Building Slowly

[Matt Liebenau]

Ok. I guess I’ll do this even though I usually feel like I’m just doing things I learned from everyone else on here.

This thread is going to be in the spirit of @Andii Syckz and the right @reverendrally (where are you reverend? I enjoyed your threads.) and be more a record of stuff, probably mostly for me.

There will be some new stuff and some done stuff. Some repairs and some building and probably some miscellaneous woodworking. Even some non-bass instruments! Hopefully that doesn’t run me afoul of the ban hammer…

Hijacks, as long as they’re amusing, are ok and you’d probably have to make some effort to be less amusing then me…

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I’ll start with this since I opened my yap in post #267 of the pin router thread.

Pin Routers: The Old-School Production Workhorses


This poor little Univox hollowbody showed up on the local version of Craigslist last spring or summer. Naturally, being a maroon, in the Bugs Bunny sense, I couldn’t resist it’s big, sad eyes and took it home. I’m seeing that I didn’t take any “before” pictures so you’ll have to trust me on this one. Here’s what the neck looked like to start with though.





After some thinking and general plotting I routed for a spline and to add a piece on the back of the neck as sketchily shown in the other thread and then glued things up.

Hmmm… only one glue up picture. This is why I don’t usually do this… not great at remembering to take pictures.



Anyway, I trimmed things down and this is roughly where we’re at. I need to finish sanding and apply some finish. The new maple doesn’t really match the old but I’ll see what happens over the weekend.



I was rather proud of myself on the shaping. If you look in the background you can possibly tell I did the trimming and shaping with all hand tools, planes, files, even a small draw knife. It was quite enjoyable and faster then might have been expected.

 

[Dubious Aa]

This is on my watched thread list now

 

[Matt Liebenau]

This is on my watched thread list now

Can you tell I have self esteem issues?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

This is a great idea for a thread. All of us Luthiers, from hobbyist to pro, have a constant stream of small projects. Repairing instruments, helping friends, custom mods, making tools, acquiring huge green machines, you know, the little jobs. That don't need a full detailed thread on their own.

But these little jobs are interesting to us other Luthiers. And those who are thinking about trying it. What's really interesting is: A problem you ran into, and how you solved it. That's the core of the Luthier business. Taking on a long list of little problems, and figuring them out. Successful Luthiers get good enough at solving tough problems that they intentionally create tougher ones. That's just good fun.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I was rather proud of myself on the shaping. If you look in the background you can possibly tell I did the trimming and shaping with all hand tools, planes, files, even a small draw knife. It was quite enjoyable and faster then might have been expected.

One cool part about musical instruments is that most of the parts are really quite small. Shaping a neck or a metal bridge, it can be done with hand tools. And it doesn't really take that long, because there isn't much material being removed. Power tools and machines are faster, but you don't have to have them. Hand tools will do the job in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

One cool part about musical instruments is that most of the parts are really quite small. Shaping a neck or a metal bridge, it can be done with hand tools. And it doesn't really take that long, because there isn't much material being removed. Power tools and machines are faster, but you don't have to have them. Hand tools will do the job in a reasonable amount of time.

Yeah, between the folks here that use mostly hand tools and the twoodfrd channel on the YouTubes I’ve been I guess you could call it inspired.

 

[ThaCoast]

Ok. I guess I’ll do this even though I usually feel like I’m just doing things I learned from everyone else on here.

This thread is going to be in the spirit of @Andii Syckz and the right @reverendrally (where are you reverend? I enjoyed your threads.) and be more a record of stuff, probably mostly for me.

There will be some new stuff and some done stuff. Some repairs and some building and probably some miscellaneous woodworking. Even some non-bass instruments! Hopefully that doesn’t run me afoul of the ban hammer…

Hijacks, as long as they’re amusing, are ok and you’d probably have to make some effort to be less amusing then me…

Subbed to this, looking forward to seeing what you do! Enjoy the journey

From the amount of Non-bass instruments i've posted in my own thread without the ban hammer striking me down, i believe you'll be good too

 

[iiipopes]

One cool part about musical instruments is that most of the parts are really quite small. Shaping a neck or a metal bridge, it can be done with hand tools. And it doesn't really take that long, because there isn't much material being removed. Power tools and machines are faster, but you don't have to have them. Hand tools will do the job in a reasonable amount of time.

