BassTool

Although I was happy with the back of the neck, the front was bugging the life out of me with it's OTT laquered fingerboard. I bit the bullet and rubbed it down with 2000 grit wet and dry to make it more usable and dull the finish down. I'd seen this brilliant vid on youtube and after checking the frets with a straightedge, it confirmed that the frets were all perfectly level, but I still wanted to clean off any remaining lacquer that remained up the sides and give them a final polish. This is part two, the frets on this Fender were really bad from the factory, and these two videos cover pretty much everything you need to know about checking your frets. It gave me the confidence to simply clean mine up using the taped up fretboard method this guy does. First though, after covering the back of the neck with masking tape up to the edge of the fretboard, I rubbed the board down. Then taped up using electricians tape - it's timetaking but necessary..

Yup, 'One of us' is one of my favourite ever basslines, great tone and sublime playing IMO

Glad folks are enjoying watching this as much as I am doing it 😊 Heading towards the finale in the next few days everyone. The body went two weeks ago...

I'll finish off the radius of the nut with a final filing whilst the nut is fixed to the neck (I epoxy it in - it won't punch out again!) I'll then then cut the string slots once the bass is all put together for the final set up. Again I can use the old nut as a guide, but to give you an idea of the difference between new and old I put them side by side. I meant to say earlier in the thread, I bought my two black ribbed mats to work on from Lidl for 90p each! They are classed as doormats but I doubt they'd last very long underfoot. Under bass however, they are perfect! And I can just shake them outside when they are covered in bits.

Then into the vice for a bit of grinding with a dremel, followed by some filing to get the radius somewhere close.

I had some brass knocking about, can't remember where it came from but I remember thinking at the time, that'll come in useful one day.. I cut it down then ground it to a rough shape, both edges had a 45' angle so these had to come down to a flat profile.

The headstock Truoil was coming along quite well, so in the meantime I cracked on making a new nut. I removed the original with a small punch It's a typical mass produced, not much care, functional bit of plastic. I've made a nut once before, again for my fretless bass to marry up with it's own brass Blazer bridge as it happens, so this was not particularly daunting. Once removed , I could use it as a basic template for my new one, although I'm using a slightly deeper piece of brass so the slot will need enlarging slightly.

To keep the brass sealed I'll use a spray lacquer, this is the final result. These are a great functional bridge IMO, and I'm more than happy to keep this on the bass as I'm also replacing the nut with a chunkier brass version.

And then a final polish with some Solvol Autosol

Once the old lacquer was removed, time to refurb the brass with some wet and dry.

The main body and saddles needed any lacquer removing, so I soaked them in some boiling water with vinegar. And agitated with an old toothbrush - you can see the lacquer starting to come away.

I put all the screws and springs into a small container of petrol, and after leaving them to soak, scrubbed the crud out of them with a small stiff nylon brush. I finished them off by rolling them in a light grease so they were all coated and would stay reasonably water proof for the forseeable future.

I had the option to go the whole hog and buy a cheap copy of the MM bridge, but really, why would I want to lose the quality of the original solid lump of brass that Ibanez installed on the Blazer? It was part of the inherent sound after all, and this bass is still always going to be a revamped Blazer body and neck at the end of the day. I have another Blazer which I fitted a different neck to (which I defretted back when I was 22). I refurbed the bridge on that bass back in the day, so I knew what could be achieved. The current bridge, although really well made, was looking a bit tired.. I stripped it down first..

Great find! 😎 Look forward to seeing where this ends up

Then, after levelling off the base, going slightly larger and rout the inset edge for the flush fit cover..

One edge of my new router has a straight edge. I decided - if I could measure accurately enough - using a straight edge to run the router against, parallel to the edge I was cutting, I should be able to rout out a matchbox sized battery compartment. Like this....

And flipping the body over, time to put in a battery compartment. I had to work out more or less exactly where it would sit, to make sure I wasn't cutting through to the cavity, then marked out a rectangle bigger then a PP3 battery with a bit of space for 'wriggle room' - any slack can easily be taken up with foam/packing etc. I'm sticking with going 9V with the East pre, I've had the opportunity to try both 9V and 18V set ups over the years and IMO, the difference is absolutely negligible. IMO why use two batteries when one does nigh on the same job? Maybe a thread that's already been covered, but I'll leave it to better informed folks to argue the pros and cons of using 18V over 9V systems. I started with an ordinary drill in the four corners, then worked into the box area with the same technique... Then roughed out with a chisel.... Eventually ending at this point, time for the router to come back out, but this time........ I had a plan.....🙄 Purists, luthiers, woodworkers, experts etc, might be time to look away now 🤐

Meanwhile back at the body, I'd inadvertently covered up the pickup wire hole with my infill wood! So it was out with an extra long wood bit to put a new hole in position.

The final shaping of the veneer ended up like this.. When I held it to the light, I was able to put a pencil dot in the centre of the tuner holes in preparation for drilling them out.. I took this shot for an idea of how I drilled out, but I actually had the headstock supported whilst I put the holes in. Drilled at fast speed for a quick breakthrough with a sharpened wood bit - bit of a steady nerve as well as hand drill for this. A pillar drill is going on the shopping list as some point as my lads like to tinker with cars and stuff so it would always come in useful. PHEW!! Safely through with no split veneer, I could then ease out the holes with a file and sandpaper.. Now I can crack on with the Truoil treatment to the headstock, I'm thinking of a glossier finish to the face than the neck, and I've also got something up my sleeve as a final touch

Love that pup cover! Great idea and skill 😎

That is awesome Norris, a proper job 😍 I like the vegetable steamer idea. With hindsight I was just a bit too keen to get my veneer in place, if there's ever a next time I'll make sure I'm better informed ☺️ I take it you still had the nut to fit to that guitar?! 😆

Thanks for the positive feedback chaps 😁 I'm loving this Truoil stuff 😎

The Truoil treatment on the back of the neck had turned out nicely. This stuff really is as great as everyone says it is. I've gone for a sort of 'in between' satin and gloss finish, it feels great, and is a huge improvement on the finish I removed. I'm contemplating re-doing my fretless neck when I finally finish this revamp - I'm already thinking I'm going to miss pottering around whenever I finally get this done. Before.... ......and after.....

I made sure I did not rush the shaping of the veneer round the headstock. Little by little, with new blades - both Stanley and craft knife. I shaved off small sections at a time. That veneer wants to split down the grain at the slightest opportunity. Two more small splits happened, disappointing, but not much I can do. I started the sanding process to prepare for a true oil finish.

The postman brought me my steamed maple veneer from Griffiths and Hood https://www.griffithsandhood.com/ and in my haste to select a piece of veneer for the headstock when ordering online I forgot to stipulate the grain direction on the long side had to run parallel to it. The bit I received was the opposite way round, D'oh! A phone call to Ben Griffiths and I was sorted, a new veneer would be on its way in return for the veneer I received, great customer service from these guys, don't know if anyone has used them? This was a totally new experience for me, I've never seen a veneer never mind worked with one. Not as easy as I thought... I cut out he basic shape plus a bit extra with scissors.. Then double checked it covered the head. Now it was just a case of gluing and clamping surely? So I brushed on a thin layer of Titebond to the back of the veneer, and clamped it all up, even used a rolling pin to get into the curve of the headstock. Well, it looked ok as far as I could tell... Well, it had stuck firmly, but had also split down the grain in the curved section. I'll have to make the best of it, it's not coming off anytime soon. To rub salt in, I discovered a 'how to' by @Andyjr1515 after the event. I had to c o c k up somewhere along the way.