BassTool

The eagle eyed may have spotted this.. 

Which I'm hoping to flush fit on the underside, another nice touch I saw on one of @Andyjr1515's builds.

Well the cavity is getting there, it will still need reinforcing where the screw holes sit, but that'll be another job to do later, lets see if that plate fits, John East put some work into these!  

Still a small amount of fettling but it's just about there or thereabouts, I'll do some fine tuning.

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

I really like this...I think @fleabag is going to have the bragging rights for @Andyjr1515's best project. Damn!!! 😉😉

Not in my eyes he won't, I'm still looking at train timetables to Herts.... 😂

Just need the big bag of money for your beauty 😣😣  

Not saying this won't be a beauty either mind

3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

OK - I can now turn my attention to the top.

This is how is looks so far:

 

Forgive the glue lines - this side still has to be scraped.  And no, @fleabag - I can't just leave it like this, however much you like purple 

 

This is just loosely laid on the heel but is a good fit and should work OK:

The nib in front of the original neck heel will be carved to slim it as it moves towards the neck centre

 

Whether the neck skunk stripe lines up quite like this once it's hard bolted, I don't know...it will be what it will be.  But this is properly slotted in the neck pocket so, you never know.

  Each step needs a period to look, think and sometimes re-think.   

The Sage hath spake in wisdometh words thereof and so on and so forth...😄

I've just remembered why I'm lining the cavities with Tightbond. Because my finishing is rough, it'll give me a smoother surface to fix my copper tape to!

3 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said:

I love them and wouldn’t route a pickup without a template. But that’s the great thing - there’s always more than one way to get results so you use the way that suits you best.

And another guru chips in, love your stuff Jabba!

Following a 24hr cure, I was able to sand down and fill with 2 pack filler to get it all level.                                                                               

Before finishing off with my Titebond trick, dunno why I'm doing this, probably because it's there, hardly used and will never get used again after this is done!

Well with the new toy unpacked I could crack on with the cavity enlargement.. Once again I freehanded out with the router, took my time of course, then using the same scrap wood I'd used to plug the tuner hole, I cut and then halfed a circular piece out to fit into the curve that needed the infill, supplemented by a small triangular piece. My unorthodox clamping method was half a matchstick and some BBQ skewer..

Stop sniggering at the back!

1 hour ago, Si600 said:

The only time I've cut holes in a guitar was to make an HSH Super Strat with a Floyd Rose.

I did it on a milling machine

Now that, I'm guessing, is an engineer talking 😀

4 minutes ago, Sharkfinger said:

Well, you're brave!  I like to think I would have practiced on a block of wood first.  But then again, when I wanted to do a 'cutaway' for upper fret access on my FengRay, I just went right ahead and did it without the practice. I actually came out pretty well, so I'll just shut up now.

Dunno about brave, more impulsive.. Sometimes I just go for it, usually when time is against me, and with this rout being hidden, that's exactly what I did. I made sure I took my time remembering the mantra, you can't put it back on if you've routed it off! 

1 minute ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That's pretty much how I do it too.  I drill the corners to the pickup lug and corner radii, forstner out the bulk up to the pickup outline, tidy up the sides with a chisel, then just use a router (using a short bearing - guided bit) to flatten the bottom.

I basically hate routers.

And that's where I learned my technique, thanks Andy 

I couldn't take on a surface mounted (no scratchplate) pickup rout without getting the template skills right first, but as a first effort, this will do me.

3 minutes ago, Sharkfinger said:

No slurry, no. Didn't trust myself to get it right, so coat then buff, repeat 4 times till the grain was filled (though not completely on edge of fretboard), then knocked it right back almost to wood, then the lightest coat I could.  The stuff has soaked into the wood, so the protection is there.  

I gave it another light rub and coat about a year later and will probably do that every year.  Don't know if it's recommended but hey-ho, seems like a good idea to me.

Nice one! This stuff has been a revelation to me, you can achieve anything from a silky smooth satin finish all the way up to a gloss with amazing results 😎

Early hours of NYE! 😮 Inspired! 🤣

Nice neck! 

Am I right in assuming you didn't do the slurry buff through the grits then? Just the one coat with the wire wool or is there more?

Good pics 😎

Well apparently all is not lost, bearing in mind there's still a battery compartment to put in around the back, my four kids surprised me by chipping in and buying me this for my birthday, I knew they'd come in useful eventually 😄😄

42 minutes ago, Sharkfinger said:

I've thought about doing this in the past and thought a smaller drill bit (with smaller radius) would be good for the 'corners' of the pickups routes.  However, I guess you could now use a file to get up in the corners.

 It seems to be the way most of the experienced folks do this just for the screw lugs before then going in with a router over a template, I'm not at that level of skill yet though. A smaller drill bit in the corners is a better idea, and files, sandpaper etc have come to my rescue this far 😊  

Beautiful lump of maple that 😍

Followed by more freehand routing.

Erm hang on.... WTF?

......thought this was a no smoking area! 🤯

Oh well, that's the end of that router - suppose that's what you get with an amateur at the controls 😖

More drilling first

Got the plate into position then did some marking in pencil. One of the things I'll need to do at some point is add some structure to allow the screws somewhere to screw into to hold the plate in place.

So this was the original hole, and it's going to have go bigger to get this in..

And then onto that control cavity. Going from a vol and tone pot to the four knob East pre was going to require some more bodgery to get it all under there..😄 The plate needs to follow the lower contour of the body to look Rayish, so not only is there wood to come out, there's also going to have to be wood to go in.

Then clear out the thick with a Forstener bit....

Before a sharp chisel went in, then I freehanded the router with a small straight bit in to level the base as best I could.

Yup, I could do with lots of practise, opportunity to try stuff, and preferably a carpenter standing over my shoulder to keep me right, but this attempt was getting hidden under a scratchplate, and it didn't really matter that it had plenty of wiggle room, as long as that pup sits in that scratchplate directly under those strings that'll do 😝Following some fettling with a small chisel, files, and sandpaper to make sure all was ok including pup height etc (I'd measured the gap between the strings and body before dismantling everything) I decided to neaten the cavity with a thin layer of Titebond, not sure why, but it gave a nice clean finish once it had dried overnight.

While the neck is progressing, time to see what's required to get the pickup in place. I had to put the neck, tuners, bridge and strings back on to get the position of the scratchplate and pickup marked out.Then time to get busy with the drill, chisel and if necessary the router.

Now I've got to hold my hands up and say my routing experience is seriously lacking - I bought one to make a radiator cabinet which involved shaping of mainly straight edges, and again used it to do some straight stuff on the shed. I have never used a template before, so purists of the router, skilled luthiers and first class DIYers may want to look away at the following section.Started with some tape around the bit using the P pup hole as a depth guide, then used the drill in the corners and screwhole lugs.

Of course 😄