Today was a dreary, cold, and rainy day here, and I was stuck home being on call for work, so I did some online shopping for Zhenya. I hit four different vendors for parts and supplies:

Amazon:
  • Copper shielding tape
  • Multimeter
  • Digital calipers


Carvin Guitars:
  • String-through ferrules
  • Replacement knobs, including a concentric knob
  • Dunlop Straploks


Stewart-MacDonald:
  • Rosewood filler color
  • Epoxy
  • Soldering iron kit


Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc. (LMII):
  • Rosewood and Blue-stained veneers


All told, I spend just over US$200 today, after spending US$295 on the kit (and shipping) and US$320 for the pickups and bridge. Just about the only things left to purchase are the Michael Pope Flexcore pre-amp (which will cost me US$325) and flatwound strings (~US$30). If I decide to replace the tuners, that'll be another US$80. All together, this kit project (not counting things like stains, sandpaper, test woods, tools, etc.) will be costing me over US$1100. The most I've ever spent on an instrument before was US$600.

I'll be auditioning for a band next weekend and practiced for it tonight with the Ibanez bass I am nearly finished modding. I really wish I could have Zhenya built in time for the audition, but my plan is to get all of the parts in the next week or two, and then do the rosewood epoxy fills of the inlay holes (which I still need to drill out the existing white dots). The epoxy I bought is slow-curing, so I'm hoping to do it before I go on a weeklong trip for New Years and give it a full week to cure.

No real work done on the project today, but I feel like I accomplished a lot.