Polymaker

Wow, I love that neck! And the gold hardware is really nice too. Usually I'm not a big fan but it looks great with that ziricote. Out of personal interest, would you like to explain me how you get a finish like this with tru-oil? I've tried it on my first guitar and I couldn't get results anywhere close to yours. I'm pretty sure my application technique is the main culprit, but I had a hard time trying to get a gloss finish. Can it be buffed the same as a lacquer finish? Also I used polymerized tru-oil if it makes a difference. Thanks

Wow thank you. I'm very humble by nature and I'm not the kind to brag, but I've got to admit that I'm very proud of that bass I have to say that they all have some small defects that don't really show on camera but I'm working really hard to recover from them Also if you have a keen eye you may guess that the design was very inspired by the Ibanez BTB For anyone wondering how bad the headless is, here's a picture: The truss rod is still stuck and while trying to pry-it out the neck started de-laminating. I might try to salvage the body but I'm going to start it over. On the bright side there are some advantages. First, I had some time to play with it acoustically and the fan was a little too much for me. I'm keeping the multi-scale but it will be 25.5" to 26.5" instead of 27". That scale also seems to match the angle of the slanted Seymour Duncan pickups I purchased. Also since it was my first neck carve it ended way too much thin. While at it I decided to upgrade the fretboard to bird's eye maple. Also I encountered the issue that the T4M nut's screws blocks the truss rod access so on the next one the access will be at the other end of the neck,

I've said I had a bunch of good news but my last post was getting crowded so I split it. First, I've started and well advanced a 6 strings fretless bass. The neck is bubinga/maple/wenge/maple/wenge/maple/bubinga The body wings are ash Over the ash is a walnut veneer, a maple cap and a black walnut top The inlays are made with epoxy mixed with phosphorescent powder (some lines need to be redone) I also started another build, an 8 string guitar! I've only started the body and it will look like this: I've also started another electric ukulele that has an awesome neck:

Hi everyone one! I'm not dead A lot has been going on recently. And I have a bunch of good news and a sad one. First of, I've finished my single cut , around the end of October... Now as to why I haven't posted yet is because I kinda finished it in a rush because I was eager to finally finish a guitar. This resulted in a nasty uneven finish, and because I didn't want to waste a fresh set of strings I waited until last week to dismantle the guitar and redo the finish. Here is the result: Now the sad news... I have broken my headless in the final steps. It was in part due because of me rushing thins a little but mainly because of one error I made in the beginning. The headless was the first I started and the truss rod channel was too wide and I forgot (due to eagerness to carve the neck) to add some tape in the channel (to secure-it) before gluing the fretboard. This obviously led to a nasty rattle. I fixed it by pouring some wood glue thinned with water in the channel, which fixed the problem in a way, but this made the truss rod hard to adjust, and the adjusting nut broke... Also just before that incident I had a little issue with sanding through the finish while buffing and had to re-apply stain a little Here a picture of the guitar before it all went south:

Hi Josh, welcome to the forum! Even though beginning with a 8 strings guitar may seem like a daunting endeavor, I'm fairly sure you can manage to do it. I say that because I myself started with a 7 strings guitar (technically a 6 strings also because I started them at same time), having almost no woodworking experience at all, and now I'm in the final steps. I even threw in things like through-neck, multi-scale and headless and I managed to do it. So given the fact that you have woodworking experience and access to all the necessary tools, I'm confident you can do it Budget wise on the other hand, is where an 8 strings can be "daunting". It is no secret that an 8 strings will cost you more. To name a few, things like two more tuners, limited pickups selections (the majority of extended range pickups are made by premium brands) and other hardware can rise the cost drastically and can make you seriously reconsider making an extended range guitar as a first build. In my case, the materials for building the 7 strings guitar was well in my budget, but I had to pause the project to save for purchasing the headless hardware that is available from very few place at an high price. And now I'm lacquering the guitar but I'm still waiting & saving to purchase the pickups. I don't mean to discourage you but my point (advice) is that if you really want to build an 8 strings as your first project and also on a budget, you need to take the time to shop and plan before starting. Of course, if you don't throw-in things like multi-scale and headless like I did, you'll be able the keep the build to a reasonable cost. For the pickups, the wiring is roughly the same with any guitar, it depends on the number of pickups and volume/tone of course. One thing to note, if you don't already know, is active vs passive pickups. Active pickups need extra wiring to include a battery, For the bridge and other hardware, you can check on aliexpress. You need to shop a little because the majority of products are very cheap but you can find relatively good hardware that will do the job for a cheap price if you don't mind making some compromises. Good luck on your project

Thank you Andy for the information. I'll check those parts. I also had another question that I forgot to ask and is more related to the design: What's the deal with pickups placement on basses? For most guitars you have one near the neck and the other close to the bridge. On basses I've seen them all over the place , but from what I get they are generally aligned more in the center. Could somebody enlighten me on this?