As a rank hobbiest, I can vouch for that. Some years ago I got a plywood doghouse to play in a 9-piece dance band (think: smaller than a swing big band, same repertoire, smaller arrangements). I wanted to know all about how a double bass worked, including setting the sound post, and I bought a few small hand tools, including a hobbyist's finger plane, to narrow and re-contour the neck from huge to manageable. I absolutely concur. In less than a day, a rainy Saturday, I got everything exactly where I wanted it, including re-contouring the bridge to get proper action, with hand tools, and I played several years' worth of gigs with the bass until my left hand couldn't hold the positions anymore. I gave it to a friend, who is still gigging with it all these years later.

 

[BAG]

I've started to do a bit more work on my basses and only have very basic tools, and cheap ones at that.
I'm interested to see what you are doing and how you go about it.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I've started to do a bit more work on my basses and only have very basic tools, and cheap ones at that.
I'm interested to see what you are doing and how you go about it.

I’ve definitely got power tools. If you look in the pin router thread, I just got the second big daddy tool after Bruce’s Green Giant plus maybe slightly more then the usual array of routers, a bandsaw and floor stand drill press so I’m not lacking on power tools. I’m just purposely trying to use the hand tools more instead of automatically trying to figure how I can make the bandsaw or router do this job. I’ll admit, carving those neck splines down by hand was satisfying and shavings that fall quietly to the floor are nicer then sawdust floating in the air but I’m by no means going to let the power tools rust…

 

[Bruce Johnson]

For those of you who are watching along, thinking of trying this yourself, here's a great thread for you:

Best Tools for Neck Carving

Most of us regulars here on Luthier's Corner step in and talk about our favorite tools for shaping necks. You can see the wide variety of tools and preferences. There are many ways you can shape a neck.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Since I did mention the hand tools and forgot to mention the wood lathe in my last post, I went through a spot earlier this year where it seemed necessary to make handles for my files and also some screwdriver handles. As a friend of mine used to say, “At least it keeps me from roaming the streets at night.”

Various woods, mostly scraps and I believe all finished with Varathane Ultimate or some leftover ProFinisher.



I know the pickup height gauge looks odd but I was experimenting with making some shapes on the lathe.

 

[Flamingo21]

I know the pickup height gauge looks odd but I was experimenting with making some shapes on the lathe.

What is a pickup height gauge?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

That pickup gauge looks like it was used with the amp turned on. Groovy.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

What is a pickup height gauge?

It’s this:

One of the brass rods is 1/8” and the other is 3/32”. Those are the standard Fender numbers for the bass and treble sides of their pickups with the string pressed at the last fret. The brass keeps the pickup from sucking the rod in. I made it from Spectraply that didn’t look nearly as good for a knob as I thought it would.

 

[Flamingo21]

I get that you thought it would look good for a knob. I would have thought so too.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I get that you thought it would look good for a knob. I would have thought so too.

It probably could sometime. I just don’t have the right instrument at the moment. I may try turning some Spectraply with the laminations horizontal instead of vertical one of these days.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

The neck is coming along. I’m trying something new with wiping on Varathane Ultimane oil modified polyurethane. It’s working pretty well. Just wiping straight out of the can. I expected more of a yellow/amber color but it appears pretty clear. I’ll post pictures when it seems more done.

Meanwhile, this is the body that goes with it. I checked the electronics and thought the neck pickup was dead. I was looking at pickups on eBay when I thought of another way to check things. I hooked up an output jack right to the neck pickup tabs and lo and behold, it works! I took a quick look at the rest of the rat’s nest and this crazy switch seems to be missing a wire. I was hoping to avoid it but the electronics need to come out of the body. I’ll work with the multimeter on this behemoth of a switch but it’s clearly a replacement (note the wood cut out with a drywall saw in the switch area) and it looks like a Fender style switch will fit the original holes in the plate so I may just do that.

Oh yeah, one of the mounting screw holes is torn up on the bridge pickup ring because someone rammed a big ‘ol wood screw through it. I’ve got an idea or two on fixing that.

The rusty, rounded out Phillips is the right size. The flathead is what was in there.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Ah yes, when Carpenters become Luthiers.