Prostheta

I think I might leave this bass natural, given the awesome piece of central mahogany and the wenge. The black CA I have might work well as a grain filler under an oil finish....

Oh yes - here's a diagram I roughed out:

Basically, the yellow line indicates the trench sunk by the round nosed bit which extends to the ends of the collars. This needs to be snug to the rods, but not tight. The green line indicates the larger flute bit which you square off to house the collars. Again, snug so the rod doesn't rattle but loose enough to it doesn't seize. The white line indicates the "tunnel" from the headstock to the rod which the adjuster goes through. The red line show the "opening" of the headstock so the adjuster can be accessed without it being awkward to work with.

I use a combination of round-nose bits and flute bits for truss rods cavities, since I primarily use dual action rods which don't need a curved trench. The round nose bits run the length of the rod from collar to collar leaving a nice rounded trench. The smaller flute opens up and squares the bottom of the ends for the collars - you can then neaten and square the recesses for the collars with chisels or a corner punch :-D You then drill into the headstock at 90° to create a hole for the adjuster to emerge, and then using the larger flute bit to extends the trench where it emerges over angled headstocks for access with adjustment tools. To a degree, a lot of these steps are unneccessary, but this is probably the furthest you'd want to take it for completeness. I didn't go that far with my current bass build - I just ran the round nose bit the entire length from the far collar, over the headstock and then opened up the trench at the headstock end for adjustment. The rod was installed with a couple of drops of silicone under the collars to stop em moving.

I think i'd prefer to go down the lines of laminating, because getting a small batch of green clearcoat together would probably equal it in cost terms. If it turns out I won't be able to laminate the photoluminescent plastic, I probably won't have a choice however. Thanks Russ/Tom!

Have you tried a Strat-style neck? Tele pockets have a tighter radius in the pocket corners AFAIR.

If you have the cash to splurge, get a custom neck or check eBay for necks going on the cheap. Failing that, make one :-D

Thanks man. I checked out their site before I posted with no luck. Seems I have too many specific ideas in my head as opposed to what is actually out there *~%'/

Such are the issues of a idealist/perfectionist!!

Thanks for the offer Russ man. I think I should be able to find someone in the UK with a vacuum press....

Standard E! You don't need to detune to be heavy....Destinstitution on our Myspace often makes people ask what tuning we use....hahaha :-D

UPDATE: Received the black CA today, as well as the cocobolo board precut by HuntinDoug for the ES-335 style inlays...glued up, re-radiused and polished!!

I've been searching high and low for laminated black/green/black (green, not mint!) to make a custom pickguard. There are a few auctions on eBay for JEM pickguard and headplate sets in the right material, but I can't seem to find the source or a suitable replacement. The only other choice I have I guess is to make my own using 1mm plastic sheets and laminating it myself with acetone.

Before I consider this option, has anyone got any leads?

Many thanks in advance :-D It's going to a good cause (my T-Bird).

EDIT: Agh, just noticed that the ideal material i'd prefer to laminate into the pickguard is solvent-resistant....

Cool. Received ten bottles today as well as a set on inlays which i'm installing tonight. I'd say it's the equivalent of medium viscosity CA so it should fill the gaps in reasonably finished inlay cavities nicely given a good chemical curing period before sanding. Excellent product!

PM sent, Setch.

UPDATE: Shaped and routed the headstock. Need to ease the volute a couple of mm to accommodate the tuner locating screw. The back of the tenon needs easing a couple of mm also as the top is a little too tall compared to the wings. Other than that - good to go!

SHOT 2

SHOT 3

SHOT 4

My choice would be something a little hotter like EMGs to drive the front end a little. I've had awesome tones out of Tone Zones, Super Distortions, EMG81/60s, etc. I would agree on Motherbuckers also. Hot and ballsy!

Play on man!!

Tone is a journey, not a destination :-D

^- how silly does that sound?

Despite being true in essence.

Ummm. What amp are you using - ie. solid state or valve? This makes a huge difference IMO.

