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The BlazerRay... Now finished!


BassTool

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2 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

That G tuner, you could have taken it apart and flipped the tuner peg over, to make like an MM tuner.

Ahhh, I wondered about that, wasn't sure how to do it, any suggestions welcome ;)

It's not too much bother tuning, but it would be nice to have it the right way round 👍

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While I plucked up the courage to get my router out, I decided to refurbish the back of the neck with a Truoil finish after studying @honza992 's @Andyjr1515 's inspired technique here.

The fingerboard I think I am going to leave as it seems it'll be a bit of a challenge to strip the lacquer off, but if anyone has any suggestions how to do it please chip in ;)

 

 

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Rubbed down, the neck feels amazing already, but I'm hoping to make it even better with the little bottle of magic and the prescribed wet and dry papers.

I've never done anything like this before, but it seems straightforward enough. and I suppose if it gets messed up you just go back through the stages again.

I got some nitrile gloves as it probably gets everywhere, and after watching some vids on YouTube set about the oiling process.

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11 hours ago, BassTool said:

Rubbed down, the neck feels amazing already, but I'm hoping to make it even better with the little bottle of magic and the prescribed wet and dry papers.

I've never done anything like this before, but it seems straightforward enough. and I suppose if it gets messed up you just go back through the stages again.

I got some nitrile gloves as it probably gets everywhere, and after watching some vids on YouTube set about the oiling process.

 

 

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Great stuff this.  Got it on my roasted maple neck on my bitsa FengRay. FWIW, I used 0000 steel wool to rub it down before application, but then it was already finely sanded by Warmoth.  Took some pics of the process but never posted them anywhere.  Want to see?

Edited by Sharkfinger
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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.IMG_20190120_142403902.thumb.jpg.f77bf74ea62185306abc9b22c7e24e13.jpgThen 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.IMG_20190120_144539150.thumb.jpg.9eecb79ad4f283e407f004657e796e25.jpgStarted 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.

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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 😝77302448_IMG_20190120_153411374(1).thumb.jpg.e9608a2f25763c79c4eea7eae4f17647.jpgIMG_20190120_162013593_BURST000_COVER_TOP.thumb.jpg.3f73088af6109b0bfa48685676033329.jpgIMG_20190121_112313232.thumb.jpg.93d43ff41448e75fdf9f6ee53e6759a3.jpgFollowing 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.

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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.

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9 hours ago, BassTool said:

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.

 

 

 

IMG_20190120_152153868.jpg

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.

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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 😊  

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