SimonHodson

Thanks for kind words everyone! Maybe I will do the f hole then. What would be the best way to cut it cleanly? Cam: Can't say I know too much about the Vic ash, or any other wood to be perfectly honest It may well not be stable enough for the neck, but i'm doing this as a bolt on so if worst comes to worst i can always buy some more suitable timber and make another neck. I'll certainly let you all know how it turns out Rounded over the edges today, still needs plenty of sanding and cleaning up though. And just a quick mock up, knob placement will probably change a bit. (And there'll be a bridge on the finished one ) At this stage it will be a blue stain for the finish.

Finally made some more progress Neck is almost done, just needs the fretboard to be radiused, side dots put in and then fretted. I've changed the design some more to better suit my skill level decided against the hole all together for now - I don't feel confident enough that I'd doing a good job of it. The bridge will now be a wraparound instead of a tremolo. Pretty rough around the inside edges, but no one's gonna see it. And the tonnes o' clamps pic, with not all that many clamps... Next is cleaning up the edges and routing control cavities. Simon

Thanks for all the info guys, I think i have a better idea now. Once I get the rod a tight fit in the cavity would it be a good idea to put masking tape covering the top the channel before glueing on the fretboard, to not let any glue fall through to the rod? Or is there an obvious reason that I'm missing as to why not to do this... Again, I really appreciate all the help, and sorry for asking the same question over and over again, I just don't wanna make a really obviously stupid mistake with my first neck Simon

Thanks Peter, I'll try that out tomorrow. Just to confirm I've got it right here, I wrap the whole rod and casing bit in masking tape before gluing it in? Also what sort of glue would be best, just an epoxy?

Hi all! I'm back with my second proper build and first go at a neck, a semi hollow body tele inspired guitar. Body - Vic Ash with a Queensland Maple top Neck - One piece Vic Ash, pre-slotted Rosewood fretboard - 24 frets 25.5" scale length Pickups - Seymour Duncan Vintage P90's Tuners - Gotoh SGM-05C Bridge - Haven't bought yet, but will be strat style tremolo. Original CAD design, has changed a touch since then: The "F hole" will be moved to the back half of the top, if that makes sense, and the pickup selector switch will be on the top horn, les paul style. The headstock is no longer upside down either. Where I'm at now: Progress will probably be quite slow on this one, I'm doing VCE this year so I only really have time to build on weekends. I'm having some trouble regarding the truss rod, hoping someone can help me out here, do I need to glue it in or does it just sit there? It's a Gotoh 2 way rod, if that helps. The cavity I've routed is a little bit big, but I've discovered a couple of piece of cardboard on the sides makes it a snug fit Simon.

Thanks for the kind words all, I'll have a look into that paper.

I did have a thread ages ago, but i can't seem to find it so I thought I'd just make a new one. After about a year of building on and off i finally got around to finishing my first bass. It's Mahogany body, Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh hardware and a pre-made neck that I bought from luthierssupplies.com.au The finish is just danish oil, didn't wanna risk anything too complicated. Sorry that the pictures aren't great, but it's a toasty 41 degrees outside (think that's about 106 for you Americans) and I didn't feel like hanging around It still needs a knob, and whats the easiest way to do a headstock logo?

I'm loving this bass man, really clean. How many guitars have you made before this one?

Looking good man, no way would I have the patience to do all that masking

Put in the bridge and machine heads this arvo, and strung it up for the first time. *I used old strings for this but the G string was too short and didn't reach the machine head Next is the pickup and control cavities... Simon

We have progress! (sorry about the couch ) So, 4 days making a template for the neck pocket I finally cut it out tonight. The router slipped a couple of times , so there are some uneven bits. The whole thing is rather tight though, it can be easily lifted by the neck without it moving at all so I am happy with it. Close up of the neck join http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/The...or/IMG_3611.jpg Simon.

After a few hours with the sander today i finished the body shape. Had a few problems with the bigger sanding bit falling out of the drill press, but after switching to the small one it all worked fine. I am having a bit of trouble with the grain, I can't work out which way to sand. It looks to be going one way but then there are these huge marks that go the other way across the wood. Help would be greatly appreciated! A close up of the grain http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/The...or/IMG_3591.jpg

Ok so it's been a while but i have finally made some progress. Since my first post i have gained a shed and a robo-sander http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sanding_...obo-Sander.html which came in the mail yesterday. Today i started making a rough cut with a jigsaw, and tomorrow I will start to fix it up with the robo-sander. A pic of the inside of the shed if anyone is interested http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r74/The...or/IMG_3584.jpg

I love the simplicity of it, very nice work. Interesting place for the input jack too. How does it sound?

Thanks for the tip ill try and find some thicker mdf. And i always wear a face mask when I'm working with the mdf. The wood cost me $100. I don't know if thats a lot or not but it seems pretty good. I tried changing the bottom horn a bit before but it looked silly so I went with the classic shape, but I'll do some more design work and see if I can come up with anything better. I was going to cut it with the grain (i think thats what you were referring to). It should be plenty big enough, the wood is about 600 x 600. I've ordered Hiscock's book and it should arrive Monday. I'm not going to go close to the wood 'till I've read it Thanks for the tips guys, I'll keep you posted. Simon