LFlab

Looks great, totally dig your way of doing the fret ends, I have seen people do it this way on bound boards, but it hadn't occurred to me that you can do this on unbound fingerboards as well, and it does prevent one gouging the fingerboard, just need to be very precise with cutting to length. Do you account for the fret becoming less radiused when you hammer it in (assuming there's a slightly tighter radius on them than the fingerboard)?

Love that ebony top! Such a lovely material, but yes, a bear to work with.

Looks fantastic, good to see that you managed that compound scarf joint. Really like the profile and carving on the body end, definitely Alembic vibes. This months GOTM will be extra exciting!

Well, yes, that could also be a reason, me being an old fashioned Not so much as Lee Sklar though, he uses tiny frets on his basses.

Oh my god, that is super hot, very nice colour, what a top! Those frets look ginormous though, wouldn't be my preference (and I am a bassplayer ), is that for a particular reason? Sustain maybe? Also dig the absence of rounds, and that is a very lovely headstock.

I have made a tv cabinet which veneered myself, so the grain would continue around corners, hair raising job. I used contact cement, because in theory that does not need to be pressed, I found out that it turns out a lot better and flatter if you do put clamping pressure on it (and cauls and plates). I wouldn't use contact cement for a guitar, but simply use white wood glue, and clamp it together, make sure to use an oversized sheet of veneer, because it will slide around on you. Also, think about finishing, because veneer is very thin, woodglue is likely to soal into it in places, and if you want to stain after, you get uneven results.

Warwick basses, which also used wenge in necks and bodies, had oil on bodies, not sure if necks had any finish.

Clean and remove any oils before glueing, make sure tools are sharp, because it is a bit splintery. Don't recall if it is eager to separate along the grain as easy as zebrano, from what I recall it is definitely a bit more sturdy (and heavy!). Will say that it is almost a waste to use it on the back, it is very nice. An alternative would be to use a dark veneer on the back.

Looks great, really like the sharp bodycontours and the stopped chamfer. I've used Osmo and other hard waxes on furniture, but I think for a guitar or bass, especially when stained, I'd rather go for something which adds a layer on top, rather than soaking into the wood. But, two coats of Osmo and a product is bombproof, if the item doesn't get wet, it is very robust. The place where I bought it finished a countertop with it, and obviously, it being a shop, it sees a lot of abuse, but it still looks good, I think the guy mentioned them applying a new coat every year and half or so, after cleaning and a scuff.

For the super shortscale bass, it was certainly trial and error to figure out tuning and string gauges, I think I went through five sets of strings before landing what's on there now, and most of those sets where actually comprised of strings out of two off the shelf guitar/baritone sets, luckily, you can get A LOT of odd string sets these days

So you "simply" used the lines on the paper to aim your saw, or did you also use a block or something to keep it pointing the same way? With respect to that fretboard material, at Maderas Barber in Spain they call it "exotic ebony", possibly a "lower" grade because apparently for ebony, the darker it is, the more desirable, I myself like it to have both blackness and grainpattern.

Looks great! Very nice grain on that wood, Especially striking when you posted the profile pictures, and the picture looking down on the top horn. Any progress pictures of the carving? Did you go the forstner drill and router route, or by hand?

Thanks, so maybe that is what I did wrong, have not noticed issues with rubber of stands touching nitro yet. Maybe a diy nice wooden stand for several instruments is a nice future project, and then use felt as a buffer, rather than rubber. WRT finish, I have one guitar which I started, but was built and finished by a luthier, I think he used rustins plasticoat, that's something I like to try as well, but that is a very lengthy process, needs a long long time to cure, I believe. Anyone here use it?

Thanks guys! Really wasn't too hard of a project, especially given that I bought a paddle neck, the one thing that did kick me is the finish though. This neon colour really shows small specks of dust, some of them came from the paint itself, I suspect. Also, I had planned to use a rattle can 2k clearcoat on this one, but I found a warning somewhere not to use a 2k epoxy over acrylic. Instead, I went for an acrylic clearcoat, which sucks, do not ever ever ever use that stuff. I remember it from the old days that it stayed sticky for a long time, and figured that they might have figured that out by now, wrong. The neck has two coats of acrylic clear over bare wood (and the headstock) and it feels sticky, so it needs to come off at some point. The body is sort of OK, but I noticed a slight stickyness when I picked it up fom the guitar stand, and sure enough, the rubber of the stand left black stripes where it touches the body, I'll see if I can save this, and put a coat of nitro over it, but in the future, I think I'll stick to nitro. The bass plays and sounds (and still, looks) great though, strings could be a tiny bit higher but that needs to wait until the neck fully sets under string tension. It sounds massive, with still plenty of definition.

That guitar body really looks great, keen on seeing it lacquered. Totally jealous of you spray booth, do you do a lot of car and motorcycle parts then?