Luthiery Laboratories

Doing Things Wrong

Laboratory

Come up to the lab,
and see what's on the slab.
I see you shiver with antici ...

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... pation !

I like to build oddball short-scale basses. You can't buy them. You can't even buy parts for them. If you want one, you're going to have to start with lumber and work your way up. That can involve some fairly precision work, the kind that requires specialized tooling. I thought I'd post some of the creations from my garage workshop for others to see and perhaps copy or improve on.

Almost everything here can be made from parts and materials from your local hardware store, with a few exceptions noted. There are many good sources for luthiery and general tools and supplies in the Links page.

And all you high school kids - take wood shop. You can make all of this stuff easily there. Man do I envy you for that. I wish I'd taken wood shop instead of French. Would have been a lot more useful.

Reverse Routing Plate

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The plate is an old piece of phenolic I had lying around - very stiff stuff. The 'legs' are pine scrap, in whatever width works.​

The Reverse Routing Jig holds a router above the workpiece, which is secured to a flat smooth surface below. I use an old piece of countertop, not a carpet, as in the picture. By sliding the router over the workpiece, you can mill the face of the piece. Height is adjustable by changing the legs. This jig is very useful for milling Fender-style headstocks. It is also possible to cut angled headstocks by blocking-up the workpiece and using the longer legs. This jig is basically an upside-down router table, with one great advantage - you can see what you are doing.

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