Jimothey

Thanks I don’t think it looks very Fortress-esque at the moment (maybe when I’ve veneered it and rounded off the body it might) but I’m kinda liking the shape of it I prefer it to the other shape. Hopefully I’ll get the best of both worlds a shortscale feel but without the loose floppy feeling strings..........

I haven’t had chance to do a lot more on it but I thought I’d do a quick mock-up just to see where the bridge is going to sit after @Grangur mentioned about the neck differences I think it’s going to sit ok (That’s 17” to the top E saddle) it will go a bit closer to the neck once I’ve sorted the neck position out.......

Sounds nice (not too sure about the MOP scratchplate?.....) Lots of other people have bought the PB50 and reshaped the headstock tele shaped, Just don’t put a fender logo on it and you’ll be fine..... When I’ve got the money I’m hoping to get a PB50 but I’m planning on doing mine White with Cream pickguard

I would have thought it’s a high gloss poly finish so I reckon as long as you give it a key then you should be able to 2k basecoat then clear over the top of the original But check out @yorks5stringer‘s 51 P Bass custom colour thread I think he painted over the top on his What colour you going for? Good luck and post some pics.....,

Also I’m thinking ‘waste not want not’ as IMO the body was too small for a bass body it will be a good size for an electric guitar so I’m going reuse the body with some old guitar parts I have laying about And see how it turns out.....

Yeah if it was a nice bit of timber I think the profanity filter would have overloaded!! What makes it worse is I’m a carpenter so I normally do measure twice cut once!! Im not overly bothered if I need to recut the body as I didn’t pay for the timber anyway it was left over from a replacement door frame I made for a customer.....

I tried to mark out the neck pocket and pickup cavities but realised quickly that I’ve messed up big time and have cut the body too short at the neck pocket........ So now need to either extend the neck pocket....... Or remake the body completely......

All your builds are awesome but I think this is my favourite so far.......

I agree but if your gear wasn’t to hand what would they do? And definitely make it clear you break it you replace it!!!

I did the template myself on Inkscape then imported it into publisher as I find I easier to get the size right as you just type in the size you want it to be and hey presto As you can see from the template I have marked out the rough bridge placement and as I’m not using a two part bridge I’ve go a lot more room to adjust the bridge placement to make the scale length correct, well that’s my plan which I think in theory will work?? In regards to the possible neck dive Issue the original body is Basswood which is lighter than the pine body and it balances ok, so I’m hoping that it won’t be an issue.....

I can’t see them either?? I use my phone so I don’t know if that’s makes a difference??

I’m veneering the front and back and there’s no knots on the sides so I don’t need to seal the knots and sap discharge won’t be an issue on this one but.....with my Streamer build that will be a different story as it’s a white painted body so the knots might shine through yellow

Finally started doing the new body..... Body all cut then made my makeshift bench sander...... Body all sanded to 240 grit....... Just going to order my veneer now I’ve decided on the White Macassar Ebony so as soon as it turns up I can crack on again Body blank is gluing up as we speak for the Streamer build so I’ll post the progress on that thread.......

I know where your coming from I too have an aversion to TSB and Flamed Maple but saying that it wouldn’t stop me from buying one if I like the bass and playability I’d just refinish it!!....

You’ve done a really good job!! I second SpondonBassed you will inspire others to give it a go!! Also yours and others write up of the quality of the HB has prompted me to start looking at their 5 string PB (I personally like the look without the pickguard!!......)

I’m with the @TheGreek the Ronseal looks a lot better (the osmo stills looks great) as the grain just pops being more glossy I found that if I brush the first coat on unthinned trying not to leave too many ridges then leave it for a day then do the rest of the coats wiped on thinned it seems to go on better (but that’s just my technique) But I’m a bit odd I like gloss on natural wood but satin on painted......

How much do you thin yours down mine must have been about 60 (hardglaze)/40 (Thinners)? I’ve thought about giving this a go to see how it comes out....

I must have been lucky as the kitchen towel didn’t disintegrate at all

That looks lovely!!! I bet Jane is chomping at the bit to get her hands on it!!!....... I tried using a microfibre cloth when I used thinned down hardglaze on my Jazz but it kept leaving streaks so I ended up using folded kitchen towel (which worked a lot better for me)......

Thanks but Ive already got the pickups I inherited them off one of my mates who just swapped them out of his ibby bass I will be keeping the bass as it’s not going to be worth anything resale (like all my basses) Because I want the full paddle maple fretboard with blocks I think it works out to be just over £35 but it’s coming from China tho but I can wait.....

No all she ever says is ‘is it in yet?’

Thanks I’m going to use soap bar pickups instead of Jazz Hopefully I’ll be able to start it in the next week well at least cut and shape the body The neck you bought for your P Bass build is it a Kmise neck?

Sorry I misunderstood what you meant but yeah agreed using a router without its base isn’t for the faint hearted (I do it with my 1/4” router when I’m doing engraving) Also climb cutting after conventional cutting is a good way to remove burn marks......

Just remember it’s not the size of the instrument that counts it’s what you and do with it!!!!! 🤭

That’s a good method if you don’t feel comfortable using a router but if you make up a jig I find using a router the easiest way of doing things as you can keep a consistent depth and the cut will be cleaner What you said about climb milling is right as if you use that method you run the risk of losing control of the router as the cutter is trying to push away from the piece of timber and you should never attempt to climb cut with a non-bearing cutter but I do climb cutting when I’ve rounded of the edge of the body using conventional cutting then go back over it climb cutting as it cleans the edge up really well Its starting to take shape now and looking really good!!!.......