W T K

So the kids, at least the oldest 2/3 had a field trip with their mother so I was left alone at home with the 3.5 year old . . . and this is what happened . . . don't worry its not bad.

So there are now holes for everything - and the outline has shrunk a little bit here and there . . . and the bridge fits . . . (not sure if the final version will have the falloff, it's not needed for lower action or anything I think (it's a Gotoh 510 wraparound so it's quite high) but it quite likely WILL make 'loading' new strings easier. BTW I did remove the 2 screws and the spring thingies from the bottom (and promptly lost them so I couldn't put them back if I wanted to . . . ) as they prevented getting the to it's lowest point . . . don't know if I need that strictly speaking but there it is . . . and they scratched up the finish . . .  which . . . well there are quite a few small shallow scratches around the pick guard probably from the work with the plastic . . . I'll leave it for now as the only way to get rif of them would be to refinish the top . . . . . and they would be back in a matter of months anyway probably ... if at slightly different places.

TIME for some soldering . . . . . 

Also I quite like the contrast of the maple with the mahogany . . . may need to rethink the final pick guard . . . maybe maple with Yellow Heart for an accent . . . or Wenge . . . hmm . . . need to pick up some at the wood place so it can 'season' in my drawer for a while.

And then there was THIS

Weren't we well beyond THIS . . . . 

Oh . . . I thought I'd try my hand at making a PERFECT neck pocket again and then just kept going ... I'll say this though, it went a LOT faster the 2nd time . . . and looking at the picture I'm still NOT entirely satisfied with the curve at the bottom . . . it looks . . . flat . . . for want of a better word - may be the angle of the picture . . . . The top over the bridge also got modified and I think that actually now looks better . . . Oh and don't worry about the bridge end . . . it's not been cut to size when the photo was taken . . . 

This one tuned out slightly tighter . . . but not perfect . . . not quite there yet . . .and I goofed on the bottom side again, it's easy to do if you can't quite see what you are doing . . . and some more digging turned up that the radius of the transition may not be 1/4" as I thought but 3/16" . . . . . the radius of the heel is definitively 5" though. And a final piece of advise, if you're doing this with a Dremel order some extra sanding bands . . . 80 grit works very well between the 10 & 15 setting but you go through 2-3 just for the outline . . . 

Oh and if you haven't worked it out ... Watching The Kid.