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Jazz bass kit build refinish


Jimothey
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Hi, again James :)      (it's alright folks, we've pm'd on a different topic)

When I get a linky tag thing from @Norris I know I HAVE to respond! ;)

Tru-oil.  Wonderful stuff.  And like always, there are choices.  First of all, unless you've already ordered a bottle, a 3oz bottle will generally do at least 2 guitars or basses so plenty for one even with trial and error repeats

  • Used on unstained wood, I would echo what @Bridgehouse said - use tru-oil with sandpaper to create a slurry.  Wipe it off after a few minutes and the slurry acts as a sealer and grain filler.  Repeat a few times and progressively drop down to, say 250 grit, and now, not just wipe it off but vigorously buff it off.  Quite quickly you will get to a beautiful, quite durable, silky smooth satin finish like this:

eHaEkdyl.jpg

I do ALL my necks this way....it has to be felt to be believed

  • Next option is to do the above just as a grain filler stage but then just apply coats of tru-oil wiped on (I use cheap household microfibre cloths) and left to dry without wiping or buffing.  After a number of coats, with a wet sanding of 1500 to 2000 wet and dry every two or three coats to flatten any cumulative ripples or dust buggies and then a final couple of coats as the final semi-gloss.  I say semi-gloss because tru-oil does dull down a touch after a few weeks.  This one was done that way:

rYPI9Bwl.jpg

For stained woods you do also actually have a few options:

  • Stain it, apply a couple of coats of tru-oil left to dry overnight to act as a sealing coat, then apply wiped on coats as above, doing the first light sanding (1000 grit used wet) after, say, the fourth coat (so you dont sand into and through the stain) then carry on as above building a semi-gloss build-up

mO3GOIyl.jpg

  • I'm probably one of the few people who do it, but I have started doing the 'slurry and buff' approach with stained woods.  You have to be gentler, but I've found that the slurry takes stain with is so actually, unless you are too harsh, you don't end up with bare unstained patches.  Takes a bit more practice, but you can get some decent results (this used to be white):

KmNM7wDl.jpg

 

 

Hope that helps rather than further confuses!

 

Andy

 

 

 

 

Edited by Andyjr1515
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Thanks everyone for the advice on the best method to oil the guitar, I think it’s gonna be trial and error to see which one works best for me 

I won’t be starting the Jazz project till after Christmas so I spose I better finish the ‘51 PBass first 

I’ll do a build diary using the other thread and no doubt I’m going to have to pick your brains regarding that one as well 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 20/11/2017 at 12:48, discreet said:

Having just put together a Paulownia body Jazz I'd agree. I was toying with the idea of Ronseal Hardglaze which is clear and tough. Apparently.

 

Did you end up using Hardglaze? If so how did it come out? I’ve just found some I had kicking about so I’ve started to use it on mine (still on 1st coat tho)

3CB050BF-8EDA-4C2C-8AE7-D96EFDBBF57B.thumb.jpeg.09c818f29abe765cc8bb67dea6efed52.jpeg

I think the grain is looking quite nice!?! I don’t know whether to make the finish gloss or satin I’m kinda swaying more towards satin but who knows what it will end up being!?! 

I think it will look good in the end with Black pickguard and Black hardware?

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I'm thinking about  a paulownia body for my build and I'm quite inspired by Whitemist above. Thinking about a left-field take on the Olympic white and tort with rosewood look - thin nitro lacquer on top. Deluxe neckplate and rounded heel instead of the usual square off

Anyone got any wisdom to offer on this stain and lacquer approach ?

 

Apologies for the thread hijack by the way

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8 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

I'm thinking about  a paulownia body for my build and I'm quite inspired by Whitemist above. Thinking about a left-field take on the Olympic white and tort with rosewood look - thin nitro lacquer on top. Deluxe neckplate and rounded heel instead of the usual square off

Anyone got any wisdom to offer on this stain and lacquer approach ?

 

Apologies for the thread hijack by the way

No worries sounds like yours will be a bit more interesting than mine anyway :D

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3 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

I got a nice RW mighty mite neck from GrooveHarder and you can get nice Paulownia bodies on ebay for not much. I'm a bit bored of sunburst so see-though Olympic white seemed a nice idea.

The bloke I bought this kit off sells the bodies on eBay for about £30 which I didn’t think was too bad 

I think tram Olympic white will look nice but I have a aversion to tort!!!!

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I’m onto coat number 4 on the body just gonna give it a few days to completely harden then have a go at flattening it to see if it needs anymore coats 

So I decided to sort the neck inlays out as I didn’t like the dots 

8A712E77-80AA-4185-8194-D6BDCB9999A8.thumb.jpeg.6a4a5efe6a36dcedd38a591ff6bea086.jpeg

I’ll reshape the headstock tomorrow

Ive ordered my black hardware and pickguard so just waiting for them to be delivered 

Edited by Jimothey
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3 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

I’m onto coat number 4 on the body just gonna give it a few days to completely harden then have a go at flattening it to see if it needs anymore coats 

So I decided to sort the neck inlays out as I didn’t like the dots 8A712E77-80AA-4185-8194-D6BDCB9999A8.thumb.jpeg.6a4a5efe6a36dcedd38a591ff6bea086.jpeg

Ive ordered my black hardware and pickguard so just waiting for them to be delivered 

Is that a mock-up photo?  I'm impressed if you are going to tackle block inlays.  That's got to be demanding on skills.

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18 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Is that a mock-up photo?  I'm impressed if you are going to tackle block inlays.  That's got to be demanding on skills.

No that’s the actual neck, on this build I’ve gone for the easy option so they are basically homemade decals (sorry to disappoint you)

Edited by Jimothey
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22 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

No that’s the actual neck, on this build I’ve gone for the easy option so they are basically homemade decals (sorry to disappoint you)

I wondered.  Are you going to seal them in with something to prevent abrasion with the strings?  It's no disappointment though.  I'm interested to see how it works out.

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Just now, SpondonBassed said:

I wondered.  Are you going to seal them in with something to prevent abrasion with the strings?  It's no disappointment though.  I'm interested to see how it works out.

Yeah I’m going to seal them in with a couple of coats of poly, hopefully when I’m finished it will blend in and look the same as when you do a headstock logo which once I’ve reshaped the headstock that’s my next job 

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  • 2 weeks later...
13 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

I think the black is classy looking against the natural grain.  Are you still wanting to do the chequerboard thing?

No I’ve decided against it, just going for simple black pickguard and hardware 

I think it would look better that way

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