skelf

Hi Sorting out what a customer wants is all part of the service from any builder. Some people have a fairly good idea of what they want woods/body shape/pickups etc. others have a few parts sorted out and are open to suggestions with regard to the rest. However they pretty much all change over the course of discussing the final spec. I enjoy the whole process as I can put in my suggestions and pick up a few more for the next time as people come up with ideas which I might not have. It does not matter how much or how little info you have to start off with you should get any help you need to sort out your bass. Cheers Alan

Having thought about it. I think I will be staining with the purple seal that then spray with a tinted lacquer. I think this will give a more even colour to the bass. I expect the Limba to take in a fair amount of the purple stain as it is more porous than the maple what I hope to end up with is a darker perimeter on the bass with the face of the bass being lighter. Alternatively I may not stain the limb at all and just the maple leaving the limba just to be coloured by the lacquer. One of the things I tried out on a guitar I stained. To get the stain more consistent over the whole guitar was to give it a soaking in lacquer thinner this did make the stain work better with regard to even colour. Alan

I would be interested in how your bass was done. what I intend to do is to stain the bass with purple first and sand most of it back out just leaving it where it has went in the deepest. Then either stain with a blue until we reach the colour we are looking for or add the blue to the lacquer and spray it on. The first method I think gives more depth to the finish but can be difficult to get a consistent colour through out the whole bass especially with 3 different woods being coloured. The second method is certainly more consistent and easier to remove if it does not go to plan but does I feel not quiet have the depth I mentioned above. Your experience with your bass would be appreciated. Cheers Alan