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Even though the most important opinion is clearly @impmann 's nevertheless, as ever, thanks to everyone for the encouraging words. Always much appreciated
This will be transformed once the carve is underway, but there are a few things that need to be done while I have a flat surface to work with. The most important is the pickup chambers...and because of the depth of the pickups vs the slenderness of the body itself, this will need a bit of time and care.
First job here is setting the positions. The scale is going to be standard Fender 25.5". Whilst the fretboard will be trimmed slightly shorter than this, this is where the relative components are going to be (suitably squared up, of course )
Again, ignore the PVA blobs at the top - they will disappear with the first sanding. Likewise, the outline will be 'fine-tuned' before the main body carve. Nevertheless, I'm quite excited how this is going to turn out visually...
I am going to need some views, though, on the best way of securing the blind pickup covers while retaining the ability to remove them without damage for subsequent adjustment to pickup heights that @impmann may want to do for personal preference after the initial setup. I was thinking low-tack double sided tape and provide a rubber sucker of some sort to pull the covers off.
Well, if that last sentence doesn't provoke a bit of a thread de-rail, I'll be surprised
My Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youThat would remove a LOT of headscratching And yes - gold would work well IMHO
These builds go in fits and starts of progress and I try to avoid any unnecessary delays. So, even though the neck carve is a while away, I will be sending him a standard decorator's profile gauge over the next few days and some simple but important instructions for him to send me the shape and dimensions of his favourite playing neck.
Every guitar feels different for all sorts of reasons, but I do like a guitar or bass I build to have at least a familiarity of feel to the owner and the easiest way is to broadly replicate the shape and size of their favourite instrument.
So, wait with baited breath for a small package to arrive in the post soonish, Tim
I need to give that one some thought as to which neck to base it on... :-)
Again, this is simply the way I do it. Many builders use a forstner for rough bulk removal and then a template and router for the final shape. I use the same things but in, perhaps, a different order to most. The reason is simple - I simply haven't found the foolproof way of positioning and avoiding router disasters with the more conventional method.
I've also learnt how to sharpen a chisel...amazing what that can do when it doesn't have the sharpness of an old screwdriver...
This is how I do it nowadays.
The corners make all the difference to the professional look of the finished fit. So I drill them first on my little drill press:
I then use the Forstner to take out the bulk and also to nibble right to the very edge of the marked line (which is drawn 1/2 mm larger than the pickup covers all the way round)
If you ever try this, by the way, always clamp the body - nibbling hits the side of the forstner bit so, unsupported, it will shift!
Then I use my very sharp chisel and mallet to straighten up the top ripples in between the original four drilled holes:
And only now do I get the router out to finish route the lower part of the chamber and the bottom to the specific depth I need - because now it is fully safe to use with a short top bearing trimmer bit:
Result is a neat and very accurate chamber:
It's a slight shift from the conventional approach, but works for me
Which usually ended up as '...and tell me again, out of curiosity - just how is the customer going to actually be able to FIT that?'
So, much as I rate Schaller:
Don't you just love 'em
deep pickups, thin body and P-90 screws sounds like a recipe for, erm, some very careful measurement
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Then you look on the internet. Even our beloved (if a little irritating) Crimson Guitars do a long (long, long, hesitate, mumble, long) tutorial on the fitting...of the non-piezo version. So actually, there is NO guidance anywhere I can find of what you should do. Not a photo. Nada.
Having said that, I'm pretty happy what I'll do and it's broadly similar to what you say @WezV . I'll route a deep but narrow channel under the saddles themselves where the wires are going to be and then drill an intercepting hole (a bit like you do with an acoustic piezo element) into the control chamber. The individual connectors detach from the collector block so an 5mm hole should do it.
I'm going to sort the the bridge fitting screws and bolt holes and slots (there is a through-string block that needs slotting at the back also) before fitting the fretboard! There is, peversely, going to be more wiggle room on the fretboard positioning than on the bridge!
Ho, hum....
I hope that the sound and feel makes up for it...
And, although there's a dearth of guidance on aspects of the fitting, there are a lot of respected pro players who are saying 'it's the best bridge I've ever used'