The Hossenfeffer III Build

[dwizum]

Your f hole looks great! Binding them is very tricky business.

I use this Amana bit (3/8" diameter) for most pickup pockets: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PTTREU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The resulting 3/16" radius is good for most pickups. On pickups with really sharp corners I use a 1/8" diameter bit and sneak up to the corner like you did. I'f I burn a template here or there, no big deal. On some things (like f holes with sharp points) I make an oversized template, and use a 1/16" diameter bit with a bushing - that's probably the cleanest, easiest, most "official" I've found to do it, but it takes some careful design work to get the template done since it has to be oversized for the bushing. And you have to be gentle on a bit that small!

 

[deff]

Amana Tool makes these miniature bearing template bits down to 3/16" diameter, but a lot of the reviews on line say they break easily. They have versions for 1/4" router collet or 1/8" Dremel, but i think if one more Luthiery related Amazon package shows up on my doorstep, my wife will shoot me.
Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more
How are other people doing the tight corners in pup routes? Ive tried the "Drill a hole in each corner first" technique, but I always seem to eff it up. I know using the Dremel bit self-piloting is a little risky, but Im just sneaking up on a tiny bit of material.

I know my experience was far from professional but I used a chisel and small file. Maybe working with hand tools isn't the answer you are looking for, but to me, it presented the best option and can be done with precision that can't be achieved with a rotary tool.

 

[Flying B]

Yeah agreed. 5 minute job with a sharp chisel.

I know my experience was far from professional but I used a chisel and small file. Maybe working with hand tools isn't the answer you are looking for, but to me, it presented the best option and can be done with precision that can't be achieved with a rotary tool.

 

[Dean N]

Are you sure you've never done F hole work before? That looks really good!

I'm definitely new as far as bass building goes, so take my words with a grain (or pound) of salt, I guess, but I got a collet adapter (1/2" -> 1/4") and used a plain old straight 1/4" diameter straight shank bit. The bit rode the template, which didn't scorch at all. Probably not ideal for some template materials, or frequently used ones. I got good results. Please pardon ugly primer situation:

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Antidote to a crap day at work, running nowhere like a hamster on a treadmill..... building basses. I feel better already. Finished F-Hole with some naptha to pop the cocobolo top plate. I like it.

The full mockup with cocobolo caps. It's not an Alembic caliber piece, but I think the Tru-Oil will bring out everything there is to pop. Cocobolo has become REALLY expensive and hard to find since Covid.

MG Supershield in the pup and bridge ground wiring channels. barely enough, too, it dried in the bottle, had to rejuvenate it with a little acetone. Almost time to glue these caps on, gotta do my F-Hole void in Tru-oil first.

 

[Reedt2000]

That F hole looks awesome

 

[ctmullins]

Mmmm, your attention to detail always pays off so nicely!

 

[Beej]

Came out wicked awesome!!

 

[Rôckhewer]

I like it.

Me too.

 

[Flying B]

That's the nicest f-hole I've seen for a long time (said the bishop to the actress).

Your methodical approach and attention to detail is inspiring.

 

[Kaa]

Very nice build. (I'm just a voyeur on this forum. Lol.)

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@Tendril
Today’s voyeur is tomorrow’s Builder, I didn’t know doodly-squat about this stuff 5 years ago. Seeing other seemingly normal humans do incredible builds on TB convinced me it was possible. It’s harder than it looks, but addictive as hell. I dream about this at night, sick, huh?

 

[ctmullins]

It’s harder than it looks

If you'll allow me to wax a bit philosophical for a moment (while my dinner is digesting)....

This statement is true, and then again it isn't.

On the one hand, building something as complex as a musical instrument from scratch presents many opportunities to F up.

On the other hand, the process can be broken down into a series of rather simple tasks. Quite a few tasks are necessary, but no one task by itself is particularly daunting. And, as @Gilmourisgod so deftly demonstrates, attention to detail pays off handsomely.

So it's easy, but only if you have patience and persistence and accuracy and focus and don't screw up along the way!

 

[Kaa]

@Tendril
Today’s voyeur is tomorrow’s Builder, I didn’t know doodly-squat about this stuff 5 years ago. Seeing other seemingly normal humans do incredible builds on TB convinced me it was possible. It’s harder than it looks, but addictive as hell. I dream about this at night, sick, huh?

