French Bass full restoration

[Chet Bishop]

Well, Matthew, I had missed almost all of this great thread, so I have spent the time to sit and read through every post. Very engaging, fascinating stuff.

I'm looking forward to seeing the final product. I hope to begin another bass this month, but there have been a number of developments lately that might make me postpone again. (Sure hope not-- it has been five years sunce I finished the last one...)

Press on, my friend!

Chet Bishop

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Matthew, how's that neck coming?

[Matthew Tucker]

Not much change since you last saw it at Oberlin!



As you may recall, after gluing the bits together again



I let Robbie loose with his jig



and before too long the mortise was formed.



then we cleaned up the nice grafting block you sold me



made some more fluffy shavings and chalk dust



and fit the neck nicely into the mortise





It made it back here with the rest of my tools and tonewood, in one piece and without grief from customs officials



and is now on my second bench waiting for the weekend when i can crank up the bandsaw to cut some new cheeks.

[Brian Gencarelli]

That's great! I was wondering how you made out with the travel case. It was a pleasure sharing a bench with you. Got to see the process up close and personal.

Can't wait to see it recheeked and all finished!

Best,
Brian

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Nice pics and work, Matthew. Brian, will you be starting up a thread on your endpin experiments soon? How is the Tarrantino sounding?

[Brian Gencarelli]

Hey Arnold,

Yes, I am still working on some ideas, but things are going well. Harrison is in town and I had him play it for me with a couple of different pins. I think I may just plug the regular endpin hole with a tailpiece hanger and just use the Laborie. I am starting to get used to it. Been tweaking the set up some, and I about have it dialed in. It sounded really good with John playing this morning.

I will be posting some things on it in the next few weeks. I just finished reorganizing my shop and now I can actually walk to my Lathe! Now that I have figured out how to play in that position, I can experiment with the different materials.

Best,
Brian

[Steve Alcott]

So how's the bass coming along, Matthew?