Andyjr1515

Nice clean carve there . Waiting patiently to see the super duper top secret top

That top looks nice

The piccolo bass is about that in the area where I scooped the back. However, as Norris says, it's pretty much as thin as you would ever want - it's a bit unnerving when you run your hand over the grain and can actually hear the hollowness from that slight friction! Also, clearly you won't be able to carve any 'paunch relief' at the back.... Looking very good, though

I've also lost the photos...mind you,I've also just realised how old this thread is!

If there are tuners still on the neck (or pop a couple on) the best way to line up the neck is to pop on a top E and bottom E, tight enough simply for them to be straight, and aim for an equal distance from each to the edge of the fretboard at the end.

OK, well already up against some very stiff competition but, heck, why not. I present to you all Pequeña It's a piccolo bass, designed and built for our band's bassist, Pete, to allow him to noodle on the sofa or to practice and try out new riffs, without risking the safety of his good lady wife, pets, family or visitors with a flailing full-size bass's 34" neck and headstock It's my 11th scratch build since I started on this crazy but exhilarating hobby. Main specs and features include: 26" to 25" multi-scale neck, 24 frets, 12" radius 4 strings, tuned at bass tuning but pitched one octave higher (guitar pitch) Sapele and Black Walnut body; Maple neck with central mahogany splice; Snakewood fretboard. Curved top and scalloped back Satin finish with tru-oil 'slurry and buff' Seymour Duncan 'Cool Rails', mid-voiced with coil split option; tone and volume '58 style for maximum tonal palette Magnetic hatch and truss-rod cover access Fitted with flatwound heavy gauge Jazz Guitar Strings Weight: 5lb 14oz Build thread is here And here it is: Thanks for looking

Yes, been there, done that Sounds a good plan. That neck pocket fit is not too serious at all - I have seen pre-CNC Fender standards and deluxes straight out of the factory with much bigger gaps than that! That said, I would use veneer to fill the gaps, personally, rather than card and definitely use some decent hardish wood sheet (you can get hold of decently small pieces of mahogany or basswood in various thicknesses from most model shops) for the piece to glue in the bottom of the neck pocket to raise it. Watching with interest - I'm sure we'll soon be seeing another 'completely hooked' builder join our like-minded company

Hi and welcome Sorry to join this thread a little late - I've been desperately trying to finish a current scratch build which I've now just finished! I think you are treading a path that many of us have trodden before. My take, for what it is worth: Your original path was a sound one. That is, to buy a cheap kit, with all or most bits included to learn on and: improve on if it is worth doing so but have the luxury to put it to one side move onto something more expensive / risky if the bug takes hold (which it will) Nothing wrong with re-bodying an existing guitar, but you are then already into territory of needing to know stuff that building a kit would have helped you learn (as, I think, you already are finding). Just to address some of your thoughts and concerns from earlier posts: Most modern kits from reputable suppliers are basically sound. The hardware, electrics and pickups will be bottom drawer and the frets will usually need levelling but usually the machining will be accurate and, in my experience, the timber will be good Veneered kits are also usually absolutely OK. Yes, veneer is thin. 0.6mm to be precise - and yes, that includes all of it that is used for veneered guitar tops whether Epiphone or Ibanez or Squier or other reputable manufacturers. You are very unlikely to sand through in normal assembly and finishing Yes, alder stains very well. Some finished bodies have a fine oil coating that wants to be sanded off to get the stain to fully absorb, but we are talking normal finishing preparation here (150 grit working down to 400 grit territory, not timber-removal grades!) So if I was starting again, I would hang on to the bits I'd already bought, buy a complete but cheap kit, and do that one first. Then I would either upgrade it - learning the foibles and challenges of even minor modding - or hang that on the wall and go back to the components I'd already bought and make a jolly fine guitar from those My own $120 kit, albeit heavily modded, remains my main gigging guitar and has been for the past 4 years in preference to a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Strat, a NAMM Show Demonstrator Indie Single Cut, a Levin ES335 and a Les Paul Double Cut Junior: $120 for everything in the kit All the body and neck components and even the Jazzmaster trem are still originals from the kit - most other bits I've upgraded Alder Stained with fountain pen ink Veneered with 0.6mm veneer Hope this helps Andy

Hoooray!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE blue guitars

Well, now I had a hunch that a scooped bottom could be quite useful. In the recently completed piccolo bass, I incorporated the feature to achieve the combined advantages of weight reduction, slimness of neck heel and comfort of play: At 5lb 14oz, it is certainly light and the neck/body transition is a delight. If ever you wanted an instrument to help encourage you to play more, it's this - it's difficult to put it down. But now here is one of the things to be really careful with your drawing and calcs: No room for push/pull or 5-way blade switches with this body depth! Same goes with the f-hole chamber. It doesn't mean you can't do it, but it does mean you need to think about it, plan ahead, measure accurately and go carefully. So where is this leading? To the edge of the concept's envelope. To this (the dark area is the cross-section of the through-neck): It's the next project, it's on the drawing board, the wood gets purchased on Thursday and...well...we'll see!

