Christine

Very nice Sargent H!

No, in this sort of game not much is carbon neutral, I've chosen to use FSC timber when I can and Rocklite but other things, I guess the best we can do as amateurs is make them right first time so they are not disposable

I like the way you've bound the headstock, looks a more sensible way of doing it than mine

11 hours ago, honza992 said:

Actually it's not going to be Nitro.  It's going to be..........shellac.  My plan is to French Polish.  I've got no way of spraying Nitro and the one time I brushed it, it worked but I swore never again.  I like the idea of being able to do it at home in the evening and also the fact that it's seems to be pretty environmentally friendly.  I'm active in Extinction Rebellion so I'd find it hard to spray Nitro.  I know I only make a few guitars a year so realistically it makes no meaningful difference to the climate crisis, but symbolically it's important for me to try to reduce my carbon footprint.  I also know that FP is considered too soft for electric guitars, but I don't gig and if it get's trashed I'll make another one!  I'll probably use blonde for the front, keeping it as pale as possible, and garnet for the back and sides, hopefully darkening them quite a bit. 

 

As for the bridge, yes I think it will be at an angle.  There's not much travel so between short scale and low tension strings I'm nervous of running out of adjustment.  I haven't drilled the bridge holes yet, so I'll wait till everything is done, string it up and mark it out properly.  

Yes, I'm using a neck angle, albeit only a slight one - 1.6 degrees.  I forget what the minimum string height at the bridge is, something like 16mm, so it's significantly more than a fender style bridge which is somthing like12mm.  So it definitely needs an angle to make it useable.  As for radius, I think it's 12", but will double check tomorrow.  Certainly that's the radius I'm building anyway!

Good on you for being active in ER

Using shellac isn't carbon neutral by any means either, the production of methanol or ethanol whichever you use has a huge carbon footprint, it's all hydro carbons that will mostly end up in the atmosphere one way or another beyond the initial CO2 producing stages but it probably is better than nitro in that respect. Use white shellac not button polish, buy it fresh from someone like Fiddes or Mylands rather than someone like B&Q or Axminster, it goes off quite quickly and will never harden properly (don't ask me how I know 🤬).

Brushing things like nitro is either a royal pain or a joy if you have the right brush and the skill, I have neither any more. You need a French polishing mop and anti bloom thinners to get an even enough finish to be half decent.You can use other brushes with brushing thinners but they take so long to dry they're not really practical. Nothing quite beats French polish visually, nitro is close but not quite there, it's just to thick to have that same quality, it's a shame that water based finishes don't have quite the same properties.

The bridge probably is a 12" radius if they call it a Tune o matic,it sounds like a Gibson type replacement . I take it the saddles aren't adjustable in height on that?

His Facebook page doesn't look inspiring, did you pay with Paypal? If so I would be thinking about getting my money back, if nothing else he might get his bum into gear if you open a dispute

1 hour ago, BassBunny said:

I can't tell you much unfortunately. It's been in my parts box for years. I bought it to replace a coil split switch on a bass and decided it was too big so went for a micro switch instead. It's just a standard DPDT On/On/On but larger than most you can get.

Thanks, shame it might be useful to have such a part available

Thanks I'd love to know more about that switch @BassBunny

The top of that looks sensational, it really does, tell me you're going to spray that with clear nitro, it will look sensational for evermore. Acrylic gloss with a cross linker would be good too, keep the blonde colour set for much longer with it's UV blockers

I thought that was the bridge you were using, I've looked at them too because they look more like the tune o matic  that the Warwicks I've been using. Are you planning on canting the bridge slightly to allow for it's limited movement? Very keen to see what you do and how you get on here. Another couple of questions, do you need to angle the neck with the height of that and what neck radius does it look like been designed for?

Some questions:

Is the top flat or curved? It looks curved in the photos but I am as blind as a bat

What switch are you using?

What's the bridge?

😀

On 10/01/2020 at 21:23, honza992 said:

 

 so I thought rather than having a pickup selector in the traditional Les Paul location, I would have a toggle switch selecting between three different cap values - 0.047, 0.001 and 0.0047.  I've posted in the Repairs & Technical board about where to find a DTDP ON ON ON toggle switch that is the same size as a Les Paul pickup selector switch (most ON ON ON toggles are mini), so if anyone knows where to buy one, please let me know!

 

 

Would this work

https://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Components_and_Parts/Switches/Free-Way_Pickup_Switch.html

It's a 6 way switch but if you looped in both sides together it would work or you could play with other configurations

free-waydiagrams.pdf

This sounds like another interesting one, looking forward to seeing it.

