Wishbass Club Part 11 - 'When you Wish upon a Mwaaah!' - Page 41

Thunderitter · #**801** 02-20-2013, 11:06 AM

Shanebo - That's a real good looking Stude!

Here's a shot of I've got refin'ing at this time:

From L to R: fretless Maple Lyre, fretless Cypress Hipper, fretless S. Cedar Lobe, fretted striped Peanut, lined Maple Hipper, fretless Cherry JB and a fretted Cherry Custom J (currently de-fretted for board work).

../

5108audio · #**802** 02-20-2013, 12:30 PM

TR - Looking good, but when do you sleep?

5108audio · #**803** 02-20-2013, 12:35 PM

Hey guys, I've got a question about the website I set up for all things Wish. Do you find it useful, helpful, and/or enjoyable? The reason I ask is that ever since iDisk (free hosting) from Apple shut down, the expenses have been more than I initially thought. It's all coming up for renewal again and I want to know if I should re-up for another year.

I do enjoy working on the the site and don't mind paying the costs - if it's being used and enjoyed. This is NOT a plea for help. Just trying to see if the site warrants another year (or more) of life. Also, if there are suggestions for improvement - fire away.

Thanks!

Shanebo · #**804** 02-20-2013, 12:36 PM

Thanks Thunderitter!

I really tried to pay attention to the outline of the body and the flow of the body cutouts into the fingerboard area.

As delivered, there were random hills and valleys in all of the lines of the body, making the general shape remind me of clay pottery work when done by hand-forming.

First use of wood rasps for me, which was necessary to remove larger amounts of material before any sanding would really pay off.

Then, lots of love with a power palm sander to get rid of glue at joints and make the top and back level and flow smoothly into the edges.

Getting the inner cutouts totally smooth after shaping was the most difficult part, due to the thickness of the body and the tightness of the curls. Emery paper over a curved wood rasp was the right tool combination for that job.

Looks like you've got a nice set of projects going as well *jealous*.

All the best,

Shane

bassbenj · #**805** 02-20-2013, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5108audio

Hey guys, I've got a question about the website I set up for all things Wish. Do you find it useful, helpful, and/or enjoyable? The reason I ask is that ever since iDisk (free hosting) from Apple shut down, the expenses have been more than I initially thought. It's all coming up for renewal again and I want to know if I should re-up for another year.

I do enjoy working on the the site and don't mind paying the costs - if it's being used and enjoyed. This is NOT a plea for help. Just trying to see if the site warrants another year (or more) of life. Also, if there are suggestions for improvement - fire away.

Thanks!

Well, I'm just one vote, and I haven't been there for some time but got a big kick out of it when I did visit and you now reminded me to look again (which I just did) to see what's new and loved it again. So I'm not going to be going there every week, but I still think it's a wodnerful asset to the Wishbass community. I vote give it another year.

49sfine · #**806** 02-21-2013, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbenj

Well, I'm just one vote, and I haven't been there for some time but got a big kick out of it when I did visit and you now reminded me to look again (which I just did) to see what's new and loved it again. So I'm not going to be going there every week, but I still think it's a wodnerful asset to the Wishbass community. I vote give it another year.

What he said!

49sfine · #**807** 02-21-2013, 07:11 PM

Okay, back to Nemo #549 ... Like I said, it was quite a weekend. I decided I wanted that old trussrod out, no matter what. One of the reasons was because it seemed to me that there was no way it was going to ever move the neck before something broke (again) - I tried loading it up (even past the point I thought was safe) and still zero movement. Plus, I was just itching to get inside the headstock with my files which the exposed trussrod end prevented. What surprised me was how deep the channel was, as it pretty much took up the entire thickness of the neck at it's deepest point, which was roughly in the middle. I guess I was expecting to find a flat channel set to a much more shallow depth - little did I know!

I started out by drilling holes along the length of the channel and then using a miniature router bit set in my Dremel to clean out the filler strip as best I could without using a fence. The rod itself had to be cut in two, and I used a cut-off wheel on a 4-1/2" grinder to do that. It took a long time due to how hot the rod kept getting as I ground it away. Once I got it cut in half, part of the rod came out pretty easily, but the second half had to be pryed out and this resulted in breaking thru the neck wood as I attempted to get underneath the freshly cut end.

Here's what all of that looked like in photos ...

Drilling out the channel filler strip ...

Lifting the first half of the rod out -so far so good!

A new headstock fracture as a result of trying to get the rod to move back and forth in the hole ...

It's hard to see really, but here is the cutaway view of the rod channel showing just how close it (rod) came to just busting out of the neck ...

After some thinking about it and running it by TR, I decided to just cut the bass in half in order to replace the middle neck stringer. Still, it's not going to be that simple, but it is do-able ...

Nemo #549 as she appears today. Yikes!

Since these pix were taken, I have repaired the new crack in the headstock and begun to map out just how I am going to replace the single neck stringer (which originally was maple). The new one is going to be purpleheart, or possibly wenge, since I have pieces of these woods long enough for this repair. This stringer needs to be 14mm wide, or close to that , but the tricky part for me is going to be to get the existing stringer planed off the bass in a way that will provide the proper surface for glue-up. I should have a shot at it this weekend if my time goes the way I think it will. I am convinced now that this bass will NOT get a truss rod of any kind, but whether or not it will be converted a fretless is still unknown to me. (I want to get it all back together before I figure all of that out.) I'm excited about it actually, so not to worry, there's always hope!

**jbybj** · #**808** 02-21-2013, 08:36 PM

Seeing that last picture makes me feel like when I watch video of brain surgery. You know, when the surgeon drills a hole in the skull and you think to yourself, that's just wrong.......

If I was in your position right now, I would have a hard time keeping from setting fire to it, making a photo essay. You are a stout fella 49's......

