One thing I learned from Glen the hard way is that you plane the material to thickness first, then cut the outline. Planers can exert a lot of forcec down and can easily break off outlying areas where the grain runs across the narrow parts. A thickness sander is slower and more predictable.. I have a gorgeous piece of mahogany with tiger striping and bird's eye but I've never gotten around to doing that. I even have a very suitable piece of pernambuco that I could use for the neck, and a gorgeous piece of Gabon ebony I've been saving for 20 years for a fretboard. You can get legal ivory. You can get it at Mountain Gem in Burnaby or at Capilano rock and gem in North vancouver. In my case, I got my pieces from a person who had a gold mine claim up in the Yukon for years.
Yes, there are acceptable ways of proceeding.. The planer worked well for me :) Sounds like you have some very nice wood just waiting for the next step.. Go for it!!
@paulbrodie I forgot to mention that the legal Ivory is in fact fossilized from either mastodons 4 woolly mammoths. Mine came from a person who sold me a small Tusk plus a small fragment I could play around with
great job Mr. Paul, nice to see you back at it,,,,,wow weave done very similar things,,i was a bike mechanic for many yers,,worked on la-tour-de-franz bikes, and also built many types of instruments,,you could be my twin,,the smarter better looking one..lol..All the best sir..
Hi Paul, I was taught that method of transferring tapped holes from a die to a bolster plate when I served my apprenticeship as a toolmaker. That was in steel but still the same method. We called them screw points and I still have the same ones 33 years later. Great TH-cam channel by the way, always look forward to watching them no matter what you make.
Good to have a variety of interests, that's great. I still have a set of those threaded transfer punches in my tool box, from my tool and die days, back in the 70's.
Hello Paul, I enjoyed the change in materials! I suppose the filler made from coffee grounds could always brew up a a success! Good luck with the project. Best wishes Kevin.
In my past life I built bass guitars, I tried to make it into a full time job but that didn’t work out. I had a channel here on TH-cam and I believe some of the videos are still up. Ella Bass Guitars if you wanna look it up. Love the content Paul (&Mitch). Keep up the good work
Great progress! I'm loving it. It's good to see different approaches to get to the end result. Gotta store them away for another day. I'm wondering if you are including the radius of the fretboard when you drill the nut slots. I can't see if the nut slots make an arc to match the fingerboard which is usually around a 9.5" radius on a Fender-style instrument. Luthiers and repairpeople often take a pencil ground in half lenth-wise to ride across the first frets to mark the rough nut blank temporarily installed in the nut slot. it gives the height of the frets across the board and you can add a few thou to mark the bottom of the nut slot. Can't wait to see the progress and how your pickguard will look with the machining.
@@paulbrodie Paul, That's perfect. In this case tracing the original seems like the easiest way to do it. I work on my own guitars and it brings many rewards. You get it the way you like it, no "middleman". I recently bought this lovely little tool called a "string spacing rule" on ebay for around 20 bucks. I'm always wanting another guitar tool. Making guitar nuts takes practice.
Thanks Svea, Yes, I am slowly adding to my bass collection, and I do like buying / making my own bass tools and fixtures. "Many Rewards" is so true..Thanks for commenting..
Paul, I've spent many pleasent days at Ross's place, what a great guy and what a shop! I walked into Ross's shop when I thought I could be a framebuilder, we hit it off right away and have been friends for over 40 years now. Love your bass build, one day you can jam with Ross!
I love the Shinto Rasp, I have one myself and it works great at hogging off the wood and you are correct they are made of double sided Hacksaw Blades. 👍👍
Hey Paul, Really enjoying this project. Just so you know, there are specifically built nut files for the notches in the nut. Can't wait to see how all this turns out! Good to see you healthy and working again.
I've been a casual observer of many different guitar builders and repairers over the years. Your decades of mechanical experience brings a gives you a very competent approach to this bass. Very well done Paul, i look forward to your next videos.
Thank you! I just like making stuff... And I have watched a LOT of TH-cam videos on bass guitars: fixing, making, modifying, you name it! All the best for sure....
If you want a really good finish with the wipe on poly, try hitting it with 0000 steel wool between coats. I've done that for a few pieces of furniture, and it turns out great. Makes a heck of a mess of fine steel wool threads though. But that can be cleaned up with a magnet inside a plastic bag. Move it around the area, then turn the bag inside out, and all the steel wool bits get caught in the bag.
