Andyjr1515

Yup - I agree with the above. I would stick with paint / lacquer and avoid oil. If you don't want to faff about with varnish spray cans, then standard polyurethane varnish (eg Ronseal Hardglaze Clear Varnish), thinned down by around 30% with standard decorators White Spirit, can be applied very successfully by hand, using a microfibre cloth (again - available all over the place). This was done like that, and a painted one would come out just as well: Hope this helps! Andy

It looks great!

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1358030175' post='1932212'] You deserve at least a Jupiler for that - have a genever chaser too!! [/quote] There speaks another Belgium regular...mine's a Leffe....

Onto the body... ...after some careful sanding and scraping to get the two edges as flat and square as possible, I joined the two pieces of Bubinga together with standard Titebond wood glue, trying to match the figuring to hide the join as much as I could. The original, as mentioned earlier, I think has three pieces - I think they glue the two sides either side of the neck, which is a centimetre or so thinner than the sides, then add a third, matched piece of thin Bubinga on top. My skills in cutting/sanding and fitting flat and square can't reach that level, hence the slot idea I settled on. I then planed the top and bottom of the assembled body halves to give me some reasonably flat surfaces to work from: Notice the extension to my Workmate...the patio table - really goes down with my better half as you can imagine. Next job was routing the channel in the back that the thru neck will slot into. This is where, rushing to make progress while the weather was OK (I have no workshop so am a 'fair weather only' guitar builder ), I forgot a small but important bit of my build concept - the neck end should have been routed all the way through to the top for a few centimetres - it will become clear why in one of the future posts: Next was to turn it into something more recognisable - marking out the shape and then rough bandsawing it out prior to finishing the outline with a template and bearing guided router bit: Incidentally, the bandsaw is the entry-level one from Machine Mart. Many 'real' guitar builders look down on these, but my previous method was using a jigsaw . Cost a touch over £120 and works a treat - and no white finger syndrome . Thanks for reading - I'll post some more when I can get a moment. Andy

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1358535977' post='1941153'] That is f***ing awesome. [/quote] Thanks - it came out quite well

This is my very modified Squier VM Jaguar. At some stage I'll upgrade the electrics to match the looks Underneath all the pazzaz is a modest, starter bass but, stripped and veneered, it looks a million dollars and is great to play. Trimming the carbon fibre on the pickguard was challenging - thousands of tiny, highly conductive fibres just where the electrics are... ...one lives and learns

Build Diary started if anyone's interested... Andy

Hi All I'm probably breaking one of the forum etiquette rules by posting a Build Diary [i]after[/i] posting the finished article in Gear Porn, but my excuse is that I've spent 4-5 days a week of the last year and a quarter working in Belgium and if that's not a good enough excuse...for anything, really ... The bass was commissioned by our old-git's-band's regular bass player, Pete (I'm the stand-in bassist), who wanted me to have a go at a tribute to the Warwick Thumb 4-based Jack Bruce Signature Fretless thru-neck. I tried to make him aware that it had every chance of ending up as very expensive wood chips to put onto the next BBQ we were invited to but he asked me to press on regardless. I scaled up from a face-on photo on one of the original ads: and as many google images as I could find. The Warwick site has loads of info also of the woods, electrics, some of the sizes, etc., and I gathered enough info to buy the wood and bits, trying wherever possible to use the same as the original. The body wood is Bubinga, neck wood Amazaque (close relative of the original's Ovangkol) spliced with mahogany. Fretboard ebony. I got MEC active p/ups per the original but economised with a Seymour Duncan 3-band EQ rather than the very xpensive MEC one. Hardware was Warwick (surprisingly good value and pretty good stuff) Then was loads of thinking and sketching to try to work out how they got the thru-neck showing only at the back. I worked out a scheme to 'dog-leg' the neck, and fit it into a routed slot at the back of the body. That's how I did it in the end (with a slight calculation error of which more later ) although I am told that the original's construction method was different - apparently the original Thumb has two body sides glued to the neck - Gibson 'wings' style - and then a piece of matching Bubinga covering the exposed neck on the top. First job was to square up and glue the laminate neck. I did the squaring up in a home-made jig using a standard router. The blank was then glued together with Original Titebond wood glue: That's probably boring enough for starters. Next post I'll cover the rough-cutting and shaping of the body. Thanks for looking Andy

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1357425205' post='1922618'] As a fledgling maker I would love to see the build process if you would be happy to share [/quote] Hi I will post the build - might need to wait until next weekend (yes - Belgium beckons again) but it won't be forgotten! Andy

I agree - I love them Andy

It doesn't look tinted varnish to me - try just wetting it with a squeezed out cloth to see if it matches the shade. If so, just good old Ronseal Clearcoat polyurethane varnish will do the trick. I wipe it on (for a big area thinned with white spirit up to 30%) using a micro-fibre cloth. The guitar below was done that way:

I love D'Addario Chromes - to me they are the best of both worlds

Hi I agree - should be OK. I've just posted my latest full build 'Jack Bruce Fretless Tribute' in the 'Gear Porn' section. That was pretty much all done with a £70 'JCB' router from B&Q - including slimming the ebony fretboard from 10mm to 5mm! Do practice, though and - as the others say - always take small amounts off each pass... kickback can ruin a guitar body quicker than you can say 'Oh, s***' Andy

