al heeley

If it's a one-off for a friend rather than trying to make a living selling duplicate guitars as Gibsons I really don't think you have much to fear from the lawyers, they have more pressing matters to attend to. However, the point about putting your own mark on your work and being proud of your skill, that's well worth taking on board.

Thx guys, really enjoyed this project. I tend to use a pick on the heavier fast tracks we do, but there's some slow blues and jazzy ones we do where I use fingers for a bit more feel. Overall I'm very pleased with the tone - great sustain must be due to the maple/walnut thru-body neck and lots of meaty low end with a good clear top as well, quite a bite to it which means the tone control is best backed off to half way. The GFS JB pickups are really great for the money - the neck pup sounds fruity and deep, the bridge a touch harsh and nasal on its own, but blended in with the neck it adds a bit more attack to the tone. Very happy with the sound. Comfortable to play but maybe the neck neck carve project will see me with more confidence to achieve a slimmer neck. The action is set a little high at the moment, another fret level and set up will see some improvements there but with an aggressive playing style this bass sounds far better than I could have wished. Thanks for the feedback and advice during the build! Here's a front-on pic of the body.

Pickups finally arrived this afternoon. (GFS Jazz Pro) Got the body routed for them, lined the ctrl cavity with copper shielding and got her all wired up. She'll be taken thru her paces at tonight's rehersal. Really looking forward to hearing how she sounds. Nice and comfortable playing position, neck couldf be a little thinner up beyond the 12th fret but on the whole I'm really pleased how this one came together. Front:> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_...ey/CIMG1630.jpg Rear:> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_...ey/CIMG1632.jpg

Well 2 are finished, in active service and performing wel; the single cut mojo sisiters. One (walnut prs-type with gibson scale replacement bolt-on neck) was recycled and chalked up to the great learning curve. The sycamore double cut I built used the previous neck and it never really had that vibe I was after - although I was happy with how the finish and the construction went, so I've stolen the hardware back off this and it sits sulking in a corner waiting for further inspiration. For the time being, I am into basses in a big way - far less conservative lot .

Slow progress finishing this, still waiting for the pickups before routing the cavities. Happy with the neck profile now, sanded thru 400/800/1200 grit then tru-oiled wet with 800 and 1200.

Coming together really nicely - good work!

Mmmm, I'll take the one in the middle please...your work is flawless, it's a real inspiration seeing your bass projects come together.

No, I love the gecko - (it was my first ever build and a really great bass), but you have to find a way to differentiate it enough from the warmoth design or it will look too much like a copied idea.

...you don't want it ending up looking like a warmoth gecko...

As Avengers63 said, a little too 'busy'. Pic2 shows more promise but sometimes a bit of restraint makes the difference between something looking really classy and something looking gaudy and overdone.

Body/wings all joined together now. Sanding and shaping continues. Small recess routed for bridge. Another 1/4 cm taken off the neck thickness, body/neck join tidied up.

Can't wait to see the top with a bit of shine on it, that quilt looks fabulous.

Then you need to sand down a bit of height off the 22nd fret with a piece of 600 grit wet'n'dry wrapped round a small block of wood, or hammer the fret in more if it looks like it's sitting a little proud of the fingerboard.

Big chip in back = guitar dropped ?? Guitar dropped = piezo broken ?? Is it built into the bridge or the guitar? Not easy to test for connectivity or a broken wire somewhere.

I can't decide about bass pickups for my new build. I want to get something a little better than a £15 ebay set or some Winkinson jazz bass copies, but I don't have the money to splash out on a really good boutique set. Any recommendations for good value good quality bass pups?

Great idea and great opportunity. Go for it. She can buy the bits andf you do the work., If it turns out really nice she could always give you a bonus b ut you gain great experience in the process and someone else pays for all the wood and hardware. perfect!

Nice work, coming together well

I get what you're saying, fuzz, but the body is nowhere near finished. I just splashed a bit of danish on it to see what the grain would look like. I can't resist the preview, I'm too impetuous I'm confident none has got through to the flat planed surfaces to be glued to the neck and I'm expecting further sanding/shaping, etc. once the wings are attached. Here she is fretted and position markers fitted. First time fretting for me so a bit nervous but it went smoother than I dared to imagine. No fancy tools just a hammer with a good few folds of cloth over the head, seemed to do the trick quite nicely. Once the bridge position is finalised and the nut filed down, I can add a tiny bit of camber to the neck if I need to, before gluing on the wings. Ctrl cavity now routed plus jack socket and walnut cover fashioned from a left over piece of the neck laminate, routed down to 4mm thick.

End-on, body wings contoured, sanded and Danish-oiled

Grain's starting to come up nicely...

Got the wood for the body wings. They had a 30% off sale on american mahogany plus a couple of planks of Zebrano, so this shows them sandwiched together and the rough shape cut out.

As long as your primier is also a solvent/oil based paint it will be fine. Troubles come when you mix solvent-based and water-based, they are not compatible.

I'm currently building my first n-t-b bass, using the great hiscox book as my guide. I've posted some stuff on the WIP area. It's been great so far but a huge amount more work than I expected, having never attempted a neck or fretboard before. great learning experience. Maybe I'm not the right person to advise though (yet - lets see if I manage to finish ok.....)

Good progress tonight - finished planing and sanding the fretboard to radius, set the position marker dots (M-O-P), attacked the back of the neck with surform, spokeshave and sanding blocks so 90% of the shaping is done. Still not decided on the pickups. Waiting for the truss rod to arrive. Off Friday to source some wood for the wings. Very pleased with it so far, a lot of new areas for me.

Forget farting about with latex-dipping. Just be sensible and use a push-put pot instead like axe said.