Mahogany zouk 65

back jointed with an ovangkol strip



sides bent



linings on

mango mando 66

some mango....



sides bent



back jointed



neck & tail blocks in & linings glued in

Mango zouk prertty much finished apart from som fret polishing.

mango topped bass is nearly done.....

tuners in, raked back for speed!!



neck on and strung up





backplate



concentric volume (centre) and tone, the switch is a coil split.





still a lot of set up to do, and the screws holding the pick up in place need replaced as the heads were destroyed screwing them in, but I've been playing this and I'm very happy!!

Mango zouk progressing nicely.....

neck rough cut




neck/body join



neck joined and frets in....





and after some sanding a splash of finish...



that mango is LOVELY!!

Mango/cedar zouk.....

top on, maple binding fitted, sanded and a coat of lacquer to show up where needs sanded.....









the neck is made from two pieces of really pale mahogany, glued together for thickness, then cut out and a mango faceplate glued on, and truss rod slot cut





fretboard slotted and glued in place





the hardware is going onto the bass.......

and the neck is all sanded and a coat of lacquer on. I'll drill the holes for the tuners when they finally arrive!

bass body is sanded, and varnished. 6 coats on here......





bouzouki top (cedar) joined and mango rosette fitted....



and top bracing glued in place

So on my latest scrounging escapade I fell in with some mango.

Aparently its used a lot for Ukeleles, so some of it will find it's way into my instrument making......



so, to see what it's like to work with I cut some up, planed off the manky dark stain and made a little trinket box.....(with a cherry top and base)



I LIKE this wood!!

so, anyway, lets build a bouzouki......

sides bent....



back joined with a wide strip of ovangkohl up the middle....



linings on the rim and neck and tail blocks glued in...



and back braces glued on

I have been sadly remiss in updating this blog lately!!

OK background. My back is giving me a lot of trouble at the minute, so rather than staying after work for an hour or more I've been limpoing off home to get ice packs and relaxation......

but still, here's some progress.....

the archtop...

I TRIED a sunburst.

It was awful!!, so its now nicely understated in black.





lots of setup still to do, but its really comfy to play and it sounds really pretty nice, especially plugged it.

I've also started a bass. pretty straight forward, 4 string, single humbucker, coil split, concentric tone & volume & individual bridges..... body ash with a mango cap, neck maple with a synthetic fretboard.







and of course with seperate bridges, you need an earth wire to each one, so here are the 4 holes for the earths.....

so, ever seen a fanned fret archtop?

me neither!!

sounds like as good a reason as any to have a go!!

fret slots cut



binding onto neck...



test fitting of neck onto body.....



frets on neck



first coats of finish on top



the PLAN is to try a old Gibson style black & yellow sunburst. I'll wet sand the clear coat smooth, then all the yellow burst, clear coat, sand smooth again then balck and then seal it with a few more coats of clear.

if it all goes pear shaped then I'll just go all black!!

once the top is done, I'll glue in the neck and tidy up the neck join before finishing the neck neck, back and sides.