sorting out finishing some projects

I get to a point where my workshop becomes unworkable. I tend to leave stuff lying around with the intention of putting it away later but just forget. Eventually things pile up so much it drives me crackers. So that's what happened this week. I started to sort out my electronic bits after building some amps and realised that my last attempt to organise things had fallen short of the mark. I'd put things in tins and boxes, figuring I'd remember what was in each. Resistors in this box, capacitors in that one and so on. After a few months of not opening some of them, I had completely forgotten what was in each one. So I've been really anal and labelled them all. I realised that some things get used very frequently but are not in convenient places. So I've rearranged some things to make them more accessible. I've discovered things I'd forgotten I'd got too. So it's a good exercise to do every so often.

During the process I came across a half finished CBG. A beautiful Indian Tabac box which I planned to make into a 4 string fretted guitar for myself. I think I got busy with other stuff and put it on a shelf intending to go back to it later. That was over a year ago. So carrying on the mood of sorting and organising, I decided to make my next project to finish it. Whilst sorting tins and boxes I found a four-pole magnetic pickup from a bass. It's perfect for this four-stringer. I'm fitting a piezo as well with a changeover switch and a volume pot. So having spent a couple of full afternoons on it, frets are on, neck bolted up, machine heads fitted and it's well on it's way to completion.

So the moral of the story is, take some time out to tidy your workshop, take stock of what you've got and see if there's something that needs finishing. You'll feel a great sense of achievement and maybe have a new instrument ready in half the time.