avengers63

MY FIRST INLAY!!!!!!!! I did a few test routs before going for it on the real thing. Before doing those, I probably spent a half hour adjusting to the feel of the whole thing and how it cut through the wood. I got a router base for Craftsman's version of the Dremel. It worked beautifly, as you can see. After the hole was all carved out, I thinned down some Tightbond just a touch with some water and smoothed it through the cavity. I then pressed the inlay into the cavity, covered it with wax paper, clamped some scrap MDF over it, and went off to Easter dinner. When we came back, I set the router to just shy of flush - I used a business card to keep it a hair above the board - and shaved off what was sitting proud of the headstock face. That actually produced dust enough to fill in the small gaps. It was then sanded smooth. Currently, it's getting 2 coats of sanding sealer before it gets lacquered. BTW: I DO actually learn from my mistakes. I tested the truss rod before I did anything, and it works just like it's supposed to.

Coincidence - the wife & I just took a weekend anniversary to Louisville for out anniversary. We were there the weekend the "blizzard" came through. The whole city closed down, so there was NOTHING to do! We were making fun of y'all for running scared from 9" of snow.

That inlay is just sick! I'm sure you'lll have a ball with all that veneer. Nice pickup!

Is that for durability or for appearance ? A litle of both. For durability, reference WezV's post above. For the mahogany, it's all about appearance - and that's completely subjective to your tastes.

First, if you'll be doing any real amount of natural finishing, buy, read, re-read, then re-re-read Bob Flexner's book on wood finishing. After that, I might suggest a coat or three of lacquer. From Bob's advice, it's the easiest to apply & work with. You could put on a minimal amount of coats and do a light buffing with steel wool. That'd probably be good anough for what you're talking about. I'd highly advise filling the grain on both the mahogany & the spalt as well.

I found the epoxy for >$3.00. I'll be giving that a whirl soon. This week is a tornado of activity, so NOTHING is happening until next week. Bummer. The nut for the new neck was sent taped to the heel instead of installed. This is his standard practice. What adhesive should I use to attach it? The slot is already cut, so all I need to do is glue it in.

I completely agree that going to the yard would be a LOT of fun. It'd be better overall to inspect the wood personally before it's bought. With the nearest good yard being an hour away, it's just not reasonable. Here's what I'm looking for: I'm going to be doing a lot of small woodworking besides guitars: picture frames, boxes, inlaid mantle pieces, etc. The only thing available around here in 1/8" - 1" craft boards is oak, poplar, and pine. I need not only thick guitar woods like mahogany, maple, ash, and basswood, but thin craft stock like walnut, mahogany, maple, and all the exotic imported (ie: cool looking) woods. I need just about available in both thick & thin boards mainly because nobody around here can re-saw the wood.

Despite living in a fairly metropolitan area, about 10 minutes East of St. Louis, the nearest place that has anything more than construction grade lumber is 45-60 minutes away. Gas there & back would be about the same as UPS shipping. So... as much as I don't want to, I'm going to have to get my wood shipped to me. I'd REALLY rather pick it out personally, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. For the Americans here, what suggestions do you have for reputable suppliers?

Not that my opinion is really worth anything to your design sensibilities, but I've never cares for bodies with "pieces missing" from the back end. Holes in the bottom just don't look good to me. Sorry!

Here's a thought: The body is painted with Cap's shield as big as possible so that it covers the entire face. Cap's your guy so he's your focus. The headstock can have an inlay of the Marvel 'M' logo. The fret markers can be inlays representing your favorite titles: a round Spider-Man face, Daredevil's double-D from his chest, the Fantastic Four's 4 symbol, the X-Men's yellow & black X, the classic Avengers A, etc. If you start at the 1st fret and go to the 19th, you'd have 9 titles to pay homage to.

Maybe in a few years I'll have found enough uses for the epoxy to warrant buying it!

