ES4-B 1st Build

[fender3x]

And now for another installment of the worlds slowest build...

I used the long plug cutter to make a few 1/2" plugs. I then put them in my drill, and spun them while holding a piece of 150 grit sandpaper against them until they made a tapered plug that would fit into a 12mm hole.



I then glued the plugs in the holes.



The plugs don't extend very far into the body, and I did not fill the holes. The new bridge won't be right on top of them, so did didn't worry about having a bit of "empty" under the plugs. (continued next post)

[fender3x]

(continued from previous)

I tried everything on a piece of plywood with maple laminate first, and in my experiments I discovered that every time I tried to cut a plug with my new Japanese saw (first time I've used one...handy!), I damaged the laminate somewhere on the body. So I taped off the area around the plug to minimize damage.



Once cut, I sanded to almost flush with 150 and then switched to 220 to sand the plugs flush.



One thing you can't see on the plugs is that I put a pencil line on the top of the plug to show me which way the grain went for gluing up. In my experiments I found that it was really easy to lose track of grain direction in the heat of glue-up, and hard to see with maple anyway. The line sanded off, of course.

So...the grain is going the right way, but clearly the color is a bit off. I used maple that looked light to me, and worked pretty well in my plywood experiments, but the actual body is considerably lighter in color than my maple plugs. Hopefully it won't be too bad when stained, but not sure what I can do about it in any case.

Next step will be to drill holes for the two point bridge. Still figuring out how I am going to do the tailpiece...

[dingobass]

Oh wow... missed a lot of this thread..
Bummer about all the bridge dramas, what a monumental pain in the qoight.
Looks like you got the holes plugged up like a real pro, noice werk😁

[fender3x]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Hoping the won't stand out too much when stained.

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[Brendan]

Crazy idea - how about individual bridge pieces -

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Chrome-In...cAAOSwHnFVyxrN

[fender3x]

Not crazy. I thought about this a bit too. I have the ferrules, and sort of like the string-through option. I can't figure out how to do use these without building a platform for each one. Strings are fairly high off the deck on an ES4-B, and these ride too low. Then there's the problem that the deck is also curved, and these are long and flat on the bottom. Still thinking the trapeze may be the best option if I can gerry-rig one together that will work. Don't quite understand why so many trapeze tailpieces hvae 15mm string spacing that is too narrow for tune-o-matic bridges...

[wazkelly]

This shot shows that the individual string slots also have their own height adjustable bridge saddle. Just how much radius in the north/south plane is there around where a bridge would normally sit? Reckon if there was a fair bit that would go a long way towards explaining why those dumb 3 pointers keep lifting up from the rear edge.

[fender3x]

Yes you're right. There is quite a bit of N/S as well as E/W radius where the bridge--and especially where the tailpiece would sit.

I now understand why so may archtop basses are short scale. The 34" scale puts the bridge/tail assembly where the curved surfaces are maxed.

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[Dedman]

Hofner Style Bass tailpeices, Nickel, 1 5/8" String spacing, 4 5/8" Long any good? possibly use a wooden bridge as well? Just throwin ideas about :P

[FrankenWashie]

And now for another installment of the worlds slowest build...

Oh I think there is some fierce competition for that title Fender3x.