Andyjr1515

Those are lovely pieces of timber. Watching with interest.....

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1426007666' post='2713367'] Much prefer your carving to Mr Cort's, looking good [/quote] Thanks, scojack

Time for the final carves and the last dry day forecast for the week Crucial thing now is to work towards a weight. As I said at the start, the chap I'm doing this for has arthritis in his neck and needs a light bass - which the Cort is. My hope is that I can carve it down to a weight, eliminating the need for an extra 'control chamber'. Before the final carving tweaks at the back, we are getting pretty close: The Cort Luthite body is 1428g and the solid walnut body is 1462g Back to the final carves - the horn scoops at the back. A combination of rasp file, medium file, curved scrapers and sandpaper got me here: Now was the time to finish-sand the edges. One of the things I do when I'm at this stage is save some of the fine sawdust. You never know when you might need some body-coloured filler : Then all round finish-sand. The top now came up like this: I took a tip from a great builder on one of the other forums (WezV) to sand wet with Tru-oil, to create a grain-filling slurry. I've yet to decide whether to use his technique for a fabulous tru-oil final finish or my normal wiped-on Ronseal, but the latter is completely compatible with the former anyway so I can try the tru-oil and, If I cock it up, still go onto a gloss finish. The final colour is going to be something like this: I still have an option to sand down the top a bit more where the control knobs sit but, presently: Cort Curbow : 1428g Solid Walnut: 1422g Result !!!! Thanks for looking and your encouraging feedback Andy

Yup - we've all been waiting....but no doubt going to be worth waiting for

No probs - if you are tight on facilities and equipment, it's probably worth a try... Andy

Caught a couple of hours of dry before the rains came again. Managed to finish the main carve of the top and started on the back. Here's the top: When it's had its finishing applied, it will be more this shade: I've also done the main relief at the back - still got to do the two scoops at the base of the horns: Also got to add a touch of extra cutaway at the top waist to do to even it out: I'm hoping that tomorrow is dry as forecast so I can do the scoops at the back and tidy up the outer edge and the flat surfaces of the top and back. By the way, I do it this way round as the planing, spokeshaving and scraping quite often results in dints and dig-ins along the edge - b****y irritating if the edge is already tidied up and perfect! Thanks for looking Andy

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1425749360' post='2710354'] When you mention Microfibre cloths are you talking about the cloths used to polish cars? [/quote] I use the cheapo ones from Sainsbury's / Homebase. I think they are around £5 for 4. I use a slightly fancier one as my 'tack-rag' - a window-cleaning one

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/244071-fender-precision-lyte-body-refinish/page__fromsearch__1"]This is probably the most relevant thread for you, Rumple[/url]. It was the refurb of Paul S's black Precision Lyte, pictured above. Hope it helps. Andy

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1425744873' post='2710293'] And Andy, I'm going to have to try your finishing method as those two look amazing. [/quote] It came out of necessity - I don't have a workshop / garage / shed that I can spray in and I knew that furniture makers quite often wipe varnish on...many reckon that however well you clean your brushes, there will always be bits coming off them. The transformation was the introduction of cheap microfibre cloths...they are brilliant for the job. When I get a moment I'll post some links I've done in the past (poss from other forums) ref some of the tips and tricks to get a pretty decent finish in not much time or effort...and indoors (ensuring good ventilation, of course ) As I always stress - it will never quite match a professional spray job, but for its practicability and cost it is good enough for many projects Andy

Hi, Rumple It really depends on what you are after. To go for the full spray-can whack certainly notches up the cost more than any of us would like, but it IS possible to achieve a perfectly decent and effective finish much cheaper than that. You could go the ink & wiped on Ronseal approach: Materials - ink £5; Ronseal £7; microfibre cloths £5; white spirit £5; Wet n dry sandpapers £7 Or you could go the spray primer, spray colour, wipe on Ronseal approach: Halfords Primer £7.50 ; Halfords Colour x2 £15; Ronseal £7; Microfibre cloths £5; Wet n dry sandpapers £7 Or the spray primer, spray paint, spray clear lacquer approach: Halfords Primer £7.50 ; Halfords Colour x2 £15; Halfords Clear Lacquer x2 £15; Wet n dry sandpapers £7; Autoglym polish £13; microfibre cloths £5 I don't have any shots of that because I always use the wipe-on approach. It takes some practice, and there are some hints and tips, and it won't QUITE make the same quality as a very well applied spray and buffed finish...but it will be better than a badly applied spray and buffed finish. I'm more than happy to point you to various threads of how to do it... Andy

