John Morciglio

Cutting tools are just that. The tool has to be harder than the material you are cutting. If you are uncomfortable, or unfamiliar with their usage. By all means.' do not try this at home'. Have used pattern bits,(mid-level ), NOT Harbor Freight stuff),to chase 100's, if not 1000's of lin. ft. of 6061, 7075 and 7005 aluminum from 1/4 to 3/4"thick. First trimming on the band saw like you would a body w/template. The Fraued brand bits last quite a while. Have tried Amana and CMT and they don't last any longer but cost more. Also wear safety gear! Using a belt sander will not yield an accurate or straight cut. IMO, the fretboard should be dead straight and not "tapered into the body" It also looks like the string spread could have been wider at the bridge to line up over the pole pieces?

Yes,I have enough carbon tops around. It's the transition from front/top ,to sides that I like to see clean. At least flush.

Thanks

Think the top is Aspen? It's tax time so while organizing receipts, found one for Aspen at Lowes. Looked it up on their site and it sems to be a match. Think I made some shelves for a niche with it? Testing some stain samples and ready for a final sand on the top. Couldn't resist stringing it up with a baritone set. The tone I hear on them must come frome the longer scale cause this thing sounds wicked. (used a piezo/bar pickup I have wired up). Can't wait to get it wired and playable. I guess a 28" baritone will have to be next? Will have 30, 32, 34" scales when these are done. A guy might buy that VB-650. Think I'll use the smaller guitar template for the next one. Even with the short scale it feels huge. JM

Been a month since any update. These have been ready for finish for a while now. Got some System 3 on the guitar and letting them cure for 72hrs. Took them down to the basement on the seldom used pool table. Again, sorry about the cellphone pics. Found the camera and the batteru was dead. Have 5 builds ready for finish. The weather is finally starting to cooperate. JM

Glad you got it done! Belt sanders scare me for precision work. Since I had another P-bass neck here that needed a re-fret. Went commando and clamped a straight-edge to demonstrate how it would work; This whole thing took a little over an hour. Including re-shaping the neck. Still needs a little more fine tuning. Carbide bit cut the frets like butter. Could have removed the frets first. When I set the last one up on the mill, took almost an hour to set-up for the first pass. (fixtures, stand-offs checking measurements, etc. This was much quicker. Wore eye, hearing protection and a resperator. "bad idea"? JM .

Looks GREAT! Was gonna ask if anybody actually used epoxy for grain filling? Have been using System 3 "clearcoat" to kill pinholes for clear carbon finishes. When searching Z-poxy, found the same System3 at some luthiers supply sites. System3 instructions say it CAN be sanded the next day. I wait 48 to 72hrs min. Tested on a scrap of mahogony and it seemed to work OK. If I'm doing a solid color, have some Duratec primer that we use for mold making. This stuff is used at furniture factories. VERY hard/durable. Can be shot over rough surfaces as a heavy primer/filler. It is also highly TOXIC. Probably the worst stuff I ever use in my shop. Shop is next to the house so I won't spray the nasty stuff unless the family can be out for the day. Epoxies are much safer. JM

It does look like the baltic birch plywood (in the pics). It's bugging me enough to consider using this top for a plug to make a carbon top from?

It's very hard, machines well. Spokeshave and planed nice. Ruling out the ash? Grain pattern is different. Not sure about basswood, sounds cool/apropriate. Keep thinking it HAD to be from a cabinet/library/furniture job. Sometimes I would take scraps or cut-offs home? Have been on alot of really big jobs where there would be many different trim crews. Also, I specialize in winding handrails. So could have gotten it from a job I only ran the rail on with no other trim work. Pic of the back help? It's a cabinet grade hardwood. Thanks JM

Anything decent with carbide flutes. NOT a laminate trimmer. Unless you're running stainless, or those hard gold EVO's. Test a scrap peice. Would also use a wide/therfore stable guide or straight-edge, so your router base is stable. Then flip it for the other side? JM

Turret mill would make short work of it. :-) Guessing you don't have access to one. You could build a router jig/sled to hit it from the top? Even a carefully secured template could work. (attatched to the top of the fretboard). Maybee set up like a caul to hold the frets tight. Could clamp at headstock and screw thru pup cavity? Tapered an old P-bass neck down to Jazz width. The mill cut through the board and frets like butter. Still had side dots showing. Might want to make a test pass on something fretted to make sure your cutter doesn't "grab" the frets. JM

So I scrounged through the shelves in the shop and found what appears to be, white ash??? Very light, not maple. Lighter than some poplar and pine I have here. Anybody have a guess? Please? Photobucket is freezing. Sorry about the cell-phone pics. They used to be better than our old camera. Bought my wife some pro-gear for her birthday so we can get better shots of stuff. ?? Thanks JM

I ordered the Labella's but they were out-of-stock. Have always used GHS Boomers, so thought they should be good? GHS is in MI, so I called there tech guy. He said they should have been 34.5" for all of them? Have to wait till they get some more in but won't order online again unless string length is verified. Might set this up with, string-thru, along with the wraptail and a easily removable tailpeice. Should cover anything? John

Made some more prodgress on this VI build; Got the fretboard/trussrod glued. Fretted and shaped the neck, heel and valute. Access cover, hollowed the body. Still kicking around the top. Carbon is here, paid for. Would like to maybee just carve some wood? Wish my local mill had some pre-planed/sanded stuff. They have alot of exotic species but, you have to pick from rough stock. Strings are proving to be an issue. Got a wrap-tail bridge figuring I can "build a set" from guitar and bass sets. Ordered a 'custom" set for aFender bass VI, (GHS). 3 lowest strings were 37", ball to winding. The 3 high strings were 33" ???***? Just gonna use those to set the intonation. If I go (thru-body), should be able to use reg. scale. JM

Got the neck glued up, roughed in and the neck pocket routed; Waiting for a truss-rod. Going to change the headstock slightly. Had an alternate shape and took off too much on the treble side :-( Played the Fender VI and a Shecter Ultra VI. They had a Tele baritone and "Special baritone?" Think I'll just use some good humbuckers. Plugged into a Bassman 59. Really need to spend more time with one and use my own amps. Kind of strange. Not quite a bass, not quite a guitar? Will be a fun thing to jam with. JM