Paul is the only person I know that uses a hydraulic press to assemble a guitar...who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks...🙂 Can't wait to see the tig torch come out...
Hi Paul, just watching you do the four spikes. I think it's a brilliant & clever idea like most things you do mate. Also wonderful to see you looking so much better. Happy new year. Bob. UK
This could be the most over engineered guitar nut build on the internet. Interesting to see how you approached this but I think I’ll stick to the traditional way. 👍✌️
That's a new approach for me. I just use files. You're right in that the string should contact the nut where it meets the fretboard. But I also round the slope towards the tuners a little to avoid binding so that the string can slide freely while tuning. You don't really need much of a slot since you drilled out the bottom, because preferably the slot should just be a half moon or maybe a little bit deeper. That's all that's needed to guide the string. Anything more and it just looks ugly and interfere with the hand for some when they play in the first position. For guitars I think I'll continue filing, because drilling a .011 hole is challenging, but I'll consider drilling bass bridges when I make them out of brass, and then lop the top of with a saw. But I will still have to file to create the slope in the bottom of the slots.
Very cool Paul! I build solid body guitars too. Best cash spent for guitar making is a set of nut files. Expensive but makes cutting the slots super simple and you can really get the level and sizes perfect.
Friend said "Hey, Paul's working on a bass!" I said "Paul who?" Friend "Paul Brodie, that guy who custom builds bikes, you know, the Tiger Cub guy you turned me onto." Me "Cool beans, Sunday morning lessons." I'm into wigglin noodles and instrument repair/mods so this is right in my wheel house. Glad to see you're keeping on the keeping on and sharing the skills and knowledge. Happy New Year to you guys and thank you.
You can get hole position markers that sit in the hole and have a point on the outside. Same idea as you have here essentially. Interesting to watch how someone who has never built a guitar , but with your skill set, go about it. Definitely have your own take on it.
Nice, bikes and guitars. Two of my very favorite hobbies. 😊 Also I've marked the holes in a body before like you did, good idea! Lol😂 Also you can buy brass nuts, although they can be a bit expensive, brass bridges too.
@@paulbrodie also the nuts come radiused. Also some bridge saddles. But there is a trick using a half pencil when marking the depth of the nut slots. The files, tools, etc are very expensive. I think that's the part that made me ruin some things , lol But if you are working on guitars on a large scale, then yeah those tools make sense.
Have you guys seen the Crimson Custom Guitars TH-cam channel, very similar vibe to this channel, great tips and construction techniques. And Ben makes a lot of work for himself by never doing things that fast and easy way. Now I'm curious about what sort of music you play and who your favourite bassists might be. 🤔
Ben from Crimson is a very talented luthier, along with his staff at the school. And I recommend his channels to anyone who appreciates guitars and the art of making them.
We are so similar Paul. Though you are on a whole different level. I've done motorcycles and bikes and I'm a wood worker. I've thought about making an instrument as well. My thought was to make an all stainless steel ukulele as that's what I play. I figure stainless would have a better ring than aluminum and I'm much better at welding stainless. I picture taking a stainless tube, cutting it in half, squeezing it at one end to make the taper and reflattening it to make the neck.
That method of transferring hole markings with points screwed in is pretty failsafe. Used it myself numerous times. Shame about the failed nut....but always a valuable learning, as I'm sure you know.
Watching a metal Engineer problem solve making a guitar in wood is fascinating... nice one Paul! You arrive at very different methods to that of experienced luthiers and achieve excellent outcomes... apart from the nut which was a cluster f*** 😂 See previous message... talk to Ben Crow at Crimson!!
I have watched quite a few Crimson videos.. Ben seems to know what he is doing. By the time I cut the brass nut down to its' final shape it worked out fine. The "hockey stick slot" disappeared and you would not know I had so many problems with that one little piece...
Well, you've already understood a great deal very quickly, and as you're largely learning by doing you're making impressive progress 👍 A guitar nut has a number of critical tolerances to account for, and the half pencil trick is a simple solution to transfer fret height to the nut. This helps to ballpark the distance between the bottom of each string slot, assuming a straight neck, to the 3rd fret... critical when finessing playability. Slot depth is done with strings on! Even though you've cut slots, you must get the nut fitted with all 4 strings on... don't try to set string height by filing the bottom of the nut, you'll be at it for days because too low, a string will buzz, too high makes it harder to play and sharpens string intonation when fretting. 😎
Thanks Pete. Yes, everything you said about the nut makes sense. I have seen the 1/2 pencil trick. I will figure it out and get that bass playing beautifully!