Hi everyone, I have some question regarding basses in general and I was wondering if some of you could help me out. For starters, I'm not a bass player and so far I've only "played" about 15 minutes top with a bass I borrowed from a friend. A funny anecdote is that I was going to purchase an Ibanez (GIO) 5-strings bass just before I took my decision to start building instruments, so my budget went in tooling and material instead. And I told myself that I'd make one myself at some point. Fast-forward a year later, and I still don't have a bass and my desire to learn to play bass is starting to bug me a lot ! So the last month I've been working on my bass design and I'm closing-in on the final version. Now I'm starting to look for the hardware and electronics and I've realized that I'm really out of my element. I have almost no knowledge of brands for bass component (mainly electronics) and how they compare. After some research now I know about some big brands like Bartolini and Aguilar, but they look to me like big/premium brands and I would like to know about more budget friendly brands (aka bang for your bucks). So I would like to know more about what are the different brands of bass pickup makers and what is your experience with them. I would also like to know more about pre-amps in general, but also what are the brands and how they affect/relate to the pickups (e.g. cheap pre-amps \w expensive pickups, or vice-versa) Thank you in advance, any info is really appreciated. And by the way it may help to clarify that I'm planning on making a 6-string fretless bass .

Hi everyone, it has been a long time since I last updated my progress. Both build are nearing completion. I need to finish fretting the single cut (I'm currently waiting on some dremel polishing wheels because I round the fret ends on this one) and I have received the parts for the headless guitar and test fitted them. Before showing you the pictures I have two questions. First, the unfinished maple fretboard on the headless got dirty along the way (you may able to see it on the pictures), so I was wondering what is the best way to clean this up? Sanding between the frets could work but I don't want to end with a scalloped fretboard Second, I tested finishing a wengé off-cut with tung-oil and the figuring in the wood darkens a lot and I fear I'll lose the beautiful figuring on the top of my single cut. I've heard of wood bleach. Do you think it is something worth to try?

I feel you and I think I would do the same in this situation, but at the same time there is some parts of me that wants to finish it. What about building the same bass with the same materials (maple & pine) but with current tools and experience? That way you still have the old one as a memento but you also have the satisfaction of a 'completed' build after all those years. Then you could display them side by side . Anyway, I must say this is a very impressive build for your age and tools you had.

@Mike.Mara & @Prostheta Thank you for your explanations. Now I feel a little ashamed to have made some worry, I did over dramatize a little in my post. I also feel like I've hijacked the thread So to get back on topic here is a little advice for your build: go lightly on the wenge. That thing weight a lot and it is very dense. Also let me know if you find a place that sells slanted pickups that do not cost an arm and a leg Good thing I bought a secondhand dust extractor last week

From your proposed order, I suggest doing #2 before #1 and #6 before #4/5 for one main reason: having a true/straight edge. From my point of view It should be best to cut the fret slots before shaping because you can use a square to guide your cuts. Also for the truss rod I find it easier to use a guide along with my router and having it rest on the straight edge of the neck blank. Just my two cents. EDIT: forget about the fretboard, I've re-read and you shape the fretboard after it is installed on the neck. I assumed the contrary because on my three builds to date I shaped the fretboard before gluing it and used the fretboard as a template to route the neck. EDIT v2 : I've re-read again and I'm more confused than anything, I think I was right at first so you can forget my previous edit

Oh God... I'm freaking out right now... I did all the wenge carving on my single cut with no mask!! And on top of that with all the dust there was when I planned some boards and cut strips on the bench saw, I actually had lump of dust on the back of my throat that I only noticed a while after!! And the splinters.... I can't count how many splinter I got from wenge... What is reassuring in a way is that I haven't noticed any symptom up to now that I can attribute to wenge and my splinters never got infected. What kind of nervous system effect can it cause? I had coughing that lasted a week or so with no other symptoms that I had a clue it had to do with wood dust and dust in general (with the moving, you uncover some old stuff...) I feel like I've shortened my lifespan a little

