sam_c

also, would you really buy anything online from a guy who's email addy is conman_02-at-hotmail? looking at the bass side/bridge end horn, you can see where the top has been sanded through to the 2nd layer of the ply.

I think its plywood dude

If you plan to remove the top of the mahog anyway, why not place some template material over the guitar top and roughly measure / drill some marking holes for the p/up cavities and the neck pocket. You can then take the template and cut most of the routing pcokets away. Then re-attach it to the guitar and use a router with a flush trim bit to make the cavities a perfect match, then also run the bit around the horns of the guitar so you can align the template again once your maple cap is on. Or, just make a mahog body from scratch

Ive just started learning to build really. Ive setup and rewired guitars and basses for friends for a long time, but also assembled project guitars for myself. just learning the different steps along the way really and getting a guitar out of it everytime I learn to do something. Rather than buying a pile of figured maple and coming here to ask what scale length means , I thought building a guitar out of parts would be a good introduction to it. The last one I made, I actually used a body and neck 'core' from some old washburn stock. Basically parts that have come straight off the cnc machines. I had to do alot of work to it (alot of work for me anyway) such as alter the TR channel, make a fillet strip, glue on the fretboard, install inlays, learn how to fret a neck, learn how to dress frets, carve the neck to final shape, install the nut and then finish sand it and apply the finish. Sure, ive still got alot to learn, but I think parts builds have their place, especially when you are starting out. BUT, what this guy has done is not right. the build I mentioned above was for a friend and he knows exactly what work I did and what I didnt do. What is slightly annoying is that he has given a few ppl the impression that I actually made it from scratch. That makes me feel awkward when I have to correct them and say "well, I prob did less than half the work really" I am starting my own from scratch builds though, but I also have some more of the old stock parts to use. I mean, theyre already guitar shaped....so someones got to finish them off right?

How expensive is the Gotoh FR trem in the US? Thats my fave floating bridge and it costs around half what an OFR does in the UK.

I dont understand, if youve tried it before and prefer it that way then why not just do it? does the 1.5" include the fretboard thickness? That does seem far too thick, even for ppl who prefer chunky necks.

Im certainly no guitar builder, or a particularly good woodworker to be honest. Ive built more furniture and misc. objects than I have guitars. Jeeez Wez, you got an E?? what did you do? set it on fire and hand it in? I would have thought the amount of glue would make a big difference to this aswell. I tend to use waaay too much and then spend ages wiping off squeeze out and I'll leave stuff clamped up for a few days. More to do with availability of spare time than any other reason. I would think that if you put enough glue on the one surface then starvation isnt a problem, and I normally spend a few minutes aligning the board and prepping clamps so that amount of time may be enough for the glue to soak into the second surface. Spoke may be able to correct me though if Ive missed something obvious.

We were always taught at school that you should glue PVA to PVA. They never explained it as well as Spoke did above though.

I think Muzz was onto something with his post. I keep looking at it and thinking ot would be cool to do a Brain May Red special 'kind' of vibe to it. Black binding with simple black pickgaurd, but no white accent around the edge. Maybe just do a black edge burst on the back to hide the sandwich. I think if you are leaving the neck natural, then you should leave the top natural too. Looking forward to seeing whatever you do with it though

Function before form isnt it? I wouldnt care if it was really butt ugly, if it plays well and sounds better than the exact same guitar with a nicer top Id pick this one anyday. But, if youre in no rush and this one is a keeper then I suppose there is nothing to stop you taking the time to get it looking how you want it to.

I would have thought easiest option is to alter the headstock shape slightly so you will be showing maple, just cut oversize in the area of the middle tuners. Or cut the ears off and reattach them with a ) maple to maple or b ) as they were but with the ebony laminate taken down to half its thickness. That might look cool on the back and would still show flame maple all around the sides

not that I have anywhere near the experience you guys have, but I recently finished a neck using a mix of lemon oil and pure beeswax. The oil and wax are heated until the wax melts and then left to cool until it forms a slurry/paste. This went on really well and it also buffed up to a very smooth feel. I think i put around 5-6 good coats of it on. It's showing no signs of wear after alot of playing and the guy says it still feels great to play. I was told that this was how Washburn/USMC finish their necks and fretboards, do you think It's a suitable finish or would I need to be looking into some of the options youve mentioned above? Sorry to Hijack, loving the build btw, but I though it might be sort of relevant if it turns out it's a suitable option for an oil finish.