@@paulbrodie I have no doubt that you will Paul and looking forward to seeing you do it. BTW you're looking extremely well, and wishing you health & happiness throughout 2024!
Ok, you said to comment but I honestly don't think you want to hear what anyone has to say. In any case here goes. First, on the neck. A tight as fit as possible is best. The fit should have been intentionally small then hand chiseled to a perfect uniform fit. You're too used to metal working in a machine shop, and I was a bit surprised you did the neck pocket like you did considering how much you hand file metal into perfection. What gives? In any case, what's done is done. Set neck would have been my preference. All the guitars I built in the past when I was doing that were set necks. Bolt on necks got sent to the crusher. I'm not going to engage in an argument about set or bolt ons or if one is better than the other. Everyone has their own opinion and to them only THEY are right and everyone else is wrong. I know the set neck is stronger and does a better job transmitting resonance through to the guitar body but on either set or bolt on, the neck pocket has to be tight as 7734 and maintain a constant uniform grip on all parts of the neck. Any void or looseness is going to cancel out vibration. Ok, The aluminum pick - pick up guard. You're going to do it anyway despite what I say so what I will say is, look up some videos where people are dropping magnets down copper or aluminum tubes. I rest my case! Now this also depends on how much mass you have planned for this. If its thin aluminum then you are probably fine but...... It doesn't matter if the guard is ferromagnetic or not, and I don't care what anyone who doesn't really know what they are talking about on forums or tubeyou has to say about this. It will have an effect on the pickups - PERIOD!!!!! Now you might like the effect it has and that's fine. But I'd be ready to make also a plastic pickup guard and try both to see how one does over the other. An ear-crometer test won't be good enough. You will need to record each version into audition and look at the actual outputs and raw data there. The sound may or may not be very noticeable but it's likely there is going to be magnetic dampening and interference using any sort of metal around pickups and I don't care what metal it is. On the nut. Yes you may or may not get more resonance. I only used bone nuts in my guitars. Now you can also have inotated nuts as well. The one thing about this is that as soon as you are playing, whatever chord or scale, as soon as you press on that string, the nut is out of the equation on those strings you're pressing. I would be open to trying bone and brass and see what you like in regards to the sound. I said this before. Keep the routing pockets in the body of the guitar to as minimum as possible. I see people nearly rout 2/3rd of their guitars out for pickups and wiring and electronics and I'm just scratching my head what are they doing... If you're going to do that then why stop there. Just rout the entire guitar body into sawdust then. What's the use of having a body in the first place. Just saying. Use the best wire for the electrics and get the best pickups and best pots and best of everything in the electronics. Shield your pots cavity. Also, do some research on different wiring set ups. Not all wiring is the same. And wiring from the 50s and 60s and 70s was all different. Types of wire and shielded wire and yadda yadda yadda. And use the hardest resin you can muster for the finish of the guitar. If you use a soft resin, then you might as well make a rubber guitar because the effect is going to be the same. Make sure the wood is dry to 6 to 8 percent. I liked mine dried to a lower percentage. Once dried to that percent put the hard resin on it. PRS guitars has a proprietary resin that's really hard. If you're all into quality, there it is. Also, watch some videos on the manufacturing of PRS guitars if you doubt what I have to say here. When I got into guitar building, I investigated every inch of their process and the process of 2 other guitar builders who will remain un-named. Suffice to say they both built the best '59 les paul copies in the world and these guitars are worth thousands today and sought after by famous rock musicians. Even Slash has some and appetite was recoded from one of these '59 copies. Now, I have to go tend to other matters where I'm more appreciated... WHAAA HOOOOOO!!!!!!! 😁😁😁😁😁 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
I can't await to hear you jammin. Was your way to fix the two pieces right? Who cares, you were successful. Maybe different, but the result matters. Whishing all the best for the rest of the bass🤙
It's great to see that smile. Productivity keeps one young. Have an awesome year. 🙏
Thank you. Yes, I am very happy with my projects and interests...
