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loosetoe

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Everything posted by loosetoe

  1. Hey Ski, A customer? not really..a brother-in-law. Yeah. I don't do this for $. I build cabinetry and furniture as a hobby. This is just a natural extension of that hobby. Finish? I will probably use the Watlerlox orginal finish again. I like varnishes and wiping varnishes in particular. I am a bit concerned about the coloration of the zebrawood with a varnish. It browns pretty heavily with an oil based finish. I think a sythetic wax looks best on it, but such a finish is not sufficient (IMO) for an instrument. The pickups are EMGs that have been veneered with the zebrawood as shown above. This was at the behest of my B-I-L. I would have prefered bartolinis. I really like the neck joint here. I think it is darned attractive, and a WHOLE lot easier to carve than the through neck version. -Wayne
  2. After a long break, I've been working on this instrument again. All of the machining is complete. It should be final sanded this weekend then on to finishing. Zebrawood pickup covers. Next to my Rickenbacker to show Scale Whole Rear of instrument Close up of the Neck Joint Veneered Rear of the headstock Some of my other instruments
  3. Some of you may remember me. It has been over a year since I posted to this board. For the last couple of weeks I have been building a 5 string fretless bass. It follows the same single cut shape as my personal 6 string does, but is a shorter scale 36" instead of 38" The body core is Swamp ash with bookmatched quartersawn Zebrawood front and rear. The neck is Wenge with a mild birdseye maple fingerboard. The fingerboard will be epoxied for longevity and colorfastness. The fretboard has small position markers markers set on the top of the board. This is inlaid wenge veneer. The bass on the right may remind a few of you of my prior work. The Zebra will probably not be carved as intricately as the maple bass but it will still be carved a great deal more. I think it looks too chunky right now. http://home.grandecom.net/~wlousteau/images/Zebra2.jpg http://home.grandecom.net/~wlousteau/images/Zebra3.jpg http://home.grandecom.net/~wlousteau/images/Zebra4.jpg http://home.grandecom.net/~wlousteau/images/Zebra5.jpg http://home.grandecom.net/~wlousteau/images/Zebra6.jpg The bridge is a Wilkinson 5 string adjustable bridge. It will probably be fit with Sperzel tuners. No decision on pickups or other electronics yet at this phase. As you can see I am doing a set neck this time rather than a through neck. This was done purely because this was the type of woodworking I felt like doing. This neck joint will be interesting in the end. The headstock is veneered front/back with matching pieces from the body. Two double adjusting truss rods reside in the neck. This was something I vowed to do an all basses I make. The adjustability on the maple one is not sufficient. The headstock is also slightly smaller than on the maple one. P.S. - There was a six string "twin" to this bass until Monday night. One blemish-too-many forced me to "pull a Drak" and end up with some new firewood.
  4. Phil, What happened to the two truss rods idea? In your first image and desription you refer to the two truss rods, yet now you show the carbon rods and one truss rod. Why the change? having built a similar instrument, I would recommend the two truss rods. -Wayne
  5. kench, Everything you have posted here tends to suggest sanding scratches. You admit in your first post that you "sand acrooss the grain" (sic). This is a common mistake that people make Sanding across the grain will literally rip the top layer of wood exposing pores at angles across the grain that will be VERY VERY obvious as you sand to higher grits. A finish or wiping with liquid will highlight these lines even more as these pores will absorb more finish than other areas. Further, your progression of sanding 80->120->220 will only exacerbate the issue. Skipping grits like this will never remove the scratches left by earlier grits. Take your time and do each step: 80 > 100 > 120 > 150 > 180 > 220 > 240 > 340 > 400 > 600 > 800 If you do not remove the scratches by using progressively increasing grits, you will think all is fine until you get to a high grit (your 120 - 220 jump) at which time you'll notice the presence of the scratches that you did not