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1425661269' post='2709552'] Looking quite special already. Glad to see you using a spokeshave for the carving. I was watching a series of videos on youtube recently where the guy was using a rasp file for carving body and neck. It all seemed like really hard work. He produced good results though. Would imagine a spokeshave will be somewhat easier. [/quote] Hi, BassBus Thanks! Yes - once you've got the blade sharp enough and at the right projection, it works very well indeed. You also have to remember (like a router) to always to be cutting 'downhill' to avoid digging in and tear-out. Andy

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1425655623' post='2709472'] Hi Andy, good thanks, it's had a band practice and was really nice [/quote]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1425653878' post='2709447'] Always enjoy your build threads Andy [/quote] Thanks, Bryan - good to hear from you How's the Thunder Jet? Has it had its first 'blooding' yet?

Did the main carve for the upper half of the top this morning. Almost all hand carve...there's too many things that can go too wrong too fast with power tools at this stage Here's the body marked out and the main tools for starters - a block plane and a razor-plane: Quite early on in the process I also brought in the spokeshave: Other tools at various times included a 'D' profile rasp file and a cabinet scraper and 2 mins worth of Dremel. Now here's the thing...I've never done woodwork before I started on the builds and no-one had ever taught me how to sharpen chisels, plane blades, scraper blades or set up a plane, spokeshave, etc.. So I did what we all do - looked up EVERY internet tips and tricks I could lay my hand on and, guess what - it works!!!! The block plane was a 'special event' present and I think this particular make costs over £300 (yes...quite...). It is a thing of beauty and a joy to use. BUT, with the blade properly sharpened and properly mounted, I was getting as good a quality of shaving with the Record spokeshave which - if I remember correctly - cost about £12.00 in Homebase So - if you do use handtools and, like I was, are not overly familiar with how to set them up, it's well worth spending that bit of time learning and trying it out. Anyway, enough spouting - here's the progress today: As always, thanks for looking Andy

Yup - looks brilliant! (Literally....)

Great stuff - what's your thoughts about finish/ colour?

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1425565452' post='2708662'] Yeah, but they're mad-looking things but I love the design and, having played a fretless 5, I really like the sound. However, my bass-playing never extends beyond the walls of my house so strap balance is irrelevant to me. What matters is how comfortable they are on my lap, and that's where these fail, in my opinion. I found my left hand was kind of holding the neck up while playing. [/quote] Well maybe that supports at least part of my theory - one element missing (strap support) = neck dive

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1425556518' post='2708510'] Isn't that battery compartment too close to any bridge screws or pickup routing? I woud have putted it towards the top horn so i could keep the most wood possible on the central block to help with ressonance but i'm not a luthier and i know nothing about this science Looking good [/quote] Hi Ghost Bass - and thanks The outside shape and route positions are exactly per original (although the final carve will be completely different) but I can see why you think it looks a bit odd. If you look at the pic of the original above, you see that the bridge is RIGHT at the back! I can't be sure, but I think it is to prevent neck dive - when I first saw this (and the Tangelwood equivalent which is even lighter) I thought is was a short scale, but it is a full 34". With a light body, one of the ways is to bring the neck right back and have a very small headstock...both of which are features of the original design. The long horn also places the strap button well forward, again helping it to balance. The compromise is that the sit of the bass on the strap will be different to a 'conventional' bass Mind you, I might have that completely wrong Andy

