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Custom Bailey for Skerryvore- working on the body
Apr 27th
…Getting the feel of it……
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- I bolted the neck on so Alec could test it before I go any further
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- The ‘Fernandez sustainer’ comes with a pattern- I fixed it with double sided tape and used it as a guide to drill the control holes
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- The ‘trem hole’ completes routing work on the front of the body
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- Routing for the trem springs, controls, and battery box
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- The belly carve is done by and with a rasp
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- After fitting the trem I decided to assemble the guitar for a test before final sanding
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- I dropped the wiring loom in to check everything fitted Ok including plugging in the jack
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- Disassembled and ready for spraying
Alec from Skerryvore popped in to see how his custom job was going and finalise a few outstanding issues. The main point was to check the feel of the neck before it gets finished- after this it becomes more difficult. I bolted the neck on so he could try it and he was pleased enough that I didn’t have to make any adjustments to it at all. I checked he was happy with the position of the controls- not a lot of room for choice so we went with the recommended layout. Alec also confirmed the colour of the body which will be wine red.
That just about covered everything, so after he left I spent the rest of the afternoon and the next day working on the body. This included routing for the tremolo and the control cavity, drilling all the holes: jack socket and pick-up link holes, and all the mounting holes for the hardware that is going on this guitar. It is best to drill all the holes before it gets sprayed to help prevent damaging the finish.
Just to make sure everything fitted and worked how it should, I strung it up for a test. As a result, I decided to change the neck angle slightly, a few small adjustments to the trem route and it all checked out brilliantly. After this the guitar was disassembled and then sanded ready for spraying.
Bailey custom one string bass-6/7- making the body
Apr 7th
…and stringing it up for a test…
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- The body is marked out
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- neck-slot
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- Rear cavity and battery box
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- Neck mounting screw holes
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- Recessed neck anchor washers
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- The neck is screwed on for the first time
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- Marking out the output jacks
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- ‘Stitch drilling’ for the midi jack
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- A 22mm hole is drilled for both outputs
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- The rest of the waste is removed with a chisel
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- Tools used to fit the output jacks
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- Test fitting the jack sockets
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- The finished holes for the output jacks
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- A small sanding block was used for cleaning up the square hole
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- Marking out the individual string saddle
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- A slot is made for the piezo wire
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- A hole is drilled through into the control cavity
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- The drill pops out in the control cavity
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- The nut is fitted
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- Strung up and tested
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- Carving the body
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- Sanded and sprayed with sealer
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- The front of the body
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- The neck and body are hanging to dry
The bass will get another coat tomorrow then hang for a while to dry. We are still waiting for the acoustiphonic volume control. It is expected in about 10 days so we will have to wait till then to find out what it really sounds like.
Meanwhile I strung it up ‘in the white’ to check all is OK and it looked great. If you remember: There is no truss rod in this neck- I was pretty sure it would be OK as there is only the one string but I wanted to make sure it didn’t bend too much under string tension. As it turned out it hardly moved at all. Result…
Next time I write about the ‘one string wonder’ it will be finished!..Part 7
Custom Build – Set neck, Single cut, Flamed Cap- P8
Oct 16th
…Carving the body…
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- The body is clamped to the bench and marked out for carving a facet around the top
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- ..using a rasp and a plane – it has to be moved round as you go
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- The facet is now carved – notice it gets wider around the back
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- My favourite tools! I made the wooden one myself…
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- Using the mini curved plane to make the recurve
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- The top carve is finshed
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- Tools for carving the top
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- Belly carve stage one….I carve down to one line first
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- ..then join it up with the other one – the surface in between should be flat
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- It is smoothed over with a rasp
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- The neck modification – the body and neck heel have been cut back for better fret access
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- After I sanded it I put the neck in to admire my handywork…
The body was carved by hand. I really enjoy this part as I get to use the little curved planes which are reserved only for this purpose. Well, there is one other thing I do with them….I like to whip them out to show off to visitors. I always get a few oohs and ahhs. They are the guitar makers equivalent to puppies…..would you like to see my little planes? Trust me I’m a guitarmaker………
There are a couple of different types of top carve – this is what I call a full carve – it has a ‘recurve’ – that is a flat or slightly concave ridge all the way round the edge. This is done in stages:
- First draw two lines – one around the side to determine the thickness of the cap at the edge and one around the top to define the top edge of the carve.
- Join the lines with a flat facet – This is done with a rasp and a flat plane. As it is impossible to watch both line at the same time I always work down to one line first by increasing the carving angle, then the other by decreasing it. I am then left with a lump in the middle which is easy to carve off. This guitar has a flame maple cap which came wedge shaped so some of the work was already done for me.
- The recurve – The size of the recurve is marked out around the edge and a flat or slightly concave area is created with the small curved planes.
- Blending in – there are always a few lumps and bumps which need to be taken care of where the facets meet. I might decide to take a little more off here or there until I feel happy.
- Sanding – Smaller lumps and bumps can be removed by sanding with a block. A cork covered block is good for curvy bits. Only when it feels smooth will I go over it with a power sander. Mine is air powered and very powerful but the best results are achieved by rough sanding it by hand first.
Incidentaly, if you skip no.3 then you have what I call a semi carved top or half carve. The top just gets blended into a gentle curve all the way over.
Also:
I got the confirmation about the neck modification so went ahead and did it – also the belly carve on the back. Both these should make the guitar more comfortable to play.
I still have some finishing touches to do before I glue the neck on but I’m on schedule for starting the spray job on Tuesday……………
Custom Build – Set neck, Single cut, Flamed Cap- P7
Oct 15th
…Frets, side dots, and joining the neck to the body..
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- The fret board is sanded ready for fretting
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- A tri file is used to make a groove along each fret slot
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- The frets are installed
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- Tools for installing the side dots
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- Holes are drilled for the dots to fit into
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- The dots are glued in and sanded flush
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- The neck slot is routed into the body
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- The neck is fitted into the body
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- The neck must be trimmed so it doesn’t stick out so far
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- I mark it out on the safe side leaving 3mm or so for the router to finish
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- The neck is clamped into a jig to route the heel
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- Suggested modification to the heel
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- A chunk of the heel is removed for the pickup to fit into
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- The story so far….it looks like a guitar!
The frets and mother of pearl side dots went in with no problems and the heel of the neck has the angle routed into it, so that the strings will arrive at the right height for the bridge to get the correct action. So the neck is pretty much finished apart from the ‘Bailey’ headstock logo which I will have a go at early next week. I am hoping to start spraying it by mid week so I will post some colour tests on Tuesday.
On this style of guitar I usually modify the heel to take off the large chunk on the body, as I have marked out in the picture. The neck heel can then also be trimmed back to the same shape. This gives better fret access and feels more comfortable…..I will wait for confirmation before I chop it off just in case……Next job is to carve the shape onto the front of the body….I’d better get on with it then….
Custom Build – Set neck, Single cut, Flamed Cap- P4
Oct 2nd
…..The end of another week at the Bailey workshop……
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- The body is ready to have the neck fitted
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- View of the neck after carving
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- Back view of the neck after carving
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- I plan to put on an ebony headstock veneer
That is about as far as I’m going to get this week. The body is routed and ready for the neck to be fitted to it – I won’t do any more work on the body until the neck is nearly finished. The neck is carved, and I’m ready to glue on the headstock veneer.
Next week I will install the mother of pearl crown inlays first, and then put the frets into the neck. After that I can finish off the body – so by the end of next week it should look pretty much like a guitar……I’ll have to start thinking about colour tests…….
