BassTool

I made sure I did not rush the shaping of the veneer round the headstock. Little by little, with new blades - both Stanley and craft knife. I shaved off small sections at a time. That veneer wants to split down the grain at the slightest opportunity. Two more small splits happened, disappointing, but not much I can do. I started the sanding process to prepare for a true oil finish.

The postman brought me my steamed maple veneer from Griffiths and Hood https://www.griffithsandhood.com/ and in my haste to select a piece of veneer for the headstock when ordering online I forgot to stipulate the grain direction on the long side had to run parallel to it. The bit I received was the opposite way round, D'oh! A phone call to Ben Griffiths and I was sorted, a new veneer would be on its way in return for the veneer I received, great customer service from these guys, don't know if anyone has used them? This was a totally new experience for me, I've never seen a veneer never mind worked with one. Not as easy as I thought... I cut out he basic shape plus a bit extra with scissors.. Then double checked it covered the head. Now it was just a case of gluing and clamping surely? So I brushed on a thin layer of Titebond to the back of the veneer, and clamped it all up, even used a rolling pin to get into the curve of the headstock. Well, it looked ok as far as I could tell... Well, it had stuck firmly, but had also split down the grain in the curved section. I'll have to make the best of it, it's not coming off anytime soon. To rub salt in, I discovered a 'how to' by @Andyjr1515 after the event. I had to c o c k up somewhere along the way.

Next up was my input jack, which needs to go underneath. I got so wrapped up with this I didn't get as many pics as I could have - but you get the general idea what went on. There was a Forstener bit first, a dremel, files and sandpaper to get this somewhere near. I deliberately made the hole as large as possible to enable easy installation of the jack socket and wires.

That is some very fine electronic work right there. Amazingly tight but neat as 👍 Years ago I refitted a bass of mine with a Nordstrand pre amp, something wasn't quite right, so I paid a visit to the well known Bass Doc up here in the North East. Howard had fitted the previous EMG system for me at his now long gone shop The Bass Place, so if anyone could sort it, it was him. He opened the back up, looked at my soldering attempts, and without raising an eyebrow declared... 'Ah yes, I see the problem - you've used the wrong sized welding rods....' Brilliant 🤣

Champion 😃 Can you desist from your purple shenanigans and pop up here to sort it then? 😆

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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.

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 😄😄

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.