Andyjr1515 Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 Hi This is a bit of a catch up. With the distraction of newly acquired grandparenting duties and a couple of fairly tight build deadlines, I'm afraid that my forum posting has been a bit lax. This, of course, will have been to the great relief and delight of all of the forum members who struggle, understandably, with the crazy world that is Andyjr1515's ramblings. But, in the same way that Mr Kellogs believed that too long a break from colonic irrigation was no good at all for his followers, I think you've had a good enough break from my projects and it's time to get out the warm water, funnel and rubber tubing and get back to peeping through the windows of the madhouse. Another Swift Lite Bass. Hmmm, OK - I can let everyone back in gently. There is no point in me doing an overly detailed build diary because it's pretty much the same as the one I finished earlier in the year for Neil (below) and for which there is already a tortuously long thread on the forum: After the No Treble 'Bass of the Week', I got a number of enquiries for similar builds - probably because of the lightweight aspect. One enquiry - a player in Hawaii - came to fruition and this has been progressing over the past couple of months. It is the same basic spec, but a just slightly different shape for the horns and cutaways and it will be P-J rather than J-J pickup configuration. A quick photo story up to the present status: The above picture is the present state of play - and it's not as complete as it looks. I've only lightly fitted the strings to check the spacing and get the positioning for the next scary bit - cutting the P-J pickup chambers. However, it is complete enough for me to be able to estimate the final playing weight - around 6.5lbs There - that wasn't so bad, was it... Andy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 looking good as always. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said: This, of course, will have been to the great relief and delight of all of the forum members who struggle, understandably, with the crazy world that is Andyjr1515's ramblings. But, in the same way that Mr Kellogs believed that too long a break from colonic irrigation was no good at all for his followers, I think you've had a good enough break from my projects and it's time to get out the warm water, funnel and rubber tubing and get back to peeping through the windows of the madhouse. Bring 'em on Andy. I always look forward to your most recent observations. And congrats on the newly acquired grandparenting duties. I'm rather new to that myself. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 This is still bubbling along in the background. James - the customer - had sent me an Aero P-J set from the States - don't think they are on the UK radar. He took them out of a bass he particularly likes the sound of. No pressure there, then. I cut the chambers in my normal way - no template and only routing to smooth and deepen the bottoms once the basic chamber has been cut. Basically, I: draw the pickup outline in pencil on the bass top taking care to square up and get the poles in exactly the right place for the string runs drill at all corners and lugs to full chamber depth forstner inside the pencil line to 3/4 depth chisel the top c 1/2" deep, following the pencil lines and joining up the previously drilled corners use a bearing-guided trimmer bit - now completely captive in the chamber - in the router to tidy up the sides and deepen to final depth Then took a slice off an offcut from the top to create the control chamber hatch: Then started the carve of the neck / body transition and upper fret access: So at this point, it's starting to look like a bass: Next, the debate about fretboard / neck colour and the commencement of the finishing process - which I'll cover in the next post and which will get the thread fully up to date 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Then started the carve of the neck / body transition and upper fret access: Bravo! Very nicely done. I love this! SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 14 minutes ago, ScottR said: Bravo! Very nicely done. I love this! SR Thank you, Scott I have to say it's great in terms of access to the top frets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 One of the things that James, the prospective owner, wanted was a strong amber stain for the neck and fretboard and also a complementing stain for the back and sides. For the fretboard, he sent me a photo of the type of shade he was looking for which I was able to match using a mix of spirit stains (Chestnut Stains light mahogany/yellow/orange, all thinned with methylated spirits) Because of the different hues of the ash (brownish) and maple (yellowish) I had to also do a few more trials to get a mix that coordinated with that colour. This is where I ended up - happily coinciding with where James was wanting to be : The 'knobs' are just loosely positioned at the moment while we discuss his preferred positioning. The 'slurry and buff' coats of tru-oil will continue over the Christmas period and then the final tasks can be tackled. I'm planning on ready to ship mid-Jan. For those who celebrate Christmas - have a great Christmas and see you the other side! Andy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2018 By the way... ...it isn't too much Christmas spirit getting into me - the neck IS parallel and the hatch IS straight (just had to check it for the 14th time to make absolutely sure). It's just the camera / viewpoint distortion... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted December 26, 2018 Report Share Posted December 26, 2018 really nice seam on that top, just noticed. great work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 1, 2019 Report Share Posted January 1, 2019 On 12/24/2018 at 6:40 AM, Andyjr1515 said: By the way... ...it isn't too much Christmas spirit getting into me - the neck IS parallel and the hatch IS straight (just had to check it for the 14th time to make absolutely sure). It's just the camera / viewpoint distortion... For some reason, that happens to me all the time. And one never notices until after posting. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2019 Well - pretty much on the final furlong with this. I'm progressing up the tru-oil slurry grades of wet and dry - next one at 1500 and last one at 2000. They should be done by the weekend. In the meantime, I've been knocking jobs off the 'to do' list. I've put the Luminlay dots in: I've done the knobs (still got to put the 2mm black-pearl marker dots on): Recessed the jackplate: Put magnets on the truss rod cover: And magnets on the copper-lined control chamber cover: With luck, this will be all complete by the weekend 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 And another job off the tick list - the frets levelled, re-crowned and polished. I'll fit some strings temporarily later today to check if it frets properly all the way up the board. Only a few jobs left before the 'grand assembly' 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 wow, looking great! noticed some details I didn't catch b4... recessed football, magnet-truss cover... very professional. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 20 hours ago, mistermikev said: wow, looking great! noticed some details I didn't catch b4... recessed football, magnet-truss cover... very professional. Thanks @mistermikev ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 Sorted the nut height and then put my 'see if it all fits together' set of strings on. At my action height starting point (medium) there are no buzzes at all so I think the basic levelling job was OK. When the proper strings are on, I'll set it up properly and do a double check with the fret rocker and the buzz check at low action in case there are some high spots anywhere. This is how the tru-oil slurry and buff has ended up, finishing at 1500 grit. This is an oblique shot to the light so you can see the surface finish: ...and then face-on to see the figuring: It's LOVELY to the touch. Still got to do the final 1500 slurry and buff on the back - and I've still got to do the final buffing of the fretboard and neck - but this is how the whole thing is panning out: All being well it should be finished by the end of the weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 That's an absolute stunner Andy, one of your best. I love how the black fret markers and hardware work together, and the void fills in the burl even add to that look. As well does the black inlines and borders you've used in the details. Bravo! SR 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 3 hours ago, ScottR said: That's an absolute stunner Andy, one of your best. I love how the black fret markers and hardware work together, and the void fills in the burl even add to that look. As well does the black inlines and borders you've used in the details. Bravo! SR Thanks, Scott Means a lot... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 Just doing a couple of tweaks and the final checks and it'll be pretty much ready to go! It sounds great. James asked for heavyweight strings to be fitted and, with his supplied Aero pickups it sounds really good - even through my non-bass rig! Here are some of the obligatory finished pics (except one change in progress): The one change is that James asked if I could try a coordinating control chamber cover with back wood rather than a contrasting one with top wood - this is what he's gone for and is being finished at this very moment Should be shipping very early next week Andy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 16, 2019 Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said: Here are some of the obligatory finished pics Obligatory indeed! We all lust after wood porn. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 Well, it got to Hawaii in one piece and in less than a week...and he loves it! Pleased and relieved in equal measure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 27, 2019 Report Share Posted January 27, 2019 Awesome news, no surprise but great to hear anyway! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 On 1/26/2019 at 7:45 PM, Andyjr1515 said: Well, it got to Hawaii in one piece and in less than a week...and he loves it! Pleased and relieved in equal measure Was this REALLY only a month and a half ago! It seems like years! Because there was a problem. And all of my own making In short: I'm really not sure how - and how my suite of double and triple checks never picked it up - but, while the neck profile was perfect, once James got to play it properly he realised the thickness was completely wrong! After weighing up the risks of Customs and CITES etc etc of shipping it back to me to fix, and James worried that he wasn't sure of any local luthiers on his island that could do such a job (not only a re-carve but matching re-stain too), I asked someone I knew COULD do the job AND was in USA, avoiding the customs and CITES challenges - our very own @ScottR. Of course the bass was in Hawaii and Scott was in Texas, so airfreight again! And what a super job @ScottR did too! : So was that all OK now? Well...no. Because now it had been on 6 trans-ocean flights (13,000miles or thereabouts), countless van and lorry trips, moved between around 18 transit and customs warehouses...and sort of inevitably, the box had probably been dropped heavily on more than one occasion. Because the neck had now finally flexed, splitting a small length of the fretboard joint at the heel and lifting three of four frets. And the bridge pickup had stopped working. And we were still in the situation of limited luthier skills on the island. So I sent James a detailed phot0-tutorial on how to protect, clamp and what glues to use to fix it himself, and sent a radius block for him to seat the frets with. And - at last - a bit of luck. Ref the electrics, it turned out that the pickup manufacturer (Aero) is on James' island! So yesterday he took it over to Aero and, once they had recovered from their giggling fits at my wiring job, they fixed it. And James is, at long last, a very happy bunny It's a great relief. And only a mere 10 years has been taken off my life expectancy... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 6 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: And James is, at long last, a very happy bunny Great news Andy! SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 2, 2019 Report Share Posted April 2, 2019 looks like congrats are in order... lemme be the first! CONGRATS ON GOTM March 2019! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted April 10, 2019 Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 Andy, congratulations on your unanimous GOTM victory, well deserved. I will be starting on my first bass when the V is completed so I hope I can pick your brains when I get stuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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