I am but a lowly hobbiest who teaches high school biology in the United States (Connecticut) and decided to start building bass guitars at the beginning of COVID lockdown. I started with a couple of kits on which I upgraded the hardware and electronics, upped my game with a Warmoth build, and then tried my hand at designing, cutting, and finishing my own body from a blank.

I have dabbled with various finishes including paint, stain, dye, fabric, lacquer, TruOil, Odies Oil, water based clear coat, and epoxy. I tried all of these in an effort to find "my go-to finish." I find that my best guitars have been fabric tops finished with epoxy.

On a recent build I experimented with doing some custom fret inlays and, as a result, learned how to use a laser cutter. I have also taught myself how to use a CNC machine as well as how to design in both InkScape and CarbideCreate.

I LOVE the process of building guitars. There is no end to the problems that arrise and, therefore, the research, learning, and experimenting I have to do to fix those problems. I've gained so much in the short time I have taken up this hobby, not the least of which is confidence in my own abilities.

My GGBO project will be my first non-bass guitar build.

I still consider myself to be quite a novice. I'm not sure what help I could offer anyone, though being a teacher, I'm always willing to help when I can. I'm most comfortable working with epoxy and have developed a methology that generates very nice results. I am also fairly well versed in the use of a laser cutter and/or CNC machine if anyone wants to break into that world of wood working.