Decent bit of progress this morning - got the control chamber and battery routing finished so I'm now able to start the carving (my favourite part of any build ) I marked out the inner chamber for an MDF template and ball-bearing edging bit, and then then used a stepped ball bearing bit to cut the control chamber cover recess. These are the two router bits (the router body fits into a plunge-base that is out of shot). I used an MDF template also for the battery compartment: Here's the template and inner rout complete. Note the 'blip' adding thickness for one of the screw positions: This is the finished rout - I narrowed the inner chamber in a number of places to leave extra material where the screw fixings are - I will tidy the recess for those areas later with a small chisel: So - carving starts soon!!!! Andy

Routed out the neck and pickup pockets this morning, using an MDF template again: To do the actual job on the walnut, I fitted the plunge router base to the Bosch - forgot to take a picture! - which gave much better (safer) grip when cutting the walnut. I'm pleased with the accuracy - a nice tight but positive fit: Next job (hopefully this week) is to route out the control chamber and then I can start the carving... Thanks for looking Andy

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1425026285' post='2702980'] I need to buy a router to go any further with mine but I'm glad to see it's possible to do it with one of the smaller ones. The thing is, I see a box for a bigger, plunge router in your most recent photos but I assume the hand router does just as good a job? [/quote] Hi, alittlebitrobot. For all my other builds I've used the big JCB plunge router you can see the box of (the box is out because that's where I had kept my router bits). I'd been looking for a smaller router for some of the smaller jobs for a while and saw a thread by a very good builder who was extolling the virtues of the Bosch GFK600, reckoning that even for some full builds its now the only router he uses. I got one, mainly for pickup slots, control chambers, neck pockets, etc, but thought I'd see how it fared with the body shape. For the smaller stuff it's great. For the outside body shape it worked fine, although I think I would recommend the optional plunge-attachment if I did it again - I think if it kicked, it could easily come out of your grip and it doesn't have a 'dead-man's button' so you could potentially drop the thing on your foot still on and spinning! The plunge attachment is certainly on my 'to buy' list - not actually for the plunge (because the standard mechanism works just great) but to be able to have a good two-handed grip... I think with that, it will probably become my favourite router - much lighter and significantly less scary than the big one...and much less back-ache!

Took advantage of the rain stopping this afternoon to get the routing template tidied up and the body outline finish-routed. I attached the MDF template with two sided tape (the extra strong stuff...more anon) and used my hand router with a top bearing trimmer bit to rout out the top inch, then flip it over and used a bottom bearing trimmer bit to do the final 3/4": Getting the template off again was a challenge! I had to prise it off with a decorators' wallpaper stripping knife. The scratches will be either carved or sanded away: Next jobs are routing the neck and pick-up pockets on the top and the control chamber on the bottom while I've got a nice stable and flat surface to work from. Then the carving starts Andy

Very, very impressive work. Top drawer stuff.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1424467089' post='2696772'] This will be another I'll be happy to follow. By the way, Ed Roman pretty much copied Greg Curbow's body design with the 'Caesar' bass... [url="http://www.edroman.com/guitars/abstract/caesar.html"]http://www.edroman.c...act/caesar.html[/url] ... and it's the same shape with the Tanglewood 'Canyon' so I think you'll be okay using the same outline. [/quote] Yeah I think you're right for this particular shape. In any case, this one is a one-off for a mate, not a commercial venture. However, if I started making and selling a few based on the Thumb construction and woods, I'd like to be completely clear of any ambiguity - hence the different shape (which I will post in another thread when I get round to doing the prototype ) . That Caesar is stunning, isn't it!

It was dry this afternoon so I took an hour out to get the bandsaw out to cut the MDF routing template and over-size cut the walnut: I have to sand smooth the template edges and rasp out the last bit of the lower cutaway that the bandsaw couldn't reach. Then we can make some real progress:[list] [*]stick the template onto the walnut with double-sided and then use a bearing router bit to get the walnut outline accurately cut [*]route the neck pocket, control chamber & pickup chamber while I've still got flat, stable surfaces [*]then start carving! [/list] On this kind of carve, I usually add a 'go-faster stripe' feature on the top horn: It's ever so easy to do - just using a router to 'contour' the carve in steps, you just go a little deeper than normal, then when you carve, simply progressively carve away the step to nothing. I think on the walnut, it will add a nice visual feature...as long as I don't go too deep! As always, thanks for looking Andy