The J bass has one floating out there already, in fact even when I fill that and rout for the new one, I will run into the wire channel which has alreay been drilled. But it will take some working out, all right.

The genius of Rod's suggestion is that I don't need to re-rout the control cavity, and I can use the J bass control plate I already have. It'll be fun trying to get a slanted pickup into the bare wood, I think I better rout that part last of all ...

How are we lookin' now?

Thanks dude. A long way to go yet, but the fun is the journey, right? I have to tell myself that.

(edit - thanks Rod, an interesting idea that!)

(edit 2 - GREAT idea, that!)

I went back to the planning diagram and adapted some of it:

Thoughts?

I have to say the long Stang guard is going to look pretty weird, there's something that puts me off, I am put off the Bass V for similar reasons. I'll have to revisit my earlier guard design and Mustang / Jazz the bottom horn on that. By the way, the colour ref is Daphne / mint with matching headst...

OK guys - I need some design input. I decided that this should be a Mustang VI - not a Bass VI, not a Mustang Bass, not a Jaguar Bass - so it should be a VI version of the Mustang, just like the Bass VI is a VI version of the Jaguar. So far I have the Mustang tail, a Jag bridge (some choice of sting...

Very quick update!

endsjustifymeans wrote: I have a telecaster bridge (granted it's a bucker bridge).

Coil tap dude!

Heck yes, that's very cool. Good news is that the neck is on its way from Adam, and when it arrives I am going to get going properly. I think it will go through a few stages: - fit neck to body, get neck joint nice and snug, draw bridge line based on neck scale - temporarily fit bass bridge and bass...

p.s. ~ i sent'd your neck. ;) That's fantastic, it appears you are a stand-up guy. I just need tuners and the main work can start! If you do the tailpiece thing, make sure you measure the centreline - I did it by tying a loop of string around the nut, with a trailing end, then flipping the string u...

EDIT: matthew, i forgot you had converted your epiphone from stop tail to a tailpiece! i was just thinking i'd like to do that to mine if i could find one in black! Guitar Parts Resource have this - all I could find at the moment but I will keep my eyes open. Could work for a Dot or a Les Paul - yo...

Woohoo, a shout-out to the bass neck! That's very cool. Nice demos - and now I want to see the clip with the birds ... Here are some brothers and sisters the VI project will be joining - got the 51 a few days ago, but I'm not 100% in love: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4364200141_b6887c67de_o....

Fully agreed Haze - that Stang vibrato is just sitting on the surface, I haven't done any filling or routing yet. I won't commit anything until I try it with the shortscale neck. You're right about the shape too, I'll be removing wood rather than adding bits on. It does look kinda cool as a guitar, ...

So - a minor progress update - the body is now toothpicked and all the poly crud and relic scrapes have been sanded off (no re-shape yet, need to make sure it's all possible before I cut the body up!) http://i.imgur.com/s0hCEWh.jpg and I bought a Jag-Stang vibrato from eBay (you can get them cheaper...

I can see that becoming your main player - it seems to have it all.
Charming demo - just cool to see someone so into their playing.

Yes they just look like "minimal rock machine" don't they. Might have to get one. After I explain the Squier 51 to my wife.

Oh you know Pat, he doesn't "do" reissues ... !

Fantastic - thanks very much. What a helpful place Shortscale is. If anyone is changing strings and could try putting a Sharpie marker dot where a string crosses the bridge, and measure from the ball end to the mark when the string is off, that would be a great backup measurement. I will try to figu...

I wish I had a Mustang to measure for myself - but can anyone tell me how much string length they have behind the bridge? I'm thinking about the part of the string which goes through the vibrato bar, wraps around and heads up to the bridge saddles. This is for my "Mustang VI" project - try...