Fishman

Thanks Chris - was it done with a blow torch?

As others have said, don't do much to this – if, once it's refinished, you drop it and it gets damaged you may cry for days – while it's like this you won't worry for a second. I have a 70s jazz that looks like crap, but plays beautifully and gets knocked over all the time – and nobody bats a eyelid 🙂

Amen to the Gallery – I had a rear control cavity on my Stingray routed by Martin a couple of years back to accommodate an East Uni-pre – terrific work!

my old ears are having trouble hearing past the mwah of the fretless 🙃

I wonder if this is as good as it looks – would like to see a demo using a fretted bass

I just tried out some Fiebings leather dye on my test scrap and it is very black, which is what I was after – I also tried indian ink which was also very black, but raised the grain a bit more I have some swamp ash samples coming from rothko for ultimate proof of concept before attacking the body

£200 ! I'm feeling a bit faint

I only have 9 (but I probably own more than 70 cameras, so I can appreciate the GAS!!!) 2003 Stingray 4 Stingray 4 build in progress 1976 Aria Pro II Jazz 1977 Aria Pro II P 1976 Aria Precise P 1970 Shaftesbury Telecaster bass 1978 Ibanez Jazz Washburn AB20 acoustic Fender Japan Mustang God only knows where my two Wals are now and my lovely 60s Jazz that I probably sold for next to nothing)

take a look at these hands… two basses on this one

is this black or charcoal? ebay link doesn't show black for sale

nice – ebay link?

ash or swamp ash?

The body was made by GSP basses over on thefretboard.com – it's very, very good apart from that neck plate hole which is a smidgen out The pick guard was from my other Stingray that was routed for the J pickup by Paul Herman (now Wal) via Charlie Chandler's a few years back – quality job as one would expect – that Stingray will have P+J pickups once I've finished this The ACG-01 preamp was in my other Stingray for ages before replacing it with an East Uni-pre – I'm looking forward to using the ACG-01 again I'm afraid it's gonna be black though!

surely it only affects open strings though – not for me, I'm out 😁

I realise that a build diary without images is not worth much, so here are some progress pics I bought a neck plate from Taiwan via eBay and very nice it is too and I finally took the plunge and drilled some holes for the bridge, control pots and pick guard The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that a pick guard screw protrudes into the control cavity – I plan to put a small dowel plug here for the screw to go in to – also, the body maker has drilled one of the neck plate holes about 2mm off Now it's advice time – what's the best approach for positioning the battery in the control cavity? Maybe I'll go 18v if there's room – is it worth it though? The preamp is an ACG-01 I'm still testing black dye/stain which is being dealt with in the repair/tech section

I've just received one of these from Taiwan via eBay and it is exceptionally well made and dimensionally bang on I know others have tried to source one from Ernie Ball without success https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TONE5-Titanium-Neck-Plate-For-Stingray-bass/264428099502?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Ddcb8bffd4d684759945aa303f2aead75%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D121741180647%26itm%3D264428099502%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2481888&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ab729d71b-cb2d-11e9-9f07-74dbd180f414|parentrq%3Ae2ce87ec16c0aa66c12f55a0ffde715e|iid%3A1

what exactly does this do?

Crikey, I've opened a can of worms with this thread (witty response re not being able to stain wood with worms I expect will be forthcoming!) i've applied 6 coats of Liberon ebony spirit-based stain (recommended by a local framer) to my test piece of ash and it's still a warm black – i applied some crimson guitar finishing oil and it removed some of the stain looks like the chemical route might be the way to go

@Christine – thanks for this – where might I buy the chems without ending up on an MI5 list?

@Rexel Matador – is this swamp ash?

Not as worthy as donating to charity, but I've given mine to a couple of jewellery makers in the past and they reported positively on the various uses

Thanks for the suggestions! makes for a less boring Friday

crikey! now the pressure is on… As I have no imagination whatsoever, let's go with @Rich's suggestion… Not actually a fish

I need to make myself sound more interesting by inserting a witty line of text beneath my user name – how do I do this?