What's On Your Workbench?

[Beej]

You’re not the first person to use that pickup line on me.

Knobs? You may wish to mention this fact to a physician at some point. Please don't tell them I sent you.

I also set them so that if I dig in hard it will buzz the frets, because I like that tone and I like to be able to create that tone when I want to but not have it when I don't want to.

I do this too. I refer to it as "klank". Invariably some guitarist will pick up my bass and say 'this thing buzzes like crazy', but then I can make it sing with no buzz and dial in the klank as needed.

 

[tubedude]

Knobs? You may wish to mention this fact to a physician at some point. Please don't tell them I sent you.

I do this too. I refer to it as "klank". Invariably some guitarist will pick up my bass and say 'this thing buzzes like crazy', but then I can make it sing with no buzz and dial in the klank as needed.

Channel Chris Squire.

 

[Flamingo21]

Invariably some guitarist will pick up my bass and say 'this thing buzzes like crazy'

A good way to stop people from jamming on your bass without your consent.

 

[Will_White]

Got the feet on, grill cloth stretched on, and repainted the open back 1x15 cab to a more subdued solid purple. I would be done already but the machine screws I bought to mount the driver aren't long enough.

The pickups for the double P refit came in today after a detour back to Florida. They fit the rings great.

 

[Flamingo21]

That's a beautiful cab right there! Though it won't be everybody's cup of tea. Do you plan to gig it?

 

[Will_White]

That's a beautiful cab right there! Though it won't be everybody's cup of tea. Do you plan to gig it?

Maybe, it'll mostly be my recording cab for baritone instruments, and the effected cab for my stereo basses, but if I get a gig that calls for it I'd have no qualms with using it.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

The speaker cab is really cool I’d play it out… if I still regularly played out…

 

[Lo-E]

With the faux L1K completed I can now get back to other unfinished business:

My friend Jack’s T-bird is back for more heat. I suspect this is going to take many sessions and, even then, I’m not so sure how effective this will be. I may try a hotter heat source but, ultimately, I suspect this is a neck that’s going to need a combination of planing , compression fretting and fret dressing to really get right enough for the truss rod to be effective. The truss rod that still needs to be repaired, that is!

In the meantime, I’m revisiting the hand drills I got at the flea market a few weeks ago. The nice Craftsman (Millers Falls) breast drill from the ’50s, once I cleaned the gunk off of it, turned out to be missing some teeth from the drive wheel. A new drive wheel on eBay cost twice what I paid for the drill which I simply wasn’t about to do. A whole other drill, on the other hand, cost a big 22 bucks! Done! I’ll combine the best parts of both drills for a keeper and the worst parts for a door stop.

I’ve completely stripped down both drills and maybe tomorrow I’ll scrub all the parts down in degreaser and start removing rust.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

On my workbench at the moment

for this Ibanez

new fret wire has been delivered so re fretting is on the agenda too
(Thanks @Beej for the advice and push to just do it!!)

 

[Lo-E]

@Deleted member 365158 : Interesting pickup arrangement. That should be a pretty versatile setup. The Roadstar IIs were extremely well made basses. ...and is that a wenge pickguard?!?

The frets, at least up at the top of the neck in the photo, appear to be in good shape. Are the lower frets shot or are you refretting just to have a size you like better?

 

[Deleted member 365158]

@Deleted member 365158 : Interesting pickup arrangement. That should be a pretty versatile setup. The Roadstar IIs were extremely well made basses. ...and is that a wenge pickguard?!?

The frets, at least up at the top of the neck in the photo, appear to be in good shape. Are the lower frets shot or are you refretting just to have a size you like better?

The pick guard is thin plywood i had lying around thats been working great for this purpose, its rattle can flat black. Ill hit it lightly again when the rest of its done.

this pickup arrangement has works out well, I’ve done 2 others that are similar.
The frets aren’t bad but the previous owner sanded off all the finish and left the fretboard pretty bad. I figure it should be cleaned up since I went through the trouble to contour the slab body and sent it to my brother to paint. He’s been painting old muscle cars for over 30 years as a hobby and did a great job on this one.

