Bizman62

Go to a paint shop where they mix paints into rattle cans - most likely it's automotive related. They should be able to find a matching colour if you have any good reference so they can compare it to their samples. Matte is just another ingredient in the mix, that's not a big issue after they find the right pink. Knowing that the original is an urethane based paint might help but doesn't necessarily matter much. No matter what type of paint you buy, you want it to be rock solid in a relatively short time without too thick a coat. Even 2k paint can be put into a rattle can, there's an extra button in the bottom to release the hardener into the mix.

Reducing the size by a hair isn't unusual, we all do it for most every build! Moving the template a smidgeon was a clever way to fix the horn pit. Using the router rather than sanding definitely keeps the sides straight if you don't have a spindle sander. Well thought!

Now there's something that scares me! In my opinion it's much safer to stand when using power tools. First, your body is making a steady tripod of your two feet on the floor and your hands leaning on the workpiece - yes, I count the hands as one as they're both holding either the tool or the piece against a solid workbench. Second, your entire body works as a fine tuned lever for moving the tool or piece. And finally, if something goes wrong you can jump back or duck much faster than if you'd first had to climb down off a chair.

Since you asked I had to bite the bullet and measure it. It's about 13-14 mm at the low E hole. But the radius of the dip (or whatever it's called) is now much tighter than it was as I really had to scrape quite a lot to get the dye off the end grain. 96% alcohol really made the dye penetrate into end grain!

That's a widely used method, although most of the time I've seen it been used is right on the guitar itself! Doing it on a template is much safer as you can change the center line in case the neck wasn't properly aligned.

Holy Moses! That bevel is stupendous - they often seem to have a discontinuity point or two at the ends but you've managed to get the curve of the binding continue without any corners. It almost looks like there's an offset lower bout casting a shadow left to it! Wow, just wow!

Thanks @curtisa, I had that nagging feeling in the back of my head already when I first watched that video a couple of years ago but I couldn't figure out what the issue was or how to do it better. Your video reminds me of something Neil Paskin may hove done. It wasn't too hard to find an example:

How about this:

And the saga continues... The course started again last Saturday and despite all the social aspects I managed to make some progress. Reshaped the control cavity template and rerouted the cavity accordingly to better fit the tubular jack. Also scraped off the burst on the headstock as best as I could - now I fear I made it too thin!

Such lovely pieces of art! Back in the early days of TV they would have looked very strange on the black and white screen... Fortunately the image quality has improved from those days so we can enjoy watching any colour schemes on a guitar!

You're welcome, Quebec City! The latest video I've so far seen him mention it is this one, starting from where he discusses the matter:

Well, that backfired As a silver lining for this cloud of mine, building a bass uke like that might be interesting and playing one should be easier than a long scale bass. Does that one have a piezo somewhere, also what's the scale length? And how does it sound compared to electric or dog house basses?

On the contrary! Although I could find the origin of the name which also led to an old drawing showing a pole between the workpiece and the ceiling, it's always nice to hear a verifying comment. The current version obviously is just an attempt to make the thing portable so you can use the best lit workplace for other purposes while the glue dries. The pressure being stabile was new to me. Very useful information! That means that it's more about the amount of rods instead of how much they've been bent. Hmmm... I guess that there may be a point right before cracking where the bent rods have more power and that if you could keep the rods dead straight you could adjust the pressure by lowering the top. Of course the latter would be easier just by using sturdier poles instead of flexible rods. And of course those sturdy poles should be trimmed to exact length to match the object to be glued. Flexibility is the key here! Thanks for delaying my dementia by offering this meal of food for thought!

If Glad-ys looks so sad, how would Sad-ie look?

That's a pretty fancy headstock for a ukulele! Or is it a bass? No matter what, it's georgeous!

This thread just keeps on opening my vision!

I just watched a Rosa Stringworks video about repairing an acoustic with an undersaddle piezo. Mr. Rosa being a perfectionist regarding seating the saddle into the bridge said that the transducers under the bone a) eat depth required for proper snug seating and b) weaken the contact between the bottom of the slot in the bridge and the bone. In his opinion a good quality glued transducer inside the body sounds as good and allows for a properly seated saddle in the bridge. This little article might be an interesting read: https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/best-acoustic-guitar-pickups/

Sometimes posing a question as a joke can result answers you weren't expecting but may find worthy. Another proof that there's no silly questions.

Looks like either the springs are too loose or weak, or the six screws on top are too tight. If you can't push it down with your hand it's the latter. Measure... To avoid redrilling the holes you need to know the diameter and length of the string capstans so they'll fit into the original capstan bushings - or you'll also need to know the outer diameter and length of the bushings so they'll fit the existing holes. And then you need to know the size of the tuner housing so they'll match the spacing. Your photos don't show how the tuners are attached but I assume there's a screw or two. You may be able to find a matching set but if the only issue is misplaced screw holes, filling them and drilling new ones is no big issue. Gotoh, Kluson and Wilkinson among others make decent priced good quality sets, I'd say for non-locking tuners the price range for a decent quality set is about $30-40, premium quality being double or triple of that and most likely overkill for that guitar. The type of tuners you need is 6L meaning 6 in line on the left side looking from the top.

At first glance one might think that building dedicated jigs for binding is overkill but if it works better than your other options it's just the right thing to do!

Think about liquid soap: In the bottle it has a deep colour but the foam is always white.

It's the traditional blend of boiled linseed oil, lacquer (varnish) and turpentine. The proportions may vary depending on brand. This one looks like the guy knows what he's talking about: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/tru-oil-recipe.1288244/#post-20637554

@mistermikev exactly that, didn't think about mdf but it's basically the same stuff as chipboard, only made of much smaller chips. For clarification, by chipboard I mean the stuff made of splinters the size of smashed toothpicks, not the one that looks like the chips were made with an axe.

Not only were you lucky to manage to get the shape cut between the holes, you also managed to get the biggest offcut possible which is always good to have for control cavity covers or headstock veneers.

Have you put anything else on those other than the lacquer? They were baby blue like the jeans of my teen years, now one is grassy green and the other like juniper needles! Or is it just a different lighting?