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First Build - "Lucifer"
- Thread starter TerribleTim68
- Start date
I'm not sure Tom Araya ever had a mullet. He certainly had long enough hair, but no mullet.
I'm jealous. At this point, the best I could do is a wispy, thin, grey skullet... 
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Some day... I'll be cool too.We are men of discernment and taste.
(But sorry... no mullet for a bald dude).
I'm gonna take a shortcut & Frankenstein this 5'er body.
Anybody got an extra neck?
Every time you post that thing I die a little inside. If I had the money I'd buy it off you. Hurry up and make a double-neck out of it so I stop wishing it was mine.Some day... I'll be cool too.
(But sorry... no mullet for a bald dude).
I'm gonna take a shortcut & Frankenstein this 5'er body.
Anybody got an extra neck?
View attachment 4128051
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Double neck?.... oh yeah... that was an overzealous idea I had.Every time you post that thing I die a little inside. If I had the money I'd buy it off you. Hurry up and make a double-neck out of it so I stop wishing it was mine.
I would just like to play the thing.
You say "overzealous" and I hear "this needs to be done!"
Probably why Mrs. Terrible looks at me the way she does.
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
You're not wrong.You say "overzealous" and I hear "this needs to be done!"
Now I remember the plan... it even has a name... "Orthrus".
Forgive my short term memory. I just currently have a backlogged 7 string bass, then a 6 string "guitar"
, then a 5 string bass to build before I can think about doing something fun like that. I start making sawdust next week...after a 2 year hiatus.
Sorry, I've never had a mullet. Didn't have the proper attitude.And mullets. Mullets are important.
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Yo... I just came across this and immediately thought of "Lucifer".
You doing a "strat" jackplate like ESP does?
Check this out....
[This invalid link has been removed]
You're welcome
You doing a "strat" jackplate like ESP does?
Check this out....
[This invalid link has been removed]
You're welcome
Don't Fret Over It: Yeah, Yeah, I'll See Myself Out
So I probably put off doing the fret job on this thing for about as long as I possibly could. There was a part of me that really felt like this was yet another key moment where you can make really expensive firewood. After returning here to share with all of you and get some feedback, I returned to YouTube University as well and watched a few more videos on fret leveling and crowning. Then I figured it was time to...you know...do something.
As Matt From Texas Toast Likes To Say: Enough With The Bullsh..... Talk, Let's Get To Work!
My daughter actually payed attention to my Christmas gift list and bought me a fret leveling beam, a crowning file and a couple fret guards, they all came in a nice little pack. I also got a fret beveling file and figured it was time to "do the thing". Here's a shot of my weapons of choice all assembled before we attack -
First, we bevel those fret ends. Sorry, no pics of that (some day I'll figure out how to do those moving pictures like....who was it now?
). Then we tape this thing up -
Yeah......that took long enough!
Pretty sure I know why Leo settled for 22 frets. He was sick of taping them up for leveling. 
I settled on using the leveling beam the daughter got me for Christmas, partly because she got it for me for Christmas (so I could send her a photo of her gift being used) and partly because it already had differing grits on each side of it, so I wouldn't have to bother with trying to affix sandpaper to it. Plus, I really felt like I should go slow here so let's not jump in with something that just might hog off material too fast -
So, do the Sharpie thing on each fret, slowly glide over them until said Sharpie lines disappear. Do the Sharpie thing one more time, flip beam to a finer grit and give it a once over just to be sure.
Heavy is The Head That Wears The Crown:
Once I had my frets leveled to a point where I was comfortable with it, it was time for crowning and rounding them ends. I whipped out that little crowning file and the fret guard that was in the gift kit -
Yeah....nevermind on the fret guard, let's just scratch that idea. I seriously couldn't figure out how to comfortably hold it while working the file. But, the file was slick, super happy with that and really glad I have it!
Here we are all crowned (the little check marks are because little Timmy struggles to remember what he just did, and man there's a lot of these little fret thingies! Again....Leo....22 frets....just saying) -
And Then...