 

[Flamingo21]

Still, cleaning up a fingerboard can be done without pulling the frets.

 

[Lo-E]

Since I’m on a roll with the hand drills I took a little time to clean and lube another drill I picked up for $3.50 on the same day as the others. It’s a Miller’s Falls #1 and I think it’s a pretty old one. It doesn’t look like much but it’s a really nice little drill that’s very smooth now and the chuck is (surprisingly) in very good condition. Solid rosewood handles!

The little Stanley behind it is the one I’ve used for years for delicate work like drilling tuner mounting holes or pilots for pickup mounting screws. It’s a very good drill but it doesn’t have rosewood handles now, does it?

 

[RichterScale]

My father had one exactly like the rosewood handled one above. It even had the red paint. It was the first thing I ever drilled holes with and I thought the bit compartment in the handle was the coolest thing. That was over 40 yrs ago and who knows how old it was when he got it.
I really wish I had it now. I've been searching for another one and haven't seen one just like it in 40 yrs.

 

[Lo-E]

I've been searching for another one and haven't seen one just like it in 40 yrs.

Now that you know the model number you shouldn’t have too much trouble tracking one down. Miller’s Falls made numerous versions of the model #1 but they made them in huge numbers. They turn up often and usually cheap.

I’m guessing mine was made anywhere from the late 1800s to the 1920s but that’s really just a guess. I need to find a secret decoder ring.

 

[RichterScale]

Now that you know the model number you shouldn’t have too much trouble tracking one down.

Yep. That light bulb went on about 3 seconds after I posted that.

 

[RichterScale]

Looking at pics jogged my memory. It looked more like the MF no.77.
But I don't see any with the bit storage in the handle.
However, the craftsman 1071 looks like the MF no.77 and has the handle storage.
I'm 99.9% sure that was the one. And I'm seeing them for $20.

It won't be the very drill I had as a kid, but the next best thing.

 

[Crawforde]

Those are great drills for holes too big for a gimlet or a tiny bit in a pin vise, mine disappeared years ago, but I still have a nice brace and bits, and some of the push drills Yankees and the type, that I use regularly.

 

[Lo-E]

Looking at pics jogged my memory. It looked more like the MF no.77.
But I don't see any with the bit storage in the handle.
However, the craftsman 1071 looks like the MF no.77 and has the handle storage.
I'm 99.9% sure that was the one. And I'm seeing them for $20.
View attachment 4810647
It won't be the very drill I had as a kid, but the next best thing.

That Craftsman is almost certainly made by MF and $20 is a nice price!

Those are great drills for holes too big for a gimlet or a tiny bit in a pin vise, mine disappeared years ago, but I still have a nice brace and bits, and some of the push drills Yankees and the type, that I use regularly.

I don’t use push drills for lutherie but they sure are handy around the house! I actually picked up several auger bits on the day I got those eggbeater drills to mostly complete my set. I like the bit and brace for the same reason; it’s extremely controlled. One of the reasons I also like hand planes.

Don’t get me wrong; I love me some power tools and I would be helpless without at least one router (or a lot slower, anyway) but sharp chisels and planes, hand saws and hand drills definitely still have a meaningful place in the shop.

 

[Crawforde]

That Craftsman is almost certainly made by MF and $20 is a nice price!



I don’t use push drills for lutherie but they sure are handy around the house! I actually picked up several auger bits on the day I got those eggbeater drills to mostly complete my set. I like the bit and brace for the same reason; it’s extremely controlled. One of the reasons I also like hand planes.

Don’t get me wrong; I love me some power tools and I would be helpless without at least one router (or a lot slower, anyway) but sharp chisels and planes, hand saws and hand drills definitely still have a meaningful place in the shop.

Yep. I don’t have near the number of power tools I used to have when I had a shop, but I’m adapting, and do this for fun so don’t mind being slow. I also love fixing up old “junk” and making it useful. I put a modern hex tip adapter on an old push screwdriver recently. Now I can use any driver bits, and hex shank bits. And it ratchets. That thing combined with a decent set of tips and drill bits is an amazingly useful tool now.