Arseneau

I used a set of "Dream 90's" on my first build and they sound great. They have a great rock crunch and sound really good clean.

Yes. I've actually already started building (well, designing and collecting parts) a 5 string bass for a family member. Since the body shape is the area that I most feel the need to "get right" this time around, I thought I'd post the current state of the design to see what you guys think. I've really been struggling with it and this is the point I have reached as of the end of my design session today. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. G P.s.--I must have been standing at a slight angle when I took the photo--the neck is not off-center)

I was waiting for someone to say that. The truth is that I'm not at all happy with the shape either. I made a full-size model out of cardboard and it seemed okay, but once I saw it in 3D I could tell it was too "dumpy". Oh well, back to the drawing board...

I did use the same finish (2 part Epoxy for grain fill/sealer, then a very thin coat of amber shellac under 3 coats of Minwax poly all brushed on with very wide foam brushes to avoid brush lines) Here it is: Closer Shot G

The pickups are GFS "Dream 90"s bought on ebay from guitarfetish.com. The colour is "black mother of pearl". And she sounds awesome!!

I finally put the strings on my first from scratch build today and it feels fantastic!! It's an oak body with birdseye maple top, 3-piece rock maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. The crappy part is that now I want to jump right into my second build since there are so many things I know to do differently now...oh well. Here's some pics anyway (my apologies if these don't post properly): Pic2 Pic3 Pic4 Pic5 Pic6 Enjoy!!

I second that question. I, too, would like to know the ins and outs of polishing by hand.

CorelDraw? Adobe Illustrator? Something else? What software makes really clean, high quality graphics for headstock logos and things like that?

Ok, one last question: I bought a can of amber shellac that really brings out the figure nicely on the piece of scrap I tried it on. However, it says on the can (only noticed after I bought it): DO NOT use under polyurethane finishes. I had planned to use the Minwax fasy-drying poly over the shellac but now it looks like that won't work? Any ideas why this is and what it will actually do to the finish if I use it anyway?? Thanks.

Perfect!! You guys are life-savers!! Thanks!!

Can anyone show me a schematic for the config in the post description? I have been searching every site that google will throw at me but all I can find is the standard Strat/Tele/Les Paul, etc. schematics and I want to make sure that I am doing this correctly. Thanks.

So, it's okay to use polyurethane or lacquer over shellac? I was going to use that Minwax fast drying poly or try the brushable lacquer that they make...which would be better??

Hi All. Well, my first build has reached the finishing stage and I'm just looking for any suggestions for a really killer finish on highly figured birds eye. The body is oak with a 3/4" birds eye maple top (surprisingly not at all heavy...go figure), neck is Eastern rock maple, rosewood fingerboard, curly/birds eye veneer on headstock. I was originally planning on doing the "stain black, sand back" thing in either blue or crimson, but since the birds eye is so highly figured I thought it would look best if I just used a medium to dark brown aniline dye and sanded it back with a very diluted amber over top to give a slighty more pronounced natural look, then coat with either nitro or poly from a can for a glassy finish. Does this sound like a reasonable way to finish really nice wood? Any suggestions/pics of really cool finishes on birds eye maple? Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies guys! That half pencil trick sounds like just what I need!

Is there a method to calculate how tall the nut should be based on the width of the fingerboard/ bridge height, etc? The guitar I'm building now has a fairly thick fingerborad (about 3/8) and I have a bone blank to carve the nut out of once I figure out the proper height. Even using the whole thickness of the blank barely rises above the board so I'm sure I'll have to raise the nut some, but how much? Thanks.

Well, my first project is well under way and should be completed within a month or two (pics will be posted). That leaves me in the position of planning my next build and I was thinking of something along the lines of: What do you guys think? What do you like/not like about it? I see it as sort of a flying v/double cutaway hybrid...kind of like if a V was to "spread it's wings". All opinions greatly appreciated. G

cool, thanks guys. Never considered sinking the bridge... ...might have to try that if the neck looks too high raised up. btw, ronnie_ca, I'm from Truro.

Well, the title contains most of the question, but in summary, is it possible to have a 0 angle (neck not headstock) bolt-on neck with a Gibson style wraparound bridge (the kind that has the adjustable saddles as part of the one bridge unit...I think it is called a "Badass" bridge??). I drew the side view to calculate the action and angle (if I had one) but I'm not sure if the action would be too high in the higher frets without a neck angle. Couldn't I just raise the neck a little further above the body to compensate for the slightly higher bridge than the Fender style hardtail bridge? If this is not possible/practical for whatever reason, is it possible to have a bolt-on neck that is angled? It seems to me like it should be, I just feel like I must be missing something since I never seem to really see angled bolt-on necks...thanks. G

Thanks a million for all the replies guys...this really helps me out a ton. I decided to pick up a set of 250k's as well, but I'm going to try the 500k's first and take it from there. In either case the set I don't use can be for my next project!

Thanks for the reply. The ones I have are the same size as the humbucker rout template in the back of Hiscock's book (and the same size as the humbuckers in my guitars). They are too big for the P90 template he provides (good thing I checked before I routed!).

I'm currently deeply involved in my first build and I've come across a question that I have not found addressed using the search tool (if this exact topic has been addressed then I sincerely apologize...I have been reading this forum daily for months and this is the first time I've had to make a post due to not fininding an answer). I picked up two GFS Dream 90 pups (one bridge, one neck) for my project and I am planning to have only one tone control, one volume control and a three-way switch. I purchased 500k pots since I read in Melvyn Hiscock's book that 500k pots are to be used with humbuckers while 250k pots should be used with single coils (I realize that I am over-simplifying but I am essentially in the dark electronically so please bear with me/correct me). However, I realized later that I only assumed that P90s would be considered humbuckers due to the fact that they fill the same rout as a humbucker (ie: are the same size), yet they only contain one visible coil. So my question is this: are P90's humbuckers or single coils in regards to pots? Will I get a better tone if I save the 500k's for another project and get a couple of 250k's? Also, what size capacitor should I use? And, lastly, would it be better to have two seperate tone controls for the two pups, or does it matter? Sorry this is so long but I figured it was better to get it all out at once than to have three or four short posts taking up space. Thanks in advance.