Jimothey

Thanks everyone for the advice and answers it’s only a idea that me and one of my mates have been mulling over we kinda had the idea of mostly selling secondhand/ commissions sales then we wouldn’t have to worry about the conditions imposed by the big two brands and new from the smaller manufacturers and selling accessories, Amps, pedals etc but also offer tuition, service/maintenance and repairs Obviously we would do online sales aswell Also luckily the area I live in the rent for shops is really cheap

I’m my area there is naff all in the way of music shops so I’m looking into the possibility in opening one I was wondering if everyone would mind answering a few questions? 1. Do you prefer buying from a music shop or online shop? 2. Do you prefer to try before you buy? 3. In your experience what is missing from most music stores you have visited? 4. How far would you travel to go to music shop 5. What would attract you to a music shop ie range, price etc Thanks for any input

I thought I’d go for the 70’s Style pickguard as most I’ve seen on here are with the 50’s style with chrome control plate, so I thought it would be a bit of a change Hopefully I’ll get it routed and painted in the next week or so and flatten off the neck and give it a good ole polish

I was thinking would moving the bottom strap button up make any difference to the way it sits aswell my thinking is the weight of the body will make it sit lower and lift the neck up??

No worries mate i don’t take offence to any advice given, I apologise if I ask some stupid questions sometimes I wanted to keep it long scale as I like the sound of a long scale over a short as I find they sound a bit ‘floppy’

Yeah that’s what I’ve already done, I tried to move the neck back as far as possible to try and counteract the lack of length on the top horn/strap button position and keeping the scale length correct, I asked because it was just that generally the bridge on most basses isn’t that far back so because you’ve got a load more experience than me at making/modding basses and I didn’t factor in the balance issue I wasn’t sure if there was going to be any other issues ie bridge position etc

Thanks Andy that’s some great advice I’ll definitely give it a try Heres a mock-up of where I think everything needs to sit? and I thought I’d slightly change the shape of the pickguard In your opinion is the bridge too far back?

I’ve just been looking online and would this be an option Instead of having underneath the neck?? http://www.lysator.liu.se/~wizkid/music/thunderbird_mod/

Hi Andy thanks for the advice This is just a mock-up excuse the finish on the neck I haven't flattened it yet The strap button is exactly in line with the 15th fret The bridge is about 10mm from the edge of the body it doesn’t really show it that well in the picture but I will have to lengthen the neck pocket as it stops at around the 19th fret I think that having the strap button where you have suggested will be the only option as I've just been looking at short scale necks and the cheapest I can find is a Warmouth one for £180 which is a bit excessive for this build So yes please Andy if you could send me the link that would be much appreciated

I was going to try and do a long scale, that’s a good point I hadn’t thought about the balance of it!?! I’ve got a 34” scale neck off one of my kit builds that I might test on it to see how it feels?? Is the heel width of the neck different on a medium scale to a long scale?

When I looked online to get some inspiration there was quite a few with a single P pickup but I didn’t see any with split p’s so I thought it would be a bit different, also I’ve already ordered the split P’s but thanks for the advice anyway

Whilst I’m waiting for stuff to dry and harden on my other projects I thought I’d make a start on a new one I had a Telecaster copy that I never used so I thought I’d change it in to a bass instead I’ve stripped it down and listed everything apart from the body on eBay So the plan is.... 1. Get a neck (I’m thinking maple/maple fretboard) then widen the neck pocket to suit new neck 2. Fill in the old bridge pickup cavity and screw holes 3. Rout out for split p pickups 4. Repaint the body, cut new pickguard (I can’t decide what colour but I’m thinking black body and black pickguard?) 5. Fit Chrome hardware that I’ve got spare from my Jazz kit build 6. Hope it turns out ok!?!

Looking really nice can’t wait to see it in all its polished glory!!!

Managed to get a bit more done today, cut out the timber to fill the cavity Then glued it up and filled it I’ve decided to do a ‘72ish style so I’ve left part of the cavity not filled to make my life a bit easier I cut the out the pickguard out of some 2mm MDF I had kicking about which I’m going to paint cream And I’ve now done 4 coats on the neck so now I’ve got to flatten it then give it a polish It’s getting there just got to re-rout the pickup cavity then paint the body

Theres some on eBay (paulownia bodies) £30 + p&p, (Ash body) £115 + p&p

I agree Warwick’s YES!!! Fenders NO!!!

Yeah I’m going to seal them in with a couple of coats of poly, hopefully when I’m finished it will blend in and look the same as when you do a headstock logo which once I’ve reshaped the headstock that’s my next job

No that’s the actual neck, on this build I’ve gone for the easy option so they are basically homemade decals (sorry to disappoint you)

I’m onto coat number 4 on the body just gonna give it a few days to completely harden then have a go at flattening it to see if it needs anymore coats So I decided to sort the neck inlays out as I didn’t like the dots I’ll reshape the headstock tomorrow Ive ordered my black hardware and pickguard so just waiting for them to be delivered

My one was a really old record one which I can’t find at the mo The technique I got taught when I did French polishing was to bend the scraper when you are removing the shellac as it gives you more control so that’s naturally how I use it all the time I found learning how to burnish the edge took to a little while to get right with cheaper scrapers so then I went and bought a crown scraper set and burnishing tool and then it was much easier except when trying to do the ‘goose neck’ which is still a nightmare to get right

How do you find bending the scraper with your the arthritis in your hands? When I used to use them after about 10mins my right hand thumb used to lock up because I’ve got a form of arthritis in my right hand as well, so I started using a spokeshave scraper which made it a lot easier and a screw bent the blade for you.

Cheers mate I’ve just been looking at it

Looking very nice!! Can’t wait to see it finished!!!

That’s the right choice, looks good!!

Yeah I thinks so I’ll take your word for that