Ah....I have one of those tools that you don't realise exists but when, by chance, you spot you know immediately it's going to change your life. It's the top one here: It's a Veritas Pullshave and is designed to scoop out the 'comfort contours' in wooden chairs. It works an absolute treat

Yes - a very worthy winner

Thanks, folks Well, brass nut is cut and installed and so I can pronounce this as officially finished! Here are the final shots for those that aren't thoroughly bored by the 'almost there' photos : Thanks for all the encouraging comments along the way

To little old me, most armchairs seem pretty huge That bass is just my kinda size

I'll do the fancy shots when I've got hold of the intended brass nut and decided what strings suits it best (I've got two flatwound jazz electrics and two bronze acoustics on it at the moment ) I've wired it up '58 Les Paul Junior style to give the maximum tonal opportunity. I sounds good, even though I still have no idea what one is really supposed to sound like Here it is: I'm pretty pleased with it, especially as it's probably the last build I'll do for Pete (unless he has more money than sense!)

That looks a nice chunk of wood . You are right to leave the fixing of the bridge position until a lot later - a lot can change between the initial plan and multiple bits of wood, metal and plastic being in their various positions! Although I mark the intended position early on to make sure I have a datum for length, perpendicularity and straightness, it's one of the last things I actually drill holes for and fit.

The other thing I did last time was add a couple of sacraficial blocks of the same thickness either end of the fretboard to allow a little overrun - previously I was finding I was tending to 'dig in' at the end of my sanding stroke, resulting in the first few or last few frets ending up lower than the rest. Mind you, that might just be me and my poor technique....

It will take a bit of care but I'm sure you will be able to blend that in just fine. It looks a nice joint

For anyone interested, and to avoid hi-jacking @StratsRdivine's thread, I've kicked off a thread in the Design Bar here Concave Bottoms and Related Obsessions

Hi In this thread are a few personal musings, but hopefully also the opportunity for us to share experiences, good and bad, of some of the less conventional body shapes. We all know how conservative we all are - most guitars bought and sold are still based on dimensions and shapes that were a result, rather than cause, of practical considerations prevailing 50+ years ago: if your blade switch 50 years ago was 1.75" high, then that's at least how deep the body needs to be, etc, etc.. I've done a few builds that have started to break out of that mind-set, usually driven by folks who wanted something specific from their builds and mods. The first was Pete's Jack Bruce Thumb tribute. I'll be honest - I'd never seen or touched a Warwick Thumb until after the build was finished. However, I did find this picture on the internet - a feature I incorporated in my tribute: Also, to be honest, I never gave it much thought why Warwick might have done that. But my own effort, made out of stunningly heavy bubinga: ...wasn't quite as heavy as I thought it might be. Hmmm...that's worth remembering.... The next leg of my journey was Tom's African Bass. If you remember, Tom had been given a 'bass body' by an African traditional drum maker to build a bass from. It was of unknown and unsuitable wood with loads and spreading cracks in it and it was VERY, VERY thin!! This was what I made from it: Now THAT's what I call a slim heel... Hmmm...that's worth trying again I was so impressed with how Pete's Jack Bruce tribute felt to play (he lets me play a few numbers on it during our gigs ), that I built a fretless for myself. Different shape, but same woods and overall dimensions, and incorporating a back cutaway and also the slim neck heel of Tom's African bass: And I realised that this was one of the most comfortable basses I had played. And that got me thinking... In the next post I'll cover one or two intentional developments from the above 'happy accidents', and the one on the drawing board at the moment that will either showcase the concept....or comprehensively shoot it down in flames

Hi, again I am assuming you are talking about the simple convex curves on the top, arm relief, back cutaway, body edges of, say, a stratocaster or similar, or are you talking about the complex 'S' curves of, say, a Les Paul? For the former, then yes - fine rasp files, sanding block, cabinet scrapers can all be used fairly well Andy

This is my cross section: See what I mean about contact lens? When I get round to it, I'll pop a thread on the Design area about some of the plus's and minus's and practical issues I've come across - particularly when concaving the back. For all that, I think the look can be great and they are amongst the most comfortable to play. I think the same will go for yours: you get arm relief - at both sides - for free I look forward to seeing it develop.

That is very impressive. On a 30mm board, I would typically lose 2-3mm one side and 29.5mm on the other with the saw wandering about I can't even cut a medium sized beam in half accurately!

Lovely job on any terms, but very impressive for hand sawing! How thick are they?

Clearly great minds think alike. I have on my drawing board my next project. Very similar top profile, but similar curve on the back too! My customer is looking for "a contact lens cross section profile". I'll drop some shots when I'm back on my desktop. I've done similar shaping on various projects and concluded that there really are no restrictions other than assuring enough depth for the hardware, pickups, etc.. I'll be looking at your progress with great interest - it looks a nice design