Thanks for the advice. I DO have some maple scrap I was going to practice on. I just know that I'm not going to get it right the first time. It's not a self confidence issue - it's a lack of experience issue. There are hazards that WILL pop up that I won't be aware of and techniques that will have to be learned. I'm figuring to do 3-4 practice runs before I do anything on the real deal. As for the epoxy/wax trick, would wood filler work? I don't want to hunt down & buy a product I might never use again.

The scrap of padauk the dude sent along with the knobs has come to great use. I made a switch knob and fashioned an inlay for the headstock. The knob was pretty easy. I did what WezV suggested: I mounted a small piece of wood to a mandrill, stuck it in my Dremel, clamped the took to the table, and shaped it with sandpaper. I then literally dipped it in some poly, then came back the next afternoon and dipped it again. The finish is not getting buffed out. I figure it's small enough that it won't be noticeable. It doesn't fit very snug, so I'll need to super-glue it onto the switch, but that's OK. The inlay wasn't too hard to shape. I haven't put it in the headstock yet, but you can see the approximate placement. In case you're wondering, it's the letter 'J', shaped like I write it. It's the first letter of my first name. As you can see also, the neck builder came through with a new neck. I'll be inlaying the J and doing a test fit before I put a finish on it this week. I'll snap some pics of the inlay process and finished result.

Were it me, I'd make it a company tribute. But I'm not the one making the bass. What's more important to you: showing your love for Captain America or showing your love for the company as a whole?

The Iceman body would be an appropriate and subtle nod to the X-Men. Were you thinking a tribute to Marvel as a whole, or just to Captain America?

I can say their necks are GREAT! The neck in the Carvin kit I built is fabulous. I plan on using Carvin necks in future builds. I've never had an issue with the tuners either. I can't comment on the pups, though - I quickly switched the strat setup that came with it to a pair of Bartolini HBs.

I'm an Avengers fan. The book appeared in Sept. 1963, hence my screen name: avengers63. Cap is the unparalelled leader of the Avengers, so using him as my avatar seemed the logical choice. If I knew hao to use a different image, I probably would. FWIW: I've ben collecting comics since 1982. LMK when you make the bass. I'd love to bounce some comic tribute ideas off each other.

Just my $0.02 worth: Four in-line pots looks kinda cluttered & really spread out. At least it does the way you have them set on the body right now. I'd say bunch them together more. Notice that you haven't places the pup switch yet. It's placement might spread things out further. Two concentric pots are always an option... Aside from that, the whole thing looks great so far. Walnut always looks so rich. It's a great looking wood choice.

We can't really answer a value judgement. You know... one man's trash and all.

Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia He told us in the first post.

So... is there anything you don't make from scratch?

I agree that a dedicated sub-category would be very helpful. It'd keep everything in one central location.

Maybe I'll give it a shot WAY on down the line. Were I to do it now, I'd go with a fretboard that has already been slotted & radiused. There are two things that make me really nervous about making a neck, and measuring the fret locations is one of them. The other is the truss rod. I just don' tknow enough about them to be confident with them. Even if those two things weren't an issue, the tools would me. Everything necessary for fretwork is beyond my budget right now. No... I'm perfectly OK getting a paddle head bolt-on or neck-through from someplace like Carvin. The kit I've been playing for 9 years or so is from Carvin, and I REALLY like the neck. Also, they're cheaper than Warmoth for a maple/ebony neck. A neck-through with a paddle head & no inlays goes for $220. I have a couple of necks here waiting to be used. One of them is from Larry Karosa. The other... I really don't know what it's from. It's a generic maple/rosewood 6-in-line neck. It was dirt cheap. I'll me using it to practice inlay work. If it only plays average, I'll be happy with it. I'll be selling bodies soon enough and I can bundle it with one and get my money back.

A half-inch shouldn't make a visible difference at this scale. That's just really interesting.

Are the posts & pups in the same place as on a LP also? If so, that's really interesting that they'd look out of place on yours but "right" on a LP. Maybe it's the longer body horns that make the bottom look fat.