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The first gig was on 29th June, my daughter, Vicky's, 6th birthday, at an open air event in Potten End, Hertfordshire. I've not used any of my other basses for a gig since.

It has made numerous outings around Herts, Beds and Bucks including two sets of Pepper shows in Berkhamsted the Pepper Rock Circus in Berkhamsted 11th - 19th July 2003, the Pirates of Pepper Rock 16th -24th July 2004 and the Pepper Factor 4th July - 23rd July 2006.

I am very pleased with the tonal range and playability of the guitar. I could never have bought one this good: but I would say that, wouldn't I. The only weakness is the much fretted over piezo bridges. These have not delivered what I expected. They make a good compliment to the magnetic pickups and give a little edge for slap playing, if used in moderation. They are next to useless on their own, perhaps due to my poor circuit design. I tend to turn them right down and rely on the two magnetic pickups.

That's it all done then. I have enjoyed the experience and challenge of making my own musical instrument. I have proved to myself that I can do it. If I can, anybody can and I encourage you to have a go. I had toyed with but will probably not make the fretless sister, or any other guitar for that matter. The challenge has now gone and I do not have enough time to share between work, gigging and fitting in my family. I could not have done this without the full support of my wife, Christine and daughters, Vicky and Lizzie. I am rather obsessive about anything that I take on and the time spent on this has not been fair to them.

I suppose I will find another challenge. I don't know what it will be. In the past, I have done the classic bike restorations, classic car restorations, learned to fly and got my private pilots licence, obtained several academic qualifications and developed endless electronic and computing projects, so I doubt that I will settle for long without some challenge or other.

I hope that you have found this project interesting. I posted it on the web to give myself some encouragement to finish successfully. As ever I needed no encouragement. If you have any useful comments drop me an email.