BassTool

And the first coat, with 800 grit paper, is on..

Forgot to show this pic of the block built body from the bottom view.

On 09/02/2019 at 19:05, TheGreek said:

The de-separation on the split is being more stubborn than at first thought. My nephew had it glued and clamped without any success. Going to remove the offending part and rejoin it using biscuits. Basstool isn't having this problem with his build..

😲 Oh dear Mick! That's a scary looking split...

Rubbed down, the neck feels amazing already, but I'm hoping to make it even better with the little bottle of magic and the prescribed wet and dry papers.

I've never done anything like this before, but it seems straightforward enough. and I suppose if it gets messed up you just go back through the stages again.

I got some nitrile gloves as it probably gets everywhere, and after watching some vids on YouTube set about the oiling process.

Nice piece of maple complete with skunk stripe on this neck, back to the wood through the grits starting at 150 then start the Truoil technique above.

While I plucked up the courage to get my router out, I decided to refurbish the back of the neck with a Truoil finish after studying @honza992 's @Andyjr1515 's inspired technique here.

The fingerboard I think I am going to leave as it seems it'll be a bit of a challenge to strip the lacquer off, but if anyone has any suggestions how to do it please chip in

And the scratchplate arrived the following day..

2 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

That G tuner, you could have taken it apart and flipped the tuner peg over, to make like an MM tuner.

Ahhh, I wondered about that, wasn't sure how to do it, any suggestions welcome

It's not too much bother tuning, but it would be nice to have it the right way round 👍

Then onto the Bay to get a chrome control plate. I'm now thinking that control chamber is looking on the small side 😎

A Seymour Duncan MM pup and a John East MMSR preamp.

It was time to spend some money on the bass that so far had only cost me very little money, and this little box of trickery came courtesy of @Sharkfinger

Really well packaged, it was just what I was after to take this project up a level.

I did a bit more work on the headstock shaping, and these are the tuners close up, amazing condition for 39 years old.

On 09/02/2019 at 12:40, TheGreek said:

This photo hints at what I'm trying to convey.

On 09/02/2019 at 12:47, TheGreek said:

Just been looking through the photos..the Bass has been in it's case for a few months and you do get used to them...just realised what a looker it is.

That bass is one of the best looking basses I have ever clapped eyes on. I hadn't seen those pictures before. Absolutely stunning. 😍

On 09/02/2019 at 12:34, TheGreek said:

I love the carves that Andy did on both of his creations for me. Personally I prefer a contoured body over a block. I'd add a carve to the lower bout (below) acknowledging the carve on the upper bout and showing off the laminated woods.

In regards the headstock, in profile it is pretty flat/square. Personally I'd round the edges to give a smoother, more modern profile. Hope the attached images help.

 

Good suggestions those Mick thanks for the ideas 👍

On 09/02/2019 at 07:35, Andyjr1515 said:

Looks good. 

The trouble with routers is that it is so, so easy to completely wreck things like this.  I would generally do the same as you except I would use a microplane rasp to take it 'to the line' and then sand the rasp marks off for the final finish.

Nowadays, I always look to see if there is a decent alternative to using a router first.

I like your extra steps of putting the strung up bass into varying temperature places - very thorough!

I like the sound of that microplane rasp Andy, maybe a tool to look out for if I decide to do anything like this again. I've got to say it's become quite addictive.

The temperature thing was mainly for the top splits, there was so much glue and pressure in the main split I was reasonably happy it wouldn't come open again, and considering I've been sanding etc outside in some bitter temperatures then bringing the bass back indoors, I think it's passed the test as there's been no change in any of the splits whatsoever.

Forgot to say, it played and sounded great acoustically when I first strung it up.....

Now whilst I'm hoping that the body is properly glued up solid, I remembered @Andyjr1515 's next step after he'd glued up @TheGreek 's beauty.

String it up and wait and see what - if anything - happens to the wood under tension.

So that's what I did - and left it, for a week - between the living room, conservatory, and even the shed for a night.

Moving from each area in this current winter, I was hoping to replicate the many thermal changes a bass would usually encounter, particularly if it was being gigged and travelling in a van and then onto a hot stage etc - though unfortunately those days are probably long gone 🤔 I still thought it should be subjected to different temperatures and humidity just to make sure it was ok. It's going to live in the living room once finished, but I had to be sure it was solid.

Forgot to mention the plugging of the previous scratchplate holes.

Which I did with BBQ skewers, and finished them off by filling with 2 pack woodfiller and  more sanding. 

Not sure what you mean Mick, but I'm interested! Can you give me a bit more of an idea what your thinking?

I say finished, but there is more sanding to do to get it as close to perfect as I can.

This then, was time to see how it looked with the tuners fitted. These bad boys turned out to be in remarkably excellent condition after a buff up with a simple polishing cloth. They are a bit of a strange design, that odd butterfly shape and the smaller than normal barrel, but they work well, and the one I used upside down fits too! 

I was going to paint the headstock white to match the body and hide the plugged hole. But as this was going to be a long term project during dry January and beyond (painting will hold the job up until warmer weather arrives) I've decided I'm going to have a go at veneering the headstock in maple...

Needed a bit of a lie down after using my sanding skills to sort that out, and then actually realising I probably could have used my router 😖

Finished result looks like this...

Right then, back to that headstock reshape.

I blacked off the areas to trim with a felt tip pen (well, blued off), and then put them above a black background to give me an idea of where to tweak. I was tight on the bottom curve and sweep up to the top, but by messing around with the template I got an almost Rayish headshape.

Then to cutting..

The white stuff you can see in the Titebond fix is 2 pack woodfiller. There were one or two low spots from air bubbles, which I 'wicked' with cyanacrolate ala @Andyjr1515 then filled and re-sanded.

Sandpaper and a decent sanding block (from my 'supplier') are proving to be a big help with this build.

I never anticipated how much, and how much of a range I would need. I've used 80 grit to start cleaning up after the rasping, going up to 400 on the body all over.

The carves have given the body a bit of weight relief - it is a lump - as well as a more comfortable feel.

Now you can see the 'splits' I mentioned earlier in the front face. They've all been Tightbonded and dragged flat using a Stanley blade then sanded, sanded, and sanded again.

They look alarming, but I'm happy enough that they don't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, and I've got them flat level for painting.