Bridgehouse

I’ve sprayed a few. I find spraying stressful and oil finishes relaxing. Plus, the grain on this was too good to hide

Neck has had another coat of Tru Oil - it’s going to need a few more but I like a nice thin coat with a wet sand (oil not water) and a scuff back - makes it silky smooth

Second round done. You have to be careful with colour matching and consistency with the tinted danish oil, but otherwise it’s going on well: It’s starting to take on that nice satin sheen naturally, so I think a third round is in order and then a good drying off before some light buffing. I’m really liking the antique/old refinish look of it - sort of “stripped and refinished in the 60s” look..

Might have been an owner who had a massive spikey belt buckle...

Yes I did consider a third to allow me to get a better feel to the finish..

One bit of recycling in this project too.. I upgraded my ACG Finn 4 to a P-Retro recently - the old passive vol/tone/jack harness will be used in this project:

Small aside.. The bridge on this bass was always going to be problematic. I need heft - as I need to minimise neck dive due to lightweight body, and so a normal bent steel fender style bridge wasn't going to cut it. Similarly, I wanted black. Anyway, at the guitar show in Birmingham I went to see Grainger Guitars who sold me this rather magnificent lump of (I presume) brass which really is quite a hefty chunky thing.. It's beautifully engineered and has the right weight to it as well..

No problem at all! Good luck with it - it's pretty scary shooting that first bit of tint over a pristine daphne blue finish!

I'll rinse and repeat tomorrow with more danish oil on the body and more tru oil on the neck. Just had a look at the body and the danish oil has dried nicely. Not sure whether to do one or two more repeats... hmm..

@rubis - managed to find the other shots I was looking for just now - these are outdoor shots on the day I actually sprayed it. First one is the daphne blue as is, and then the overspray so you can see how it looks prior to ageing, relicing and so forth! And here are some outdoor shots after the relic process - it's a heavy relic as I was going for a proper battered look.. Hope that helps - if you need any more help just give me a shout.

Yes it will melt in - and it actually does - it doesn't layer at all - they melt together. Go for a very light amber tint - not a full on amber tint or it will look like algae! I drizzled mine on from a good 20" or so, and then put a few specific spots on for effect. Masking off will give you a good effect - I just masked off my pick guard and lightly attached it. It wasn't difficult at all, and it does create the effect you are after - quick coat of clear after and you are done. I did satin clear to give it a bit more authenticity. Of course, then I lacquer checked it - which is a totally new form of madness and torture all of it's own. 3 months curing the nitro and then in and out the freezer like a mad thing!

I'm a Tru Oil neck kinda guy - I like the silky smooth finish you can get with a nicely sanded Tru Oil finish. The neck for this build is a little bit different, but not much. It's a standard telecaster style headstock, but thinned a bit for extra weight relief (I have multiple tactics to stop neck dive including lighter headstock and tuners and a big fat bridge) Nut width is 44mm so big and wide. Here it is: And then after a couple of coats of Tru Oil:

Here's my daphne blue with light amber tint overspray to simulate yellowed lacquer..

@BrunoBass - Like this..

Yes, it's a swamp ash routed body with a swamp ash cap. I could have gone with any wood combo, but decided that to stick with the thin line feel would require swamp ash top and back. There's two large routes either side of a block running down the middle - very much like a thin line telecaster. It is, however, quite a bit lighter than the solid 51P bass partscaster I did earlier.

The yellowing is UV discolouration in the lacquer. I’ve had some success overspraying a light amber tint nitro to give some of the effect - it’s not exact but it’s close. I’ll dig out some photos. I also have a later 64 Precision in sunburst should you want any details - My neck is October I think, and I have the transition logo. Pots are October 64 and pickup is November I think.

I'm not an expert. I'm very much a have-a-go amateur, and I know my skills are limited. I have to say, though. For those of you who fancy a partscaster and are worried about finishing and messy paints - Danish Oil has to be the simplest of them all. Go to B&Q and get some Liberon Danish Oil. Get a nice lint free cloth. Pour some into a plastic tub. Wet cloth with it. Rub on. Rinse and repeat, and leave for 6-12 hours ever 3 or 4 coats. That's it. No messing. No over applying. No runs or worries. Dead easy and looks flippin' great.

Back inside to dry and cure off for the night - thought I'd try the bridge in position to see how it looks... yum!

Third coat, and ready for an overnight rest before the next round of coats are applied:

I quite fancied a stain on this one, and black hardware. So I've been busy procuring suitable black hardware. Canvassing the Basschat massive, the opinion was "natural!" Off I trotted to fetch the Tru Oil. Instead, I found a Danish Oil with a light amber tint. Hmm. Best of both worlds. Weather is good. It's Friday. I have no more work this week. Time to slather some oil on it. First coat:

Ever since doing a 51 Precision parts caster build I've always fancied the idea of a single-coil semi acoustic version. I looked and looked, but Fender never really did what I wanted. Surprised, I decided to do my own. So a chat to Graham at GSPBASSES and a body and neck was ordered. Body and neck came a while back, and it's now floated to the top of the projects pile - so it's time to make it!! Here it is as arrived:

Definitely looks like the wear you'd get on an early 70's 'poly' finish that's been abused and exposed to a lot of UV!

There's poly and then there's poly. And strictly speaking there's no such thing as a poly finish really.. The Urethane coatings fender started using in the mid to late 60's and into the early 70's are very very different to the finishes you get nowadays, and especially on the classic thick Japanese 'poly' finish from the 80's and 90's. Fender wouldn't have used the finish used on this one after the Fullerton plant closed in the early 80's - but I've seen plenty for which the wear, checking, shrinking, chipping and scraping can be just like this one.

Proper old tort has it's disadvantages.. The tort on my 64 Precision is quite something to behold - almost 3D in the flesh - but it shrinks. Man does it shrink as it out-gasses. Some of the screws in mine are getting on for a 45 degree angle - I was brave and 'reprofiled' the holes and metal plate a bit to keep the original tort on, but there will come a day when really the only option will be a Spitfire replacement..