Andyjr1515

Well, I, for one, am very pleased you are resurrecting it . It's magnificent

We had visitors over the weekend but I was able to sneak down the cellar every hour or so to fix a couple of frets into the fretboard. By this morning, I'd done all 24 This is it loosely positioned. I usually fix the fretboard before fretting but I thought I'd try a different approach this time. There seem to be pro's and con's for both methods. I'm going to leave the top un-dotted and just have side dots. Also note the relatively modest fanning and that it is even more modest at the nut end to reduce any playing difference (although in the fan-fretted guitar I once tried it didn't feel any different to play anyway) over the first octave. Time will tell if it makes any difference to feel or sonics!

Very neat

Stunning stuff. Going to read all the detail when I get a moment!

Really interested in this. I've always avoided scarfe joints because of this issue. Never really thought of using a chop saw but that joint you have there looks pretty damned good!

I am, of course, referring to the magnet-securing tabs. I'm pleased to notice, on third reading of your binding method, the 'rugged' appearance of the pot holes and black paint further in. That makes me feel, at least a little, less inadequate

Just read and re-read the detailed description of the hatch fitting, @Norris . There's some clever thinking executed very well there . I very much like the tab idea. The other thing that I admire is the combination of function and form - everywhere! For example, the inside of your chamber is as immaculate as the outside of the chamber! I'm a bit shoddy with my stuff - the outside of mine would generally look fine, but the inside would be...er... 'rugged'. Fantastic job and well worth the wait - even though I can't wait!

In reviewing the progress on @Norris's epic build, I realise how close my teardrop is to Norris's very slick feature. Norris will understand the significance of me having been born and brought up in Wolverhampton if it turns out that I have subliminally stolen his design

I've still got to round off the sharp edges of the 'f' hole, but this is starting to head towards the final shape. Because of the figuring you tend not to see is as much, but the curve of the top is around 1/2 of the curve at the back. Pete will use this predominately for noodling on the sofa - it has a very comfortable sitting while playing feel. It also is VERY light....hmmmm...have I forgotten something important? Top CHECK Back CHECK neck CHECK...hmmm...seems to be basically all there

I'm not sure why this one is going so fast but pleased that it is The body is angled from the join point and, if I've got my calcs right and physical mock ups right, it should leave strings flat on the frets with the saddles at their lowest points. I've got the angle wrong on the last couple of builds and so have had to tweak the saddles a bit - this is why I did the belt and braces approach for this one

I've decided to not to put binding on the top. With the internal routing done, it was ready for the top and sides to be glued on. First I stained the inside of the 'f'hole chamber, then glued the top, then the wings: Note that the wings are deeper than the through part of the neck. That's because I'm going to scoop the back to match the curve of a convex-curved carve to the top - hence no binding. This is where one of my favourite hand-tool acquisitions comes in - the wonderful Veritas pullshave: Then a round-over around the edges with an appropriate router bit and it's starting to look the part, albeit with a few lumps to smooth out before the finish sanding: Next job will be the smooth convex curve to the top. As always, thanks for looking and for your encouraging feedback

Now THAT'S the kind of fighting talk I like

Thanks, @Norris The top will be shaped with a smooth convex curve - I think that will suit the figuring nicely. Before I do that, though, I have to decide on 'do I or don't I?' for binding and, if I go ahead with some, how I want to do it: curve the top then apply an even binding (challenging) or bind it while the top is still flat but then have the binding varying in width round the curve (easier but maybe less visually attractive). I'll decide when I can see it with the top and back blocks all glued up (in progress with the glue curing as I type ) By the way, I should be able to bring this to the Basschat East Midlands bash if you're still planning on going

Great minds think alike...I actually made a paper template originally to see what it looks like . And it looked rubbish . The guitar that is pitched somewhere between the bass and standard is the baritone. I can't remember what the standard tuning is of a baritone but it is pitched somewhere in that region. Ref the piccolo, the more usual arrangement is fitting of special piccolo strings to a standard bass and pitching up to the bottom 4 strings of a 6 string guitar. A few of the mainstream string manufacturers make strings for the purpose (including, I think, D'Addario). That would have been a more straightforward but much less exciting option

Basically I've done all of the machining I need to do before gluing the wings and top onto the neck, excepting one thing I'm going to do next: As you can see, done is: the control chamber and cable run to it from the pickup position; the pickup cutout in the walnut top; the 'semi' chamber under the teardrop f-hole; the truss-rod slot. Final thing I have to do before anything gets glued is cut the neck plan-view shape. I'll do that once I've checked the positioning of everything...again....!

