Andyjr1515

Look forward to seeing that, @Prostheta. In the meantime I will have a look at broadly how it works.

It's very much on my 'one of these days I must find time to try that!' last

I've been mainly fiddling about with finishing on this over the past week. The owner wants a particular shade of cream and so the challenge has been more about finding the right colour than worrying too much what kind of paint that is and how I was going to apply it In the end, I've gone for a brushed on enamel. It has been slightly problematic because the second coat orange-peeled like crazy despite following the manufacturer's recommendations for curing times, etc.. Don't you just love products that aren't even compatible with themselves Anyway, after a fair bit of fiddling about, I got it done ready for varnish: ...and this afternoon started the first gloss coat: The playing part of the neck will eventually be tru-oil slurry and buffed, so will end up the same colour albeit transitioning from satin to gloss as it meets the body. I'm using the same 'formulation changed to save the polar bears' varnish, but trying it using a different method because of the issues I've had since it changed. I'm trying a really trail-blazing and modern method...un-thinned and applied by brush! I'll let you know how it goes

Yes - very pleased this one's back

Yes - I think you are right to. I'm not convinced it is any better than any of the others I've used for general grain fill. Maybe for acoustic tops, but even there the moisture causes its own issues... but as you say, nice to know in times of crisis it's only a few steps away

I'm interested in how you get on with that jig, @2.5itim - I've also had my moments when it comes to radius blocks

The single cut looks fine to me. For the double cut, could you carry on the cutout curve to meet at the far end of the tab so you end up with a little more side support? (I'll do a drawing when I get to my desktop) That said, it looks a long enough joint to me, giving you a total glue surface of 3 inches plus? Anyone else got a view?

Maybe not, but when I post some of my methods and approaches, I'm pretty sure I can hear the collective and worldwide sound of the hands of experienced and competent luthiers hitting their foreheads and emitting a long wailing 'Noooooooooooooo'

Have you already cut the body? If not, then rather than glue a heel, couldn't you bring the full neck pocket further out (just a wider deeper version of your bottom photo) so you can have a full proper extended neck pocket rather than just an extension supporting just the underneath? On your original drawing, what is the distance between the end of the body and the pickup?

That's a very nice piece of wood @curtisa

Well, if it's any consolation, my brain emigrated to another continent when I first started thinking how to do this From what I have gathered....but I'm probably wrong....piccolo basses are more usually full sized basses restrung and tuned up an octave but would definitely sound different to a guitar. Pete, our bands bassist, didn't want that. He wanted a very short scale 25inches which at first I assumed, like you, he wanted at bass pitch. My thoughts went to taking a low B 5string set and taking the bottom four strings to get the tension. But he didn't want that - he wanted it at piccolo pitch...so the same scale and the same pitch as a guitar. ....which brings us all the way back to @a2k's thread. For which I wait further details with great interest

quagmires and derailments, now that reminds me of the time the I got stuck in a bog on a train. It all began one rainy day.......

OK - now we've got the the bottom of the barrel....or maybe the barrel of the bottom... of the old favourites...er hum The prospective owner asked if there could be some sort of carry over of the head-stock cutout with the trussrod cover. Of course there could Then, with the very cheap and quite wobbly little bandsaw clearly having a good day, I wondered it there was any chance of cutting a longer sliver of neck offcut.... ...for the control chamber cover! Well, as my old grandfather used to say, "Well son, in this life you can either hide it... or you can flaunt it!" Wise words. - and such a shame he got jailed so many times for those little incidents in the park...and the high street...and the football matches...and the police station...

Tell me about it. Last time I dinged my flipper it was just awful....

Ah....there's the rub. The EADG strings on a bass guitar is actually one octave lower than a standard 6 string electric. A piccolo bass is generally the same tuning as a bass but one octave higher... ie, exactly the same pitch as a standard electric. Hence my comment above that, it I don't change the tone, then I'm actually just making a 4 string electric guitar. (and by the same logic, a2k is making...an electric guitar!) My understanding is that the baritone guitar is a different tuning and is pitched somewhere between the bass and 6 string electric. Confuses the hell out of me!

Can't wait

By the way, I'm assuming that your piccolo bass will be an ..... electric guitar? Mine in theory will be trying to be an actual piccolo bass, although I've a sneaky feeling it might end up being - yes, you guessed it - a 4 string electric guitar!!!! I have some thoughts of how to get it tonally different from a guitar but I don't really know what I'm doing (so what's new, I suppose )

I am soooooooooo excited by this My next project, already on the drawing board is, would you believe, a....piccolo bass! And I'd never heard of them until I got asked to design and build one! Secret Strategy: Learn from @a2k 's mistakes Things to Remember: Don't let on to a2k that that is Andyjr1515's secret strategy

As long as I don't dint the flipping thing now!

The basic build is done. Now for the final thicknessing, sanding, filling and preparation for painting. The through neck will be left natural and the top, sides and back wings painted cream. Here's the back almost done ready for the final sand before filling: Is that a bit better @Prostheta ? Sides and top still to do...

It's very pleasing that you spotted that. I've tried to incorporate a couple of subtle 'S' for (Chris) Squire's into the detail. As you know, this was originally designed for Chris S by Jim Mouradian in his Yes days. It will be interesting whether Nic, who this is being built for, spots the connection

No - it's a bad habit I've got into. When I'm working on a finished instrument, or someone's pride and joy, I am very careful. I use one of those padded table protectors or some squares of towelling and make sure that chippings don't get caught to dint or scratch. I dust down and shake off before and after laying the body onto the surface and regularly check for caught detritus. The bad habit is - if I know there is some material still to take off - I like to work on a hard surface for chiselling and planing, etc, so prefer it where there's no cushioning. The flaw is sometimes letting bits accumulate and get between the two surfaces or, worse, not spotting a hardened titebond drip! Also, it is forgetting that, even if there is material to take off, it is still easier to get the surface finish and dimensional accuracy if there aren't also scratches and dents to contend with at the same time. I shall add it to my growing list of New Year Resolutions

Actually, that's b******s The top is due to be final sanded too but some of those planing marks and scrapes shouldn't be there....

The dints are on the back - and (probably to my discredit so "guilty as charged") I haven't been worrying too much about them or it, @Prostheta because the back is going to have a couple of mm planed off as part of the 'fit and function' final stages I intentionally left it a little proud because I wasn't entirely sure how the Smooth Hound was going to look and functionally sit - I couldn't afford to get too close to the front as it would have made the area hiding the unit from the front too thin and fragile but I wanted to make sure the unit also couldn't get knocked in normal playing position. It's why I also haven't routed the control chamber cover rebate yet. Where I do need some practice / guidance is the burning I tend to still get with the router from time to time. The main router I use for the trickier stuff doesn't have speed control which is perhaps part of the problem but I suspect technique also has a pretty large share of the blame Yes - the bridge is narrow and has fixed spacing. It was supplied by the customer but I've left all the build spacing to take a 'standard' width bridge to be retro-fitted in the future if needs be. The fretboard on the bass side will be narrowed slightly, as mentioned above, but the main telltale in terms of the narrowness is the string positions over the pole pieces!

No - I'm very comfortable and practised in that approach It was the more unfamiliar straight sides and crisp, square edges of the other bits that had me intrigued....