remove by jumping. What you have said fits this scenario EXACTLY; and is completely in-line with your statement, "the lines appear only on the smoothest areas". MKGBass pointed this out earlier. Remember the point of sanding is two fold: 1. to smooth and level the surface and 2. to remove machining marks (like those caused by a table saw) You seem to be doing #1 fine, but at the expense of #2. Further, You say you do not get this on the sides. This can also continue this theory as the end grain present on the sides will not display the same tendencies. Expect it to take at least a couple of hours to finish sand the body. Barring this, I recommend using a cabinet scraper. You mention using chisels to "get the lines out", but that is like using a steam shovel to plant a rose. A cabinet scraper will remove a very fine amount of surface if used correctly and will lessen the amount opf sanding required in the long run. I really prefer the cabinet scraper methoid as when properly used you can begin finish sanding at a much higher grit (~180). Plus they are incredible cheap tools. -Wayne
  6. I just wanted to thank those of you who offered kind words during the build of the bass seen below. I'm not much of a guitar/bass afficionado. I don't really know how to play them, I just wanted a fretless bass, so it became my prior woodworking project. I am now moving on to other woodworking projects. I may build another guitar/bass one day; and if so, i promise to document its progress here. For now, I'm building a grandfather clock out of cocoblo (rails /stiles of the cabinet) and spalted maple (paneling). Before signing off here I wanted to share some images of the custom case I had made for the bass. Due to the unconventional shape and scale of the instrument a production case just wounldn't cut it. I found the manufacturer though the search function on this site. http://ibeamcases.com The site seems to be down now, but they built my case to my specifications for a flat $200 fee. I couldn't be happier with their craftsmanship. I find the price extremely fair when you consider the nature of this service offering. Thanks again for your help and opinions. The quote where one guy said my original design reminded him of Florida still makes me laugh. He was right after all. Signing off, Wayne Lousteau - Loosetoe
  7. Um, WWW, have you seen Circassian Walnut? Puts Claro to shame. Rolls Royce uses it as their trim pieces. However, this is WAY out of the typical guitar maker's budget. Circassian Walnut makes ebony seem CHEAP. $2800.00 gun stock blank I do think walnut'd be a good choice though, and Claro is a nice wood. Not sure what you mean by a "natural finish", but if you mean that you will clear the wood, then I still agree with the walnut concensus. I think maple's not bad either Here's my maple bass:
  8. 2 5/8" on the fretless R4 on the explorer Dont know onthe Rickenbacker or fender basses
  9. skibum5545 The scale + no frets has proved ...um....challenging. I have become much more accustomed to playing it over the last couple of weeks, but man has it been an interesting experience. Strangely I have foundit to be the lightest bass I own which has really surprised me. I figured it would be massive, but it's quite comfortable. darkmavis I am not familiar with Seppard. The bass is 1.25" thick. This is actually thicker than I orignially wanted, but going much thiner would have required a few more steps of planning. I played on a 3/4" thick bass at the local high end bass shop. It was made by a local luthier whose name excapes me. I was really surprised at this instrument. The thin body was so strange, but nice and light. I dont care for instruments that weight a ton (Warwick). BTW, if i could paint like you, I would definitely do it for a living. That finish is awe inspiring. -Wayne
  10. Well next month you and primal can compete for Bass Of The Month. Nice work. Walnut has a wonderful look and feel. Nice job, you should be proud, Wayne P.S. I'm pretty sure I can answer therussian's question about the brown mark. It's the burned in Warmoth logo (see quote above). --DANGIT YOU TYPE FASTER THAN ME--
  11. I ROUGH cut my 38" scale to 52 then went from there. So I'd venture to say yes 48 is enough. Ebony seems too expensive to me as well. Macassar ebony is nore like $65 b/f here in Austin, Texas. And the only chunks I can find are ~3 b/f. Too rich for my skill level.
