T-Bay

That link is fascinating, some very similar colours seem to behave very very differently. I would have expected the various shades to be made from a small number of basic colours blended to make the variations but that would appear to suggest that they use a wide variety of ingredients. The colour you suggested seems to be one of the best and thankfully the ones I selected seem good as well.

That is fantastic mate, thanks! As said above, it will be a couple of weeks before I get a go at it again but can’t wait to have a go. It’s getting to the exciting end of the project now!

Ink is on its way, I went for the brilliant red instead of flamingo as it was less pink (no one wants a pink bass!)

Just ordered some of the Warwick ones, a standard set and a set for my acoustic bass. Will be interesting to see how they sound.

@Andyjr1515 I have looked at the inks, wondering about flamingo and matador as one either side of the wild strawberry or would you go a bit lighter/ darker?

This has always been my favourite of the Gibson finishes: A cherry red finish is sounding good.......

I presume you lacquered over the top? That is exactly the sort of finish I would love to end up with. I was thinking of using a good quality car lacquer, purely because I have used then in the past and know which ones work well.

Thanks, I just sent you a pm, just wondering how you apply it?

I do like cherry red! I can’t resist at least getting some for a test.

My experience on here has been excellent as well, the feedback helps but no issues on couple where there was no feedback but the members had been on a while. I had one item that was very slow to post (three weeks) but a mention of a PM to the mods and it was in the post the next day. I know there are exceptions but generally where people invest time and effort into a forum they tend to be decent sorts in my experience.

I have some 6082T6 left over from a project as it happens, don’t think I have enough though and it’s all 12mm.

I do have a secret like for acrylic bit think it would be a nightmare to work and get a good finish. Perhaps I should just get a billet of ally and make one!

Lost me there I’m afraid.

On the one I mentioned above, you certainly have to spend an age working out how to get the best out of it as mentioned above, sadly that ‘best’ is still poor. The TE 150w head I bought for pennies knocks it’s socks off. Getting a good sound is highly personal and I think we make judgements on makes very easily, whilst I can rationalise this I also know that other makes sound better to my ear with almost no fiddling so why bother with one that doesn’t. They do seem to drop in value quickly so are perhaps worth looking at for someone on a budget. As with most makes they will suit some and not others, I am one of the others.

I have to admit I have caught myself thinking ‘next time I would do it like that......’ then thinking what next time. I love thunderbird and this was a ‘can you do it’ experiment, more in terms of kit than skill as most of my stuff is it for working metal. I am now thinking how I can I adapt the T-bird design and improve it. Maybe a bit more exotic wood next time.

The Ferrari analogy is not valid, partly as I pointed out about boutique basses but also because a sports car has significant limitations that would affect a learner driver. A better anaology would be that It’s easier to paint a wall with a good quality brush than a ten year old which has sat in turps for years and has half the bristles missing. You can be good or crap at painting, but it will still be easier. I have cheap basses I love but I didn't want to build a cheap bass. If you are happy building basses for pennies, great, but it was never the intention of this build. This is about getting the sound I want, within a sensible budget -I don’t have thousands to spend and don’t think I need it. The success or otherwise will be apparent within a few seconds of playing it. At least I know what I want and (think) I know how to get close. Only time will tell.

I am hoping this will become my backup gig bass, hence the Thunderbird elements. I am also interested to know how the ‘thunderbird sound’ is created. I don’t think you need to go to a boutique bass costing thousands but a decent bass will help any player to sound better. I started on a terrible Stagg, when I picked up an old Aria I improved massively overnight (literally), but I have never found anything I like sound wise as much as the Thunderbird. What I have done is worked out the physical features that work for me, so string spacing, pick up placements, balance point on this are set to work for me. KiOgon built the loom with specific parts to give the sound I want. The first time I fire it up will be very interesting!

I could have done similar price wise but I didn’t see the point, all the main bits apart from the loom are second hand so I could sell for what they cost if I ever chose to (doubt I will). Based on new prices there are about £600 in bits in there. I am not looking to make a super cheap bass, eBay and Gumtree are littered with them for little cash and no hassle. I wanted to make something worth having with the pleasure of knowing I had made it (well most of it) myself.

We have one at work, it’s terrible. I love TE kit and people say Ashdown is the natural progression but my experiences have been so coloured by that one that I wouldn’t buy Ashdown myself.

I never had a budget in mind but was minded to do it on a budget. Then I thought about and really wanted that Thunderbird sound, so a set of genuine pick ups was acquired, from then it seemed stupid to put cheap stuff on. I think I am around £230 at the moment and will be £260-280 when finished but that will be with genuine pickups, KiOgon custom loom, hipshot ultralights, decent heavyweight bridge so a decent spec. I barely drink, don’t smoke etc etc so see it as my hobby expenditure and have really loved doing it.

Forgot to say that I noe have a couple of weeks where nothing will happen again but it’s getting close now.

Had a little time yesterday so finished off the control cavity. I also did a little more sanding. I then tried the dye I bought on an offcut. Sadly the colour is awful, on a light wood it works well but is just muddy and horrible on the darker wood. So the quest for a finish continues. I have looked at both oiled and lacquered finishes. The lacquer has won out because I have the option of going for a solid colour at a later date should I decide to. A set of hip shot ultralites are on their way to me. They are 1/2 type, I don’t think they will fit on my Gibson or I would swap them over and use the Gibson ones on this. Build costs are adding up but it’s been a lot of fun so far.

Last minute booking at a place we have played a couple of times before. Due to work and illness in the band we haven’t played together since our last gig at the back end of January. We could only manage half an hour before the gig but all played incredibly well. As the last time we ended up playing half as long again as we planned as we were enjoying ourselves so much. By the end we were just shouting out stuff we hadn’t played by then and going for it which seemed to go down well. And a repeat booking for the summer. We did have one punter make us laugh, their friend is getting married next week so they asked if we could play a Bruno Mars song (really not our style) and was surprised we couldn’t learn it there and then.