I made it! Completed the final assembly 2 days before graduation.

Bottom line, I just LOVED the project, and can't wait to start another! This was particularly difficult since I had to work on it without my son knowing about it! If he was home, then I couldn't touch it and on many days it was really difficult to DO nothing. I installed a locking keyed door knob on my office door, so I could do the final assembly, soldering, testing, and polishing as needed. He was really BLOWN AWAY when I presented it to him in front of 25 family and friends. The next day he took it to his best friends house, who plays and has built a bass and a guitar and who I contemplated calling several times for help/advice.

I am sure I made EVERY mistake possible including a very small sand thru with 1500 grit paper finishing up the body. I figured I was done for at that point, but thanks to the nitrocellulose paint, I was able to recover....not without lots of, OMG what have I done now thinking. But in the end it's AWESOME. I know about every single imperfection, but no one else seems to notice.

A SUPER learning experience for sure! I discovered that working with an instrument like a bass guitar is about the perfect size of item to handle in a small garage. Wood is amazingly forgiving! I'm sure my finish is NOT up to REAL luthiers standards in ANY way, but I think Gibson, Fender, Martin, et all, could NEVER pour the amount of LOVE that I put into this project! So, my son got what I believe is possibly the ONLY Pelham Blue(known as a Gibson color, taken from the 1960 Cadillac), Fender Jazz bass shape, 5 string FRETLESS bass that I could find on the internet. A one of a kind bass for a one of a kind kid. Could not be prouder of him!

Now for the BIG question......what do build next?

Thanks for ALL your help and advice.....really appreciated!
I will post a couple pics if I can figure out how......