I had researched guitar building for a while and decided it was something I really wanted to get into. Even better, it requires minimal investment (at least compared to the other endeavors I wanted to undertake; restoring an old muscle car, building a locost 7, etc...).
I found the Carvin kit, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. If you're going to go to the effort of building an instrument, you may as well be able to shape it how you want, right? Well, my Dad advised me that I should snag the Carvin kit to at least learn the basics of putting one together: with that under my belt, shaping a custom body is nothing.
So, I did. I went for the +$50 mahogany body and waited patiently for it to arrive. I knew I wanted to do it some sort of green, either a solid green paint or greenburst, so I went down to the local woodworking store and picked up a bright green aniline dye. After debating for the longest time about whether or not to bleach the red mahogany, I went for it without bleach and was pleasantly surprised. That dye was quite vibrant!
Then, a mistake... I should have done the black layer of burst first, but because I was unsure how the dye would have reacted to the mahogany, I wanted to lay the green down first to make sure it was what I had in mind. I used an Ebony stain and a Preval spray gun (nifty little buggers) and the "poor boy burst" method from project guitar. The spray carried further than I wanted and I managed to darken the whole body. I got my sunburst-style fade, but not the vibrant green I had in mind originally. Oh well, sometimes projects take on a character of their own.
After a week of finishing and an afternoon of assembly, the Swamp Bass was born!
now I'm itching to get going on another one! I snagged my guitarist's beat up old Ibanez gio and we're looking to refinish it in a purple-burst, maybe with some new inlays and perhaps an adventure into pickup rebuilding.
