Crowella Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Alright, here we go. *takes breath* I'm actually going to take a stab at this neck-through bass guitar I've drawn up, after a bit of consultation with myself. This is mainly because I'm a bored man with a lot of time, and also because I'd like to have something less usual in my vast collection of guitars (eh... by collection I mean a bass and classical acoustic) Picture of scale drawing - http://adam.patndave.com/DSC09215a.JPG The finish I want on it will be similar to the Cerbera TVR as seen here, Although the colours overall may turn out different, having painted cars before, it shouldn't be too bad. I've already hit some problems though. - Finding the woods (Maple for neck, mahogany for body, rosewood for fretboard) is a challenge where I live, however, waiting 2-4 weeks for guitar parts gives me time to solve that issue, - A suitable work surface is needed, but that is on order for this upcoming weekend. - I need to find a bridge for a 5-string and pickups somewhere around Sydney, that shouldn't be too hard, if not, I will look online So once I've sort of filtered out all the issues with obtaining parts and the sort, I will definitely be starting to build. I am very excited about it, and even in the end if it sounds rubbish, I'll still be proud to say its mine! Just a question for any Australians, where is (preferably) the cheapest place to obtain these woods? I don't mind paying a little more for quality and delivery (I can even pick them up if they are in Sydney or Newcastle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowella Posted February 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I've set myself up a little blog for it all here: http://seriouslydesigns.com/guitar/ I have managed to get a workbench planned and buy everything but the woods, but I'm waiting for a quote on that, so all in all, In 2 weeks should be the day that it all begins to transform into something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Looks like you've got a solid plan. Looking forward to seeing your progress pictures. -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowella Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) Turns out my internet server got hacked, so I lost some of the stuff I wrote on there. Which means my blog will be out for a while. Anyway, since the weekend, I managed to order a work bench, and the timbers which I might have to pick up today or tomorrow, depending on when it is all machined. I also have the arrival of my bridge, output jack and capacitor. Somewhat disappointing that the bridge I bought had one scratch on the front of it, but I managed to use the old toothpaste trick to rub it down a fair bit, so its far less visible. Only thing I bought off EBay for the guitar, but it looks alright. Once the site is up (if the server gets back up) I'll post the pictures on there. Edited February 11, 2009 by Crowella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowella Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Some good news (finally) All the parts have arrived, 2 weeks earlier than I expected, so I will begin building shortly. I'm going to take a trip to the yard down here to pick up some shoddy timber to try and make sure I still have a grip on all the tools, and to become more used to the router before I risk anything stupid. Oh, and my website should be up within the next week. We are recovering everything off the hard drive. Shows what hackers can do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadovfor Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 All the parts have arrived, 2 weeks earlier than I expected, so I will begin building shortly. I'm going to take a trip to the yard down here to pick up some shoddy timber to try and make sure I still have a grip on all the tools, and to become more used to the router before I risk anything stupid. Do you have your real build timber yet? Gilet Guitars at Botany (Sydney) is worth having a look at ... see guitarwoods.com.au. I've bought from them several times and they're very helpful. If you're confident in rummaging through a wide range of timbers, Anagote at Marrickville (also Sydney) gets good raps. I went there ages back before I had the confidence or experience to know what I wanted / needed ... and so didn't end up buying anything . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowella Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Yes I did get my "real" timber, from Matthews Timber at St Mary's, because it was the only place I could find Mahogany in large enough blanks. I got myself some QLD Maple, with Fijian Mahogany and New Guinea Rosewood (after searching everywhere, that was the best I could do) 2 hour drive there and back. Only timber from there I'm a bit sketchy on is the rosewood (it has one minor bump on the back) but other than that, it is alright. Today I'm attacking the shape of the fretboard, filing it, then sanding it down to the correct width across the board. I was lucky enough to also realise I made a mistake on the blueprints with the fretboard width, but managed to make it correct on the real fretboard, thank goodness for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowella Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 New Guinea Rosewood fretboard, shaped out. I have to cut in some slots for the frets, however I'm just worried because the fretboard is about 3-4mm thicker than I was planning to have, so I might have to be cautious about that. That said, quite happy so far, even if its only been the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowella Posted February 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) Alright, I had one of those panic moments that I was bound to have at some stage. Right now I'm up to bevelling the frets. At the moment, they are so sharp to run along, and I'm worried about filing them more since I can't get close enough without damaging the edges of the board . So just a query... When I bevel the frets, should some of the side of the fretboard also be taken off for it, and then I sand it down afterwards? (At the moment, it's all sanded to 2000 grit, sides and face) From what I see from here http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/fretting.htm that might be the case, but I'm not too sure, so any assistance would be lovely. That said, I'm estatic about how it looks. The inlay dots are in, and remarkably, they are in a line (scary using a hand drill) Edited February 28, 2009 by Crowella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Once I start taking off a little bit of the fingerboard with the fret beveling tool, I stop. At this point I'll check over all the fret ends to make sure they're properly seated. When they're all seated I go over the fret ends with a piece of foam with sandpaper attached (400 grit or so) to get the frets a little bit closer, then roll the fingerboard edge consistently. If there is still visible gap from the fret slot, I'll fill the gap before rolling the fingerboard edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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