I decided to cover the whole body in tape -
Not because it was "needed", but because I knew what I was about to do. Tape is cheap, most of this wood wasn't. I figured I'd err on the side of caution here. Once I had it covered in tape I whipped out my little Dremel (not actually a Dremel) tool, some polishing compound and chucked up a little buffing wheel in my "remote attachment" flexy wand thingy. Smear a little polishing compound on a few frets and let's get to work -
After the first couple frets the little buffing wheel even took a fret crown shape to it, so I must have crowned them properly.
Now That We're No Longer Fretting:
After buffing said frets to a shine that I was happy with, it was time to peel the tape. All the advice on running a strip the full length down the sides first, super smart! 
Once the tape was off I decided to go back over the board again with the StewMac fretboard finishing oil, and we're left with this -
Yeah man, I'm not unhappy here.
Is it perfect? Probably not. It's the first fret job I've ever done in my life. I'm sure a pro luthier would point right to the spots where I need to improve. But I'm gonna be a bit blunt here too, I'm not even a good enough player to know the difference (I tell people al the time "I play bass because I like it, not because I'm good at it"), and this build isn't getting sold...ever. So yeah, I'm happy with this for a first attempt. They look level (I even checked with my leveling beam), they feel good when I slide my hand up the neck, they don't cut me when I run my hand up the sides and they have a decent shine to them.
So what Next?
Well, I need to get my strings in hand before I mount bridges. I've been holding off on that until I actually have the strings in hand because I feel like I need them to start looking at things like where they cross the nut. How are you guys mounting your bridges when using individual saddles? Do you put strings on it? Are you using something else? What should I be doing here?
Then there's the nut, I still need to cut one, and I feel like I really need the strings at that point. Oh, and maybe some sort of file to...you know...file the slots with. So currently my Amazon cart has strings and nut files in it, but that purchase is on hold. Why you ask? I'll tell you why!!!
So Mrs. Terrible had told me "figure out what you need to buy next and we'll start buying things one at a time." I had placed a bunch of "stuff" in my cart that was all kind of "I need these things soon..." One of those items was my Darkglass Tone Capsule. Well, she saw that the cart said "only one Left" and she placed that order before it vanished. So I think my Tone Capsule will be here this week, but it'll just sit on the shelf for now. But it will be sitting on MY shelf! 
So that's kind of where we are at the moment. I could use some solid advice on mounting bridges when using individual saddles. I feel like this is an area that @Rôckhewer and @Ripthorn could really weigh in on here. Anyone else who uses individual saddles, I'm all ears. How are you doing it? What's the process? I already have my tuners and my saddles, where do I go from here?
So I probably put off doing the fret job on this thing for about as long as I possibly could. There was a part of me that really felt like this was yet another key moment where you can make really expensive firewood. After returning here to share with all of you and get some feedback, I returned to YouTube University as well and watched a few more videos on fret leveling and crowning. Then I figured it was time to...you know...do something.
As Matt From Texas Toast Likes To Say: Enough With The Bullsh..... Talk, Let's Get To Work!
My daughter actually payed attention to my Christmas gift list and bought me a fret leveling beam, a crowning file and a couple fret guards, they all came in a nice little pack. I also got a fret beveling file and figured it was time to "do the thing". Here's a shot of my weapons of choice all assembled before we attack -
First, we bevel those fret ends. Sorry, no pics of that (some day I'll figure out how to do those moving pictures like....who was it now?
). Then we tape this thing up -Yeah......that took long enough!
Pretty sure I know why Leo settled for 22 frets. He was sick of taping them up for leveling. I settled on using the leveling beam the daughter got me for Christmas, partly because she got it for me for Christmas (so I could send her a photo of her gift being used) and partly because it already had differing grits on each side of it, so I wouldn't have to bother with trying to affix sandpaper to it. Plus, I really felt like I should go slow here so let's not jump in with something that just might hog off material too fast -
So, do the Sharpie thing on each fret, slowly glide over them until said Sharpie lines disappear. Do the Sharpie thing one more time, flip beam to a finer grit and give it a once over just to be sure.
