Modded '55 Precision Relic

[dadagoboi]

The concept on this one is a second series single coil bass refinned in the late sixties and fitted with a pair of ThunderBird pickups and heavily gigged..  I bought an Ebay  contoured but unrouted for electronics alder body (technically should have been ash) and an Allparts Tele Bass neck.  Here's the mockup after drilling the string thru holes. Bridge and pickguard are off my MIJ '51 RI.

This thread is mostly going to be about finishing and relicing.  Color will be Candy Apple Red over gold base.

Speaking of relics, here I am playing my '55 in 1974.

[grenadillabama]

It looks like it will sound good ! What do you suppose a regular Precision would sound like with a Thunderbird pickup added near the bridge ? I think it would add low-to-high mids (some treble) to the regular sound. I am not sure enough to cut the wood on a bass that is stock. 

[dadagoboi]

8 minutes ago, grenadillabama said:

It looks like it will sound good ! What do you suppose a regular Precision would sound like with a Thunderbird pickup added near the bridge ? I think it would add low-to-high mids (some treble) to the regular sound. I am not sure enough to cut the wood on a bass that is stock. 

Thanks.  Yes it will definitely add some treble! I've done a few similar mods.

Substituting a TB set for a Jazz set will give you more bass and treble but you'll lose the typical 'Fender' tone. All three of the above basses are Squiers, they cost between $125 and $300.  So not a lot of money squandered if they didn't turn out as expected.

 

[Pea Turgh]

11 hours ago, dadagoboi said:

Thanks.  Yes it will definitely add some treble! I've done a few similar mods.

Substituting a TB set for a Jazz set will give you more bass and treble but you'll lose the typical 'Fender' tone. All three of the above basses are Squiers, they cost between $125 and $300.  So not a lot of money squandered if they didn't turn out as expected.

 

Ooh, I’ll take the middle one’s shape, with the top one’s body colour and scatch plate, with the maple neck from the bottom one please!

[grenadillabama]

2 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Ooh, I’ll take the middle one’s shape, with the top one’s body colour and scatch plate, with the maple neck from the bottom one please!

Me too ! Maybe a left-handed neck , just to be tricky like some ZZ Top basses used by Dusty Hill.

[Cuzzie]

These are minty, good work.

I have a blank bit of wood at some point I will get round to making a first bass, may go for a similar pick up!

[krispn]

I’ve a p with a single t bird pick up more or less in the classic p position and a tone styler. It’s a cracking sounding bass!

[dadagoboi]

Color sample time. Gold over pick guard material scrap, both black and white.  I use Didspade pigments.  Very economical and available in small quantities. Satin gold pearl powder in clear acrylic lacquer.  Pearl gray primer/ surfacer  is the way to go.Touch up gun for samples.

Matching headstock on this one.

 

[dadagoboi]

Candy Apple Red toner.  Didspade 'Bloodshot' and blue candy pigments in thinned clear acrylic lacquer for the correct tone.

Color check.

Toned and cleared.

Testing took much longer than execution.

[rubis]

That’s a lovely colour

 

[Geek99]

excuse my ignorance, why gold under red ?

[RichardH]

That's the correct way to do a Candy Apple Red finish. 

[dadagoboi]

2 hours ago, Geek99 said:

excuse my ignorance, why gold under red ?

Old school. These days many use silver. It's like the difference between chrome and nickel, personal preference.

Here's my Duck Dunn tribute, also gold base.

[dadagoboi]

"Vintage tint" without the StewMac overcharge.

.

[honza992]

Thanks for posting this, really interested to see how you do your finishing.  I've been following your progress elsewhere for a while, your results are outstanding.  I really love your holistic approach to design, your instruments have a coherence that is rare to find.  Really great work.  

So am I right that the process is:

1.  Solid grey primer

2. Clear coats with gold pearl mixed in

3. Clear coats with candy apple (in your case made up using Bloodshot and Mile High candy)

So the only solid 'colour', is the grey primer. The rest of the colour is provided by the candies mixed in with the clear coats?

Can't wait to see the end result. 

[honza992]

Oh and I meant to ask, is the grey primer only used for the CAR, or is a grey (as opposed to white) primer always used with pearl effect finishes?

[honza992]

On 12/11/2018 at 01:59, dadagoboi said:

 

Speaking of relics, here I am playing my '55 in 1974.

Wow, what happened to the '55?

[dadagoboi]

4 hours ago, honza992 said:

Wow, what happened to the '55?

I bought a new ThunderBird in 1977.  I was a broke musician living in Los Angeles so I sold it to a guy from Sweden.  At that  point it was just a used bass.  I paid $250 for it in '73 and got $400 in '77.  That combined with the $125 I got for my '71 Vox Phantom just about covered the TBird purchase. Luckily.my 1960 was worth about zero so I kept it.  Bought it for $40 in '64.  I added the '68 Tele pickup and refinned it natural in '72.

I've toyed with building a replica of the '55.  MusiKraft will build a vintage spec neck for a reasonable price including baseball bat profile. I have a spare set of original reverse Klusons and everything else is available or I can make.  Parts is parts when it comes to Fenders.

[dadagoboi]

honza992, thanks for the compliments.  In reply to your questions:  Satin gold is just metallic pigment so it turns clear lacquer opaque.  Candy concentrates are  just pigment, no pearl.  They make clear translucent.  Pearl powders are also translucent when mixed in clear but with the pearl effect.

Pearl varies as to the undercoat.  Depending on color you can use black, white or a color that works with the pearl for the effect you seek.

The gray is a primer surfacer to get a smooth surface to start the paint process. 

I hope that helps a little!

 

 

[dadagoboi]

Here's my spray gun setup.  Modded guns to hold screw on pint jars ('Mason' jars in the US, made for home canning). The screw tops allow very little waste of materials and simplify cleaning of the $20 Chinese 1.7 mm nozzle guns. My compressor is 5HP, 20 gal. used, $125

I spray 'low volume low pressure'  About 25 psi at the tip of the siphon feed setup. Overspray is kept to a minimum and doesn't require an exhaust fan, just a good respirator and opening the rollup when shooting is over.

Better Living Through Chemistry: what it takes to spray properly in a wet, warm/cold climate with minimal problems.  From left: medium, slow thinners, retarder,  and flow controller for preventing orange peel.  Accurate thermometer/humidity gauge is also a big help.

Yesterday was sunny, relatively dry, and 27. Today it's raining, 88% humidity and 17. Relic time.

#0000 steel wool

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by dadagoboi

[dadagoboi]

Made the one screw finger rest from maple headstock scrap. On screen is a Fneder CS '55 to make sure the one ply guard  came out right and finger rest properly located. I aged the chrome and nickel in a muriatic (hydrochloric) acid fume bath. Takes about 30 minutes to get that level of patina.

Aging the pure white pickguard starts with yellow dye stain. White guard is from a Squier 50s blonde P.  Great bass for the price!

100 grit paper double stick taped to finger rest.

After a few spins  and some Minwax "Jacobean" oil stain for dirt and it looks like my actual '55 did...

...after the rattlecan black, yellow dye, and Jacobean treatment.

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by dadagoboi

[Bigwan]

I think I'm going to like this a lot!

[AndyTravis]

Yeah. That’s me needing one of these...cheers @dadagoboi 🙄

[cLepto-bass]

This is looking stunning. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by cLepto-bass

[dadagoboi]

I notched the two saddle bridge to get better intonation.  Black lines are now the break points.  Definite improvement.

Dents and bruises.