Winter Buildoff 2022: Still A Diva

[TerribleTim68]

Face It -
I took the clamp off the headstock ears this morning, and then glued the face on -

That should be ready to unclamp by the time I get home this evening. Then I can start rough shaping it into something less paddle looking.

 

[RichterScale]

I brought my neck to work.
It's bring your bass neck to work day.
You didn't see the email?

 

[TerribleTim68]

I brought my neck to work.
It's bring your bass neck to work day.
You didn't see the email?

I did not. Although, I’m not sure it would help me design that Hilton lobby bar I gotta get done today.

 

[RichterScale]

Sure it would.
Just like at Google where they do yoga, take, naps, ride bikes, read comic books, roll around on giant beach balls, whatever they do there.
Tell your boss you need to take 30 min breaks to do wood working,...to inspire creativity and productivity.
And you want a couch and beach ball.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Knowing my boss, I’m sure it would go over well.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I work on necks in my sleep, and EAT sawdust! Not you like hapless slackers.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I did not. Although, I’m not sure it would help me design that Hilton lobby bar I gotta get done today.

Hilton Lobby Bar ala Marleaux.... Wierd organic shapes are good for lobby bars, right? Scale it up about 15 times and Robert is your Mother's Brother.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Hilton Lobby Bar ala Marleaux.... Wierd organic shapes are good for lobby bars, right? Scale it up about 15 times and Robert is your Mother's Brother.

Now you sound like all those fresh interior design grads. They do that with buffets too. "Let's make it a giant S shape!" Yeah, that's cool Jennifer, but all the equipment is square or rectangular.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I feel like I need to think through remaining procedures, because sometimes it helps me "see" where I am and what my next steps are. So this is more for me than you guys, but you might find it interesting and you might go "don't forget..." These are also not really "in order", but more broken down by "areas" -

• Headstock -
  • Shape (this includes the small bevel at the nut of my top lam, plus final thickness...ing as well as neck transition at ears)
  • Drill Tuner Holes
  • Dye Top (this will be late in the overall process)
• Neck -
  • Volute Carving
  • Heel Shaping/Carving
  • Side Dots? (not sure if I'm just gonna go with the fret position markers or add dots, probably add dots too)
  • Nut (gonna go premade graphtech on this one)
  • At some point I've got to glue the fretboard on, but it'll need to happen late in the process after the body is done, because it goes on top of the...top.
• Body -
  • Finish Shaping Wings
  • Bridge
  • String-Thru Ferrules (yes, we're going string-thru on this one, cause I've never done it)
  • Route Wiring Channel From Pup To Control Cavity
  • Route Control Cavity
  • Route Pickup Cavity
  • Drill Pot Holes
  • Drill Jack Hole
  • Arm Carve?
  • Belly Carve
  • Roundover?
  • Dye Top (this will be late in the overall process)
• Final -
  • Final Assembly / Glue Up
  • Final Sanding Of Everything
  • Finish (still not sure what this will be, most likely Tru-Oil again, because I have it and it's easy to do this time of year)
  • Wiring / Assembly

Yeah, that's a lot of stuff. I need to place an order for the bulk of the hardware. Electronics will have to wait till next month or so, hopefully I can get them in time. I'm already starting to panic about the timeline.

 

[Beej]

Well, y'know... a friend of mine told me he's heard there will probably be a summer build off this year. And maybe a 'finish that stalled build' category as that has been shown to have wide appeal in the past.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Well, y'know... a friend of mine told me he's heard there will probably be a summer build off this year. And maybe a 'finish that stalled build' category as that has been shown to have wide appeal in the past.

Yeah, I'm hopeful I won't be falling back on that. I'd much rather just get it done. I got this third build I've had drawn up for quite some time now that I'd eventually like to get to.

Also, summer is racing season, I'm busy.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Off With Its Head -
So today I wanted to get that headstock less canoe paddle looking and more headstock looking. After dinner I went out to the garage and unclamped it. From there we could do a bit of cleanup on that veneer I glued on, just to bevel off that edge at the nut. Then we can use that headstock template to outline a shape -

There we go, a game plan! I guess I need to blow this thing apart so I can handle that neck blank a little easier -

And then some rough cutting at the band saw, we have this -

That's not bad. I can live with that. I should be able to flush trim it from there with the router.
Okay, that was fun. Let's sort of mock this back up so we can just see how we're doing with this mess -

Yup, it's a thing, for sure.
I got a lot of little things to do, but I feel like I'm in pretty good shape here. I really need to place an order for some hardware. The nut, tuners and bridge being the main things right now. But I do have a few smaller things I can stress over in the mean time. Like heel carving, volute carving, body carving and finishing up that headstock shape. But yeah, it's looking like a thing.

 

[Beej]

 

[RichterScale]

Killer.
Man I love wenge grain patterns.

 

[RichterScale]

Is this a 4 string or 5?

 

[TerribleTim68]

4 atring. And I'm basing my neck dimensions off of the Ibanez SR line, because I like them.

 

[TerribleTim68]

So here's a question for the brain trust -
I'm gonna do string thru on this one, just because. With a 34" scale, I probably need a 40" winding length (roughly). Which brand makes a flat wound long scale?
I was gonna use the DR Legend flat wounds, but they don't seem to come in long scale, unless I missed something.

 

[dwizum]

I use this reference for questions like that:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Tells you the length to the taper, so I basically look at whichever tuner is closest to the nut, and measure to try to get the taper to land between the nut and that tuner. If you get that length correct the overall length will work out fine for a normal headstock.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Once you find some strings you might double check with the manufacturer. I don’t recall the brand but there’s one or two companies that don’t recommend using their flats with string through bridges. Something about the wraps don’t like that sharp bend over the saddle after the string comes out of the body.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Something about the wraps don’t like that sharp bend over the saddle after the string comes out of the body.

Of course, you are custom building and that means you can choose the angle that they come at the saddle from, rather than being required to make it be straight up out of the body and whammo! Somebody here did string-though that came out the end instead of the bottom, even, IIRC. You could also choose straight 90° holes and then radius the top of the hole towards the bridge.

Mind you, I have flats that cost more than my entire electric bass + amp setup coming apart over the bridge (which is surely an expected angle for them to bend) on the Lidl.