One thing I learned from Glen the hard way is that you plane the material to thickness first, then cut the outline. Planers can exert a lot of forcec down and can easily break off outlying areas where the grain runs across the narrow parts. A thickness sander is slower and more predictable..
I have a gorgeous piece of mahogany with tiger striping and bird's eye but I've never gotten around to doing that. I even have a very suitable piece of pernambuco that I could use for the neck, and a gorgeous piece of Gabon ebony I've been saving for 20 years for a fretboard.
You can get legal ivory. You can get it at Mountain Gem in Burnaby or at Capilano rock and gem in North vancouver. In my case, I got my pieces from a person who had a gold mine claim up in the Yukon for years.
Yes, there are acceptable ways of proceeding.. The planer worked well for me :) Sounds like you have some very nice wood just waiting for the next step.. Go for it!!
@paulbrodie I forgot to mention that the legal Ivory is in fact fossilized from either mastodons 4 woolly mammoths. Mine came from a person who sold me a small Tusk plus a small fragment I could play around with
Very good. I did not know there was such a thing as "legal ivory"...
I want to be you when I grow up! Full metal shop, awesome bikes (motor and pedal) and time to play and build a bass.
Well, thank you very much. I take that as a compliment. Just remember that the grass often looks greener on the other side of the fence, as they say..
great job Mr. Paul, nice to see you back at it,,,,,wow weave done very similar things,,i was a bike mechanic for many yers,,worked on la-tour-de-franz bikes, and also built many types of instruments,,you could be my twin,,the smarter better looking one..lol..All the best sir..
Thank you very much. So our lives have complimented each other in certain ways. I can understand that. Very cool!
Hi Paul, I was taught that method of transferring tapped holes from a die to a bolster plate when I served my apprenticeship as a toolmaker. That was in steel but still the same method. We called them screw points and I still have the same ones 33 years later. Great TH-cam channel by the way, always look forward to watching them no matter what you make.
That's cool you know a similar method from many years ago! Thanks for watching...
chapstick is awesome :) I use it on sowing needles when going through really tough stuff (and stuff that has glue or double sided tape holding things)
Yes it is handy stuff. And I just happened to have some in my pocket! Thanks for watching...
LOVE your smile at @7:42.
Also digging the hair. Don’t listen to anyone that says otherwise.
Thank you very much! I am doing my best to be healthy and productive...
Good to have a variety of interests, that's great. I still have a set of those threaded transfer punches in my tool box, from my tool and die days, back in the 70's.
Hello Paul, I enjoyed the change in materials! I suppose the filler made from coffee grounds could always brew up a a success!
Good luck with the project.
Best wishes Kevin.
Thanks Kevin! Just trying to show what is going on in my shop, and let viewers know that I am having a good time!
For equal string height the bottom of the slots must follow the fretboard radius.
That is so true! Thanks for watching and commenting...
In my past life I built bass guitars, I tried to make it into a full time job but that didn’t work out.
I had a channel here on TH-cam and I believe some of the videos are still up.
Ella Bass Guitars if you wanna look it up.
Love the content Paul (&Mitch). Keep up the good work
Thanks Jeff. I will check out Ella Bass Guitars. All the best!!
As a bassist i approve this vid
That’s how I was taught transfer, by my grandfather , another superb episode with a bit of variety 👍
Cheers Chris
Great progress! I'm loving it. It's good to see different approaches to get to the end result. Gotta store them away for another day.
I'm wondering if you are including the radius of the fretboard when you drill the nut slots. I can't see if the nut slots make an arc to match the fingerboard which is usually around a 9.5" radius on a Fender-style instrument. Luthiers and repairpeople often take a pencil ground in half lenth-wise to ride across the first frets to mark the rough nut blank temporarily installed in the nut slot. it gives the height of the frets across the board and you can add a few thou to mark the bottom of the nut slot. Can't wait to see the progress and how your pickguard will look with the machining.
Thanks for watching and commenting.. I traced the original nut as a part of making the new brass nut.. In the end, I am happy with it!
@@paulbrodie Paul, That's perfect. In this case tracing the original seems like the easiest way to do it. I work on my own guitars and it brings many rewards. You get it the way you like it, no "middleman". I recently bought this lovely little tool called a "string spacing rule" on ebay for around 20 bucks. I'm always wanting another guitar tool. Making guitar nuts takes practice.
