c jury wrote: Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:40 pm #3 went with me on the plane and was delivered to the new owner. Getting a start on #4, same DC tele design, but a 30" scale bass.

Owner of #3 here - and DAMN is it a great guitar. Quickly becoming my favorite to play, and I already sold my EGC because I'm all-in on this one. Chris is making RAD stuff here.

Had a good week. Cutting neck blanks off of the large sheets of .625" T6 I got off craigslist. Trying to spend more time making good templates and fixtures to allow for things to be repeatable and faster. Go slow to go fast, I suppose.

First is a prototype for a bolt-on neck, 25.5" scale. Probably another 2-3 days of work to get that into rough shape- then I have to make a fretboard from scratch...so it'll be a bit.

Second is the prototype for a 30" scale bass. Just got this rough cut. weighs a hefty 7#11oz as it sits. will keep track as I process it. I think I can use most of the patterning for this one to make Bass IV/ 30" baritones...so time well spent.

CJ this is amazing but for the sake of your wrists, have you considered a small milling machine? I bet you could find use for one forever

Weird question, but I've noticed it on a couple of your aluminum builds here, but is there a reason your center registration line for these seems to leave more space on the bass side than the treble side? Meaning, the weight relief holes are off center, as is the thru body block (more mass on the bass side). It even looked like the inlays were too on the last complete build. Wondering if this is purposeful for some functional reason I'm missing. Or maybe it's a camera optical illusion. My OCD needs to know!!!

Tylerdeadpine- Yes, it is in the long term works. I have the model picked out and the location in my shop set aside for it...just need to sell 2-3 more instruments to pay for it. I did all the hand file work on the bolt on neck today...a good shoulder workout.

Tommy- Not sure why I do that...just always have cheated that way a bit. I could make up an engineering/technical reason, I suppose.

Over the weekend I blew up my old shopvac (been limping along for a couple years) and a thrift store router that did a lot of work for the last couple months- so I spent a few bucks- excited for my first new router, a big 1/2" chuck, 2hp plunge style guy...living large.

And a quick edit: I'm going to track the weight of this Bass receiver very closely. I think if I don't work pretty hard on reducing every bit of fat, it is going to be too heavy.
-routed it to final outline with the template I made, and it is now down to 7# 4 oz-

Weekly update: Going has been slow...lots of having to solve problems, lots of routers shitting the bed. But took delivery of a fancy-pants 2.5hp, 1/2" collet monster that makes much quicker work of everything.

Got the headstock weight relief, neck profile etc done for the bolt on. I was waiting for the new router to finish the last 1/16" off the front of the headstock, then I can start shaping the transitions.

On the bass I finalized the template, finalized the outline, finished the headstock weight relief and started the neck and body weight relief. Also tested the new router milling down the face. Also you can see that I was testing out this mason jar full of old drill bits left behind by my home's previous owner- found a couple gems- and a few that went in the trash. needed to remove the material for the p-bass pickup anyway, so why waste time?

Weekly update: fretboard edition
I also spent a ton of time getting started on the fretboards. I have a nice dark striped rosewood board for the bolt on.
A super cool grain bolivian rosewood board for the bass. I hope to get them slotted this week- fussy business.

c jury wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:23 pm Tylerdeadpine- Yes, it is in the long term works. I have the model picked out and the location in my shop set aside for it...just need to sell 2-3 more instruments to pay for it. I did all the hand file work on the bolt on neck today...a good shoulder workout.

...
Over the weekend I blew up my old shopvac (been limping along for a couple years) and a thrift store router that did a lot of work for the last couple months- so I spent a few bucks- excited for my first new router, a big 1/2" chuck, 2hp plunge style guy...living large.

yes! Right on glad you're going to be tooled up.

I have an old 1/2" porter cable and it scares the shit out of me every time I turn it on.

We have makita at work - I got this new router for home, and I love it. I think the new line of Skil stuff is fabulous for the price

https://www.lowes.com/pd/SKIL-1-4-in-an ... lsrc=aw.ds

weekly update- Bass:

Lots of stuff happened over the week. I got the headstock relief finalized, tuner holes drilled, face milled down to 1/2", pickup rough cut out, fretboard cut to length and slotted. Machined the taper. Also hogged out a lot of the back so routing won't be so much of a chore. Next week will mill the headstock face and start on the body.

Weekly update- Bolt-on neck:

Also got a lot done on this one. Headstock relief finalized, shaped and rough-sanded neck profile, fretboard slotted and cut to length. Goal is to get the fretboard on by next sunday.

Also- this is my fretboard making setup. Pretty simple, but effective. digital caliper to measure to the 1000th of an inch (as if anyone has a chance of being that accurate). stick the x-acto knife in that spot, butt the cabinet makers square against it, then use the little razor saw to make the slot. Put on the Lung record and pull up the stewmac fret calculator...about an hour to do both boards. Next step is dots and 12" radius.