Back on!

Whoa. It's always nice to get to this super-clampy stage. All those clamps look so cool. So cool.

Back graduation

I've been graduating the back -- carving it from the inside to the correct thickness.

Back brace...

The back brace is on.

My brace is different from most, if not all. I don't use a spruce brace with the grain orientation opposite that of the back, I use a maple brace with the grain oriented in the same direction as the back. This makes a very stable flat-back bass since the back and the brace can move together with changes in humidity. I've been making backs like this since 2001 and it works very well.

When I glue the brace on, I induce an arch in the back -- and I am now shaping the ribs (where the back is joined -- called the "rib plane") to induce more arch, so there is a significant arch in the back -- a good thing as it is stronger and can therefore be lighter.

The back bevel....

Yesterday, I cut the kerf for the beveled back and bent it. This is the scariest step in the whole process.

I cut two kerfs -- one vertical to the right depth and one angled to meet it at the bottom. Then I flip it over, weight the end and heat the outside of the kerf with a wet, cloth-covered oven element. When it heats up, it gives way in under a minute. Voila.

Linings

The linings are made and the back ones installed.

My linings are a lamination of five layers of poplar -- I laminate them on the same vacuum forms as the ribs, so their fit is perfect and their installation is stress free and equally perfect -- the main reason for doing it so.....