Jazz Bass on a budget (finally finished with pics) and Jazz Bass Mk 2 on even less of a budget!

[xgsjx]

It takes a bit of time, but it's worth it.

I started with 40 grit & worked through to a fine glass paper (I think it was around 300).
Even if painting, it's worth doing all the sanding work so it's easy to get a good finish. It's not hard, just time consuming.

[DarkHeart]

the good news is that what looks like a repair in the wood just above the scratchplate on this pic

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/SNV80197-1.jpg[/IMG]

is infact bugger all?

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/SNV80201.jpg[/IMG]

so clear is still on the cards

[DarkHeart]

i`ll let you lot decide what i should do but one things for sure im not sanding any more in my little room i can hardly breathe!

[xgsjx]

Ceruse FTW! I was gonna do it, but chickened out.

Best place to sand is outside. It gets everywhere if you're doing it indoors & you end up with super thick snotters.

[DarkHeart]

erm i`ll have to google ceruse haha but your right about the snot and im asmatic haha

[DarkHeart]

i just hope the neck fits when it comes haha

[DarkHeart]

oh yeah, best thing ive found for the sanding has been some £1.49 for 10 sanding blocks from the local cheap shop theyre superb and i cant praise them highly enough!!

[xgsjx]

These come in handy...

[DarkHeart]

Haha yeah i agree but im trying to sand it in a 12x7 computer room ;-)

[xgsjx]

Once you've got the majority off, get a selection of paper & work your way down. Maybe start with 70 grit, then 110, 160, 200, 250 & finish with a couple of good sands with 300 (or finer).
Wetting the wood raises the grain, so depending how strong you want that grain to show is how early on you decide to wet the wood. You can either use a spray bottle, a wet rag to wipe it with, or "wet n' dry".

If you're going for oil & wax, then you give the wood a heavyish coat of oil with a rag & then sand it into the wood with the fine paper, leave to dry & then do it again. Takes a week or two, depending on how oiled you want it & then leave it another couple of weeks to fully dry before waxing.
It's easier to do & get a good finish than spraying is (unless you're already competent at spraying & have a place to spray).

[xgsjx]

Here's the thread from when I did mine.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/134250-changing-the-look-of-my-bass

[DarkHeart]

Right here goes, its time for some naked pics!! finally got all the paint off, whoever made the body then used that amount of primer must have been some kind of sadist! Ive just had a read through your thread xgsjx and i really like the look of your Ibanez so ive decided to go with that kind of finish and as a complete novice in wood finishing its going to probably be hit and miss but i like the idea of not having to spray anything so what the hell im going to give it a go. Mind you id better get some beeswax sharpish before MDP snaffles it all up!

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/SNV80206.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/SNV80209.jpg[/IMG]

think i might get a different scratchplate though i think white might not work too well, any suggestions welcomed.

[DarkHeart]

with a white plate, not so sure yet

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/SNV80210.jpg[/IMG]

[xgsjx]

That's a very nice grain. Any small marks can be sanded out quite easily & having the pick guard is handy if you can't get them all out.

If you want to get an idea of what the wood will look like, wet it with a little water.

[MiltyG565]

yeah, white looks good mate. what sort of neck are you going to put on though? rosewood fretboard? if it has pearl inlays, i would put on a crushed pearl scratch plate. I'm putting a maple board with block black inlays on a bass, and I'm thinking of putting a black scratch plate on it.

[DarkHeart]

not sure about what the neck is at the moment as ive bought it unseen off a member on here but im hoping it will be here midweek at the latest

[MiltyG565]

cool, i'm into matching the scratch plate to the inlay. or of course, tortoise shell. or just going mad. like, RS focus orange

[DarkHeart]

my first plan was to paint it yellow with a blue scratchplate as the yellow was suggested by a very dear friend of mine and the blue scratchplate would have made it the same colours as Leeds away kit but that went out of the window haha

[xgsjx]

Well wood isn't far away from yellow, so maybe a subtle blueish might go?

Maybe you should pop a pic of your bass with the white scratchplate into photoshop & mess about with scratchplate colours.

You can get wood dye if you do want it yellow. Not sure how it would look though, so maybe another thing to try in photoshop (or whatever you have to edit pics with).

[MiltyG565]

im assuming this is football..... (i know nothing about football)

green and cream tort.

[DarkHeart]

haha yeah football, big news today is...............we have a neck!

Ta Da!



fits nice and snug just waiting for the tuners and neck plate then thats all the bits sorted.

Edited September 3, 2012 by DarkHeart

[MiltyG565]

that is looking nice! black crushed pearl pickguard? just a thought.

[DarkHeart]

i was thinking black funnily enough as it will contrast the wood better than the white

[MiltyG565]

yeah, ill probably be putting a black one on my lake placid blue with maple black block markers. it will contrast it and highlight the markers better.

[DarkHeart]

with the pups, bridge and control panel on the white doesnt look so bad, the wood will probably darken down when i oil it so the white might stay for a while yet

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j186/jeffhop/SNV80218.jpg[/IMG]