Ralf1e Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Fancied something to play with so was looking for something to provide a fun fretless having been getting back into fretless after many years. I found a bitza fretless on BC that fitted the bill a short while ago for £60. Vintage Icon fretless jazz neck fitted to an unknown knocked about bright red body. I expected fun and games and was not disappointed. The string saddles were at maximum height and the action was fit to use as a wire slide but it was all wrong. Having taken it apart I was able to turn to the USA Jazz I recently bought for advice. Comparing measurements of body thickness, neck pocket, neck, fretboard height, string saddles, etc of the two it indicated that the neck was going to need a 2mm shim adding to it's heel to achieve a playable angle as close as possible to the USA Jazz. Pictures of that I need to get from here somewhere as I took some for another thead they are not on this tablet. Turning to the body. It has been sanded right back. Using a random orbit sander with dust extraction. Followed by hand sanding or scrapping all the little nagery curvey bits and as of yesterday now stained. I wanted to keep the grain showing but not have the stark white fresh timber look. So to yellow it down somewhat to match the headstock a little experiment had to happen. Enter fresh Turmeric root. The pieces used cost about 50 pence! My experiment to use natural colour rather than stains from a bottle. I expected it to get duller as it dried but it actually dried brighter. It looks drastic at first but I am sure the finishing oil is going to tone it down a bit. More to come later Test sample 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 That stain looks great. How did you extract it from the turmeric? Did you rub straight from the root, or soak it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Awesome!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, Mykesbass said: That stain looks great. How did you extract it from the turmeric? Did you rub straight from the root, or soak it? I just peeled of a bit with a vegetable peeler and rubbed the root straight on. If the surface of the root dried out a bit taking another slice off to get a fresh surface to rub the juice out of. I have now done two coats of finishing oil and its looking good so far. The oil has just tamed the brightness down a bit as expected. I am happy with how its going especially for a Bitza project. While its apart the next step is to graphite paint the cavities. I usually use copper tape but this time bought some Rustings paint for the job to see how that goes Edited January 3, 2023 by Ralf1e Additional info 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 47 minutes ago, Ralf1e said: I just peeled of a bit with a vegetable peeler and rubbed the root straight on. If the surface of the root dried out a bit taking another slice off to get a fresh surface to rub the juice out of. I have now done two coats of finishing oil and its looking good so far. The oil has just tamed the brightness down a bit as expected. I am happy with how its going especially for a Bitza project. While its apart the next step is to graphite paint the cavities. I usually use copper tape but this time bought some Rustings paint for the job to see how that goes Thanks. Really like the effect, even before you tamed it! Thinking of trying it on a furniture project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 1 minute ago, Mykesbass said: Thanks. Really like the effect, even before you tamed it! Thinking of trying it on a furniture project. I think a clear wipe on poly or similar will allow it to keep the brightness whereas the finishing oil is already a darker light brown colour straight from the tin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Guitarist Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Love that colour! You have me wondering about other spices now. Maybe a 'curryburst'? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 Paprika will give a dark orange to reddish stain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 But of an update. Been some delays so far. The original side dot markers were centred between the fret lines. That doesn't work for me so I drilled them out and filled them with drops of superglue and nice dark dust made from of all things the bark waney edge from a bit of American black walnut patted in with the finger tip and then gone over a second time. Not perfect but OK for what I wanted and to be honest all done in just over 1 to 1.5 hours. Dot markers are plastic things commonly available online. Only used one piece of each. S/glue cut of with chiesel then clean with chiesel and a rub with 1500 wet and dry. Next l found the bridge had been fitted 1/2 inch out giving a 33 1/2 inch scale length so this morning I moved it and while I was at it drilled out and counter sunk two more holes to make the 5 as it only came with 3 when I bought the bass home. Being a bit fussy about that as I thought 3 wasn't enough. New Scratch plate is now fitted and as I found a dodgy volume pot I am replacing all three. Similar thread and depth but full size bodies. They should be arriveing today. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 With all the various amber tints you can get, I think your turmeric rub has the most authentic aged wood varnish look of them all. I wonder how UV fast it is. Have you used it before? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 9 hours ago, Maude said: With all the various amber tints you can get, I think your turmeric rub has the most authentic aged wood varnish look of them all. I wonder how UV fast it is. Have you used it before? No not used it before only thought of it very recently. Just got to thinking why not try something natural and see how it goes. Since then I have found there are people on Google who have done similar with natural products to make all sorts of colours. Icing on the cake is I've now finished it for the time being and for me it plays and sounds spot on. I think I struck lucky 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I bet beetroot would be good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 2 hours ago, Ralf1e said: Icing on the cake is I've now finished it for the time being and for me it plays and sounds spot on. I think I struck lucky 😀 I beg to differ; it’s not finished until you share pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 29 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said: I beg to differ; it’s not finished until you share pics. Good point. I will try to get better picks later when the light is more user friendly. The colour is not showing as golden as it is on this device today 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Corr! That turned out nice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddo Soqable Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Super looking bass, I particularly like the gnarly crack like marks on the body, top job sir !👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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