songofthewind

Well, some progress and some disasters. I’ve got the place to myself this weekend, so I thought I would have at it again. I’ve been nervous about using the router again, after the silly mistakes I made before. My concerns were justified, because I managed to nick the template again, while using a bottom bearing trimmer bit to tidy up the outline. Firstly, the guide bushing dropped off the end of the bit, due to the Allen head securing bolt coming loose. This meant I was cutting deep into the outline before I noticed. Merde. The second stupid and dangerous mistake was to forget to tighten the bit collar. The bit started to oscillate as it came loose. Fortunately I noticed and stopped working immediately. That shocked me quite badly, because I’m on my own, and I don’t fancy finding my way to A and E by myself. Sobered and thoughtful, I decided to take the gash wood down to the outline with my newly acquired Shinto rasp. Well, that was much better. I felt more in charge of the process, and it seemed better for getting a feel for the wood. The rain came on, so I packed my kit away for lunch. I may continue later. I need to make a new sled for the planer bit, to thickness the body again, and also to thickness the new AAAAA maple cap. The cap is sitting on spacers with a sewing machine on top, to take out some cupping. I will joint the two halves tomorrow, hopefully.

Plus one on the Shinto rasp. I just got one, and gingerly tried it out on a piece of scrap. Wow!

Josh Fossgreen on YouTube has a great beginner slap video.

Cool! Thanks for the review. How does it perform as a wireless music speaker? Does it connect to your Wi-fi for streaming?

That looks lovely. I like a matching headstock, me!

This.

So sorry to hear this. His playing and his atmospheric instrumentals made me shiver. What a sound he had. RIP Peter.

This is a really great, inspiring project. I particularly admire your jig for cleaning up the faces with a router. Top notch work! Can't wait to see your progress!

Anybody seen and heard one in the flesh?

I will use the flush trim bit to square the edges that will be jointed. If anyone has an opinion about this method, speak now! I set about my various planes, to try to bring them back to a useable state, but I am not confident that they are up to the job. The maple cap is slightly cupped, so I have put some weights on it to flatten it off. I hope this is wise. I'm going to re-thickness the mahogany core, and probably chamber it for weight relief. I got a Shinto rasp, and I've been trying it on various pieces of wood to get a feel for it. i will use it to make the the belly cut. With regards to the neck, I've been trying out different headstock outlines. I can't go 3+1 because it will look too short and stubby. I contemplated cutting down and adding wings to the headstock to go for a more Fodera style 2+2 look. Too much work and it would be weaker than the existing arrangement. At the moment I am very taken with the handsome Mayones Jabba on sale here, so I will likely go for a soft modern Jazz style. I installed the Ray 34 pickup from Dave in my SUB Ray 4. It sounds more polite than the OEM ceramic one. It will be interesting to see how it sounds driving its correct 3 band preamp. Much to do!

Well, the drop top finally got here from Croatia. About two weeks wait. I'm very excited and nervous, because now I should press ahead. I've repaired the template, and i think I will make a copy from 12mm MDF just to be on the safe side. Here's the new flame maple top:

I used to eat bone meal tablets, believing that they would strengthen my nails. Obviously no good for veggies. Vegetable sources of calcium are, soy bean products, broccoli, cabbage, cheese.

Clive Carroll sticks slivers of ping pong balls under his nail tips, with superglue, if I remember rightly. I don’t use nails any more, just finger tips.

Crazy cool bass! I do love that era of Yamahas. I suspect the pickup and preamp configuration is identical to my BBG’s, in which case it will sound terrific.

Bummer, Stew. I don’t know you, but somehow I feel very fond of you, because you make me laugh and you are very honest about your ups and downs. I hope your health issues get resolved somehow so that you can return to playing, because I can see how much it means to you.

Agreed re the insurance. However, to clarify, I didn’t mean mixing the superglue with wood dust, I meant a straight drop fill with clear glue only. I’ve just looked at the job I did this way, and it’s pretty convincing. It’s not as big a scar as the one the OP is showing us.