Thanks Svea, Yes, I am slowly adding to my bass collection, and I do like buying / making my own bass tools and fixtures. "Many Rewards" is so true..Thanks for commenting..
Use the pointed screw/stud transfer to get the holes in new door panels to match the door.
Aha! You are obviously thinking ahead....
Paul, I've spent many pleasent days at Ross's place, what a great guy and what a shop! I walked into Ross's shop when I thought I could be a framebuilder, we hit it off right away and have been friends for over 40 years now. Love your bass build, one day you can jam with Ross!
Ross is a great guy, it is a pleasure to have him as a friend....
This video, among all the others, makes this channel one of my favorite places on youtube! You are a legen Paul! ❤️
I love the Shinto Rasp, I have one myself and it works great at hogging off the wood and you are correct they are made of double sided Hacksaw Blades. 👍👍
The Japanese quality is very high and I appreciate that too. Thanks for watching!
Hi Paul, this is amazing !
These brass knots would drive me nuts !
I would have gone to the shop, to by myself a brand new guitar. 😂
Thank you Willy..Yes, I like buying brand new basses too. My collection is slowly growing. but I also like making too!
@@paulbrodie I can see that, and you are doing a good job.
Hey Paul, Really enjoying this project. Just so you know, there are specifically built nut files for the notches in the nut. Can't wait to see how all this turns out! Good to see you healthy and working again.
loved the little hair flip at the end
I've been a casual observer of many different guitar builders and repairers over the years. Your decades of mechanical experience brings a gives you a very competent approach to this bass. Very well done Paul, i look forward to your next videos.
Thank you! I just like making stuff... And I have watched a LOT of TH-cam videos on bass guitars: fixing, making, modifying, you name it! All the best for sure....
If you want a really good finish with the wipe on poly, try hitting it with 0000 steel wool between coats. I've done that for a few pieces of furniture, and it turns out great. Makes a heck of a mess of fine steel wool threads though. But that can be cleaned up with a magnet inside a plastic bag. Move it around the area, then turn the bag inside out, and all the steel wool bits get caught in the bag.
Paul is the only person I know that uses a hydraulic press to assemble a guitar...who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks...🙂
Can't wait to see the tig torch come out...
BASS, BIKES AND 2 BADASS BROS.... 😂
1:50 - *Chatoyancy* 😁
Hi Paul, just watching you do the four spikes. I think it's a brilliant & clever idea like most things you do mate. Also wonderful to see you looking so much better. Happy new year. Bob. UK
Thanks Bob! Yes, I am enjoying life very much and I haven't run out of projects yet....
Great stuff! Really enjoying all your videos. Thank you! Go Paul and Mitch, keep moving forward!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
This could be the most over engineered guitar nut build on the internet. Interesting to see how you approached this but I think I’ll stick to the traditional way. 👍✌️
You might be 100% correct... But, I am having a lot of Fun, and learning as I go. Thanks for watching!
@@paulbrodie thank you for posting ✌️
so pleased with the neck fit. Great to see that satisfaction
Perfect
Thank you Tom. You were first!!
That's a new approach for me. I just use files. You're right in that the string should contact the nut where it meets the fretboard. But I also round the slope towards the tuners a little to avoid binding so that the string can slide freely while tuning.
You don't really need much of a slot since you drilled out the bottom, because preferably the slot should just be a half moon or maybe a little bit deeper. That's all that's needed to guide the string. Anything more and it just looks ugly and interfere with the hand for some when they play in the first position.
For guitars I think I'll continue filing, because drilling a .011 hole is challenging, but I'll consider drilling bass bridges when I make them out of brass, and then lop the top of with a saw. But I will still have to file to create the slope in the bottom of the slots.
Happy New Year Paul and Mitch, thanks for all the videos!
Thanks for watching and commenting.. Happy New Year!
Very cool Paul! I build solid body guitars too. Best cash spent for guitar making is a set of nut files. Expensive but makes cutting the slots super simple and you can really get the level and sizes perfect.
Thank you. Yes, I am slowly investing in Luthier tools..
A bar of hand soap works great as thread lube for wood....
