I've just had one of those EEK!!!! moments, sat having a cup of tea when the thought crossed my mind I hadn't made any provision for a jack socket and worse I hadn't even considered it's position Ho hum, if I had a brain I would be dangerous! Parts ordered but I'm on hold again until they come before I can spray, at least I can drill ready for the wire and socket, I will just have to wait for the plates to arrive before I can recess those.

Cable tie?

I had my bass pulling up my skirt during a gig in the summer when I was soaked with sweat, most embarrassing, I sympathise

I nearly forgot to cut out the recess for the control cavity covers! Must be my age or something Done it now and they are ready to be finished, the next decent day I will get some sealer on. Not a lot of point posting pics, they don'e really look any different to the last ones I posted

Not much to report, done a little sanding and almost ready to start spraying sanding sealer and grain filler before the final spraying, hopefully I can start that next week. I've ordered some gold metallic and transparent red for the Maple and already have the black and clear for the Ebony pair

12 hours ago, fleabag said:

We have similar pattern worktops. Excuse the toaster  

But your bass matches the tops, that's just plain posh!!

Two weeks ago I was swimming in the Med, now my fingers hurt with the cold

I forgot, the Lull pickup arrived while we were away so I got the pocket for that sorted, I thought I might need a slightly thicker riser under the chrome trim as the bridge is quite high but it looks like the one that came with it will be fine which saves some work. I did string the Maple one yesterday just to make sure, I was amazed how much flex there is in that neck even with the carbon rods. I was pleased with that as I was worried it might be too stiff with them but it has worked out better than I dared hope, I think the ultra thin neck will be amazing now (if you like thin necks).

So I got the triplets out of the press and pulled off the masking tape, trimmed  the edges quickly with a sander. I've brought them in the house overnight as it is getting too cold for them out there (poor things!

Some pictures to try and show the final contouring of the backs

Excuse the toaster!

Never a Wenge body but I've made a lot of Wenge furniture, I bought several hundred cubic feet of the stuff about 25 years ago. It works quite well but you need to keep your tools very sharp all the time, even planer knives. Keep finish sanding to a minimum and scrape with a sharp scraper to get to a near finish otherwise you will get a badly undulating surface as there is a big difference in hardness between spring and summer growth in the wood. It does splinter badly too but shallow cuts with the grain will see the job done

Not wrong, I decided to veneer up the back this morning, my hands are freezing. Thankfully just a quick clean up and then I can get them sprayed if we get a warm patch. Then it's indoors for the winter for me!

On 24/10/2018 at 19:25, Gilmourisgod said:

I'm not usually a T-Bird guy, but these might make me a convert! Wonderfully crisp, precise, and expertly crafted work! I am also highly impressed that you can maintain the red nail polish while working. The only red I see is my blood on the wood, usually the first indication I've cut myself again. I call it "Woodwork Anesthesia", I just don't notice minor pain while building, but later my hands look like hamburger. I just don't do woodworking enough to develop some thick skin, I guess. Hope to remedy that. 

I leave my fair share of red paint on the wood too, I'm constantly cutting myself, tiny nicks that seem to bleed everywhere. The nail varnish is UV cured gel, it's ultra hard wearing and it stops my nails breaking although you wouldn't know it now as a month in France without it and they're shredded

I went back into the workshop today, didn't do a lot but I finished shaping the backs of the bodies and prepared the veneers ready for pressing, looks like a Sunday job when the sun is out to put a little warmth into the glue

Ah bugger, sadly we are off to Spain and Italy from mid March through to the end of June

Welcome Mr Gilmourisgod, nice to see you here, I've long admired these builds on TB and have been missing them, I'm glad to see them again

I like Rics, a good one is a joy I've always thought, much in common with the Tbirds I love so much. Having seen these builds all the way through I have no doubt these will be exceptional instruments, the workmanship that has gone into them is second to none. Obviously not fakes or even vaguely pretending to be, just plain lovely

Ha ha

I'm back, been a bit unwell this last week but should be catching up soon, I went into the workshop today to see if I still recognised the place, I'm a little unenthused at the moment, it's all a bit cold and uncomfortable

Hiya!!

How you keeping?

Yes the grinder tends to keep the blade square and then when actually honing you take so little off it stays square by default

Two weeks today and we should be home. I’m looking forward to getting these finished now. Hopefully the weather will let me get the nitro sprayed without issues. 

Sorry I’m not keeping up, we’re on holiday and I struggle looking at anything on my phone, I’ll have a big catch up when I’m back Grandad

5 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

I have amended your quote with what I assume was meant.

While the the Captains of the British Retail Industry are busy crying about Brexit have they actually taken the time to look at that as an opportunity?  It doesn't look much like they have.  I'm sure there are exceptions that do not get favourable coverage simply because it isn't click-baity enough.

Phones!! 

2 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

It's not being told that there will be significant additional charges until you've more or less committed to the purchase that has put my housemate off purchasing anything from the 'states.

