rubis

I was going to add a comment, but after reading that, what more can you say?

16 hours ago, Soledad said:

unbelievable attention to detail, the heel shading and everything else. Super- particular.

The fingerboard tinting is great - did you consider graduating it a bit in the open - 7th fret regions. I suspect finger grease over the years tended to darken the lower registers a little more. The BLO may contribute to that maybe.

Fab work.

Thank you Soledad

 you're one step ahead of me with the BLO, I was hoping that it would give it a bit of that old, greasy look, as you say, down at the business end.

I was planning on putting it on a bit thinner up the dusty end, maybe even not applying any at all under the E and A strings from about the 15th fret upwards. I'll see how it goes.

I did a bit of extra rolling on the fingerboard, as it came with just the edges taken off really, so I did it on just the 9th fret downwards, as I don't stray above the octave all that often, and I tend to loosen my grip on the neck a little when I do, if you know what I mean, so I wouldn't rub the edges of the neck up there too much anyway! 

Best wishes fleabag

Thankyou kindly Maestro 

All things considered, that's quite reasonable for expert guidance on building your own handmade bass

Very nice looking bass it is too 

That looks fantastic @Hobbayne

Seeing your bass has spurred me on, I must get my finger out and finish my self-build off, it will be pretty much the same spec as this lovely thing

Thanks for posting the pictures  

A beautiful thing

I rounded the fingerboard edges off a bit more than Musikraft did, at the business end where I think it would wear more, and then used some of this leather dye, which others have recommended for darkening the fingerboard. It also darkens the 'clay' dots down a bit which I prefer the look of now.

I may add some boiled linseed oil later to give it more of a shiny, gunky old look. 

I also rounded the end of the fingerboard off a bit at the neck pocket end, as they also seem to wear down there.

I have done the date stamp on the heel of the neck, as I said at the start I purposely made it to show my date of birth, rather than copying the manufacturing marks Fender would have or still do, put on their necks. 

The Fender decal was given a light coat of amber, the instructions advised doing it, but I have noticed that the decal on old Fenders is often slightly darker than the headstock

Then I give the neck a light dusting of amber lacquer before masking off parts of the neck, the same way I did on the body, that would discolour differently, due to not getting exposure to light, and then applied a bit more amber. 

Again, I know it's not going to be seen, but a big part of the enjoyment for me is seeing how these little touches are created and applying them to something of mine. It makes a difference to me.

I also made a decal with 'Rubis' on it, my date of birth and a little shamrock, in plain view and to be clear coated over to permanently seal it in, a bit like Limelight do on the back of their headstocks.

20 hours ago, Meddle said:

Might as well try tracking down some Pre-CBS dirt and try working it into the carbon track at the same time. There is no crackle like Pre-CBS crackle. 

I was just going to make do with a bit of modern house dust from the hoover 

I have a mint green Spitfire guard which I got from a fellow BC'er, he had ordered it and then had a change of plan, so it was posted to me when he finished making it. 

Very nicely made and looks great. 

I'm almost finished this build   and it will go on a Sonic Blue P bass. I didn't realise that Spitfire made mint guards, they seem best known for the tort ones, and as others have said, appear to be a bit hit and miss.

Very happy with mine though.

 spencer.b, if mint green could be an option for you, these ones below, which came recommended by Rick's Fine '52, look really nice and I would have bought one, had the Spitfire guard not been offered. I will probably try one of his single ply guards for a future build I am contemplating...…….half the price and no import duties! 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aged-MINT-GREEN-CELLULOID-NITRATE-62-PRECISION-BASS-PICKGUARD-3-Fender-P-Bass-/323079925413?hash=item4b39106ea5

9 minutes ago, blisters on my fingers said:

I may well have misunderstood but did you dip the pots into the acid ? It's easy enough to pry off the back of the pots with a small screwdriver and replace them by bending the little tab thingies back into place. Also apparently when soldered up, the blobs of solder can be aged using a tiny paintbrush and some kind of acid, maybe the same stuff you already have.

Great thread 

Great stuff, I didn't dip the pots directly into the acid, the idea is that you lie the hardware parts in a plastic tub which goes into a bigger tub containing an inch or so of acid, the smaller tub is floating on this acid and when you put an airtight cover on the bigger tub, you seal in the fumes, which tarnishes the finish on the hardware. 

It works best with nickel, and in the case of the pots, they were in there less than half an hour, just long enough to take off the sheen and not look quite so brand new. 

I will try a dab of the acid on an old scrap pot with solder already on it, to see how your idea works, sounds great if it works ok and doesn't compromise the solder joint. 