Totally on there Marksound :-D The analogy of an author applies also - whatever the name on the front of the book, the quality of the print or the paper it's printed onto, the content shines through. Better gear does help develop technique through the whole "feedback in learning from the sound" to a degree, but not as much as general study and practice of course.

Ummmm. As much as I hate to say this, but David Gilmour's tone isn't purely down to EMGs....a lot of it is down to him being David Gilmour! Tone is in the fingers as much as it is in the instrument.

As for replicating the items in question - it would be cheaper and far better just to buy them.

Order placed. Will advise everyone on receipt. 10x 20g bottles of THIS BLACK CA on the way....

Thanks Postal - we have an order going in today.

Hahaha...no worries there Jon! I've been playing fives for a fair amount of time now, so going back to a four might have a learning curve! As you can see, i've deliberately gone for the "traditional" Gibson style three-point bridge so I might have to put a little bit of a neck angle in there.

None of it is glued yet. Since it's a good ol' classic 2x4 neck, you can do EVERYTHING as far as the routing goes on the tenon without gluing the wings on! The neck is a lot easier to handle without the extra bulk of the wings, so whilst i'm still doing "coarse" work (routing, bandsawing, etc.) i'm leaving the wings off.

As you can see, I have yet to complete the headstock (got a bit distracted yesterday as my wife and I went to a GWAR gig).

Anyway. More about the build. The neck tenon is five laminations of wenge and mahogany, the central mahogany core being some OLD OLD growth quarterwawn mahogany which, with the wenge, should add a good deal of stability and stiffness to the neck:

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

The wings are plain mahogany. After about three months of research, I couldn't figure out an easy or economical way of doing the Gibson-style V-jointing between the wings and the body so I sacked it off in favour of a straight planed edge join. The finish is going to be a solid one, most probably in black with green accenting same as my mainstay gigging bass. In that respect, I better do some hunting for black-green-black pickguard material or plastics which I can laminate to achieve the same effect....once the pickguard and truss rod covers are made, i'm hoping to have them engraved with the band logo or something along those lines....

The nut is currently going to be a Warwick Just-A-Nut 2 which is a height adjustable plastic nut which is simple to install and will get the bass up and running in the shortest time possible. I'll most probably replace this with a black Corian nut - ring your local outlet for samples which are ideal for several nuts! :-D

Oh man, I never mentioned how proud I was of my first well planned and executed scarf joint. The other two scarf joints were done in a bit of a hit and miss manner, but using Setch's great tutorial and a couple of similar tutorials on here, the laminations line up perfectly. Once i've shaped the volute i'll post pics and beam with self-satisfied pride of course!

Overall, a very simple and quick build also. No more than six hours work has been spent so far (lots more in terms of thinking and planning time however) excepting the gluing time of course. I'm tempted to rattle off a few more Thunderbirds now!

another pic

yet another pic

Just awaiting the cocobolo board with inlays....

You need what's called in the trade as a "wood stretcher".

Sorry to hear about your sandthrough!

If a luthierie is releasing a video giving insight into their "tools of the trade", i'm sure that showing somebody hammering in frets looks a lot more old-school and "desirable" than a chimp whanging frets in using an arbor. Maybe i'm biased against marketing, knowing how it works to manipulate your perceptions. Anyway. I think that on the face of things, hammering in frets makes luthiers look experienced and confident which leaves an impression on your mind of attention to detail, care and consideration.

Personally, I love the Taylor factory tour where they make no bones about CNC machines, automated spray booths and all the advanced manufacture procedures which improve potential error margins hugely, and make what used to be boutique craftsmanship down to earth. Of course, boutique craftsman make one-off creations, whereas manufacture is geared to quantity....

I digress. I believe that pressing is as good as hammering, but this is dependant on who bears the hammer or the press. A badly slotted and prepped board will suck no matter how good the fretting. Whatever works for the luthier to achieve the same end result shouldn't matter unless you're severely suffering from obsessive-compulsive guitar manufacture disorder.

Arg, somebody kill the thread and post a link to the previous one on this topic!!!