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.....