My Fire Dragons have 19 frets, to be honest how often do you need to go higher than 15? For me at least it isn't an issue in any shape or form. I have ultralites on those too and I can't get them to neck dive at all if that helps at all but the headstocks are short and the necks very thin along with the rear strap lock being mounted very high up

My vote would be Birdseye Maple Quietly classy

11 hours ago, honza992 said:

Christine, how did the Mojo pickups turn out?  Are you happy with them?

Very good, similar to the lulls but the Lulls have a nicer casing being identical to the original T bird HBs as opposed to the generic case Mojo use

13 hours ago, honza992 said:

I like your optimism!  I'll give it a go on a test piece before commiting myself😁  

Have you ever used the pearloid celluloid type sheet that R&K sell?  Do you think that might be easier than real shell?  

No I haven't, just MOP. Keep the birds mouth as small as you can and just let the blade do the cutting and you'll be surprised what you can cut, some of the pieces on my dragons are ridiculously delicate. it's quite thick so there's a lot of strength in that

10 hours ago, songofthewind said:

Really nice! Love that scarf!

You need a scarf in this weather too!!!

Seriously, that scarf shows/amplifies just how well that neck has been carved. Lovely work @honza992

On 28/10/2019 at 22:10, Meddle said:

My old Jazz bass was more Fender than Bird, admittedly.

 

Sounded like a smoother, darker Jazz bass. The Gibson pickups have an odd, steely 'sproink' to them that is masked only slightly by the big dose of low mids they also deliver.

I want to make one of these but with a Mahogany through neck and an angled Fender shaped headstock

5 hours ago, tommorichards said:

Homebrew?

Yes, the neck is an Allparts, the pickups are Gibson TB+ re cased and the bridge is a Dasson Badbird.

The body in construction

11 hours ago, honza992 said:

Thanks everyone.  This is definitely a step up in my building.  It's much more complex than a straight neck Fender, but so far I've really enjoyed it.  And putting lines everywhere has taken forever, but I just can't help myself😁

Very quick question for @Christine if you're around. I know in your glorious twins thread one of them had a Rocklite ebano fretboard.  Did you finish it, or leave it unfinished? If finished, what with?  I'm a bit unsure cos on this one the FB and headstock are ebano, so I'm not sure how weird it would look if one was finished and one wasn't.  As usual, thanks for your invaluable input👏

I used lemon oil but in hindsight maybe boiled linseed or teal oil would have been better as a base then lemon on top

10 hours ago, honza992 said:

Here's the logo...

I must admit, I can't imagine I could cut MOP with that level of accuracy😮

I think that is very doable, just do it in small sections and keep your blade tight against the side of the slot in your bird's mouth type work surface (which will need a tiny slot just enough to let you work). 4 hours work and you should be faced with the more demanding job of routing your headstock.

17 hours ago, honza992 said:

R&K can't do it.  They say the MOP will just snap or burn when cut when doing a logo like mine....

What is the logo and how big? Aside, it can be cut by hand, small and thin just means going slower and a lot more satisfaction when you prove everyone wrong

The thicker the MOP is the easier it is to cut without breaking. A light jewellers saw is ideal with something like a 14 tpi blade with a 10mm narrow bit of MDF as a surface and a saw cut to a 3mm hole to use the blade in. It’s very soft and cuts very easily, just keep your grip loose and let the blade do the cutting. I glue a bit of paper on my MOP with the design on as a guide

Can you not cut them by hand? It's not as difficult as it would seem, it's actually harder to rout the hole to fit them into than cut the actual inlay.

Small Wonder? http://www.smallwonder-music.co.uk/shop/page.asp?id=customwork

That's the stuff, horrible fibrous stuff but it can be very clean cutting when you do it right but otherwise it will tread and look awful.

Get your spokeshave sharp first! Don't bother with Lime, it's like cheese to work you'll learn nothing from it. Go down to the timber years and buy some cheap whitewood, horrible to work and you'll learn very quickly how to follow the grain of the wood to get a smooth and clean cut.

Secretly I was hoping you'd get the Veritas one so I could have a play with it, ah well

Veritas do make very very good tools, if I could afford them I would buy them but the likes of record also make tools nearly as good and with a bit more fettling than you'll need with the likes of Veritas or Lie Nielson you can save some cash for wood or hardware. So this is what I would buy as I can't afford the luxury tools https://www.amazon.co.uk/Record-A151-Malleable-Adjustable-Spokeshave/dp/B0000DD1KL

I believe @Andyjr1515 uses Veritas spokeshaves, maybe he could give an opinion from ownership

I like cake too😀

I’m sorry, I know Owen was wanting to do a luthierie course and I was trying to help to teach but I shall refrain from now on 

When I was an apprentice I had to hand plane loads of 2” wavy elm boards 24” x 120” down to a flat and exact 3/4” despite the presence of a 24” Wadkin FM planer, it was hard work but I learned how to do it, I also learned that it was also better that way if uneconomical. Trust me the end product will be better and you’ll be wiser 😀