Andyjr1515

The most unconventional bit is that at the time, with very limited facilities (and skills!), I found it a lot easier to rout a slot in the body to fit the neck rather than the conventional 'two wings stuck to the neck and then the top added'. The latter required achievement of flat, straight and square joints whereas my router method just relied on using a router accurately! The stain is calligraphy ink and this one was then wipe-on varnished with household polyurethane varnish in the spare bedroom. This was the finished job: It has the budget but spectacular Tonerider Alnico Classic IV's I use in vast preference to even Burstbucker Pro's. I'll download a clip of Pete playing it clean onto Soundcloud this evening and hopefully you'll see what I mean (caution - it will also have me singing and playing sax! You have been warned...)

Hi I flashed up this shot of an SG-style build I did a few years ago in a recent thread and a few folks have asked for some more details: OK - but blame them! It was my second commissioned build from our old-gits-band's bassist, Pete. He had got me to build a fretless bass for him a year earlier (I'll do a summary thread of that too) and was coming up to a birthday and had persuaded his lovely wife to fund a build for a 6-string electric 'in the style of' a Gibson SG. Happily, Pete is no purist! I decided on a fancy top and a thru neck. This post, I'll just add some of the progress shots and then post some more of the finished shots. Be warned - my build method on some of these is unconventional!:

Thanks, Scott And yes, you are right....these were quite early builds so are pre my joining this illustrious forum. There are threads in other places, but I am more than happy to do a couple of summary threads if folks are interested. I'll see if I can knock a couple together over this evening and the weekend .....oh, and forget the normal use of the phrase....with me, flattery will get you most places

I've alluded to building an SG bass in some of the other threads. Well, I'm out of excuses and, with the custom semi-acoustic in transit back to its owner, the EB3 project is live Pete is our old-gits-band's bassist. He idolises Jack Bruce and, some of you might remember, I built him a Jack Bruce Thumb Fretless tribute a few years ago: Then, because he's actually a great guitarist, he asked me to build an SG-ish 6 string electric, funded by his good lady wife for a birthday present: Not put off by the experience, Pete has asked me to build another nod to Jack Bruce - a fretted EB3-style bass, again funded by his mighty fine lady wife, for a 'significant' birthday in November. Pete is no purist - he wants just two things specifically - 34" scale (JB's EB3...and most EB3's...was short scale) and red! I'm still in the planning phases but have started to get some timber options together and started thinking about pickups. I will post the thoughts so far shortly

Useful tips and thoughts, folks - thanks The storage of the planes in a drawer was certainly one issue - I have chisels and other tools in a rack above the bench and they are not at all affected - so far. The ventilation is good - and there is a powerful extractor in there too because it is where my wife's pottery kiln used to be. What I might do is get a hydrometer (don't think I mean that.....I mean an air moisture measurer) and try a few of the things out that you suggest to see what makes what difference. We did hire an industrial dehumidifier a number of years ago but it was just drawing in moist air from outside through the air bricks and producing gallons of water each day, every day. In the meantime, I will keep the planes upstairs and just bring them out when I need to use them and keep my eye on anything else housed in the cellar. I will also start oiling some of the tools as @ScottR suggests if they are likely to be exposed over a longer period.

Hi I'm in the UK and normally warm weather and humidity don't feature in my conversations However, I have recently managed to move off the back yard patio and into our house's small cellar where - at last - I have been able to put in place a proper workbench and a number of my other tools. The cellar has an issue common to many older houses - it is bone dry in the winter, but in the summer, there is a humidity issue with the moisture in the air condensing on the cooler surfaces of the cellar and contents. Ventilation isn't an answer to this issue (and there is plenty of ventilation) as the more air you bring in, the more moisture comes with it. The most effective answer has been to put a floor covering down and use a heater in the summer (yes - quite!). For most purposes, this works OK..... ...until I opened my planes drawer last night. I haven't even photo'd my only (and probably only ever) Lie Niesen plane....too flipping upsetting! Other than the router plane, the blades were largely unaffected and I've wire-wooled all of the surface rust off - but man, it's gone DEEP. The pull-shave is brand new and now - even with all of the surface rust off - looks like a pitted much loved and used 60 year old tool! Clearly, presently, the planes are going to have to be kept elsewhere and brought out only when in use, but - well what do you folk in warmer, damper climates do? Having visited a number of places that forum members live in, I know that your climates are significantly warmer and moister than my cellar. Any tips?