Just a quick update on the single cut design. I've glued the fretboard tuesday and I routed the neck to shape. I've also roughed the headstock shape, but I left a lot of room because I haven't yet decided on the shape. I also came up with a name for it: Scorpio. The reason behind this is because to me the upper part of the body look like the dart of a scorpion. So with that name I also changed my plan a little, I originally planned to use steel tubing for the fret markers (like Pariahrob did on his build on the 12th fret), but I now have the idea to inlay a scorpion at the twelfth fret. I'm still not sure on what material to use, because I want to stay on the chrome theme (the side dots will be made with stainless steel tubing). I'm thinking of having a aluminum plate milled by the guy who did my mdf templates but I have the idea it will cost me a small fortune . Also for the headstock I think I'll put a small layer of wenge on top and make a bevel like the body,

I'm pretty sure the building is insulated in some form. It used to have a fireplace and still has the chimney but is currently sealed-off in the wall (approximately around where the cardboard box is on the picture). I think I might grab a small gas fireplace at some point, but for now I will use a small electric heater. I planned to use it (during the winter) only when I was going to be working in the workshop, but from what you said should I run it periodically? I don't want to keep it running days and nights either for obvious reasons, but I think I could improvise a small device that could run it periodically like a controller for a swimming pool filter. Also what is commonly used to seal wood board ends? Is it a wax of some kind?

Well now it is crowded with boxes and unsorted stuff until I get the time (and resolve) to put some shelves... Would you have the kindness to enlighten me on what are some "normal anti-bug measures"? I'm sure there is some obvious things but the only thing that comes to my mind is moth balls (I hope this is not only a french thing) and I think that it will not help at all with other bugs...

Hi everyone, I mentioned in a few post on my build thread that I was moving to a new place, well that is mostly done by now. It's a really nice place, with an huge backyard, but most importantly, a reasonably large outside shed where I can establish a real workshop/workbench. Up until recently, I was working in my basement with horrible lighting and almost no storage. I had all of my tools and hardware lying on a drawing table that I used as a fortune workbench ... Now back to the point of the topic, since my workshop is now 'outside' the house, I have a few apprehensions regarding the environment. First off I live in Canada, so we have nice warm summers but also very cold winters. So I'm concerned about storing my wood in the shed. Do I have to worry about theses temperatures changes or should I be more concerned by the humidity level (or both)? Also at the moment the doors on the shed have a large gap under them so little creepers can easily enter the shed. I do plan to put a 'thingy' under them to fix that gap. But this made me wonder if bugs can damage my wood and if I need to take preventive measures, because I'm most certainly sure that there is gaps and holes elsewhere where bugs can enter. Here's what the shed looked like the day we got the home (now it is filled with boxes that need to be sorted )

Hi Greg, There is "Technology 4 Musicians" that sells bass and guitar headless bridges, but they are not cheap. See http://www.technologyformusicians.com/htbridge.php?lingua=2 for headless tremolo bridges. They sell individual bridge saddles, fixed bridges (only 6 strings) and tremolo bridges (6/7/8). Here are the prices (tremolo bridges): CHROME: €240 (6 strings) | €265 (7 strings) | €290 (8 strings) BLACK: €245 (6 strings) | €270 (7 strings) | €295 (8 strings) GOLD: €250 (6 strings) | €275 (7 strings) | €300 (8 strings)

I made a lot of progress this weekend. I did like Pariahrob suggested and I made the bevel so it exposes the alder and I have to say that it was a GREAT suggestion. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, but it took a LOT of elbow grease to carve that wenge . I finished slotting the fingerboard and routed-it to shape. I also started working on the padauk neck (as you can tell by all the dust in the background). I'll be moving to my new house this week so I probably won't make any progress on both of my builds until I've set-up my new workshop.

I finally made progress on the single cut design. I was stalling since I first posted the topic because I needed to square-up the sides of the boards I was going to use for the body blank and I did not find anybody near me who had a jointer. But last weekend I was finally able to go at the workshop of the company that my uncle works for (it was a little drive from home) and took the opportunity to plane and square-up an 11' board of African mahogany (enough for 3 body blanks), the alder board for this build and also an ash board. Here is the alder body and wenge top rough cut: *you might notice that the wenge top is flat on the sides, well the board was exactly the size of my template so I don't have a lot of wiggle room but it should be OK. If anythings happen I have small strips that I can glue on the sides. The wenge top came a little bit thinner that I planned so I've changed my plans and I will make the bevel expose the wood underneath. Now back to the headless build, I had a little mishap with the planer... The maple top was about 2mm too thick so to save time I opted to make a small pass on the planer, but I hit the crank a little to much and the board didn't like it.... Next time I'll use the belt sander... But it may have been for the best in the end because the replacement looks way better:

