wishes me to clarify that she is a very scary person whether she has consumed gin or not. I fully concur and apologise for what might have been a seen as a misleading statement.

Finish pretty much done - it'll take maybe a week to fully harden before it can be micro-webbed, but I can finish the fret-levelling, hatch magnets and shielding / electrics installation while I'm doing that. Although I've had issues with the gloss version, the satin version of the Osmo Polyx is really straightforward to apply and gives a nice looking and tough finish.

Beautiful job. They look splendid.

Going to look good

Good copy if that's the actual one...

Is it a Just-a-nut or a copy?

Looks the real deal to me. Some beautiful builds on the FB page with demos and build vids. Very impressive - and I build basses!

Ooooh - fancy! Very striking. You could also stain it...an ebony board would look pretty classy...

Although the Festool is now firmly on my wish list (I have seen previous reviews and it is that halfway house that @Christine mentions that seems to be a pretty powerful USP), nevertheless it isn't in my present means so it's old-fashioned BF&I this time round. Got the sanding pretty much done (prob still got the final, final neck work to do) and THE FINISHING IS STARTED Here it is in its sanded form: Not sure if it really comes off, but the figuring just behind the fretboard end always reminded me of the swift shape, so I tried to emulate it with the fretboard end carve: And then the first tru-oil slurry and wipe coats. Unless I have a colour concern, I generally now use that for my base sealing and grain-filling process, whatever the final finish. In this case the final finish is going to be Osmo Polyx satin, but I'll still start with the tru-oil treatment. In a previous build, I proved to myself that you can slurry with Osmo just as well, but I wanted that touch of added amber hue that tru-oil tends to give: The bridge, by the way, is now flush with the leading edge of the body as planned: Finishing progress shots tend to get a bit boring so I won't post the Polyx progress, suffice to say that I will be wiping it on with micro-fibre cloth. All being well, the next shots - probably next week - should be the fully assembled bass It will still need a week or so for the finish to fully harden before I can pass it across to Neil but I think I'm now fully clear of disaster/BBQ wood potential tasks - I think it's actually going to turn into a playable bass! As always, many thanks for the encouraging feedback and pearls of wisdom along the way

Great endorsement - I'll have a look

Well - I'm out of excuses now...tomorrow is final sanding day and finishing starts at the weekend. The last job was to set the bridge at its final height, and that allows me to see how much leeway I have for the final curve of the top. It's not critical, but I would like the bridge plate to be at least partially sunken into the top and, ideally, flush. It makes no difference to the functionality, but I want to avoid the look of some bridges where they appear to be a bit of an afterthought. I used a Dremel precision router for the flatness and finished the edges with chisels. Like the pickup routs, I did the curved front corners with a 5mm drill, drilled to final depth, before routing the bulk out : That gives me a nice close fit and looks like it is supposed to be there: This done, it lets me pencil the 'flush level'... ...so I can see how deep to sand. The aim will be flush at the leading edge and curving down a touch to expose the bridge plate progressively towards the tailstock. I'm hoping that the weather stays dry tomorrow as it is a lot easier to do the final sand outside - especially when looking for sanding marks, glue overspill and unwanted dints. The Osmo has arrived so, all being well, I should be able to apply the first couple of sealing coats as well before the start of the weekend