My Bass Project

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

The top is too thick. I'm thinking I need to use a forstner bit to thin it. Any other suggestions?

Use a forstener bit to countersink the pots a little deeper inside the control cavity, or as a slightly more fancy option, countersink the top so that the knobs sit in a "crater" just below the surface of the top (kinda what PRS does with their control knobs).

Thanks for the idea of the crater, and the correct spelling of forstener, Curtis. That would be much easier.

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Wow, I feel like I dropped off the planet. My daughter was on the local swim team this summer. Well, there goes the past month of mornings for working on this thing.

Obligatory clamp shot. Well, one half of the body.

Knobs turned.

My friend assisted in routing for the cover. Now to make the cover. Doing some thing bass ackwards.

Next up is to drill out the majority of the wood for the pickups. Question, How deep should I go? I will use a forstener and the final epth will be 3/4". Should I go the whole depth, or to 1/2" and rout the rest to smooth the bottom of the cavity?

[curtisa]

Drill your cavities with the forstener to your target depth minus a tad. The less you need to use a router bit to finish the cavity the easier it will be. Don't forget that the centre tip of the fostener bit will be slightly deeper than the main cutting area of the drill, so account for the extra depth of the divot when setting your drilling depth, otherwise the bottom of your routed cavity will be full of little dimples.

[ScottR]

Drill your cavities with the forstener to your target depth minus a tad. The less you need to use a router bit to finish the cavity the easier it will be. Don't forget that the centre tip of the fostener bit will be slightly deeper than the main cutting area of the drill, so account for the extra depth of the divot when setting your drilling depth, otherwise the bottom of your routed cavity will be full of little dimples.

Good advice, but keep in mind that the interior surface of those routes will be hidden by the pickups. The little dimples will not affect anything but your own sense of tidyness. SR

[curtisa]

I can't help it. I'm a neatness freak

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Thanks, Curtis and Scott. I hope to drill this week.

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

What was that song? "All together now."

The clamps are off and it feels pretty good in my hands, but I'll need to weigh it at some point.

First things forst, though. My daughter was trying to make a doll stand for her American Doll. Out of cardboard. SMH. Well, she saw it on a youtube video. The family were running errands today and at our local Creative Reuse store, I found a dowel rod and some wood.

Voila! Now she wants to paint and cover the bottoms with fabric. This weeks Daddy/Daughter project. I'll get her into building guitars in a few years.

I tend to not throw anything out, so here is one of my first attempts at guitar building. Completely screwed up the neck profile and scale. I used it to test out my drilling skills for the pickups. Using curtisa's advice, I drilled with a forstener bit down 1/2", giving me 1/4" to smooth out the bottom.

I think I took the longest time doing this. Took a long time with each hole. I wanted to ensure I did not go outside the lines.

This week, after making pin boards for my wife's preschool, I'll rout these out. Question, what type of double-sided tape do you use to secure the router templates?

[curtisa]

Most doublesided tape from a hardware store will be fine. 3M make a good one. Might also be marketed as "carpet tape".

Avoid the stuff that is quite thick and has a foam backing - it will allow the template to move laterally.

Can't find double sided tape? I've had success using superglue and masking tape. Beware, use as little glue as possible as it holds the template like mad, and can be a nightmare to separate when you need to get the template off.

[SwedishLuthier]

This weeks Daddy/Daughter project. I'll get her into building guitars in a few years.

That, is something I really recommend. I did the small body acoustic (GOTM May) with my oldest daughter and now the younger daughter wants me to build a bass with her. That is true quality time.

[psikoT]

Can't find double sided tape? I've had success using superglue and masking tape. Beware, use as little glue as possible as it holds the template like mad, and can be a nightmare to separate when you need to get the template off.

Wow, thanks for the tip! That's specially useful to stick the sandpaper in a cheap way, double sided tape is really expensive here.

[curtisa]

Wow, thanks for the tip! That's specially useful to stick the sandpaper in a cheap way, double sided tape is really expensive here.

It's come in handy for me when I needed to urgently stick something when I ran out of double sided tape. As you say, it is also brilliant as an alternative to adhesive sandpaper on the radius block or levelling beam. Sticky-backed sandpaper is a special order item down here, and I'd rather not pay a premium for such products and wait 2-3 weeks for it to turn up if I don't have to.

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

It took three days, but the pickup cavities are routed. I know, "Chuck, THREE DAYS? What the @#*(#^*( is wrong with you!" Well, this was the first time I operated a router on my own. I tested what I wanted to do on a scrap piece, so I knew what I was doing. I need to chisel out the corners to fit the pickups and re-drill the holes for the wires.

Next was a look with the bridge and tuners in place.

Finally, I had to relax with a local brew.

Curtis, thanks for the tip of not drilling too deep. I liked the smooth wood after routing.

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Whad'ya know, it's been awhile. Still breathing and building, but it was on the back burner for a birthday present for my daughter. She is really into penguins, so I started carving one in basswood.

