I am very happy with the way things worked out. The shellac is really nice, but I think that my decision not to fill the open pores of the padouk makes it impossible to do a proper french polish. Instead, I just padded the shellac.
	I love the look and feel of it. Much more organic (shellac is made from the shell of the lac bug) than urethane or laquer finishes.
	The scarf joint, shown here on the back of the peghead was one of the more difficult parts of the construction. The glue I used is also visibly darker than the wood, exagerating the effect of a less than perfect joint.
	Next time I'll match the back woods a bit closer as well. Once finished, the difference between these two pieces of basswood became more pronounced. Actually, though I like to work with bassood, and I think it sounds great, if I use it again I'll laminate a cap on the back as well as the front. It is just so soft that dings are unavoidable.
	Another angle on the neck/peghead. I've left the strings long because the bridge I'm using allows the bass to be strung from either the rear, or through the instrument. I don't want to cut them until I've given through-the-body stringing a try. Bass strings seem very expensive to a guitarist, and you get two less to boot.
	I made fret position markers from sawdust and epoxy, same as the fret lines. When I was playing the unfinished instrument I kept getting lost. I kept them small and near the fret lines to de-emphasize them aesthetically. I think they look nice. Its hard to tell from the photos, but they have a slight reddish tint.
	The first, but definately not the last...