The sanctions have nothing to do with it.  It's nothing to do with the American suppliers in fact, it's our lot who tell you about the charges later!  He's not bothered who's loading the price, he just filters out all US sellers in his search results.

Gee.

Exactly but it doesn’t make it any cheaper whoever does it. A recent order from StewMac was about £80 add £23 shipping and £37 charges at this side and that £80 of goods became £140. 

What we been is more people making their own guitars/basses on this side to make it worthwhile British suppliers stocking what we need

On 02/09/2018 at 12:51, Dad3353 said:

Our Eldest is interested in these methods, as he's started making his own guitars; I'll see if I can acquire a wet grinding wheel for modest expense. My own personal requirements are for sharpening to surgical degree my modelling blades (mostly X-Acto n°11 or similar...). Whilst not needing the same 'elbows dug into ribs' technique, there must be a better way than my present system, consisting of leather stropping, using green paste/wax stuff. Sometimes I get a good cut, but it's hit'n'miss. The blades, even from new, are not apt for cutting the balsa woods I use, and they dull all too quickly, resulting in torn wood if they're not changed. Anyone got any tips, then, for keeping these types of blades at their finest..? Thanks in advance...

I was thinking about this. Surgical tools are ground to sharpness not polished, they rely on a microscopic toothed edge. Maybe the answer is to just use a 1000 grit stone at 7.5 degrees each side in single alternate strokes and see how that behaves. 

I tend to use surgical blades only as marking knives or for marquetry very occasionally and have just used the leather wheel on my whetstone grinder when needed then chuck the blade after a few goes 

If you fitted a couple of nuts a week it would be a worthwhile investment but I’m in the same boat as @honza992 a piece of MDF with a rebate does me fine for the few times I need one. I’ve looked at them on the StrwMac site and thought it would be dead easy to make one out of derlin or MDF and some skateboard bearings 

anything from America is just silly money with VAT and import duty on top of shipping 

A bit late, yes it is a real one, another couple of ways to tell are the pick guard screws, one lines up closely with the righthand line of the birds tail on the Gibson, the Epiphone one is off by about 10mm. If you look for tell tail fingerprints through the lacquer at the wing/body join, the Gibson has a vee joint and the Epiphone is a straight butt joint. The wings join the body at the 15th fret on the Gibson, on the Epi it joins at 16.

That neck break looks like an unrepaired crack to me, typical of the Gibson, it's a poor design that should have been rectified, I do like Gibsons but that one needs addressing

13 minutes ago, Marius said:

@petetexas I am looking for a Maple Neck in a tinted yellow vintage finish, and I found one at www.northwestguitars.co.uk

Could you tell me something about how the the frets are finished? Are there any sharp edges? Are they pressed in and glued perfectly? And for the heel - do you remember if it is 62mm at the widest point?

I would like to get some more information before I will put an order from UK to Germany - becasue I think a return will be much more expensive.

It would be great to get some feedback from you!

Best regards,
Marius

I have one of these necks, just had a good look at it. 62mm at the heel exactly as per Fender. Frets nicely seated and the ends dressed smooth but they obviously haven't been levelled and re crowned  as you would expect at the price but there doesn't seem to be any issue in playability. Truss rod adjustment is at the heel so the neck needs to come out to be adjusted, there is a Walnut plug at the headstock to create a faux adjustment hole. Mine is 2 years old or so and still straight so the general quality seems fine on this one at least.

Not really sure, starting off in the Dordonge area then moving south to Toulouse to see a friend after that who knows, we'll see how the mood takes us. at the time

Repairs could be seen as how to do specifics like pup changes. I think the build section should be the place to put this stuff. Maybe a sticky thread with links and a description to any relevant threads posted in here, then it doesn't matter if they get lost in time as they can easily be found. Then if someone feels that some thread or other needs adding they can post the link there and the OP/Moderator/Admin can add it to the top post and delete the suggestion keeping it tidy. Also that way it doesn't matter if the thread to be added is here or in the repairs and technical forum

After yesterday's bad back episode I only did a tiny bit today. I cleaned up the wings, rounded over the edges with a router and sanded them. Before glueing I masked off the top edge on the wings adjacent to the body to stop any glue oozing out contaminating the surfaces, I didn't bother with the back as there is some final shaping to be done there yet, just blending the raised centre section into the curve of the wings so the bass feels comfortable resting on your body. A nice smooth convex curve rather than the more usual flat surface, Why? It's my opinion that players of this type of bass may tend to move it around more aggressively than other shapes, all part of the "bad" image So convex seems to be a good shape to slide easily in any direction needed.

We're off on holiday for a month early next week to soak up some sun in the south of France so I'm not sure if this will be the last update until I get back

Glueing the first wing on

All glued and masking tape removed, I've wetted the surface of the left hand body to give an idea of the finished look

Lastly another attempt to show the shaping of the body