She was happy to get it, even in that condition. She has given me permission to complete the bass (thanks, Abby!), so that's what I am hoping to do.

Working on the nut. Question #1: I file for the strings after the nut is glued in place, correct?

Also, I created a jack plate. It seems all I have left is lots of sanding, copper tape the cavities, finishing, them put the hardware on, string it up and hope it works.

[ScottR]

Good to see this thing getting some love again. Cool penguin!

As far as the nut goes, I always mark the initial height and radius with it in the slot and then pull it out and put it in a bench vise to make the initial slots. Then it goes back in the slot and the guitar gets strung up. With the strings tensioned, you can move the nut left or right a little to find it's best spot. Then mark the sides and pull it back out to trim  them to the marks. You can glue it in at this point or after you have fine tuned your slot depths. I usually glue it last thing and let the string tension hold it place while the glue dries.

SR

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Good to see this thing getting some love again. Cool penguin!

As far as the nut goes, I always mark the initial height and radius with it in the slot and then pull it out and put it in a bench vise to make the initial slots. Then it goes back in the slot and the guitar gets strung up. With the strings tensioned, you can move the nut left or right a little to find it's best spot. Then mark the sides and pull it back out to trim  them to the marks. You can glue it in at this point or after you have fine tuned your slot depths. I usually glue it last thing and let the string tension hold it place while the glue dries.

SR

Thanks for the info, Scott. Hope to get to the shop later this week. Just had a phone interview for a job and hmthey would like me to come in for a face to face.  Also, I recorded some small voice over demos, a friend of mine is encouraging me to try that as a form of income.

[ScottR]

Good luck!

SR

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Okay, as I was preparing dinner this afternoon, I realized I forgot one of the most important parts of a bass or guitar - THE LOGO!!!

 

How have you come across your designs? prikoT, love yours by the way.

 

(I know I have more to work on, but the way my ADD kicks in, I consider it multi-tasking.)

[Prostheta]

I think with logos it is a balance of understated simplicity and overt individuality. Going for one or the other doesn't work.

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Sorry for not being here for many days, weeks, oh wow, call it over a month. Life has been a bit hectic. Job update, I've had two interviews in person and one by phone with the corporate safety director. I'll find out by the end of the week.

Been working on logo ideas, thoughts?

 

Bass LOGO.xls

[psikoT]

On 24/9/2015 22:17:12, Chuck_Chill-Out said:

How have you come across your designs? prikoT, love yours by the way.

Thanks... it was spontaneous and I thought it could work as a brand. It really doesn't work, cause I don't have a name yet, which makes the brand totally useless. There's a computer brand which is similar, but I don't care. They probably don't care either.

14 hours ago, Chuck_Chill-Out said:

Been working on logo ideas, thoughts?

You should upload a pic to get more feedback... Not really bad, because it follows the line of the instrument somehow. If you're happy, just do it. If not, keep trying. That's how it works.

[Prostheta]

I like the one on the right in the second row. The implied rotational symmetry in the negative space works nicer than any of the others. I'd play with that idea a little more to enhance the concept. Additionally, it's an easy logo to make en masse since they can be fitted into a Forstner-drilled pocket! 

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Well, good news, I was offered a Safety Manager position at a local company that manufactures battery cases. 15 minutes from home and, better still, $10K more than what I was asking.

I start in two weeks, so I have time to work next week.

Prostheta and PsikoT, thanks for the advice. I am leaning towards the round one and am thinking about making it from the extra persimmon that is laying around. I think it would contrast nicely with the maple in the headstock.

[Prostheta]

Congratulations! That's an amazing position to snag on your own doorstep. Finding a position that pays more than what you expect it to is a rare enough thing as it stands.

[Chuck_Chill-Out]

Okay, I am still alive. Work is very challenging and going well, but no time to build, plus, my wife wants me to work on some things at home.

Her mother's dining room table top was scratched and needed work, so she asked me to refinish it. I sanded off of the top finish and restained it. BIG MISTAKE. A lot of black came up out of the wood. 

 

I have resanded it to clean and now have a question. She wants a poly finish on it, so what could I use to seal the wood? I know some finishes do not adhere well together, so I am trying to get as much information as possible so I don't have to go through this again.

 

[Prostheta]

Ouch! Where's that black coming from? The stain, a reaction or something coming out of the wood?

I'd shoot poly straight over it rather than staining. It is possible that it might originally have been a simple grain filler or even shellac. I'd take more information from whether it was a more industrially-manufactured piece or small craftsman. Industrial processes might be an issue. They're a real pain to rework sometimes.

Acid cat poly is pretty forgiving. I've oiled wood with BLO, allowed it to FULLY cure, applied shellac over the top to seal and then shot poly. Cleanliness and allowing each thing you do to cure properly makes the most difference. For the most part you can shoot poly to raw wood or at least use some kind of thixotropic grain filler like you would say, Mahogany.

That black is a bigger problem at this stage I think.....