skydivepaul Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I have just ordered one of these from gear 4 music http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/LA-J-Electric-Bass-Guitar-DIY-Kit/PZZ At £74 I reckon it's worth a punt. I have built several cigar box guitars and currently have a sunburst fender jazz bass, but I quite fancy a natural finish jazz bass. Should be fun to build and I have decided on a natural finish. After reading loads of articles on finishing the body and neck I have my workshop ready with various grades of sandpaper 80 , 120, 260, 600, 1000 and 1500 I have some good quality Danish oil and also some bri wax for the final finish I have read that if you go too fine with the sandpaper the wood cannot properly absorb the oil, so my question is what grade of sandpaper would be the best to finish with I am looking to bring the grain out a bit and also want a nice smooth finish, satin or slight gloss is ok Thanks Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Lots of people do it lots of ways, but there is little point going much smoother than 600 before the first oiling because the wood grain will be lifted in any case. After the first few coats, however, once the oil is properly in the grain, you will the want to be sanding down to progressively finer grades, certainly to 1500 (or 2000 even better). Sand wet for all the finishing coats. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-basser Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) If the kit is in anyway similar to the Thomann one I got you may have problems getting the wood to take the oil well, I don't know what they seal them with but I had to sand it pretty hard to get it to absorb anything properly. edit: just checked and it says complete unfinished, probably worth checking on a small patch inside the neck pocket or something anyway. Edited April 14, 2015 by d-basser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) That's a myth about over sanding, in the past I have polished wood to 12000 (yes thousand!) with Micro Mesh before applying a homemade oil/poly finish and it gives a lovely finished product. This was done as an experiment to achieve an as thin as possible homemade finish, where the wood itself shines (requiring less coats of finish). I'm not suggesting you do this, as it's not necessary for a traditional oil finish to sand this fine. Sanding bare wood beyond 400/600 for a traditional oil finish can be a bit redundant as the scratch pattern is quite fine by these grades. It's also a bit of a myth that the oil penetrates the wood deeply, whereas in actual fact it does not penetrate any further than 0.5 mm at an absolute max. Danish Oil is a wiping varnish as opposed to a pure oil, so it is designed to sit on top of the wood. Also keep in mind that the actual body you receive may not be fit for a natural finish....so have a plan B! Edited April 14, 2015 by Manton Customs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Have you considered French Polishing? I've done this to two basses for a natural finish now, and it does look lovely. It's particularly good, if done correctly, for bringing out the wood grain, though it does have the massive drawback of being a laborious and drawn-out process! (See https://thecrowfrombelow.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/the-birth-of-aradia-part-v/ for a diary of my own first attempt!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydivepaul Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Thanks for all the advice gents. When the kit arrives which should be tomorrow I will take a good look at the body before starting anything to make sure it will be suitable. Plan b may be paint or maybe dye if it doesn't look suitable for a natural finish. Will keep you updated snd post some pics on progress Cheers Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydivepaul Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 UPDATE: Kit arrived on time and on initial inspection looked pretty good. The claim of a jazz bass kit works for the body but the width at the nut is 41mm - same as my ibanez bass. Any way the grain and compostion of the wood look good enough to sand and sand and sand and apply oil for a natural finish. I traced around my jazz bass headstock onto the new new blank, cut out with a jigsaw and sanded down to shape Plenty of sanding later ( there were a few rough spots on the body that needed sorting out - the neck was spot on though) Started with 100 grit, 180 grit, 220 grit, 600 grit. Applied 5 coats of danish oil to the body and neck, lightly sanding with 1500 between coats. 2 coats of briwax to finish and the reults are pretty good. fitted the tuners and the neck to the body tonight should be finished for tomorrow ( I ordered a deep red torty pickguard as the single ply white pickguard that came with the kit didnt look the part) pics to follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 All sounds good. I had a Gear4Music LA bass. It was surprisingly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 They are great kits and eminently upgradeable. I built their 6 string electric offset last year and it's my main gigging guitar now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydivepaul Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 (edited) a few pics from start to finish. turned out ok plays nice as well. kit still in the box A lot of sanding later.........................first coat of oil neck and body joined tuners fitted job done Edited May 3, 2015 by skydivepaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 You've finished that very nicely There's some great figuring coming out... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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