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What's the dumbest mistake you have made?

#63
PasdaBeer said:
hrm thats what i use also, any oily woods? on all my joints, I give them a wipedown with some naptha or spirits first.
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just wenge. when i saw it was coming apart, i stuck a dental pick intpo the crack to see if the glue was wet. i was still gummy. i added more glue andd re-clamped. i think it will be alright. we'll know on thursday! on my last bass (my ONLY other bass build), i used gorilla glue. but titebond is way easier to work with. no foamy mess.
 
#64
tdogg said:
just wenge. when i saw it was coming apart, i stuck a dental pick intpo the crack to see if the glue was wet. i was still gummy. i added more glue andd re-clamped. i think it will be alright. we'll know on thursday! on my last bass (my ONLY other bass build), i used gorilla glue. but titebond is way easier to work with. no foamy mess.
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Ahh ok. I keep my glue ups in my house when they dry : ) Helps the glue set faster.

And +1 to getting rid of gorilla glue. Stuff is horrible. Yes its strong, but messy and usually sloppy joints less ya do it with tons and tons of clamps.


Oh and a new stupid thing!

Fully contoured the body of a fretless im working on, without routing any cavities. Gonna be a b**** to get my templates to sit even and make happy routes now!
 
#66
I screwed up several nuts teaching myself how to shape and groove one. I have had a couple of finish-altering mishaps with a screw driver while trying to adjust TOM bridges. I set my first bass on the floor and proceeded to step on it and snap the neck. Yep, I'm a loser too. Anyone who works on/with guitars long enough is bound to have a bonehead episode. Remember: It's not the end of the world. Just keep telling yourself, "It's only wood and metal, it's only wood and metal, it's only..."
 
#68
I've been working on my headstock, the inlay's all done, everythings lined up for the tuners to be drilled. I tripled checked to make sure they are in the right spot, all good. I grabbed my (what I thought was) my 9/16" bit. Drilled out all 6 holes and realised I just used a 3/4" drill bit. Needless to say I'm pretty upset, I can fix it, but I shouldn't have to. I can't belive I didn't check the bit.
 
#70
I wish it was, I quit drinking a few years ago. Thankfully I've kept all of the scrap. I just picked up a 7/8" holesaw, I think I can line up the scrap pieces, drill'em out and plug the holes, if not I'll need to shave down the existing headstock and put a new top and bottom. Either way I feel like a real bonehead.
 
#74
Way before there were forums like this to point out the right way to do stuff I decided that I'd like to turn my Japanese Jazz copy into a fretless.

I did it by filing the crown off each and every fret just leaving the tang in the fretboard.

Did I have the skill to level the board with its soft 'rosewood'/hard fret tang combination? Nope.
Could I now pull the tangs out? Nope
Did I have the skill to saw the tangs out with a fine bladed hacksaw? Nope
Did I have the skill to remove and replace the fingerboard? Nope

A triumph of naive enthusiasm over knowledge and skill
 
#77
Actually, I can think of two. However, neither of them were about a particular instrument (sorry). Still, they were really stupid mistakes, and very costly.

1: A diamond coated grinding drum, one end of the axle in a horizontal Shopsmith and the other in a pillow block. We had just had the drum recoated in diamond grit, but they bent the axle. I noticed it when I had set the whole thing up, and noticed some crazy vibration, and that there was only a portion of the drum that made contact on a very light test pass. The stupidity starts here- I remove the pillow block, and rotate the drum by hand. The far end of the axle has a noticeable wobble. I flick the switch just enough, and the the whole thing jumps. I grab my co-worker, and do it again. The third time, just a hair too long (milliseconds), and it gets enough off balance to really get wrenched. Now, there's no proof we got it back warped, and the company we dealt with is off the hook. Doh!

2: The Genesis T-Sections were made in a heated press, the molds were clam shell (no hinge, just top vs. bottom), and only one of them could be put mistakenly put together backwards. I did it. I realized it only after enough pressure had been administered to deform one edge of the molded part, for about five inches. Luckily, it was recta-linear- though at an angle to the center line, the damaged area itself was essentially only part of a rectangle edge.

Those were dumb things to do.
 
#78
Not really a mistake on my part, but a lack of thought until a year later. Redundantly spraying a customers bass, and the lacquer doesnt seem to cure. After numerous strips and resprays, I finally give the customer a refund, and send him the parts anyway on my dime. No worries. I finally think about the retarding process of the lacquer, and contact Parks(who manufactured the lacquer). Seems the production run of this lacquer was sent out as straight nitro, but was pre ******** production lacquer instead, mislabeled. I recieved 4 new gallons of lacquer from them a few weeks ago, but it was an absolute nightmare...now I just laugh, and chalk it up to something I will always remember. Thought, it might be a good point of humor and knowledge if someone else runs into the same perdicament.

As a side note, after 20 years of spraying lacquer you might think I would have thought of this possibility sooner...LOL
 
#79
here are a few:

1.) routed a neck pocket and THEN noticed the collar on the router was bent, took 30 seconds to cut the pocket, and 3 hours to fix the problem... it was my first guitar so oh well

2.) on my fretless build, (the 6 string of paduak) I measured the holes for the tuners twice, the first time I was off a bit... somehow erased the wrong markings, and drilled the tuner holes wrong, oh well, it still works, just looks a bit ugly to me....
 
#80
I used a dremel tool to drill holes for a pickguard once. I accidentally bumped the speed lever up while drilling. The drill bit bounced around the hole violently for about 1/2 second, before I yanked the dremel away. What was left was the ugliest 1/2" crater in the top of my beautifully grained, natural Jazz Bass. Fortunately, the pickguard covered the hole.

Moral: Next time, get your shoes on and get your drill motor from the garage, instead of settling on your high speed dremel.
 

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