Heavy is The Head That Wears The Crown:
Once I had my frets leveled to a point where I was comfortable with it, it was time for crowning and rounding them ends. I whipped out that little crowning file and the fret guard that was in the gift kit -
Yeah....nevermind on the fret guard, let's just scratch that idea. I seriously couldn't figure out how to comfortably hold it while working the file. But, the file was slick, super happy with that and really glad I have it!
Here we are all crowned (the little check marks are because little Timmy struggles to remember what he just did, and man there's a lot of these little fret thingies! Again....Leo....22 frets....just saying) -And Then...
I decided to cover the whole body in tape -
Not because it was "needed", but because I knew what I was about to do. Tape is cheap, most of this wood wasn't. I figured I'd err on the side of caution here. Once I had it covered in tape I whipped out my little Dremel (not actually a Dremel) tool, some polishing compound and chucked up a little buffing wheel in my "remote attachment" flexy wand thingy. Smear a little polishing compound on a few frets and let's get to work -
After the first couple frets the little buffing wheel even took a fret crown shape to it, so I must have crowned them properly.
Now That We're No Longer Fretting:
After buffing said frets to a shine that I was happy with, it was time to peel the tape. All the advice on running a strip the full length down the sides first, super smart!
Once the tape was off I decided to go back over the board again with the StewMac fretboard finishing oil, and we're left with this -Yeah man, I'm not unhappy here.
Is it perfect? Probably not. It's the first fret job I've ever done in my life. I'm sure a pro luthier would point right to the spots where I need to improve. But I'm gonna be a bit blunt here too, I'm not even a good enough player to know the difference (I tell people al the time "I play bass because I like it, not because I'm good at it"), and this build isn't getting sold...ever. So yeah, I'm happy with this for a first attempt. They look level (I even checked with my leveling beam), they feel good when I slide my hand up the neck, they don't cut me when I run my hand up the sides and they have a decent shine to them.
So what Next?
Well, I need to get my strings in hand before I mount bridges. I've been holding off on that until I actually have the strings in hand because I feel like I need them to start looking at things like where they cross the nut. How are you guys mounting your bridges when using individual saddles? Do you put strings on it? Are you using something else? What should I be doing here?
Then there's the nut, I still need to cut one, and I feel like I really need the strings at that point. Oh, and maybe some sort of file to...you know...file the slots with. So currently my Amazon cart has strings and nut files in it, but that purchase is on hold. Why you ask? I'll tell you why!!!
So Mrs. Terrible had told me "figure out what you need to buy next and we'll start buying things one at a time." I had placed a bunch of "stuff" in my cart that was all kind of "I need these things soon..." One of those items was my Darkglass Tone Capsule. Well, she saw that the cart said "only one Left" and she placed that order before it vanished.
So I think my Tone Capsule will be here this week, but it'll just sit on the shelf for now. But it will be sitting on MY shelf! So that's kind of where we are at the moment. I could use some solid advice on mounting bridges when using individual saddles. I feel like this is an area that @Rôckhewer and @Ripthorn could really weigh in on here. Anyone else who uses individual saddles, I'm all ears. How are you doing it? What's the process? I already have my tuners and my saddles, where do I go from here?
Haha! that's pretty wild man, pretty wild!Yo... I just came across this and immediately thought of "Lucifer".
You doing a "strat" jackplate like ESP does?
Check this out....
View attachment 4132502
[This invalid link has been removed]
You're welcome
I'm actually planning some sort of barrel type jack in the side, hopefully in that little curved part similar to what Dingwall does -
I like how it directs it back at the strap button, which is where you end up looping it anyways. Never understood why Leo insisted on putting jacks on the face, pointed down.
Congrats on taking the big fret work leap! Your frets look great. And if by chance you happen to find that there's a low spot or a high spot, at least now you're equipped and educated to take care of it!
