Thursday 13th December '07

A day working with the current bass project.. the headstock has been predrilled to show the tuner positions.

which are drilled and reamed to size

and on to the ebony inlay... to match the black hardware.. after carefully cutting it out with a jewelers saw

the outline of the design is scored into the headstock and carefully chiseled out

after glueing the inlay in the excess wood is chiseled away to leave a flat surface

which is then sealed with very thin super-glue (luthiers best friend!)

while that is drying I mark out the control layout

and drill accordingly..

then the final bit of sanding is done over the inlay and it is ready.. I always like the contrast of ebony with mahogany..

the control cavity is pre-drilled

and then routed to size..

and the jack hole drilled

and finally the bass is nearly at her final shape.. the edges are marked out and then profiled using various rasps

and then is sanded through the grits.. the start of a long and dusty part of the job!

the bits that can't be reached with the random orbital sander are cleaned up with some very fine files

and then sanded through the grits by hand.. a job which takes almost as long as machine sanding the rest of the body will!  But for all that it is a rather cathartic job, allowing my mind to dwell on the mysteries of life.. .

All my best to you and yours,

Ben