Some photos:
I will shorten bot ends of the T-beam down to the tuners and string holes. Btw, these are not nylon strings as originally described, but flatwound steel strings. I found out that the pull of nylon strings wasn't that much lighter than that of steel strings, so I went for these instead.
I've played it with a cheap non-preamplified piezo pickup on the flange. Sounded very good and feels very alive... I'll make some sound samples to go here. It even sounds good bowed. Plus it was easy to bow; since it only has two strings, they are easy to hit even though the fingerboard is flat (as in not being "radiused" like the fingerboard of e.g. a violin). So far, I am really, really satisfied with it.
Common bass tuners mounted in oak blocks. Bronze saddles through top flange. And yes, the saddles aren't completely perpendicular to the top flange. I'll mount them in slots in the top flange rather than in threaded holes, which will make it possible to adjust intonation. And then I won't have to worry about my crooked thread-cutting.
Action is ridiculously high at the moment, but if I set it lower, the strings don't press properly down on the saddles. I need a string tree, but I'll make it myself, since the strings are 18 mm apart.
Making the wood sides is next. Plus, I might trim down the "fretting" part of the neck to 25 mm (1") thickness. It feels too thick as it is now (4o mm). I was going to do that at some point anyway, but now I'll do it sooner rather than later.
The local staircase manufacturer kindly donated a nice piece of mahogany, and I've just bought a table-mounted circular saw. Plus, I am eager to use my router that I bought over a year ago and haven't used much. Making the wood sides should be a breeze.
Hope springs eternal.
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