Friend said "Hey, Paul's working on a bass!" I said "Paul who?" Friend "Paul Brodie, that guy who custom builds bikes, you know, the Tiger Cub guy you turned me onto." Me "Cool beans, Sunday morning lessons."
I'm into wigglin noodles and instrument repair/mods so this is right in my wheel house. Glad to see you're keeping on the keeping on and sharing the skills and knowledge. Happy New Year to you guys and thank you.
You can get hole position markers that sit in the hole and have a point on the outside. Same idea as you have here essentially. Interesting to watch how someone who has never built a guitar , but with your skill set, go about it. Definitely have your own take on it.
I really do enjoy figuring things out and learning new skills.. Thanks for commenting....
I was waiting to watch you turn that wheel hub 😮
Nice, bikes and guitars.
Two of my very favorite hobbies. 😊
Also I've marked the holes in a body before like you did, good idea! Lol😂
Also you can buy brass nuts, although they can be a bit expensive, brass bridges too.
Thanks for watching. I am having a lotto fun... Can you tell?
@@paulbrodie yes 😊 I'm ashamed to admit how many guitars I've ruined. But eventually you figure things out.
@@paulbrodie also the nuts come radiused. Also some bridge saddles.
But there is a trick using a half pencil when marking the depth of the nut slots.
The files, tools, etc are very expensive.
I think that's the part that made me ruin some things , lol
But if you are working on guitars on a large scale, then yeah those tools make sense.
Happy New Year!
Spotting
All the best to you and Mitch in this new year from North West Indiana.
Have you guys seen the Crimson Custom Guitars TH-cam channel, very similar vibe to this channel, great tips and construction techniques. And Ben makes a lot of work for himself by never doing things that fast and easy way. Now I'm curious about what sort of music you play and who your favourite bassists might be. 🤔
Ben from Crimson is a very talented luthier, along with his staff at the school. And I recommend his channels to anyone who appreciates guitars and the art of making them.
We are so similar Paul. Though you are on a whole different level. I've done motorcycles and bikes and I'm a wood worker. I've thought about making an instrument as well. My thought was to make an all stainless steel ukulele as that's what I play. I figure stainless would have a better ring than aluminum and I'm much better at welding stainless. I picture taking a stainless tube, cutting it in half, squeezing it at one end to make the taper and reflattening it to make the neck.
Happy new year in rythm😊
Hi Paul...happy new year from Italy!
Happy New Year! Not sure about the crazy hair but what the heck😊 Enjoyed the vide
Just begin with a bigger piece of brass, drill the holes then file the top half of the hole away?
That method of transferring hole markings with points screwed in is pretty failsafe. Used it myself numerous times. Shame about the failed nut....but always a valuable learning, as I'm sure you know.
Mitch ,,,, the Mighty Mitch is actually a wood botherer wow ,,, who new , That is a New Years Revelation ,,,
depth of each nut slot should be less than 1/2 string thickness.
Big air or big hair?
I think you will be giving Paul McCartney a run for fan with the big hair and a bass guitar 😂! Rock on. Maybe build a Hofner clone…
Its a heavy metal shop. :)
I finally figured out why a G-string is called a G-string...🤣
Watching a metal Engineer problem solve making a guitar in wood is fascinating... nice one Paul! You arrive at very different methods to that of experienced luthiers and achieve excellent outcomes... apart from the nut which was a cluster f*** 😂 See previous message... talk to Ben Crow at Crimson!!
I have watched quite a few Crimson videos.. Ben seems to know what he is doing. By the time I cut the brass nut down to its' final shape it worked out fine. The "hockey stick slot" disappeared and you would not know I had so many problems with that one little piece...
Well, you've already understood a great deal very quickly, and as you're largely learning by doing you're making impressive progress 👍 A guitar nut has a number of critical tolerances to account for, and the half pencil trick is a simple solution to transfer fret height to the nut. This helps to ballpark the distance between the bottom of each string slot, assuming a straight neck, to the 3rd fret... critical when finessing playability. Slot depth is done with strings on! Even though you've cut slots, you must get the nut fitted with all 4 strings on... don't try to set string height by filing the bottom of the nut, you'll be at it for days because too low, a string will buzz, too high makes it harder to play and sharpens string intonation when fretting. 😎
Thanks Pete. Yes, everything you said about the nut makes sense. I have seen the 1/2 pencil trick. I will figure it out and get that bass playing beautifully!
