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1st Build - Power Tool-Free Pine Body
- Thread starter J Posega
- Start date
Thanks, my wife and I had always kind of had the door knob plate as a control plate in mind. Took a while to find the right one. The jack fits absolutely perfectly in this one... I was over the moon when I got it installed.
I've definitely settled on milk paint. And after seeing this shade of blue, I'm set on the final color...
Remind you of anything?
That's right, I'm a huge nerd. I'm trying to decide on what color for the undercoat. I'm leaning towards brown or maybe barn red. I'll be spending some time researching the techniques that will yield the best old-worn finish.
I'd like to do a crackle on at least part of it, unfortunately the stuff you use to do that is gelatin, and I'm strict vegetarian. I'm going to contact some 'experts' and see if pectin would be a good substitute. I may even just buy the paint and experiment with pectin.
That said, it may be another few weeks before any progress is posted. Life is busy with work and school.
I've definitely settled on milk paint. And after seeing this shade of blue, I'm set on the final color...
Remind you of anything?
That's right, I'm a huge nerd. I'm trying to decide on what color for the undercoat. I'm leaning towards brown or maybe barn red. I'll be spending some time researching the techniques that will yield the best old-worn finish.
I'd like to do a crackle on at least part of it, unfortunately the stuff you use to do that is gelatin, and I'm strict vegetarian. I'm going to contact some 'experts' and see if pectin would be a good substitute. I may even just buy the paint and experiment with pectin.
That said, it may be another few weeks before any progress is posted. Life is busy with work and school.
That's awesome.
Very cool build,something you can truely say is yours.The milk paint is the way to go!.I built a chambered telecaster body with my great grandfathers old handtools,he was the area handyman from what i hear.The only powertool i used on the whole project was a soldering iron.The sad part was ireturned the tools to my uncle and when he died they were to go to me.But his new wife sold them in a garage sale after he died.Keep us up to date with more pics!
Totally cool man. You have way more patience than I do....though I enjoy doing some things by hand, I'm constantly thanking God for power tools !
One other addition to the bass will be a neck-to-bridge thumb rest, made out of either a dowel sanded into a D shape, with the flat side being attached to the bass, or a piece of chair-rail if I can find one small enough.
I'm trying to decide on the final configuration of the electronics, as well. It's quite diverse, tonally, depending on where I pluck. I'm thinking of a stacked volume/tone pot, although I really like the wide-open, no tone-control sound, so I'd have to find someone willing to mod a pot to be no-load on the tone end.
I had D'addario rounds on it, recently swapped for a well used set of TI flats. I'm going back to the rounds... more mwah and they play a little faster IMO.
EDIT: I also need to make a little strap button extender, probably out of a thick dowel, to place the upper strap button closer to the 12th fret, and then maybe also add some weight to the bridge end of the body. It balances for crap right now.
I'm trying to decide on the final configuration of the electronics, as well. It's quite diverse, tonally, depending on where I pluck. I'm thinking of a stacked volume/tone pot, although I really like the wide-open, no tone-control sound, so I'd have to find someone willing to mod a pot to be no-load on the tone end.
I had D'addario rounds on it, recently swapped for a well used set of TI flats. I'm going back to the rounds... more mwah and they play a little faster IMO.
EDIT: I also need to make a little strap button extender, probably out of a thick dowel, to place the upper strap button closer to the 12th fret, and then maybe also add some weight to the bridge end of the body. It balances for crap right now.
It's been a long time coming, but I've finally settled on final color and gotten the milk paint for it. I might start painting this weekend. I'll get some pre painting pics up soon to show a couple things I've done to the bass in the last several months.
As for sound clips, I don't have anything pro-recorded, except some YouTube vids.
Here's the band I was in at my former university in Michigan. Pardon the sound quality and some poor timing; the stage was set for the university big band, and we were just intermission tunes, so we couldn't rearrange the stage. It was very hard to hear the keys or sax for the drummer and I, but we managed.
http://youtu.be/zf9e7OBrmfk
Invalid Link Removed
http://youtu.be/Jo68uknlCSY
http://youtu.be/0-zFHI8TTnA
http://youtu.be/mjQ3QSSbwmQ (This song is one of my favorites... shows how fat the bass can sound when palm muted)
That's the bass with D'addario nickels 105-45, just a volume control. Plugged into (I think) a GK 1001 head or something similar, and an Eden 4x10 and 1x15 (university gear). I set it flat and let 'er rip. I've thought about putting a tone knob on it, but I think I'm gonna keep it as is. It's the kind of bass that really shows how the tone is often in your fingers.
As for sound clips, I don't have anything pro-recorded, except some YouTube vids.
