Jazz bass Mod becomes Build?

[Trevor Davies]

I like it! Simple and effective. Do you know what angle that is?

The angle is 15 degrees. This gave me a drop of about 10 mm into the body for every run of 40 mm across the body!

I use a 4 mm drill bit.

FYI - When I made it, I clamped 2 (Jig sized) bits of wood together, slightly staggered so that I made 2 jigs at once. The idea was to prevent tear out when the drill bit exits the first block.

[fender3x]

The angle is 15 degrees. This gave me a drop of about 10 mm into the body for every run of 40 mm across the body!

I use a 4 mm drill bit.

FYI - When I made it, I clamped 2 (Jig sized) bits of wood together, slightly staggered so that I made 2 jigs at once. The idea was to prevent tear out when the drill bit exits the first block.

I like this! Simple and effective. I actually bought a jig for $10 on Amazon with the same angle.



While it's got the same angle, the smallest drill bit that it works with is 6mm...which seems a bit big to me. I have a feeling that a part of the excessive tear out that I had may have to do with using a relatively large bit. What do you think?

[Trevor Davies]

I like this! Simple and effective. I actually bought a jig for $10 on Amazon with the same angle.



While it's got the same angle, the smallest drill bit that it works with is 6mm...which seems a bit big to me. I have a feeling that a part of the excessive tear out that I had may have to do with using a relatively large bit. What do you think?

I have something similar for woodworking!

Yes, I think 6 mm is too big (and 5mm!). I find the size of the body surface hole is too big and therefore it has to be started further under the bridge area. My original one was using a 5 mm bit, but I have since changed to a good quality 4mm bit.

I have found that my pine wood jig wears out quite quickly and the guiding hole becomes too large on the section that joins to the body!

[fender3x]

I have something similar for woodworking!

Yes, I think 6 mm is too big (and 5mm!). I find the size of the body surface hole is too big and therefore it has to be started further under the bridge area. My original one was using a 5 mm bit, but I have since changed to a good quality 4mm bit.

I have found that my pine wood jig wears out quite quickly and the guiding hole becomes too large on the section that joins to the body!

This is very helpful. Even though I don't have an immediate project that requires a new hole, I keep thinking about it...

I wondered about whether the a jig made in wood would be durable. The good thing about wear is that it will probably make the angle a little smaller, which is a lot less dangerous than too steep.

If it's any consolation, the pretty anodized blue one that I got is not all that precise right out of the box. It came with threaded sleeves for the drill bit, so that you can drill a hole that is 6mm, 8mm or 10mm... I have two long drill bits. One is 3/16" (almost 5mm) and one that is 6mm. However, there is a fair amount of slop using the 6mm... so, in theory, the angle could vary between about 9 and 16 degrees. In practice, the weight of the drill tends to decrease the angle, so probably closer to 9.

That said, if 5mm is too big 6mm is way too big. The bit I used to create the mess is close to 5.

So...I ordered a 4mm bit, which should arrive over the weekend. I also ordered (and have received) a stainless steel tube with an outer diameter of 6mm and an inner diameter of 4mm. I plan to make a sleeve out of the the stainless steel for the 4mm bit.

I got two 300mm tubes for under $8 at Amazon. Since I only need a few CM of of tubing to make the sleeve that should pretty much be a lifetime supply. I'll play around with it a bit and see how it works. If it's not satisfactory, I may try to make your jig with a 6mm hole to use with a stainless steel sleeve. If I do that will I need to pay you royalties? ;-)