Time flies rapidly.... So fast I forgot to take the time to post updates of my progress, and I've made quite a lot. Last week I routed the final body & neck shape. Last weekend I glued the fretboard and started to carve the neck profile and the belly cut. I also started sanding the fretboard radius. Yesterday I've received the flamed maple top for this guitar that I rough-shaped and fitted to the neck. This step was fortunately not so hard, but I understand that it is a little more complicated for a through neck than a standard bolt-on or set neck. The thing is that because I had already started sanding the neck, my neck pocket routing template was bit loose so I put some layers of tape over the edges of the template before cutting the opening on the maple cap. After a bit of sanding and tweaking, the maple cap fitted perfectly. I also filled the fret markers with two parts epoxy putty (milliput, which is from UK IRC) and sanded them flush this morning.

I've made some progress this weekend, mainly on the headless design. I slotted & shaped the fretboard and I also drilled the positions markers. I've also started slotting the fretboard for the single cut design. I made a tiny mistake cutting the last fret. It is not slanted enough and looks parallel with the 23 fret. I'm tempted to redo the slot as the angle is so slight the old slot will be hidden under the fret. Today I planned the neck blank sides to be the same width as the bridge and also cut the wings on my new bandsaw, It is now glued and clamped. Also it is not shown on the picture but I've put black veneer strips between the neck and wings.

I agree that this design is a little eccentric, I too felt the same about the horns at first but I got to like it. And beside it was purposely designed with an hard rock/metal theme in mind. About the neck access, I just realized I might have goofed up a little. I aligned the neck in a way that if you follow the end of the fretboard it will hit the lowest point in the horn (treble side). Since it will have fanned frets, at this point on the neck your hand will be slanted forward and I was thinking it would be just perfect to hit those frets. But now I see that the bulk of the neck heel/joint might come in the way. It may help that I've decided to make it neck-through so I can smooth the neck joint/fret access. Speaking of that, I've made the neck blank and routed the truss rod channel: And will look something like this: (earlier photo, the neck blank wasn't glued)

Thanks for the info! I've just noticed that the side dots looks like they are made of brass tubing too, where do you find such small brass tubing? Is there a special name for that kind of tubing? Because I also planned to make side dots like that.

Nice looking fretboard! May I ask how do you level the brass tubing flush to the fretboard? Because I'm planning to do something like this on my single-cut build but with stainless steel instead (I'm aware that stainless is a bit more hard to work with than brass) I was thinking diamond file maybe....

Hi everyone, I'm pretty new here and I've been interested in building guitar only since last December. To do a long story short, I have no prior experience in wood working and therefore had barely no woodworking tools at all. But I've really set my mind to do it so I had to purchase a lot of stuff. So for that reason, I decided that I will do more than one guitar (a bunch even) to make up for the investment. Also, after watching a lot of first build by other (inexperienced) people, I (my perfectionist side) decided that I did not want to do an half-assed job (sorry for the language, IDK how to translate this expression from french other than that). So since the beginning of the year, I've been planning a couple of builds and designs and accumulating wood and tools. Now I am at a point that I'm almost ready to start, I've purchased a bandsaw this weekend and the only thing that I'm missing is a good table saw and a planner (for the moment I borrow them from friends) I also found a guy near my place that owns a CNC so I had those made: (this is a must for me for that it will help me do a better looking job) The templates on the left are for a Telecaster variant that will look like this : Planned specs: Alder Body Wenge Top Padouk Neck & Control Plates Wenge Fretboard Wenge Headstock Veneer (will see if not too much wenge) The templates on the right are for a 7 strings Headless that will look like this : Planned specs: Ash Body Flamed Mapple Top 5 pieces neck (maple/wenge/purpleheart/wenge/maple) The render shows a bolted neck but I've decided it will be a neck-through Maple Fretboard T4M hardware (or maybe ABM) P.S. There probably won't be many progress this month because I'm moving at the beginning of June and I've already started boxing stuff. Also for the moment I don't have a proper workplace but I'll have a proper workshop at the next place (I'm really looking forward to setting-up my workplace). Also if you're wondering, JWT (in the title) stands for my initials.