I love the gear of bass playing.
I am fascinated by the nuts and bolts of building.
And I am a primitive dabbler in working on them. (For instance, when I got my latest one, I used a heat gun to take off the peeling poly finish. I slightly melted my pickup covers, totally melted the control cavity cover, and scorched the wood in places. Lol.)
I take basses apart, and put them back together, and have swapped out hardware and pickups, using my trademark "Big blobs of solder are better, right?" technique.
Maybe I should look at getting a better soldering iron than the one I've had for 25 years. And a big bench-mounted magnifying glass so I can see what I'm doing.

 

[Kaa]

If you'll allow me to wax a bit philosophical for a moment (while my dinner is digesting)....

This statement is true, and then again it isn't.

On the one hand, building something as complex as a musical instrument from scratch presents many opportunities to F up.

On the other hand, the process can be broken down into a series of rather simple tasks. Quite a few tasks are necessary, but no one task by itself is particularly daunting. And, as @Gilmourisgod so deftly demonstrates, attention to detail pays off handsomely.

So it's easy, but only if you have patience and persistence and accuracy and focus and don't screw up along the way!

there's always a catch, isn't there?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Any of the TB builders will probably agree that it’s more about attitude and mindset than tools. There are some builders who can do this with 100% hand tools, for whom I have great admiration, and people with every imaginable tool and gadget. I’m in the middle someplace, I was into furniture building and repair, so I already had the basics like tablesaw, router, bandsaw, etc., and I’m lucky to have a workshop I share with my brother (his shop, mostly my tools) but some people do this on a kitchen table or a Workmate bench and churn out unbelievable builds. There’s a builder called @Frederiek, not sure she’s still active on TB, who did a series of amazing builds in her apartment and outdoor balcony. I am blessed (cursed?) with mild OCD tendencies when it comes to woodwork, which forces my mind-numbingly methodical approach, and it’s all in my head. I literally am incapable of doing anything of consequence without visualizing it first, so I spend about an hour thinking about everything for every 10 minutes of actual work. Every. Single. Time I eff up it’s when I’m rushing, or haven’t thought it through. I guess with enough practice, that would get easier, but I’m still on the raggedy-ass bleeding edge of what I can do on every build.
P.S.
Here’s a good, relatively cheap soldering workstation, the one I use, and it’s plenty good enough for guitar work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...&pd_rd_r=7de08fef-fec6-4af4-82ed-2c52ec379910

 

[RichterScale]

I literally am incapable of doing anything of consequence without visualizing it first, so I spend about an hour thinking about everything for every 10 minutes of actual work. Every. Single. Time I eff up it’s when I’m rushing, or haven’t thought it through.

Same here.
Also, I've been able to capitalize on the collective knowledge here. Asking questions, doing searches and reading through dozens of threads over the course of a month has added up to what feels like a year of experience.
The devil is always in the details and many of the details I've picked up from TB has given me a big head start/advantage.

 

[BTL]

Any of the TB builders will probably agree that it’s more about attitude and mindset than tools.[...]

When I was a kid I used to build and fly RC model airplanes. I probably minimize how much that experience informs my approach as a guitar builder, but it all applies. Understanding how the materials you are working with behave and perform under a variety of conditions is key.

Like RC planes, guitars are made of wood, metal, plastic, and paint and these materials all behave differently when exposed to each other as well as to water, solvents, adhesives, and cutting tools.

@Gilmourisgod's illustration of how to bind an f-hole and shield an electronics cavity is an object exercise in solving a series of problems that using these materials in concert presents. Really cool!

 

[deff]

but some people do this on a kitchen table or a Workmate bench and churn out unbelievable builds.

I would hesitate to use the word unbelievable with my build, but I have zero workspace outside of a moveable two feet wide table that was too high to work decently on and my kitchen table. We probably shouldn't even talk about my tools. But problem solving and patience are probably the biggest factors. I would also say, a willingness to learn from other's experience. I am already planning a guitar for my friend.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I would hesitate to use the word unbelievable with my build, but I have zero workspace outside of a moveable two feet wide table that was too high to work decently on and my kitchen table. We probably shouldn't even talk about my tools. But problem solving and patience are probably the biggest factors. I would also say, a willingness to learn from other's experience. I am already planning a guitar for my friend.

And that's all it is, 1% tools and 99% the willingness and patience to do it, even when you are clearly in over your head, like I am, all the time, which is not the same as "winging it". If you did the absolute best you are capable of, you WON, and you Own it in a way that's only possible by building it. I know EXACTLY how screwed I am beforehand.