I'm building a new guitar

[JCH]

...Nothing to lose and a possible chance to learn a dodge..

I'll have to try that next time. I had already scuffed if down before saw your suggestion. I didn't spray it yet though. There's too much dust in the shop, and it's too windy outside.

I delivered one of the pieces that I've been working on today. It's a huge, 9' 4" long recording desk for a pro studio here in town. They're remodeling their main room, and took out a 20 year old 48 channel console that used to be the centerpiece of their studio. They needed something to replace it.

I put some cool features into it. The legs are hollow, so all of the cables will be concealed. There's a big chase in the floor where the snake was that's next to one of the legs. The engineer's were impressed that I'd allowed for wiring into the desk to hide everything. It's going to be a nice room. I'll put up a couple of pictures this weekend after it's done.

When I dropped it off, One of the guy's, a bassist, and tech at the studio that I'd never met had played my daughter's bass. The walnut one. He really dug the guitar, and was talking all about it in the crowded room. I was flattered for sure.

 

[JCH]

I worked through much of the weekend, but I'm moving along with the re-finish on the one that cracked. Last night I dusted off the automatic winder, and spooled up a bunch of P-90 bobbins.

 

[JCH]

Now that I'm back to where I was a few weeks ago before the lacquer cracked, it's time for some of the other tasks. Yesterday I leveled, and crowned the frets. They didn't take much work at all to dress up. The sapele neck feels really solid. I'm anxious to hear this one!



I took a clean-up cut off of the top of the Mosely bass with the new sled. I had planned in advance to take a deck cut after I'd finished most of the German carve just to smooth, and level it out. The new jig works great.

 

[JCH]

Compromise is a sign you'll pass on the road to mediocrity. - Tim Fargo

The finish cracked again. I tried to save it before by sanding it back about 75%, and re-coating. It looked good for a while, but the cracks resurfaced after about 10-11 days. This time I'm going back to bare wood.

I wanted to keep the bevel carve clean, so I started with a sanding block with 120 grit, and scrubbed the finish from the flat area.



After that I scraped the edge.



I don't want this to happen again, so I'll be doing things differently.

I didn't think the finish had built up as thick as it had. This time around, I'll limit it to one coat of sealer, and only about three top coats. I'm pretty certain that the cracks were caused initially by leaving it out in the cold shop overnight, but the high buildup surely didn't help. ...the beat goes on

 

[muttley600]

Crazing and cracking in nitro in normally a result of too much moisture somewhere. Maybe worth checking your humidity and moisture content in the timber. The other main cause is gassing off too quickly in hot dry conditions so the surface cures before the main layer. Try shooting thinner coats with more time between coats.

 

[Chili]

Yeah, he lives in the desert so probably the 2nd cause is the problem. Drying too quickly. Does it ever even rain out there, John?

 

[JCH]

...The other main cause is gassing off too quickly in hot dry conditions so the surface cures before the main layer. Try shooting thinner coats with more time between coats.

I'm pretty sure you nailed it here.

It's a small setback, and fixable. I'm done being bummed about it. Live, and Learn.

Yeah, he lives in the desert so probably the 2nd cause is the problem. Drying too quickly. Does it ever even rain out there, John?

It can go months without raining. I dig it here. At least when I get out of the city anyway.



When I re-finished the guitar, I went back closer to what I had originally planned. I started with a blend of yellow with just a trace of red in it. After staining the whole surface with that I hand applied the tint to gradually darken at the perimeter. It's a very subtle gradient. Almost undetectable in the pictures. The guitar has a bit of a vintage vibe to it. I think this suits it well.

I kept it wet, and was able to work the color quite freely this time.

 

[JCH]

I worked on the Mose bass today. I cut the neck tapers, the head stock, and marked for the frets.

It's time for the customary "first mock-up on the floor"





My Daughter gigging with the birthday bass.

 

[JCH]

I had some time last night to radius the neck, and cut the fret slots. The tools I use for fretting are neither elaborate, or expensive. Basically they are a straightedge, ruler, utility knife, home made radius block, and a small Japanese pull saw.

After marking the slots on the neck, I scribe them deep with the utility knife, and square. I then finish the cut with the saw. Sanding the radius, and slotting took about two hours.

The saw is from Harbor Freight. The package says it's .024 kerf. I measured about five of them in the store with my micrometer. They were all .023". Frets fit the slot's nice and snug. If I remember correctly, the saw was around $8.

