Chuck_Chill-Out

I thought the original neck was one of those ergonomic twisted things.

Nice replacement. Looking forward to this.

Trapezoidal neck, I like it. I've felt the back of my left hand against my left forearm from wipeouts while racing on inline skates, so the trapeziodal neck I carved like yours feels good on my wrist. By the way, where did you fond the threaded inserts for your pickup screws? That is a great idea. Mind if I steal it with pride?

On 1/23/2016 at 0:59 PM, Prostheta said:

I add copper foil after any kind of finishing unless it's oil. Burnish that stuff down like hell ;-)

I am planning on an oil finish, so I guess I'll shield it first. Thanks for the info.

Love the fretboard. 

Okay, stupid question. Not that I am going to get ANYTHING done on this over the weekend with the snow coming down and the workshop is 10 miles away. When I am finished sanding,and install my nut, should I then add the finish or should I install the copper foil?

PsikoT, the black is stunning. I am always inspired by the amazing work not just by you, but by many others on here.

Amazing work!

Okay, I actually had time to get into the shop. I feel like I am THIS CLOSE to getting this finished.

I spent 2 and a half hours just sanding. Working my way through the grits...

I worked my way to 1500 on the fretboard. It feels like glass! Scott, I am trying to follow your footsteps in making wood look purty.

I  think I have a love/hate relationship to sanding. I love seeing the results, but hate the time it takes. I know that it is necessary, though.

Oh, Sunday was the first time I played in public. I played in our church with our choir and orchestra.

Minwax stain.

Amazing work, as always, Scott!

Pros, I took the center leaf to a local furniture refinisher, and he told me the black was mineral deposits in the cherry that reacted to the stain. I'll look at the maker's mark on it to find out where it is from.

Nice work!

Okay, I am still alive. Work is very challenging and going well, but no time to build, plus, my wife wants me to work on some things at home.

Her mother's dining room table top was scratched and needed work, so she asked me to refinish it. I sanded off of the top finish and restained it. BIG MISTAKE. A lot of black came up out of the wood. 

I have resanded it to clean and now have a question. She wants a poly finish on it, so what could I use to seal the wood? I know some finishes do not adhere well together, so I am trying to get as much information as possible so I don't have to go through this again.

Well, good news, I was offered a Safety Manager position at a local company that manufactures battery cases. 15 minutes from home and, better still, $10K more than what I was asking.

I start in two weeks, so I have time to work next week.

Prostheta and PsikoT, thanks for the advice. I am leaning towards the round one and am thinking about making it from the extra persimmon that is laying around. I think it would contrast nicely with the maple in the headstock.

Sorry for not being here for many days, weeks, oh wow, call it over a month. Life has been a bit hectic. Job update, I've had two interviews in person and one by phone with the corporate safety director. I'll find out by the end of the week.

Been working on logo ideas, thoughts?

Bass LOGO.xls

This is playing tricks with my head. The top looks amazing with the 3D effect...then I see the flat edge. Very cool. I can't wait to see this finished.

That's it, I completely hate you. JOKING! Wonderful wood and builds. I'll be watching this with great interest. I know, I should be working on mine, but current situations do not allow it, so I'll live vicariously through you.

I love seeing old guitars rebuilt and playable. 

Amen to that! The guitar looks great!

Okay, as I was preparing dinner this afternoon, I realized I forgot one of the most important parts of a bass or guitar - THE LOGO!!!

How have you come across your designs? prikoT, love yours by the way.

(I know I have more to work on, but the way my ADD kicks in, I consider it multi-tasking.)

Shame the company I worked at for 15 years closed. We recycled Yttrium and Europium. Looking forward to more of your builds.

Thanks for the info, Scott. Hope to get to the shop later this week. Just had a phone interview for a job and hmthey would like me to come in for a face to face.  Also, I recorded some small voice over demos, a friend of mine is encouraging me to try that as a form of income.

Whad'ya know, it's been awhile. Still breathing and building, but it was on the back burner for a birthday present for my daughter. She is really into penguins, so I started carving one in basswood.

She was happy to get it, even in that condition. She has given me permission to complete the bass (thanks, Abby!), so that's what I am hoping to do.

Working on the nut. Question #1: I file for the strings after the nut is glued in place, correct?

Also, I created a jack plate. It seems all I have left is lots of sanding, copper tape the cavities, finishing, them put the hardware on, string it up and hope it works.

It took three days, but the pickup cavities are routed. I know, "Chuck, THREE DAYS? What the @#*(#^*( is wrong with you!" Well, this was the first time I operated a router on my own. I tested what I wanted to do on a scrap piece, so I knew what I was doing. I need to chisel out the corners to fit the pickups and re-drill the holes for the wires.

Next was a look with the bridge and tuners in place.

Finally, I had to relax with a local brew.

Curtis, thanks for the tip of not drilling too deep. I liked the smooth wood after routing.

That is such a cool guitar! Amazing work!

What was that song? "All together now."

The clamps are off and it feels pretty good in my hands, but I'll need to weigh it at some point.

First things forst, though. My daughter was trying to make a doll stand for her American Doll. Out of cardboard. SMH. Well, she saw it on a youtube video. The family were running errands today and at our local Creative Reuse store, I found a dowel rod and some wood.

Voila! Now she wants to paint and cover the bottoms with fabric. This weeks Daddy/Daughter project. I'll get her into building guitars in a few years.

I tend to not throw anything out, so here is one of my first attempts at guitar building. Completely screwed up the neck profile and scale. I used it to test out my drilling skills for the pickups. Using curtisa's advice, I drilled with a forstener bit down 1/2", giving me 1/4" to smooth out the bottom.

I think I took the longest time doing this. Took a long time with each hole. I wanted to ensure I did not go outside the lines.

This week, after making pin boards for my wife's preschool, I'll rout these out. Question, what type of double-sided tape do you use to secure the router templates?