Here's the band I was in at my former university in Michigan. Pardon the sound quality and some poor timing; the stage was set for the university big band, and we were just intermission tunes, so we couldn't rearrange the stage. It was very hard to hear the keys or sax for the drummer and I, but we managed.
http://youtu.be/zf9e7OBrmfk
Invalid Link Removed
http://youtu.be/Jo68uknlCSY
http://youtu.be/0-zFHI8TTnA
http://youtu.be/mjQ3QSSbwmQ (This song is one of my favorites... shows how fat the bass can sound when palm muted)
That's the bass with D'addario nickels 105-45, just a volume control. Plugged into (I think) a GK 1001 head or something similar, and an Eden 4x10 and 1x15 (university gear). I set it flat and let 'er rip. I've thought about putting a tone knob on it, but I think I'm gonna keep it as is. It's the kind of bass that really shows how the tone is often in your fingers.
Alright, here we go, finally applying some Old Fashioned Milk Paint!
There's the body, given a last damp-rag wipedown. This raises the grain and helps the paint stick. The first two coats are Salem Red mixed 1/4 cup powder to 1/4 cup warm water.
All those screws were stuck into existing holes so I can easily flip the body. A stick would've been easier to work with, but I wasn't patient enough to find one.
I was practically tempted to leave it like this! IMO this is a tasteful reliced look. That's the first coat after it sat for about 2 hours to dry. Once dry, I rubbed down a few spots that I wanted down to wood with 220 grit sandpaper. Then the entire body was rubbed down with a Scotch Brite pad, which gives a remarkable smooth, satin feel.
This is the second coat drying. I shut the AC vent in the room after coat 1, which cut drying time in half. The second coat was not rubbed down or sanded at all.
The third coat is Federal Blue, mixed 1/4 cup powder to just over 1/4 cup water. I went thinner so I get a more reliced, mixed look to the top.
It's still very wet in this picture, and not very dark. I'm gonna do another coat of this batch of blue and see where it stands. If its an even blue, then I'll sand back those spots I want to see wood through, sand some just to red, Scotch Brite the whole thing, and then do the headstock.
I want a darker blue, so I may apply some sort of wax finish, or pure Tung Oil.
There's the body, given a last damp-rag wipedown. This raises the grain and helps the paint stick. The first two coats are Salem Red mixed 1/4 cup powder to 1/4 cup warm water.
All those screws were stuck into existing holes so I can easily flip the body. A stick would've been easier to work with, but I wasn't patient enough to find one.
I was practically tempted to leave it like this! IMO this is a tasteful reliced look. That's the first coat after it sat for about 2 hours to dry. Once dry, I rubbed down a few spots that I wanted down to wood with 220 grit sandpaper. Then the entire body was rubbed down with a Scotch Brite pad, which gives a remarkable smooth, satin feel.
This is the second coat drying. I shut the AC vent in the room after coat 1, which cut drying time in half. The second coat was not rubbed down or sanded at all.
The third coat is Federal Blue, mixed 1/4 cup powder to just over 1/4 cup water. I went thinner so I get a more reliced, mixed look to the top.
It's still very wet in this picture, and not very dark. I'm gonna do another coat of this batch of blue and see where it stands. If its an even blue, then I'll sand back those spots I want to see wood through, sand some just to red, Scotch Brite the whole thing, and then do the headstock.
I want a darker blue, so I may apply some sort of wax finish, or pure Tung Oil.
I'm kind of sad that the milk paint isn't getting any love. I guess it isn't as badass as carving the body by sheer will power... er... chisel power.
I've got the color all applied, and I'm working on tastefully distressing it. My next step is to do the same for the headstock, experiment with fashioning a wooden bridge/tailpiece, and then doing a clear coat.
I think I'm going to do a pure Tung oil finish... it seems easy, and doesn't have any additives or varnish in it. I don't want a protective topcoat, I just want something that'll help darken the finish and give it a little lived-in look. Plus, I can use it on the fingerboard and whatever other wood projects I have coming up!
I've got the color all applied, and I'm working on tastefully distressing it. My next step is to do the same for the headstock, experiment with fashioning a wooden bridge/tailpiece, and then doing a clear coat.
I think I'm going to do a pure Tung oil finish... it seems easy, and doesn't have any additives or varnish in it. I don't want a protective topcoat, I just want something that'll help darken the finish and give it a little lived-in look. Plus, I can use it on the fingerboard and whatever other wood projects I have coming up!
I like the vibe of what you are doing. Very different, but way cool! I like the finish you are going for, it fits the project well. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! It's been a stupid long process, mostly because after doing the hard work, I slapped it together and it played amazingly, so I didn't bother doing the finish for over 6 months.