Looking at the schaller bridge, it only has 8 holes on the back for the string ball ends. Maybe you could drill the baseplate and have the extra 4 strings going through the body to rear ferrules on the body?

what bridge are you planning to use for the 12 string? I would image the spacing on the saddles between your octave and fundamemtal strings will be almost identical at the nut end, obviously there will be more spread between each 'group' of strings at the bridge, but the distance between the 3 saddle notches would give you a minimum distance to start with at the nut if you put them all next to each other (i.e. no string spread). Personally, I would like to have the extra 4-5mm width at the nut if it meant I could distinguish each group of strings easily. I havent played many 12 string basses, but I remember that Dean Rhapsody feeling suprisingly comfortable. You may need to get your string guages all marked down and do some scale drawings. Maybe do them @1:2 so you can clearly so whats going on and how things will sit in proportion to each other.

or maybe a stacked vol pot? I guess with the depth of the body you will be limited to choice of components.

I think that may end up too tight for 12 strings. I know the Dean Rhapsody 12 string uses a wide rnut than that. might be worth checking the specs on that one for a comparison? http://www.deanguitars.com/rhapsody_12.htm

Theres a guy called Brad on the washburn forum. He had a Dime 3st built by those guys and it all went to shyte. The craftsmanship was poor and it was virtually unplayable (according to Brad that is) he got into a big online argument with Shamray and then decided to delete all the threads over at the washy forum and sell it on craigslist as a legit guitar.

I wouldnt go right next to the end of the fretboard. If you want the smooth bassy tone of that position it's much easier to rest your thumb on the top of the FB at the 21/22 fret and play there. It does depend on what sort of sound you want to achieve. My experience playing lots of different basses is that it's a combination of your hand position and the pickup position that gives you the characteristic sounds. If it were me, Id put the neck position quite close to the position of a p-bass pickup and have the bridge pickup a little further back than on a jazz. The extra tension closer to the bridge helps to give that bit of bite to the sound and more for the fingers to work against when you really dig in on the funk stuff. Like I say though, its all pretty subjective

Has he got a decent bass? That would have a big influence on the type of amp I went for. For recording you cant go wrong with the sansamp bass driver DI. You can also use it live as a preamp in front of the bass head or to take the bass to front of house. If you only want a single bass cab on stage, my preference would be a 4x10 or 4x12. Im not keen on the GK stuff. Ampeg you cant really go wrong. Im a trace elliot fan. I think their cabs are the best voiced cabs you can get for bass as they project very well from the stage at all the right frequencies and theyre pretty much indestructible. Hartke cabs are all mid scoop and sub-bass frequencies in my experience, but the heads are ok for the money. What sort of player is he? mainly using a pick or fingers? If its your traditional sort of P-bass played with a pick, Id go for the best ampeg head you can afford and maybe a peavy 4x10 cab. Its all about experimenting though and, as Narcissism said, look for whatever bargains are around at the time you are shopping for kit.

bahh, you can use the kitchen utensils for everything else you need to do on this now Looking good though, that binding works well

maybe desktop A4 printers, but not every printer. We use A0 plotters and they print 1:1, no question about it.

? I think he said " yes....thank you very much". But it could mean 'yikes, theres a frog in my bidet"

really interesting finish, I hadnt seen those before. Is the top made of metal?

you could just reduce the flat area of the heel so that you are able to get a a shelf for the singlecut body to sit on and more of the normal neck profile shape further up the neck. This should be a better compromise when its used with a doublecut body... a bit like this maybe?? the thick line would be where the body joins the neck.

I would have thought CNC would be the preferable option for this type of stuff, not just for the complexity of the routing but also to guaruntee that all the parts you make will be interchangeable with each other. I guess you could keep a reference set of parts to make sure that any new ones you build are consistent.