Uh huh…. Sorry, after this story false modesty isn’t going to fly…LOL!! Have a good one!
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Blondes have more fun - a weekend build.
- Thread starter ChickWithaRic
- Start date
Uh huh…. Sorry, after this story false modesty isn’t going to fly…LOL!! Have a good one!
Moderator insert: it is very difficult sometimes to decipher tone via the interwebz, so let's all remember rule #1 here at TB, that of respecting each other. I will always err on the side of caution enforcing it, so you will all note some missing posts. Let's experiment with decaf, perhaps?
Ok I will admit I can step on Legos in bare feet at 7am LIKE A BOSS.
That I can do especially well and announcing the event with the carefully select verbiage like !@#!!@#!!
The Guyker electronics and hardware look good! Hadnt heard of them before, and Im always looking for good quality/less expensive hardware because Im a cheapskate. So, natural finish, kind of a 70's style all over. My first (only) bass teacher had more or less this bass, black bound and blocked Jazz body and neck, but the really thick poly finish. He had the ashtray and pickup cover, which look great, but always right where I want to play. He was an old upright player, the only guy I ever saw actually using the thumb and tugbar technique. I'll eventually build a tricked out Jazz from scratch, and of course, it has to have the covers! Ive used Watco on a ton of furniture, but mostly Tru-Oil these days
Entertaining thread and great weekend build! Freehanding the neck joint!!! Guts or crazy??? Maybe both. If it works, your brilliant. Its like watching someone dance on the edge of a cliff. Definitely want to see how the action sits. Looking forward to more!
I don't really see it as freehanding but I understand your argument. The thing is that to remove 3/32" from such a small area is really not worth setting up a router surfacing jig, so I did it just as we have done since wood was invented. By hand.
Not so much guts or crazy, just confidence. It wasn't difficult, the critical thing is to mark out accurately and work down to your scribed (not pencilled) line. The Shinto rasp gets you within shooting distance very quickly. Use it across the grain at 45 degrees and always, always, check your progress every few strokes.
I'm familiar with the tools I use, I have 100% faith in their ability to achieve a professional result, all I have to keep an eye on is the idiot in charge of them (me). We've done things like this by hand for a few Centuries now, and as I already said I was too lazy to rig up a surfacer. I'm happy with the result.
As soon as I saw this body I knew it had to be a natural blonde finish with as little in its way as possible. I sealed it before working on it with thinned down Danish oil to keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. If I weren't using the Babicz bridge I might even have gone for a genuine 7ender ashtray, but the Babicz deserves to be seen. It's an ingenious piece of enginerding.
Sidenote: The 1960 J had no drilling from under the bridge to the control cavity for the string earth. There was, instead, a thin strip of brass from under the bridge to the bridge pickup shield, which was hidden by the ashtray cover. Value engineering, 7ender style.
I have the bridge set in place, and what with spending 4 hours yesterday and three hours today, I think that's all the time I can afford this weekend. I'm happy with my progress.
I think everybody has their own method of setting out for the bridge. This is how I did it.
First, I know the exact distance from the bridge pickup centerline to the forward edge of the bridge I am using. This is not always a necessarily reliable measurement, but the Babicz bridge base plate is an aluminum extrusiion and they are notoriously accurate and consistent, dimensionally. I also know my body is a 1:1 7ender clone.
Task number one is to determine a center line. I know my neck is mounted on the center line so I could just place a known straight edge along both sides of the neck and bisect the resulting lines at known points of reference. In this case, the pickup centerlines. Rather than mark the body I use Japanese Kamoi brand Kabuki-S tape.
Lots of marking later...
I have a true center and a true square. Take your time, you have all day for this. If it looks wrong, it's wrong. I guarantee you. Check, double check, go have a sandwich, check again.
When you're happy, mark out for drilling.
Now it's time to drill right through the body for the string through. If you have a drill press, great. Mine is broken, but I do have an "as seen on TV". It works, if you take your time.
I haven't found my string ferrules and I can't remember the correct drill size for those, so that can wait. I think I'm about done for today, I may, if I have time, take a bullnose plane to the overbite on the neck/ body shoulder.
How things are right now:
I think you could easily do this in a relaxed weekend, but I have limited time. I will strip it all down later and work on the finish now that all the machining has been done. Another half a day should see this playable but I really don't have half a day until next Saturday. That will do. I hope everybody is having a great Sunday.