This is the first time I've dealt with a walnut fingerboard. I'm not certain what to finish it with on top.

If I have time tonight, I'll do the inlays, and knock some frets in.

 

[JCH]

It's moving right along. I sanded the fingerboard to 1,000 grit before installing the frets. This solid walnut neck is really going to look cool. I used a strip from the same board for the truss rod fillet. It almost disappears. I really like working with the walnut for building the neck. It's very hard, but machines nicely.

I used medium frets with a 10" radius, and celluloid dots.

 

[blaumph2cool]

Man, i could almost sink my teeth into that walnut neck it looks so good.

On the fret slotting, how do you get your correct depth. is there a depth stop i am not seeing?

 

[JCH]

Man, i could almost sink my teeth into that walnut neck it looks so good.

Thanks Man, but Please don't. The tooth marks would be hell to sand out.

After I did the first one piece neck with maple, I knew that I wanted to use walnut for the next one. I really want to do a guitar neck with it now.

On the fret slotting, how do you get your correct depth. is there a depth stop i am not seeing?

I don't have a depth stop. I gauge it by the teeth on the blade. Stop's on the blade would make it hard to see what I'm doing. It's not tough to do, just take your time.

I just want to reinforce the fact that you don't need a bunch of expensive tools to pull this off. Only some initiative, and invention.

 

[JCH]

I'm designing my own pickups for this bass. I'll be making them to fit the same footprint as a soapbar P-90 because I know that I can get blank covers in that size. This first, and I hope only set won't have covers though.

I foraged through my junk for parts to make these with. The flatwork will come from a couple of old pickguards. Pole pieces will be cut from leftover truss rod material. I had a pair of Epiphone humbuckers in the parts drawer that donated magnets, lead wires, shims, and mounting screws. I made the bobbin cores from some hard maple. The block in the picture is a pattern, and drill guide that I'll use to cut the flats. The only thing that I had to buy is the brass for the baseplates.

 

[JCH]

Here's my quick and dirty jig for making pickup flats.

First I cut a block the size of the pickup flats that I want, and drill it for the slugs. This will be my pattern.

I use double face tape to mount the material that I want to cut the flatwork from to the pattern.

I mounted a block to my router base with a small hole for the trim bit.

I trimmed the plastic, and then drilled the holes through the pattern.

The flat's came out perfectly matched.

 

[JCH]

This one's done. The bass is moving along, and this weekend I'm starting on a couple of other's. I haven't had much time for guitars lately, but that's about to change.

 

[XploZiveToyz]

Nice!

 

[Greg_L]

Wow, nice work.

 

[muttley600]

Nice. Did you make the covers with your new vacuum press? Meant to reply to your email and clean forgot sorry....

What is the finish? and how do you find that adjustable wraparound? I found them near useless to set up as I had to drop the tension each time.

 

[JCH]

Nice!

Wow, nice work.

Thanks Guys!

Nice. Did you make the covers with your new vacuum press? Meant to reply to your email and clean forgot sorry....

I had bought those covers before I made the vacuum table, and currently I only have black thermoplastic, so I used the one's I bought. I'm excited about the vacuum table, and wish I'd built one years ago. You know how long I've been talking about doing it. Most of the big makers all use the same covers. Cheap injection molded stuff that all looks the same. They just aren't very attractive. It may be a small aesthetic, but it will set my work apart from the other's. I also enjoy that now I'm not limited to conventional formats, and having to fit what I make into available covers.

What is the finish? and how do you find that adjustable wraparound? I found them near useless to set up as I had to drop the tension each time.

It's pre-cat. I finished this one three times because of the cracking, and then had to touch it up because I burned through it polishing. I was pissed off, and frustrated at that time so I sprayed the touch-up, and set it aside for a few weeks. I may go back to the Nason poly on the next one.

I know these bridges can be finicky, so I was really careful with placement. It seemed logical that if when intonated the saddles were centered in the bridge, and aligned with the posts that the geometry would be the most favorable, and would also have the best appearance. I set it up with 10/46's so I can't vouch for it at high tension, but so far it's rock solid. I had to rework the saddles for the 10" radius on the fingerboard.

Home made P-90 Dogear cover, and a couple of pictures of my Vacuum Table.

 

[Greg_L]

So cool that you make your own pickup covers. I'm really jealous. I wish I could do this stuff. I'd be making LP Jrs and Mosrites all day long.