  12. LOVE the heel! If i build another instrument, im shooting for a heel like yours or one like this (in my dreams): I also like the maple tapers at the bottom of your neck. Class act. Are you pleased with the tru-oil so far? It's not my favorite oil finish, but it looks very nice here. -Wayne
  13. Dave, excellent work! you should be proud. By chance, do you happen to have a pic of the rear end of the guitar. (not the back, but the lower side). I ask because in looking at the picture, the wood doesnt seem to have discernable end grain. The wood in the horns looks like face grain as does the top. -Wayne
  14. This thread REALLY surprises me. At a whopping 28 years old I must be completely outdated if people think that a BC rich 10 string Bitch looks "gay" or otherwise un-cool. Just a decade ago I thought the Bitch was THE metal guitar. An American made BC Rich 3x3 head with just the R logo. THAT WAS IT! Forget the Warlock... too obvious. A Jackson RR with reverse headstock?....only if it had teenage mutant ninja turtles stickers on it. Seeing John Christ play his black bitch on the Danzig 2 tour just made me think that was the epitome of the cool guitar. Jet black, through neck, sensously curved...and a shiny "R" on top....Somehow extravagent and understated at the same time. Now I see that younger guys are bashing this instrument. Much less a 10 string. Having seen 2 of these instruments in the flesh, I was AMAZED at the craftsmanship of these instruments. That is a SOLID Quilted body guys. No 1/8" or veneer tops here. To me this is the equivalent of an Alembic. Top quality all the way! Don't get me wrong. The instrument pictured shared VERY little with today's BC rich's. So thank you all for reminding me just how quickly one can get old and out of touch. I'd take this guitar ANY day...IF that's "gay"...I'm fine with that!
  15. Dave, You should enter this in GOTM! These same 2 guys talked me into putting mine in there. That is inspiring work. Those LEDs will make alot of people think about doing it. And inspiring others / getting ideas from others for the next project is what this is all about (IMO). Why not? -Wayne
  16. I guess I "might as well" enter. ( - for jehle) I built the following bass over the course of the last 3 months. I have built a few necks and a few bodies in the past, but this is actually my first atempt at going the whole 9 yards in one fell swoop. I always wanted a fretless bass, but I cannot even come near to affording a Carl Thompson or a Benavente. So, I gave it my best shot. I could not be happier with the results. The bass is a 38" scale single cut/jazz bass. Project pics of its construction can be found at http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=6728 The body is one pice of Spalted Curly Maple. The headstock facing and truss rod cover were also taken from this spalted blank. The neck is 5 pieces of Mahogany/Maple The headstock has wings of Padauk on each side. The fingerboard is made of Tulipwood with Hard Maple binding and Hard Maple inlay for the fret markers. The control knobs are also tulipwood. The side dots are Walnut. The nut is Hard Maple. The jack seen in the pictures will be replaced with a tuplipwood "nut" on the face of the instrument once I can get into the shop again (a few weeks). The instrument is finished with Waterlox high-gloss Original varnish. This is a tung oil /spar varnish mix that is commercially available. 6 coats of this were applied, sanding between each coat. The finish was then buffed back with 000 and 0000 steel wool. This removed the high gloss finish and gave a nice natural shine. 2 coats of paste wax were then applied after a few days rest. This is a wonderful finish to touch. The tuners are Sperzel locking tuners in black/gold. The bridge is a Kahler adjustable unit also in black/gold. It is completely adjustable in all 3 dimensions (L/R, Up/Down, Forward/Back) Since Kahler does not mix/match colors, I ordered a gold tail and had the baseplate powder coated black by a local shop. The strap buttons are the recessed (flush mount) dunlop strap lok variety in gold. The pickup is a custom wound Ken Armstrong. The weight is 8 lbs 3 oz. Very light for an instrument this size. Again additional images (and larger images) can be seen in http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=6728 or http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=7876
  17. Hmm.. I think you guys are being overly kind to Squires. The squire I have is a plywood body. This was my first bass purchased new around 1990. I disassembled it a few years back. The plywood can clearly be seen in the neck joint. The pickup route is not as obvious, but the route is nasty. Strangely the route does not have the route from the pickup to the control cavity. There is a drilled hole.
  18. OK, just to be clear. I think you SHOULD do some of the neck beore gluing. The complete fretboard and above for exmple. My point is primarily that the through neck just takes a little more careful planning to ensure that you will be able to get everything together properly. Just as you show in your thread Wes, I also did my fretbaord completely before gluing the wings. A also did a majority of the taper prior to gluing. But since my shape was a single cut (think Les Paul) I had to be more accurate with the taper so as to not impede on the upper bout's glue surface. I did not shape the back of the neck prior to gluing at all. I guess I could have, I just chose not to. This made it a little bit bulky to work with (but in my case the heel was significantly more mass than normal, so shaping glued up was a necessity. No offense meant Wes. BTW, where's Frankie in all of this?
