Jb4-m

[FrankenWashie]

should still look good with white and maple fingerboard. I think rosewood with the brown pearloid guard and white body would look great too. Just over a slab to go Ponch (25 posts haha)

I bet Frankie is breathing a sigh of relief there won't be another seafoam green axe on the forum haha

Yes, the bile is settling nicely thank you, that may also have something to do with the nice cold, hard earned amber fluid.

I do find the Olympic white quite stylish, its classic. I have to agree with Wazkelly, the red almost made me sea foam green everywhere.

[Simon Barden]

As well as bigger cutaways, there's always the option of simply sanding/planing the body a few mm thinner.

[Simon Barden]

There are some lighter varieties of ash, though it is generally known as a heavy wood. A few years ago (maybe 10) there was a short-lived Fender range of Korean-made 'Light Ash' Strats and Teles that came with SD pickups as standard. I very nearly bought one (and may still well do). Very light and resonant bodies, great pickups and most have a really nice flamed maple neck. By far the best sounding/feeling Fender model I tried out until you got to the custom shop models at 4x the price.

At the time I spent a good afternoon in a very nice guitar shop https://guitarvillage.co.uk/ helping a friend's nephew look for a good Strat. We started out with the Squiers and tried out just about every Strat in the shop (it was slightly smaller then but there was still a large choice), and we both agreed the Light Ash models were a lot better sounding than the US standard ranges, and very close to the custom shop Strats. The only trouble at the time was that it only came in a clear natural finish that neither of us liked (just too '70s). They later added some solid colour models to the series.

[andrewdosborne]

The kit is in my mitts! All looks in great shape. A tiny bit of shaping on the neck heel but could really be left as is. I'll check the earth wire hole.from bridge to pot cavity, last time round this was blocked and a real pain to sort out. It feels a lot lighter than my ash bass which doubles up as a piece of fine furniture 😀 I think I'll just deepen the belly and arm cut

Here are some pictures









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[Chuck]

Nothing like a blank canvas to start working on! I bought a really long drill bit a while back to clear out/make the bridge wire hole, so if there are issues let me know and I'll drop it over.

[andrewdosborne]

Cheers Chuck appreciated I'll let you know how it goes. I think the problem last time.round was that it collected a ton of sanding dust which compacted and blocked.the hole up...

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[FrankenWashie]

Noice! How much deeper will you go with the cuts d'you reckon?

I found out the hard way with the Cliché LP that redrilling earth wire holes can be a PIA. I ended up shattering a drill bit in the new hole, and that wasn't fun to extract. LOOOOOOONG bits are definitely the way to go!

[Simon Barden]

Looks like a very nice kit.

Don't forget that the hardware and strings can add a lot to the overall weight, so it's worth taping the fittings bag to the body when comparing the two basses.

[andrewdosborne]

Good point Simon. The other bass does have a super heavy high mass bridge, full size pots and large clover tuners. Some opportunities for shedding weight with this one. But unlike the other bass the frets are staying put (sorry DB!)

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[wazkelly]

Looking good Ponch.

I just ordered a set of these today for the Red J Bass.....



These ones are solid black whereas most others are black pearl. Here is the link if you are interested... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/151897358...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT