Mr Natural Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 While most of my builds are of "different" types of instruments you dont always see everyday- I wanted to try and put together some standard builds- taking the time to document all the time/processes/etc I put into it- so as to get an idea of just what it would take to do a "production run" of roughly 4 instruments in terms of my time- in my "world". as some of you already know- it typically takes me a year or more to complete one instrument. I just dont have the time I would like- and many times I get into a build and I just need a lot of time to "figure stuff out". My goal here is to finish these in 6 months or less- probably wont make that goal- as I do have other projects going- but you never know. No Scarf joints and all that crap to deal with- I have templates and all already on hand. I had some old alder laying around that I wanted to use up. The boards have about 9- 10 inches clear of any wane/bark/inclusions- and to get 4 bodies out of this I am going to have to ditch center joining these and go the 3 piece body route- with big fat boards in the middle of each. I typically center join boards- so this is something new for me. So far- printing out plans, planing out cuts/cleaning up wood, jointing, gluing up board- 5 hours total. If I hadnt been so lazy and moved the mitre saw off the table saw and used it instead of the circular saw I probably would have shaved 30 minutes off that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted September 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 P Bass- maple fretboard (fretted) J bass- fretless ebony, rosewood or cocobolo board- not sure yet Strat one- ebony board- fretless with sustainer pup strat 2- maple board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 I am going to watch this thread.It will be interesting to see the out come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted September 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 got one of the "s" blanks thicknessed (router jig) and body outline shaped. I used the 3" robo-sander drum on the drill press on this one after cutting pretty close with the bandsaw. Cant wait for the humidity and temps to lower- its just not fun in the garage this time of year- even after sundown. Total time today- 1.5 hrs Running total- 6.5 hrs Side note- Not that anyone cares- but I figured I would throw out there what I have been playing for tunes in the garage- this weekend I dug up a box out of my closet with many of my old cassette tapes- threw on Robin Trower's Twice Removed from Yesterday and Iron Maiden's Killers. Havent listened to those two in quite some time. I was pleasantly surprised there was no tape warble. (Yeah) I would give my left nut to be able to sing like James Dewar- man what a voice he had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 Cool projects! Standard shapes n such, but they should be a ton o' fun. Good building music you're using so far too. Extra mojo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 My latest got tons of Robin Trower played to it while it developed. You've got to start training them in the womb! James Dewar was awesome. The next vocalist, Davie Patterson, is killer too. In fact, it took me a while to realize Dewar was gone. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 so- i was going thru my pile of maple- looks like everything I have is flat sawn-was hoping to find a piece of quarter in there- but no luck. I pulled out my templates and started laying everything out- noticed (forgot about) the bass templates I have. Now- let me state that all the guitar templates I have bought from Guitar buidling templates have been fine- no issues- the bass templates- the necks specifically- well- they cut them to make it easier to ship. Well- by doing so- they effectively make the neck template useless. and you cant really "glue" it back together- the kerf is too wide- and there will be a hump. Now- necks are no biggy- as long as you know the nut and end measurements its easy enough to "make a new one"- and the headstock shape is good on this template- its just- I hate making templates- and it would have been nice to just trace and go- or route and go, or basically not have to deal with this. here i the cut I am refering to and while I have 5 different guitar templates from them (no issues with the guitar templates)- this one (jazz bass)- the neck template and neck pocket template do not fit. Sanding isnt an option either as the angle of cut on the neck pocket and neck are different and the centerline will not stay true. Now in all fairness to the company I purchased these from- this is the first time I have used this template- and I bought this more than 5 years ago. I never brought this up previously (with the company)- and perhaps this neck and neck pocket not lining up is due to the templates "moving" due to moisture or something- but I doubt that- all the guitar templates I have are still spot on- so....check yer templates when you get'em. So- I started to make some templates this weekend- and then my bandsaw blade broke- so- I went to work on the KL bass I have started. total hours this weekend- .75 running total 7.25 shop tunes: Riot: Restless Breed, The Rods: self titled debut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 So- I got some more work done- went to home depot and got a new bandsaw blade- and its clear to me that its time to get a new bandsaw- my little 10" ryobi father's day gift from the kids is not cutting it. I sold my old 14" one years ago as I needed money to put down on the house I am in now- and man do I miss it. While the saw can cut the 8/4 alder I am using- it just cannot handle the turns and such required to get a close cut- and I end up having to use the sander to get the material close to the templates so I got strain the router. I used the router on this one instead of the robosander- and it was a lot quicker. I used the robosander on the first S body as I was a bit worried about the horns- this wood is REALLY dry- and I had some cracks show up on the j-bass and it appears that my whiteside 2" template bit is toast- the bearing on it wont stay loose and turn(without unscrewing and coming off)- and you can see on a couple of the bodies- that bearing left I nice burn mark around the body. as such- 4 hours of work- made a new P-Bass template- and cut the P-bass body, j-bass body and one of the S bodies, soaked up the cracks in the 2 bodies with super glue. running total- 11.25 hours Shop tunes- Black Crowes The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, Chevelle This type of Thinking could do us in, A perfect Circle- Mer de Nomes, Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 didnt get much done this weekend- my youngest had a baseball tourney and we were running all over hell's half acre- I did take the mouse sander with some 80 grit and cleaned up the sides a bit where the router bearing left a nice mark- and used the spindle sander to clean up the insides of the horn sides. then ran these threw a 3/8 inch roundover than I had set up on the router table for the Ken Lawrence copy I am making- forgeting that strats (I think) take a 1/2inch roundover. So these will probably hit the router table again with a larger bit- I just wanted to clean up the sides before rounding over- and I guess it did no harm other than taking a little bit longer to run this part of the operation. I have plans somewhere around here with the roundovers and all that good stuff. Shop tunes- dug into the old cassette box again - Hendrix in the West. Will never get sick of that one. and part of the way thru Judas Priest Unleashed in the East. (my breakfast album from when I was 14-16yrs old). Total time- about 1.25 hrs Running total- 12.50 hrs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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