For what it's worth, I've done some sound comparisons of some of the various settings (actually didn't do the slap bass volume push pull) on Soundcloud here. The clips were input directly through a Focusrite Scarlett interface into Ableton Live with no effects or colouring. Each switch position is announced before a small clip and includes: Bridge (full humbucker); Middle; Neck Bridge (full humbucker) with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost Middle postion with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost Neck position with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost Middle position (with bridge pickup in split coil mode) with no boost; with full mids boost; with full bass boost; with full mids and bass boost What it will actually sound like will obviously be hugely influenced by the rig it goes through but this hopefully gives some indication of the huge variety of sounds. I haven't done any recordings with full treble boost - the impact through my rig seems less than with the bass and mids boosts and, of course, this is where the hiss will be most audible.

This is the trussrod cover on Tom's African Build (there's a thread somewhere on this very strange project!): Trust me....close up this isn't pretty- but shadows and light are very flattering

I think the concept and materials are fine. Just the freehand rout needs to be a bit more precise, maybe with the rout tidied up with a scalpel. I cheat on my routed truss rod covers....I don't fill them. Visually hides a multitude of sins

There are a lot of things I REALLY like about this bass. Single cut basses are an acquired taste - and having designed and built one recently and it was interesting how polarised the views on the threads were! But, there are some areas of real finesse on this. I think the carve of the upper neck on the back - and the back generally - is sublime. Wonderful stuff The bit that shouts out to me for a tiny tweak is the bass-clef on the truss-rod cover. Might be the photo but - compared with the very clean carve and inlay lines just about everywhere else, it looks like it just needs tidying up a bit. Pickup wise, the EMG HZ passives are pretty good and I'm fairly sure they do a six string version (and the overall shape looks similar) but actually Wilkinsons do pack a decent bang for the buck. Well done - fantastic effort and result

So, Mr Bond....do you cut the red wire or the blue wire? The Seymour Duncan 3-band EQ comes with a blend knob and a stacked pot for bass and treble boost/cut. Stuart, the owner, wanted to maintain the three-way switch and to have three separate pots for bass, mids and treble. That meant tracking down some centre detent 100k linear pots and taking the clippers to SD's previously very neat wiring loom! This was the layout before installation - a bit of a dog's dinner, but with the prime objectives of 1) it working and 2) there being no wires crossing the 'f' hole: And this was it installed - after a short panic when I thought there was no signal tapping the pickup poles with a screwdriver but realised (after a full torch and multi-meter diagnostic) that my amp simply wasn't turned up enough I've got a bit of tidying to do - one of the pots is standing a bit proud and I will see if I can polish out or reduce one or two of the historic buckle-rashes and dints. I'll also fit a new set of strings and finalise the setup, but it's all done bar the shouting....

That's brilliant!

That was a bit weird, actually. The quote I clicked for my 'Phew' reply was Scott's! Somehow the quote that got posted was yours from much earlier in the thread, Prostheta. Very curious. Maybe I haven't done the neck joint at all yet and the photos are just a projection of what I'd like it to be

Phew! At first I thought there was something I'd forgotten to do!

OK - that's got me a bit confused.... that last bit WAS the solution for the neck join .... I think ....

Welcome back, Scott! Not too bad. The router had to stop about an inch short either side and then it was chisels. I was inspired by your mandolin scroll and figured that, in comparison, mine was a walk in the park

Fantastic - on all counts. Really, really pleased - well done.....on all counts

Bit of tidying up to do, but this is the above side: ...and this is the other side: Neither bear super-close examination - the light catches the grain differently to the neck so in some lights they look lighter and others they look darker, and without stripping the whole neck and refinishing it is difficult to hide the join - but it is nevertheless a great improvement on the original. Waiting for the EQ to arrive but today I should be able to at least finish the other bits and pieces ready for the final re-assembly. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but today's tasks will include drilling and countersinking the back cover screw holes, checking the fret levels, polishing the frets and cleaning the fretboard. All being well, end of this week should see this on its way back to the owner

Today I spent some time sanding flush the inset maple and experimenting with stains. This is probably as good as I can get. As suspected, it is clearly an infill, but I think it is no longer the thing that first catches your eye with a 'THAT doesn't look right!': Since this pic has been taken, I've now done the other side too

Actually, @Zack that particular base is as good as useless for inlays, or much anything else. For inlays, I wouldn't be without the Stewmac (or clones) precision base:

I'm watching this with great interest. Can't remember if I mentioned it, but my next full build is an EB3-ish SG Bass for our band's bassist. I'll be stealing many ideas from here

Looking very good, Zack I particularly like the scarf feature and the way it carries on to the volute. I've known m-o-p absorb a tint from stains, but I've never seen anything like that black blob. Is the stain from the bottom, or a soaked in top stain?

Still have to chisel and sand this flush, stain to neck colour and varnish, but the first side is in:

I have some maple veneer but need thicker stuff really rather than pack and then final veneer. Then I had a brainwave. I use cross-grain maple for the strengthener strip on the back of my acoustic builds: I've had a rummage around in my bits box and found this: Perfect