6v6 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Not exactly a build, more of a rebuild of a bass I acquired recently in a trade with a good friend who's had this bass for many years and it now needs some TLC. Unsure of the exact maker of this, it says "The freaky guitar company" on the headstock, and the pickups date it to mid '80s - 1984 on the P pickup, 1986 on the bridge humbucker (which I assume was added as a retrofit based on the later pickup date, slightly wonky routing and lack of finish in the cavity). It plays really nicely, sounds great, but the finish is pretty retro (Orange/Pink - very '80s!) and quite dinged up and cracked so my plan is to strip & refinish it, add a scratchplate, and possibly re-profile the pointy reverse headstock a bit. Here's what I'm starting with: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 I decided to start with making a template for the pickguard, partly because it'll help figure out what needs to happen with the control cavity and holes, and partly because I got a shiny new router table I wanted to play with I've never used a router table before, so this was a bit of a learning process, but basically I made a template of the entire body in 6mm MDF (double sided taped to the body face down), then routed a rebate from this template onto another piece of MDF to get a consistent gap from the edge of the body to the pickguard edge. Then I used a template I made recently for my precision to make the top edges of the templates, followed by a bit of sanding. Turned out OK I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldwinbass Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Looking good - yes, that colour does need to change in due course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Watching with interest . You do realise that in 30-40 years, that colour is likely to be de rigueur... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 The colour is funky and 'fun', will be unlikely to see many of them about. Will be interested to see the pickguard develop, I have an old Peavey Fury that needs a pickguard, another project another time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 Thanks for the comments folks So, I must admit have been a little torn over this, as yes it is a fun and unique colour combination, and I suppose it could become the Burgundy Mist of 2040 but ultimately I couldn't help it, I've attacked it with acetone, a heat gun and sandpaper to reveal this: Kind of interesting, the centre splice looks like Ash (or possibly even oak?) with wings of what I'll call Mahogany but I'm not really sure. Still some stripping to go, then lots of sanding followed by primer. Then decision time re the replacement colour (currently leaning towards the boring option of going with gloss black...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Interesting Much more likely to be ash than oak. In terms of the wings, is that a veneer on top? The edges look much lighter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 [quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1473267480' post='3128545'] Much more likely to be ash than oak. In terms of the wings, is that a veneer on top? The edges look much lighter... [/quote] I think it's a trick of my dodgy photo, the wings are solid (I've stripped the back and most of the sides now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 [quote name='6v6' timestamp='1473291060' post='3128859'] I think it's a trick of my dodgy photo, the wings are solid (I've stripped the back and most of the sides now) [/quote] In that case maybe mahogany (or similar species). If it's as heavy as hell, it might even be iroko? Whatever - those look to be mighty fine woods. I reckon a clear/natural finish of some description should be there amongst your considered options... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 (edited) Me too - if it was mine, I'd be going for a clear finish. Not sure if I'd leave the headstock as is Edited September 14, 2016 by alyctes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 The body will look very 'classy' in natural. A good 'hidden' bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 Thanks for the comments folks, definitely giving the natural finish option consideration now, just not sure how feasible it is given a few nicks on the body where filler/paint remain. More sanding to go before any final decision is made, but I'm still leaning towards a solid finish atm I also need to sort out the control cavity cover and wonky bridge pickup routing before attempting any finishing, so I've started the control cavity today. The process I used was to start with creating a control cavity cover template out of MDF. Then I spent a considerable amount of time drinking tea puzzling over how to get a matching template for the rebate into the body. In the end I used a similar approach to an "inlay kit", which apparently is the professional name for two different guide bushings which combine to allow routing matching male/female templates. I happen to have a 10mm and 17mm guide bush on hand, so I combined these wiith 6mm and 3mm bits to route a template with 0.5mm oversize from the cavity to cover template. Not perfect yet, but with some sanding I think I can get both templates OK before routing the actual body/cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 Been struggling to find much time to work on this lately, but managed to get the pickguard made: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushbo Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Nice work - I'd be inclined to round off the lower horn of the pickguard, but you've got that three-ply thing down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 [quote name='rushbo' timestamp='1476634066' post='3155815'] Nice work - I'd be inclined to round off the lower horn of the pickguard, but you've got that three-ply thing down! [/quote] Thanks for the comment - yeah I agree the lower horn will probably see a little refinement with file/sandpaper before final fitment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 Small amount more progress around family duties this weekend, got the control cavity cover done and rebate routed. Rapidly reaching the point where I'm going to have to attempt the paint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 Looks splendid. I'm attempting to make a pickguard shortly. I find them a right pain! Do you have any tips and tricks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 [quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1476900839' post='3158331'] Looks splendid. I'm attempting to make a pickguard shortly. I find them a right pain! Do you have any tips and tricks? [/quote] Well this is the first one I've attempted, but the approach I took was to make an mdf template, double stick tape the plastic to the template, then use a flush trim bit in the router table (got a cheap one from aldi!) followed by a chamfer bit to cut the bevel. Worked pretty well but I had to experiment with the depth of cut on some scrap to get the bevel looking right. I suspect the same approach would work with a hand held router, but I'd probably make a thicker template so it could be stuck securely to the bench without the bearing fouling, and possibly add a sacrificial thin mdf board on top to avoid marking the plastic with the router base. There are some pretty good tutorials of the router table method on YouTube which is how I figured it out, good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 [quote name='6v6' timestamp='1476944955' post='3158620'] Well this is the first one I've attempted, but the approach I took was to make an mdf template, double stick tape the plastic to the template, then use a flush trim bit in the router table (got a cheap one from aldi!) followed by a chamfer bit to cut the bevel. Worked pretty well but I had to experiment with the depth of cut on some scrap to get the bevel looking right. I suspect the same approach would work with a hand held router, but I'd probably make a thicker template so it could be stuck securely to the bench without the bearing fouling, and possibly add a sacrificial thin mdf board on top to avoid marking the plastic with the router base. There are some pretty good tutorials of the router table method on YouTube which is how I figured it out, good luck! [/quote] In any terms, let alone a first try, I think that's a splendid job... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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