I think everybody has their own method of setting out for the bridge. This is how I did it.
First, I know the exact distance from the bridge pickup centerline to the forward edge of the bridge I am using. This is not always a necessarily reliable measurement, but the Babicz bridge base plate is an aluminum extrusiion and they are notoriously accurate and consistent, dimensionally. I also know my body is a 1:1 7ender clone.
Task number one is to determine a center line. I know my neck is mounted on the center line so I could just place a known straight edge along both sides of the neck and bisect the resulting lines at known points of reference. In this case, the pickup centerlines. Rather than mark the body I use Japanese Kamoi brand Kabuki-S tape.
Lots of marking later...
I have a true center and a true square. Take your time, you have all day for this. If it looks wrong, it's wrong. I guarantee you. Check, double check, go have a sandwich, check again.
When you're happy, mark out for drilling.
Now it's time to drill right through the body for the string through. If you have a drill press, great. Mine is broken, but I do have an "as seen on TV". It works, if you take your time.
I haven't found my string ferrules and I can't remember the correct drill size for those, so that can wait. I think I'm about done for today, I may, if I have time, take a bullnose plane to the overbite on the neck/ body shoulder.
How things are right now:
I think you could easily do this in a relaxed weekend, but I have limited time. I will strip it all down later and work on the finish now that all the machining has been done. Another half a day should see this playable but I really don't have half a day until next Saturday. That will do. I hope everybody is having a great Sunday.
Blonde is almost always a good choice for ash. Looking forward to seeing the final outcome. Hand tools can definitely match power tools, except in bulk operations. They do require more understanding, which takes time. Not sure it fits TikTok format. I'll look forward to your scratch jazz build. Don't keep us waiting too long.
I really love a J in blonde ash, it's so quintessentially all that was cool about the 70s. Unfortunately, the only way I'd ever build a J from scratch is if it hadn't already been invented. It's a hard base to improve upon.
But now I'm like, you know what, that black pearloid does look good...
(decisions, decisions)
(decisions, decisions)
I am really liking both. At the moment the pickguard is held on very securely with just the pickup cover screws, which makes me think... I could glue screws into the pickguard and grind the shanks off so I get the best of bothe worlds. Maybe a very discreet 1/8" neodynium magnet disk here or there as back up. But who would even DREAM of such a thing?
I’m usually sans guard but that looks good with the black pearloid. Maybe the pickup cover screws and double stick tape until you decide if you want it in or not?
So I had lunch, which was nice, and did mom stuff, which was also really nice, and now I'm having a washing up session on my weekend's work and I have discovered an error.
I know exactly how it happened. I thought I was way too clever and in too much of a rush to clamp down my Gator Tools drill guide and I messed up. As a result, one of my thru body holes went rogue. Entirely my fault, poor working practice and foolish over confidence. My work ethic is if I mess something up, I will own it. I'm owning this one.
What was I thinking. Dumb*ss. It's easily fixed with a suitable size tapered plug cut from scrap ash and careful drilling from the BACK side this time. There's enough slack between hole sizes for that to work. I'm just as comfortable sharing my failures as I am my achievements, because we learn from both, and knowledge is supposed to be shared. I'll fix that tomorrow and post a play by play but it's really a very simple fix, and the string ferrules will hide all the evidence of my fumbling.
In my defense, at least I have an active J without an ugly plastic wart box on the back side of it.
All problems are soluble in time and effort.
I know exactly how it happened. I thought I was way too clever and in too much of a rush to clamp down my Gator Tools drill guide and I messed up. As a result, one of my thru body holes went rogue. Entirely my fault, poor working practice and foolish over confidence. My work ethic is if I mess something up, I will own it. I'm owning this one.
What was I thinking. Dumb*ss. It's easily fixed with a suitable size tapered plug cut from scrap ash and careful drilling from the BACK side this time. There's enough slack between hole sizes for that to work. I'm just as comfortable sharing my failures as I am my achievements, because we learn from both, and knowledge is supposed to be shared. I'll fix that tomorrow and post a play by play but it's really a very simple fix, and the string ferrules will hide all the evidence of my fumbling.
In my defense, at least I have an active J without an ugly plastic wart box on the back side of it.
All problems are soluble in time and effort.