Excellent videos, @a2k . These broadly have the tone I had in my imagination - more bass, mild, vibe than a standard electric. If I can achieve at least this, I will be happy...anything more will be a bonus!

Fantastic . I must invest in some more clamps. I have enough in terms of numbers, but many of them have small handles that make it difficult to apply enough tightening.

Good progress . Those are some decent sash clamps you're using

Well, with the normal warning that these threads are always simply about how I personally go about things and never that this is the way you should go about things, I'm into totally new territory: multi-scale and hand-cut fret slots. First I got into some decent light...I thought I'd give daylight a try for old-times' sake. I clamped a ruler to the fretboard to the workbench, at the angle that the strings will run at and starting at the angled nut position: Then a double-check, triple-check, quadruple-check measure against the treble scale and a sharp tap with a hardened metal point: Then ditto for the bass string run. Then clamping with a squared piece of wood, that has been cut at a height to allow 3mm blade exposure, using the saw's blade clamp strip to prevent the blade cutting too deep: Then gentle sawing against the wood block until the slot was formed, then hard sawing to depth. Snakewood is VERY hard...this is my exercise for the week sorted! And, if I've got everything correct...this should be a 26" to 25" fanned set of slots!: Only time will tell... And I must be losing my touch...that felt relatively conventional

Ahhh - a conditional condition. Hmmm this unconventionality is trickier than I thought....

I ran the mahogany sections through the thicknesser to get rid of the saw chatter and then cut the sections, slightly oversize: With these kinds of top, I usually use the top as the routing template for the mahogany sections underneath once they are glued up and in place The next task is probably the fretboard. As you all know, I build these things slightly unconventionally and will be cutting a notch in the neck so the wings and body section of the neck become the flat surface for the top to be glued onto. However, the notch will be angled slightly to accommodate the neck angle, and the neck angle needed depends on the height of the fretted fretboard... Hmmm....multi-scale....snakewood... OK, well this could end up badly! One of these days I will build conventionally...I'm sure it must be more straightforward...

I saw a tin of 'wipe on poly' in one of the photos. Is that standard polyurethane varnish? I ask simply because I find the latter to be completely unreactive. When I used enamel for the Mouradian-style bass (and, by the way, I'm never going to use enamel again!) and it did this simply from the second coat of the same product (yes, quite...) I found that wipe on poly acted as a complete block to the reaction. Maybe use that after the swirl coat to 'fix' it and then clear spray over the poly? Or just clear coat with the poly?

Actually, I'm going to cheat...and put it through the thicknesser...

No - it's chatter marks from the original sawing. It was a couple of boards originally destined for fancy flooring that were rejected because of that so I was able to pick them up relatively cheaply. The grain goes the other way (same board as I used on the Mouradian-ish back wings)

Hi Yes - me again. And Pete again!! For those who haven't seen the other threads, Pete is our old-blokes-band's bassist and, for reasons that I don't fully understand, is my best customer. I can only assume that the low frequencies and our band's general bad playing has somehow shaken up his brain cells to the point that he can't differentiate between properly made instruments and my hobbyist efforts Hmmm.......or that he has realised how much cheaper my efforts are.....and that he can always get them fixed if they ever go wrong (which happily they never have yet)...or that maybe he's dating MrsAndyjr1515 while muggins is down in the cellar wading through sawdust.... Anyway, so far I have built him a Jack Bruce Warwick-style fretless bass, an SG-style 6-string electric and an EB3-style fretted bass. And now he wants me to build him a piccolo bass! So, first question to ask, 'What's a piccolo bass?' OK - there are multiple answers to that so, to cut to the chase, this is what I'm going to build him, whether it's what he's expecting or not: A guitar-sized bass, pitched at an octave higher than a normal bass, which makes it, essentially, a 4 string guitar To try to get a non-electric guitar tone: going for a single, mid-biased rails pickup in the neck position; multi-scale (26" at bass side and 25" at treble); flatwound strings Figured walnut top, with teardrop f hole and chamber; mahogany wings; maple and mahogany laminated through-neck; snakewood fretboard; 24 frets Here's broadly what it's going to look like (I'll actually reduce the angle at the nut and increase it at the multi-element bridge: Here's the top: ..and the main components with the neck splices cut, waiting gluing together: I'm looking forward to this one...probably in the same way as a small clueless child might look forward to scouts forest trip on the outskirts of Mordor.