If there are any little tricks like this, I'm all for trying them out, I think it's the sum of all the troubles and efforts you make over little details which give you (or me at least) the most satisfaction when you're finished. 

thanks for replying

4 minutes ago, Rick's Fine '52 said:

You’re on the cusp of the introduction, and, as with all things pre-CBS Fender, there would undoubtedly have been a transition period. I think one of the endearing features of an old Fender is the slightly bowed tuner plate as it’s forced off the neck by the tuner wings, so personally I wouldn’t drill the divots, but that’s just me. For March you will be equally accurate with either option, so I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over this particular detail. 

I'm so glad you said that Rick, because I couldn't agree more, I honestly thought those countersunk holes were an aftermarket mod carried out by the owner. 

I agree with you and the Black and Decker can get back in his box!

Thanks again, and if I had any Belgian beer in the house I would be toasting your encyclopaedic knowledge, red wine will have to do...…..cheers 

T

1 hour ago, Rick's Fine '52 said:

These relief holes were drilled in the factory as standard from around Feb ‘64, to ensure the tuners sat flush (I’m always surprised it took them 13 years to work it out!! )

Nice looking beer by the way!

49 minutes ago, Soledad said:

Just found this thread so sorry if I repeat anything (it's a long 'un). Right up my street this is. My long-term P was a Feb '64 (L16277) so I know them well. The machines are flush, not recessed. I guess the wood may compress a little (although maple is hard stuff).

Thank you so much for replying Rick and Soledad

So just to be clear before I get the Black and Decker out, March '64 would have had holes drilled in the back like this to allow the tuners to sit flush? 

I love the availability of cool little details like this, god bless the internet (sometimes!)

Went off on a trip to Ostend and found this cheeky little tipple, well...… if it's got your name on it, you have to try it, right?
Very decent it was too, god bless the Belgians and their beers!

Very nice

Thank you Jez 

1 hour ago, cLepto-bass said:

I love everything about his build. 

That's very kind, thank you and a Happy St Patrick's Day

Thank you kindly sir 

Thank you very kindly Pea Turgh  🍻

A very happy one it is too, I didn't know that this arrived on Friday while I was at work,  just in time for today! 

I took a couple of quick photos this morning when I saw your message, thanks again and have a great St Patrick's Day everyone!

😅

I hope so Andy, they weren't in there for more than 1/2 hour to be honest, it's quite a slow process, perhaps because the containers I used were bigger than the ones I have seen people using on the YouTube clips I watched, so maybe the fumes are less concentrated? 

Some of the metal parts took longer than I was led to believe from the clips, and the chromed bits are very subtle, which is probably a good thing! 

Anyway, if the pots are buggered, they are fairly cheap to replace, fingers crossed, and thank you for your comments!

Next step was Dr Fakenstein's acid bath!

Bought some concrete cleaner and some plastic tubs and put the metal parts in to tarnish.

You put a bit of the acid in the larger container which needs to have an airtight lid, then float the smaller tub with the parts in, inside and place it somewhere safe outside, checking on it every 30 mins or so until you get the desired look. 

The process definitely works better on nickel coated parts, rather than chrome, and I resisted the temptation to soak them in the liquid, as I had noticed on the pre-relic'd bridge I bought that the baseplate looked a bit blotchy, as if some sort of liquid (etching fluid or acid?) had been put on it and globules had formed and left to dry. It didn't look all that authentic to me, anyway so I polished it up and put it in the tub and (to me anyway!) improved it a bit. 

this was before I re-did the baseplate 

This is after. 

I got a bit 'acid happy' and put in the brass pickup plate and the pots, just to take a bit of the shiny newness off them!

I've been having a bit of fun with the hardware, making it look 'less new' 

I took the pickup covers off and rubbed them down with fine wet and dry and then 0000 steel wool to give them more of a matt finish like this 

Then I read about using this stuff on the polepieces of alnico pickups

On the photos of vintage P basses I have studied, some have rusted polepieces, some are blackened, I decided that blackening them would be both easier and kinder to the pickup! 

Here is a sort of before and after comparison 

WOW, what a generous and interesting offer

I didn't know this gentleman, but he was clearly well thought of and will be missed by many

RIP

Thanks Simon, I got some 4mm stamps after Bridgehouse very kindly measured the numbers on his own bass (lucky bugger). The neck plate will probably be the next little job I can do while I'm waiting for the neck to arrive. 

I did the aluminium pickguard shield tonight. I worked out the wording from various photos around to be 'ALCLAD 2024T3 Q' and '2 KAISER' ………...like this 

I found some stamps online which looked to be near enough same size and font, some red enamel spray paint, a plastic clipboard and one of them roller things for getting dog hair off your trousers!

After masking off the shield at what looked like the same width of gaps, I applied the lettering and I'm quite pleased with the results.