JBY

49sfine · #**809** 02-21-2013, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbybj

If I was in your position right now, I would have a hard time keeping from setting fire to it, making a photo essay. You are a stout fella 49's......

JBY

I hear 'ya! Keep in mind though, if this repair does not work out I can always just cut the body wings off and make a new neck block, so the Nemo will live on. However, in the spirit of retaining as much of the original bass as is possible, I have opted to try the more difficult restoration option (IMO) of replacing only the middle stringer.

jumbodbassman · #**810** 02-22-2013, 03:28 PM

*** happened to my bass. guess i can't have it back... only kidding.... so sorry i sent this mess to you although I have to take the fifth on this one. SW never told me what was wrong, only that he fixed it and i had to take it. actually was one of the reasons i stopped having him build stuff for me plus the fact that he never once got it all correct. there was always something that was an issue/forgotten/etc

So sorry you found my nemo....

And BTW I know he disagrees about truss rods and most of you agree with him, but a few of my wishes clearly need them, though most don't. I need to decide how to deal with that one of these days. has anybody tried to take SW up on his guarantee???? haha

49sfine · #**811** 02-22-2013, 06:07 PM

Jim;
Not to worry! I know you were unaware of all the issues with this one, so everything is fine. Heck, I didn't know until I got the fretboard off and how many Wishbass owners rip those babies off with abandon! Since there isn't a luthier school around here I could attend or afford to attend, this is exactly the kind of scenario that propels me into the next skill set, so to speak. I love it actually. Owning Wishbasses has been my luthier schooling and it continues to this day - hoorah! I'm quite happy actually ...

BillyB_from_LZ · #**812** 02-22-2013, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 49sfine

... Owning Wishbasses has been my luthier schooling and it continues to this day - hoorah! I'm quite happy actually ...

When this one came up on eBay, I was toying with buying it, removing the body wings, flipping them over and making a right-handed bass out of it.

BillyB_from_LZ · #**813** 02-22-2013, 09:02 PM

Interesting...

Fretted 5-string Wish with a whammy bar!

49sfine · #**814** 02-23-2013, 07:18 PM

Not to let the grass grow - Nemo #549 moved forward today. I got the old center stringer planed off the two halves and got the new stringer itself cut and sized. As it turned out, when I was digging out the purpleheart, I came across a nice maple board that was just the right size for this project. Since the original stringer was maple, I decided to use it instead, even though part of me wanted the purpleheart. It all turned out fine, although I did end up taking more off the two adjoining walnut stringers than I wanted to, so I had to make the new stringer a bit thicker. Originally it was 13mm thick, the new one is a bit over 15mm. Not enough to be obvious and no critical relationships were effected (I have to plug and redrill the string-thru holes anyway), so I went with it. My next hurdle will be to get both of these halves lined up and doweled so they won't creep during glue-up. Not sure how to do that exactly, so I need to look into it before I go further. Here's the photos ...

First things first - Redd's Apple Ale & I got the new headstock crack glued up prior to shaving ...

Sending her thru the jointer to get past the remnants of that center maple stringer ...

Sizing the new maple on the planer - handy little machine!

Fine tuning the glue surface on the halves using my FB sanders ...

New maple center stringer now ready for glue & clamp!

Closer view of the back - Jim, not so scary looking now, think?

Shanebo · #**815** 02-23-2013, 07:46 PM

Maple was the right choice for the new stringer, color-wise.

All the best,

Shane

bassbenj · #**816** 02-23-2013, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 49sfine

Not to let the grass grow - Nemo #549 moved forward today. I got the old center stringer planed off the two halves and got the new stringer itself cut and sized. As it turned out, when I was digging out the purpleheart, I came across a nice maple board that was just the right size for this project. Since the original stringer was maple, I decided to use it instead, even though part of me wanted the purpleheart. It all turned out fine, although I did end up taking more off the two adjoining walnut stringers than I wanted to, so I had to make the new stringer a bit thicker. Originally it was 13mm thick, the new one is a bit over 15mm. Not enough to be obvious and no critical relationships were effected

Closer view of the back - Jim, not so scary looking now, think?

Not scary at all! I LOVE the look of hw this is turning out!

bassbenj · #**817** 02-23-2013, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyB_from_LZ

Interesting...

Fretted 5-string Wish with a whammy bar!

Hey, I love this bass! It's a nice pair to my Fretless version of the same thing (non-whammy)! So I tried to buy it. But the guy will only do PayPal and PayPal refuses to charge my credit card or fix the problem so that's the end of that. EvilBay and their forcing everyone into PayPal is truly irritating especially since PayPal just quits answering emails and won't fix any problems.

Oh well, I do need another bass like a hole in the head. I guess I should thank PayPal for keeping my GAS under control!

In any case my experiences dealing with sellers on the Bay has not been exactly stellar. TBers have been far more honest and easy to deal with.

**jbybj** · #**818** 02-24-2013, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 49sfine

Closer view of the back - Jim, not so scary looking now, think?

Wow, ambitious and spectacular. Looking great.

JBY

MARCOvdBoogert · #**819** 02-24-2013, 02:27 AM

great stuff again. Cool tools you've got. I would love to own them and have place to store them!

Thunderitter · #**820** 02-24-2013, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbenj

......So I tried to buy it. But the guy will only do PayPal and PayPal refuses to charge my credit card or fix the problem so that's the end of that. EvilBay and their forcing everyone into PayPal is truly irritating especially since PayPal just quits answering emails and won't fix any problems........

I've always found the PayPal phone help to be excellent. However, I hear you on the lack of options thing, however as an individual and or non-business seller, Paypal offers protection that is hard to get with any other payment method. There are downsides of course, as a seller and/or buyer, but I'd get on the phone and don't let this one pass you by!