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
... um... measure twice, drill once ?
That's all I got bro.... at the moment.
I've only built 13 basses and they all had solid bridges.
Astaroth (pet name "Astro"
)...will be my first foray into monorail mounting fun.Personally... I think I got the layout nailed in my CAD file. I am slowly realizing that digital plans are really worth the trouble.
I placed the bridge layout drawings at their their intended bridge spacing and scale distance... allowing for "compensation"... which I just learned was a predictable thing.
And I drew in the strings... not just lines, their actual guages... so to make sure fingerboard width was correct.
I plan to transfer those positions to my top.
But um... I'm gonna to do that when I cut the pickup cover caps & neck pocket out of the top... with a high power CNC laser
How you would do that?... maybe via a hole template you could register off the neck/centerline/etc... and stick down with super glue masking tape trick.
Or just do the string thing on the outer 2, and position the rest evenly in between. ... then draw accurately & use a center punch before drilling... etc...etc
But yeah, as far as position relevant to scale?
That's why I asked this question... and Bruce helped out immensely.
SoloRail bridge placement /multiscale query.
Last edited:
Well, that was fun.
So after a lot of thinking and pondering and contemplating, I decided to lay my fretfind print over it, Mark the spot for the center saddle and get that mounted so I could then lay out each one from that. Careful measuring, Mark the spot, drill a hole for the screw....
On the second screw hole, the drill bit snapped -
Yeah, that sucker is tiny -
So this marks the first major catastrophe of this build. Honestly I'm shocked I got this far before something like this happened. So, I'm all ears on how to get that teeny tiny little sucker out of there.
So after a lot of thinking and pondering and contemplating, I decided to lay my fretfind print over it, Mark the spot for the center saddle and get that mounted so I could then lay out each one from that. Careful measuring, Mark the spot, drill a hole for the screw....
On the second screw hole, the drill bit snapped -
Yeah, that sucker is tiny -
So this marks the first major catastrophe of this build. Honestly I'm shocked I got this far before something like this happened. So, I'm all ears on how to get that teeny tiny little sucker out of there.
Is it at all proud of the surface? If so, channel locks and turn counter clockwise. It it isn't, a very small easy out. If channel locks can't reach it then try side cutters, but just grip don't cut, until it is high enough to get the channel locks on it.Well, that was fun.
So after a lot of thinking and pondering and contemplating, I decided to lay my fretfind print over it, Mark the spot for the center saddle and get that mounted so I could then lay out each one from that. Careful measuring, Mark the spot, drill a hole for the screw....
On the second screw hole, the drill bit snapped -
View attachment 4133307
Yeah, that sucker is tiny -
View attachment 4133309
So this marks the first major catastrophe of this build. Honestly I'm shocked I got this far before something like this happened. So, I'm all ears on how to get that teeny tiny little sucker out of there.
Oi crap!Well, that was fun.
So after a lot of thinking and pondering and contemplating, I decided to lay my fretfind print over it, Mark the spot for the center saddle and get that mounted so I could then lay out each one from that. Careful measuring, Mark the spot, drill a hole for the screw....
On the second screw hole, the drill bit snapped -
View attachment 4133307
Yeah, that sucker is tiny -
View attachment 4133309
So this marks the first major catastrophe of this build. Honestly I'm shocked I got this far before something like this happened. So, I'm all ears on how to get that teeny tiny little sucker out of there.
Rob has a good video on it. He makes his own screw hole cutters.
Best of luck!
Rob has quite a few good videos on his channel. He also helped me here on TB when I posted an issue about my pick-ups not working correctly.
If I could remember his TB handle, I'd give him a shout-out...
Rob has quite a few good videos on his channel. He also helped me here on TB when I posted an issue about my pick-ups not working correctly.
If I could remember his TB handle, I'd give him a shout-out...
It’s @RobbieK and he does seem to be a great guy.
If you can’t grip the drill but stub with pliers then the screw extractors are your best bet followed by a plug cutter in some of your scrap to make a plug.