@@paulbrodie I have no doubt that you will Paul and looking forward to seeing you do it. BTW you're looking extremely well, and wishing you health & happiness throughout 2024!
Thanks Pete. I am doing my best to be healthy and even gain some weight!
My dog had a bone marrow he chewed the inside and left the bone, I used that for a nut 👍
You and Crimson guitars should tie up for a project.
Totally agree... great idea! Give Ben Crow a call.
Ok, you said to comment but I honestly don't think you want to hear what anyone has to say. In any case here goes.
First, on the neck. A tight as fit as possible is best. The fit should have been intentionally small then hand chiseled to a perfect uniform fit. You're too used to metal working in a machine shop, and I was a bit surprised you did the neck pocket like you did considering how much you hand file metal into perfection. What gives? In any case, what's done is done.
Set neck would have been my preference. All the guitars I built in the past when I was doing that were set necks. Bolt on necks got sent to the crusher. I'm not going to engage in an argument about set or bolt ons or if one is better than the other. Everyone has their own opinion and to them only THEY are right and everyone else is wrong. I know the set neck is stronger and does a better job transmitting resonance through to the guitar body but on either set or bolt on, the neck pocket has to be tight as 7734 and maintain a constant uniform grip on all parts of the neck. Any void or looseness is going to cancel out vibration.
Ok, The aluminum pick - pick up guard. You're going to do it anyway despite what I say so what I will say is, look up some videos where people are dropping magnets down copper or aluminum tubes. I rest my case! Now this also depends on how much mass you have planned for this. If its thin aluminum then you are probably fine but......
It doesn't matter if the guard is ferromagnetic or not, and I don't care what anyone who doesn't really know what they are talking about on forums or tubeyou has to say about this. It will have an effect on the pickups - PERIOD!!!!!
Now you might like the effect it has and that's fine. But I'd be ready to make also a plastic pickup guard and try both to see how one does over the other. An ear-crometer test won't be good enough. You will need to record each version into audition and look at the actual outputs and raw data there.
The sound may or may not be very noticeable but it's likely there is going to be magnetic dampening and interference using any sort of metal around pickups and I don't care what metal it is.
On the nut. Yes you may or may not get more resonance. I only used bone nuts in my guitars. Now you can also have inotated nuts as well. The one thing about this is that as soon as you are playing, whatever chord or scale, as soon as you press on that string, the nut is out of the equation on those strings you're pressing. I would be open to trying bone and brass and see what you like in regards to the sound.
I said this before. Keep the routing pockets in the body of the guitar to as minimum as possible. I see people nearly rout 2/3rd of their guitars out for pickups and wiring and electronics and I'm just scratching my head what are they doing... If you're going to do that then why stop there. Just rout the entire guitar body into sawdust then. What's the use of having a body in the first place. Just saying.
Use the best wire for the electrics and get the best pickups and best pots and best of everything in the electronics. Shield your pots cavity. Also, do some research on different wiring set ups. Not all wiring is the same. And wiring from the 50s and 60s and 70s was all different. Types of wire and shielded wire and yadda yadda yadda.
And use the hardest resin you can muster for the finish of the guitar. If you use a soft resin, then you might as well make a rubber guitar because the effect is going to be the same. Make sure the wood is dry to 6 to 8 percent. I liked mine dried to a lower percentage. Once dried to that percent put the hard resin on it. PRS guitars has a proprietary resin that's really hard.
If you're all into quality, there it is. Also, watch some videos on the manufacturing of PRS guitars if you doubt what I have to say here. When I got into guitar building, I investigated every inch of their process and the process of 2 other guitar builders who will remain un-named. Suffice to say they both built the best '59 les paul copies in the world and these guitars are worth thousands today and sought after by famous rock musicians. Even Slash has some and appetite was recoded from one of these '59 copies.
Now, I have to go tend to other matters where I'm more appreciated... WHAAA HOOOOOO!!!!!!! 😁😁😁😁😁
🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
I can't await to hear you jammin. Was your way to fix the two pieces right? Who cares, you were successful. Maybe different, but the result matters. Whishing all the best for the rest of the bass🤙
A bit judgy about learning from TH-cam, coming from someone who publishes videos in the instructional vein on TH-cam. It is funny, that.
Happy New Year!