Hi All again Been off line for sometime for a couple of reasons: First is that I was given an assignment which has involved at least 4 days a week in Belgium (apparently someone has to) where they told me it was only until Christmas - and yes, they didn't tell me WHICH Christmas So, 15 months later... Second is that I took on a bit of a mammoth build project for our old-git's-band's bassist, Pete. He wanted me to build him a tribute to the fabulous Warwick Thumb Jack Bruce Signature Fretless. Bit of a steep learning curve (never built a neck before , etc, etc) but I'm pleased with the result - and I suppose more to the point, so is Pete. It's not a straight copy, the main difference being the way the neck is fitted, but most things are close to original - bubinga wood for body, amazaque (v similar to ovangkol) neck splice with mahogany, ebony fretboard and headstock, MEC active p/ups, Warwick hardware. The EQ is 3-part Seymour Duncan, hence the extra knob. It sounds fabulous Hope you like it. If anyone's interested, I can add the build process in the Build Diaries section - just let me know...I've got plenty of build shots Andy

Hi Worth a double check - the number of times I've wired a 3-way wrong... Two other thoughts - one is that yes, a shielded cavity should be earthed (just a solder tag connected to earth screwed in through the paint should do). However, I wouldn't think that shielding without earthing would ADD a hum. The other thought, [b]if you are absolutely sure that your wiring is correct[/b], is whether you have inadvertently reversed the two blocks of the staggered P pickup. I think they are reverse wound/reverse poled to each other so would sound OK whichever way you put them on their own, but the closer one to the Jazz P/up MIGHT (unlikely at the distances involved) interact and reinforce the hum rather than buck it (that is, the closer G D block might be same polarity and winding as the Jazz, with the humbucking E A block further away from it). If so, unscrewing both staggered blocks and rotating the whole assembly 180 degrees might make a difference. Hope it helps - let me know

I'm not at home so can't have a peep, but I am pretty sure the Jag on my Avatar is a standard P/J set up, albeit with 2 volumes. It sounds like you have a wire (or more) connected to the wrong tab on either the volume or tone pots or switch. If you have a short (the other possibility) I would expect one or other p/up not to work OK on its own. Relook at the wires, starting with following the hot from each pickup to and through the switch and to the volume pot tab - I reckon somewhere there is one in the wrong place.

Hi I think BOD2 is on the right lines. The clue maybe is that you say the red light doesn't come on when you use the patch lead. The 'Input' jack of a Boss pedal is also the on switch (certainly with a battery, presumably also with mains adapter). If the INPUT doesn't think it's got a jack in, it will not switch on. So - maybe the jack isn't absolutely fully plugged in or has a faulty tip / shaft shape. If you have a spare guitar lead, use that between the two pedals to see if that sorts it.

I may be completely wrong, but I think that is a 'spare' earth in case you want to line the cavity with copper foil / conductive paint - you just screw it into the body through the the foil and hey presto, your cavity is earthed.

[quote name='jonbd' timestamp='1341211555' post='1715064'] I've got a hankering for a Squier VM Jaguar Bass so this would then be my back up! [/quote] Great choice - the VM Jaguar is a great, great bass for the money. My avatar is my tarted up one (more pics on website). I love it!

I agree with Al ...water-based varnishes are OK, though need plenty of drying time (and can feel just slightly sticky for quite a long time). For dark colours they can be a bit of a problem, with the milkiness coming out and affecting the colour, but for natural wood I doubt that will be a problem at all. As Al says, let it dry, rub down with 1000 wet 'n dry before recoats (sprayed, at least 10 and up to 20, brushed probably 5-10) then let it REALLY dry (2 weeks if poss) before sanding first with 1000 grit and then 2000 grit, followed by T-cut or Autoglyn (might have the name wrong) to buff up to shine. I strongly urde you not to use the same varnish for the neck, though (and preferably none) as the stickiness really does become a pain. Andy

[quote name='mr carpet' timestamp='1339772022' post='1694129'] I pulled all the frets out one drunken night , then put them back in after realising my names not Jaco , besides it sounded like a wale song. [/quote] I think we've all done that at one time or another... Let me clarify. For GREAT FUN - there's nothing at all as satisfying as pulling apart basses and improving them . For OWN USE there's nothing as cost effective as taking a (usually) excellent quality entry level and turning it into a pro-sounding and looking guitar for less than the cost of a car service . For PROFIT, tread carefully and moderate your expectations

For a neck, I would personally use 0000 grade wire wool (but tape up the pups otherwise you'll be picking off iron filings for years ) but if I used grit paper, it would be VERY, VERY fine wet and dry (1000 grit at the maximum and 2000 grit preferably - auto finishing retailers are a good source. DIY superstores usually get nowhere near fine enough)

D'Addario Chromes - sound like round wound, feel line flatwound. I use them on fretted and fretless basses and personally wouldn't use anything else. Just my preference, of course.

Hi The problem generally isn't the stain, it's the poly or nitro varnish. The good news for most of us is that it's as tough as old boots. The bad news is that it is an absolute beggar to get off. For my refurbs, I quite often resort to a paint-stripping heatgun (and then a hell of a lot of sanding)!!

I'm sure 120 members will come down on me like the proverbial pile of bricks, but I don't think the truss rod does anything to prevent warps - it just adjusts the neck relief. As such, I reckon if your action is OK then leave well alone. The neck is not likely to warp - if it was going to it already would have done and I doubt a truss trod would be able to do anything about it. I bow to the greater knowledge of the 120 piles of bricks but that's my own experience, anyway.