Are you going to do some contouring of the body? It looks great so far - a rough date with a shinto rasp is the only thing missing 
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Winter Build-Off 2024: A Big Funky Mikro
- Thread starter TheBloodyBarber
- Start date
Are you going to do some contouring of the body? It looks great so far - a rough date with a shinto rasp is the only thing missing
We're going after it with a router today to contour most of the edges then likely some rasp and oscillating sander work. The top horn is going to be interesting to sculpt.
Today we contoured and sculpted with the router and sandpaper on various sticks then finish sanded the body and neck down to 180. We brushed on a coat of shellac to get it sealed up and the figure has me about losing my mind. I'll be back in the shop later this week to sand to 220, tackle wiring, and to get some shellac sprayed.
I had a few hours midday to get over to the shop and get some work done. I made my nut, drilled and installed my dots, and started installing frets.
It was another empty midday at the shop so I headed over to dad's workshop. The body got it's first sprayed coat of shellac, I plugged the bad tuner hole and drilled a new one closer to the edge, finished installing frets, leveled and dressed them, drilled the control cavity, and made the control plate. Damn, listing that all out was a lot.
Tomorrow we'll finish up the finish, do the wiring, polish up the control plate, and put it all together.
If nothing goes terribly wrong, I should be playing it tomorrow evening. Damn, this has been wild seeing it all come together so fast.
Tomorrow we'll finish up the finish, do the wiring, polish up the control plate, and put it all together.
If nothing goes terribly wrong, I should be playing it tomorrow evening. Damn, this has been wild seeing it all come together so fast.
Looks good
Do you have any figured maple off cuts? To make a headstock veneer with?
The whole neck is curly maple.
Ah, got it. I grain matched the plug pretty close. Trying to plane a piece of curly thin enough to bandaid over it would be a nightmare. I'll own it as the only real mistake on my first build.
All done! It exceeds all of my original expectations. It plays wonderfully, looks like a million bucks, and sounds... Wow.
I was expecting a brightness I'd have to eq around with both pickups so close to the bridge. It turns out the neck pickup is a dump truck of low end, the bridge pickup has tons of clank, and both at 10 scoops mids.
The nut and heel width are the same as my mikro but the contour is a little chunkier. First impression, I like it a lot but it'll take a little getting used to.
I was expecting a brightness I'd have to eq around with both pickups so close to the bridge. It turns out the neck pickup is a dump truck of low end, the bridge pickup has tons of clank, and both at 10 scoops mids.
The nut and heel width are the same as my mikro but the contour is a little chunkier. First impression, I like it a lot but it'll take a little getting used to.
Very cool little thumper 
I'd guess the scale helps with the low end. Puts that neck J close to the MM sweetspot, relative to scale length.
Nice job, with plenty of time for video demos
I'd guess the scale helps with the low end. Puts that neck J close to the MM sweetspot, relative to scale length.
Nice job, with plenty of time for video demos
Fantastic! I think this is the first one to make it across the 'giggity' line. In other words, to be entered into voting, an instrument must be giggity, which means you could play it at a gig. Now you can make an official entry post in your thread and link it back to the main thread, but if you do that, tradition dictates you can't work on it any further. As it stands, you can keep tweaking it until March 19. The choice is yours Again, fantastic!
Now you can make an official entry post in your thread and link it back to the main thread, but if you do that, tradition dictates you can't work on it any further. As it stands, you can keep tweaking it until March 19. The choice is yours Again, fantastic!
I've had a couple weeks to get to know this ill-conceived monstrosity and I'm not sure if I could ever happily play an instrument that I didn't build. It's just something else entirely. Tonally, there are so many options just by twisting my volume knobs and moving my fingers around that a tone knob would just be a waste of real estate. To that end, I installed a brushed aluminum thumb rest so I can get that big thumpy tone along with some clank against the frets that I've grown to love on other basses I've owned.
The chunkier than expected neck is a total dream. My fretting hand doesn't get fatigued nearly as fast but it plays just as fast as my Mikro. We've had some weather changes and it appears completely stable too.
My only real complaint is the weight at 8.5 pounds but I'd been playing a toy Mikro for months. My upper back and neck are slowly adjusting.
I had some nice natural light this afternoon so I took a couple good photos. I hope it keeps the wild grain on the back. Cherry here is unpredictable whether it stays light or tans bloody red. Time will tell.
The chunkier than expected neck is a total dream. My fretting hand doesn't get fatigued nearly as fast but it plays just as fast as my Mikro. We've had some weather changes and it appears completely stable too.
My only real complaint is the weight at 8.5 pounds but I'd been playing a toy Mikro for months. My upper back and neck are slowly adjusting.
I had some nice natural light this afternoon so I took a couple good photos. I hope it keeps the wild grain on the back. Cherry here is unpredictable whether it stays light or tans bloody red. Time will tell.
D