  19. Frankie, I saw that you asked this question in one of my Bass threads. I am not sure that one or the other is easier/harder. Each presents its own set of challenges. As pointed out earlier neck alignment has been my main concern with constructing set necks. However, the through neck can be cumbersome as you will have to plan your progress a bit more. I am going to disagree somewhat with Wes here. I believe you do have to have the wings glued to finish the neck. There is some amount of shaping that can happen prior to gluing the wings, but your heel should be done after gluing everything...and any shaping prior to gluing should be CAREFULLY planned and marked so as to not impede on any glue joints. This makes things a LITTLE more cumbersome, but not daunting in any sense. In short, I find the difference in difficulty marginal here. To answer the upcoming question. I have built two of each at this point. I tend to like the through neck better. I also have an 89 RIckenbacker I bought new and a 93 Peavey TL6. Both are through necks. Heck now that I think about it all of my basses are through necks where as my 2 guitars are set necks. I would decide what kind of neck YOU WANT and go from there. Either way this will be a fun and rewarding process. -Wayne
  20. Say Primal, Since you obviously have experience with the DR strings. If you have one of them around, could you take a measurement for me? Could you tell me how long one of the Black Beautys is from ball taper to nut taper? I have a theory that all of their strings are a 40" scale. I ordered one of the Extra long scale sets and all of te part numbers were identical to the "normal" scale. I am wondering as I would prefer to have flatwounds on here. Thanks in advance, Wayne
  21. Naw no probelms with string width...the strings are 1/8 of an inch from the sides of the fretboard on each side. And if they were too close, that's the beauty of the Kahler bridge as it is adjustable side to side as well as front/back. But again, not problems with the spacing thus far. Here. This should put this controversy to bed
  22. As promised, below are the images of the completed bass. The bass is a 38" scale single cut/jazz bass. Project pics of its construction can be found at http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=6728 The body is one pice of Spalted Curly Maple. The headstock facing and truss rod cover were also taken from this spalted blank. The neck is a pieces of Mahogany/Maple The headstock has wings of Padaouk on each side. The fingerboard is made of Tulipwood with Hard Maple binding and Hard Maple inlay for the fret markers. The control knobs are also tulipwood. The side dots are Walnut. The nut is Hard Maple. The wood is finished with Waterlox high-gloss Original varnish. This is a tung oil /spar varnish mix that is commercially available. 6 coats of this were applied, sanding between each coat. The finish was then buffed back with 000 and 0000 steel wool. This removed the high gloss finish and gave a nice natural shine. 2 coats of paste wax were then applied after a few days rest. The tuners are Sperzel locking tuners in black/gold. The bridge is a Kahler adjustable unit also in black/gold. Since Kahler does not mix/match colors, I ordered a gold tail and had the baseplate powder coated black by a local shop. The pickup is a custom wound Ken Armstrong. The strings are DR High Beams. These are the only strings I have found which ar elong enough for the scale. Thank all of you for your kind words during the build process. Now if I only knew how to play this thing. -Wayne Lousteau (loosetoe)
  23. OK a few last teaser shots before the bass is complete. The nut has been cut ( I think I did an OK job for my first try.) The strings strung and the truss rod adjusted...(more on this later). The strings were removed to do the electronics. Copper shielding was installed in all cavities. THis really is some wonderful stuff. Easy to apply and looks fantastic when done. Very professional touch. The good stuff should be tomorrow.
  24. Jehle, All of my carving was done by hand. You are right there's no particular trick to it. Just patience and a good eye. As for GOTM, I really do appreciate the feedback guys. I'll reserve my decision until after final assembly. I finished buffing the bas back with steel wool. It is now so slick that it literally slides off of my knee when i rest it there. I am giving it a few days rest. Tomorrow I will apply a apste wax to it, then it's onto assembly. Sometime Saturday I should be cutting the nut and stringing her up. -Wayne
  25. I am looking for a 3/8" 32 thread tap. It seems this is the thread size and pitch for output jacks. I am looking to machine a "nut" for the jack instead of having the typical nut visible. However I am having NO luck finding a tap in this size. Has anyone tried this before? -Wayne
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