This thread is for anyone working on personal projects to share their progress, and hold themselves somewhat accountable to a group of peers.
Post your project, your progress from last week, and what you hope to accomplish this week.
If you want to be pinged with a reminder asking about your project, let me know, and I'll harass you each week until you cancel the service
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Has anyone here built an electric guitar or bass from parts before? I might take a crack at it and I wouldn't mind some pointers
This has been a hobby of mine for many years - I’ve built dozens of fender-shaped parts casters including selecting the bits, setups, fretwork, wiring, some woodwork/routing, and finish work. It’s generally not a value proposition if you care about resale value but you can really specialize. The tools are expensive and specialized but you can get by with a few basics to start. I’d start with a few questions. Are you a player? What kind of guitar project do you have in mind? What skills do you have or how involved, etc. glad to discuss what I’ve learned.
I play bass, and I'm looking at putting together a 4-string p bass tuned to BEAD.
I've done enough woodworking to have done some basic joinery, and as far as tools go, I'm not particularly concerned about that. I have a monthly "tools budget" that I can divert towards those purchases.
I'm mostly interested in a few things on the wood side, and a few things on the setup side.
On the wood side, I was thinking about getting a mahogany body, dyeing it black, then trying a Tru-oil finish. Have you done anything like that? I'd love some tips on the order for dye, grain filler, finish, and what sanding should happen at each step.
On the setup side, how do you make sure the bridge is properly aligned with the neck? That part scares the crap out of me. On the neck side, when do you shim it vs adjusting the truss rod?
Bridge setup - if your bass body doesn’t come with the standard 5-hole Fender pattern or piloted pickup mounting holes, you have to mount the neck and pickup to the body and go from there. A cheat/hint: if you’re using p bass parts, then a factory pick guard CAN be a good visual aid but don’t rely on it exclusively.
Bridge placement: The 1st string saddle (G or D in your case) should measure about 34” from the witness point of the nut, the other saddles staggered slightly away from the nut. So leave yourself room to use the intonation adjust screws to fine tune. For side/side positioning - use a string or elastic to mimic the string path on either side of the neck - easier to do than explain.
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