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Finishing an unfinished bass body a necessity?


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Am thinking of putting together a parts p bass and have seen unfinished p bass bodies with no finish at all applied to the wood for dirt cheap. 

 

I know with bass necks they need to be finished to keep out moisture etc, what about bass bodies? Can you get away with not finishing them? 

 

I was thinking of getting an unfinished body and just applying some wax or similar to prevent it from getting grubby

 

I live in a very small studio flat and don't have a garage, shed or workshop to do finishes

 

That being said I suppose I could finish in a clear varnish and do one side of the body at a time

Edited by shoulderpet
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Where might you be getting the body from? Have a search on 'Luthiers Warehouse' on here... mine both needed a little sanding work.

 

I did a Custom P body a while back...

Used No Nonsense Danish Oil from Screw Fix... Wipe On or Slurry Method with wet n Dry... so no spraying... Mind the rags though!

I also got a Custom J body from the same place... but the Hydro Dip didn't go to plan yesterday!.. so it might get a sanding and a Danish Oiling... thinking about just goin with Wilko or Waitrose Beeswax...

 

Edited by PaulThePlug
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Nothing is OK.  It will stain and dirty over time, but functionally will be completely unaffected. 

 

Wax is good.  I finished a bubinga Jack Bruce Warwick tribute for our band's bassist entirely with wax.  It looks just as good now...10 years later.  I used Lord Sheratons beeswax from Sainsburys, but Briwax takes some beating, and you can get that in various tints.

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RAGS WARNING...

Just a quick note, Rags from using with some oils, like danish oil can Spontaniously Combust!...

So a little caution... wet the rags, and allow to dry flat, outside before disposal, dont screw them up oily and put in the bin... especially indoors!

Edited by PaulThePlug
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Thanks for the replies all, am hoping someone with expy can chime in, I have seen this p bass body Gear4music p bass  from Gear4music and the price is good and it seems to be finished already but the neck pocket is only 61mm wide, the neck I am looking at fitting is 63.4mm so I think realistically to get the neck to fit I am probably looking at widening the neck pocket 3-4mm, is it going to be difficult to widen the pocket this much, am I letting myself in for a major ball ache if I purchase this p bass body and have to widen the neck pocket that much ?

Edited by shoulderpet
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11 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Thanks for the replies all, am hoping someone with expy can chime in, I have seen this p bass body Gear4music p bass  from Gear4music and the price is good and it seems to be finished already but the neck pocket is only 61mm wide, the neck I am looking at fitting is 63.4mm so I think realistically to get the neck to fit I am probably looking at widening the neck pocket 3-4mm, is it going to be difficult to widen the pocket this much, am I letting myself in for a major ball ache if I purchase this p bass body and have to widen the neck pocket that much ?

 

Depends how accurately you can work with wood. The neck ideally wants to be a snug fit in the pocket and you will need to ensure the sides of the pocket sit flush against it with no gaps. How are your woodworking skills?

Edited by Dan Dare
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8 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Depends how accurately you can work with wood. The neck ideally wants to be a snug fit in the pocket and you will need to ensure the sides of the pocket sit flush against it with no gaps. How are your woodworking skills?

Thanks, I think I will get someone else to do that part for me then, fortunately one of the best luthiers/repairmen in the country is about a mile from where I live

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14 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Thanks for the replies all, am hoping someone with expy can chime in, I have seen this p bass body Gear4music p bass  from Gear4music and the price is good and it seems to be finished already but the neck pocket is only 61mm wide, the neck I am looking at fitting is 63.4mm so I think realistically to get the neck to fit I am probably looking at widening the neck pocket 3-4mm, is it going to be difficult to widen the pocket this much, am I letting myself in for a major ball ache if I purchase this p bass body and have to widen the neck pocket that much ?

I bought one of those from a BC member. The wood is really good and lightweight. The fit of the cavity to pickguard screws required work.  The finish is ok, at some point I may sand it back and improve the body contours, they are a little crude. I also had to widen the neck pocket.

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2 hours ago, 3below said:

I bought one of those from a BC member. The wood is really good and lightweight. The fit of the cavity to pickguard screws required work.  The finish is ok, at some point I may sand it back and improve the body contours, they are a little crude. I also had to widen the neck pocket.

Thanks, the more I look into this the more I am wondering if I should just buy a Fender neck and body rather than piece together components from different manufacturers and praying that they fit

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1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

Thanks, the more I look into this the more I am wondering if I should just buy a Fender neck and body rather than piece together components from different manufacturers and praying that they fit

 

Couple of things:

 

* I believe Fender P basses have a 63mm neck pocket but Squiers are 64mm. Maybe someone else can confirm this

 

* If 63-64 mm is the Fender / Squier norm then, theoretically, the body you're looking at is 'wrong' and the neck is 'right'

 

* If the body is wrong but the neck is right then, theoretically you should modify the wrong component until it fits the right component but...

 

* Sanding the neck is arguably easier to get right than sanding the pocket and less chance of damaging the instrument's face

 

* If you're never going to fit another neck to this bass then then you could leave the pocket alone and just sand the neck block as this guy does below, but avoiding sanding the edge of the fretboard, obvs.

 

 

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Worth double checking with Gear4music.  It is very unusual for a 'fenderish' neck pocket or neck not to be pretty close (certainly to within less than a mm).  The necks and neck pockets are tapered.  Is it possible one quoted measurement is where the pocket starts and the other is at the end of the heel at its widest?

 

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I tried to fit a Fender licenced replacement neck (which came from and had fitted a US precision) to a squier affinity body. The neck pocket on the body was a couple of mm narrower than the neck so not all “Fender” parts are the same spec. I figured this might have a deliberate move to discourage people from fitting Fender branded necks to Squiers and passing them off as fenders. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

An interesting thread.

I can add one more pont about buying an unfinished body, they sometimes  don't  have the internal holes drilled from pickup(s) and bridge to the control cavity for the wiring. You have to drill at a very shallow angle with a long drill bit which can be tricky. Just something to be aware of.

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On 13/06/2022 at 10:23, Andyjr1515 said:

And I think you will find that if you tap them, you will be amazed how much the tone has been improved!  :)

 

Yes but would the type of wood change the tone? Hmm…..:🍿

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