5 string buckeye burl/mahogany neck through

[BassHappy]

I sanded back the finish (and epoxy) and started re-finishing.

A week or so ago, I colored the back of one of the decals with a silver india ink pen to try to give it an opaque background to stand off of, but unfortunately, the ink didn't seem to want to stick to the decal paper. Every time I touched it, I'd get silver on my fingers and when I held it in the warm water the silver just started dissolving off. It's supposed to be water proof, but I think it just can't stick to this paper or something. Maybe I could try the spray-over-the-ink-with-clear coat-before-soaking method next time. I'm not sure if that would help in this case or not.

Luckily, Rick sent me more than one so I was able to use one that wasn't colored over with silver.

This looks MUCH better.

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I think with the epoxy gone, the burl isn't quite as dark and lets the color of the decal show more. Also, I realized that I had originally done the black laser toner transfer under the epoxy, so the other decal was on a faded black because of that too.

I'm re-finishing one of my other guitar's fretboards again, so I figured I'd put a decal on that one's truss rod cover while I'm at it too.

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I haven't started the clear over them yet.

They both look really nice Lisa, I am glad the new batch of decals is working out alright for you!

 

[lbridenstine]

They both look really nice Lisa, I am glad the new batch of decals is working out alright for you!

Me too. It definitely looks better on gloss!

Hopefully everything goes smoothly now.

Thanks again!!

 

[scottyd]

Looks much better, should hold up this time as well. Decals do funky things depending on whats under them.

 

[lbridenstine]

Looks much better, should hold up this time as well. Decals do funky things depending on whats under them.

I hope what's under them is good this time.

Question: Is grain filling necessary for decals? That walnut is grain filled, but it looks like some of the fill came out when sanding. It has very shallow pores. Also, I'm not really planning on grain filling any build I do that doesn't require a gloss finish, but I'd still like to do decals, so I thought now might be a good time to find out about that.

 

[scottyd]

I hope what's under them is good this time.

Question: Is grain filling necessary for decals? That walnut is grain filled, but it looks like some of the fill came out when sanding. It has very shallow pores. Also, I'm not really planning on grain filling any build I do that doesn't require a gloss finish, but I'd still like to do decals, so I thought now might be a good time to find out about that.

I think its a better practice to fill, even if it's just the small area of the decal. I've done it both ways, I love the look of open pore wood with a satin or flat finish but the ones that I've filled look better aesthetically.

Here's an example of one of my decals on open pore paduak finish the little pores can interfere with the decal attachment, its an un-level surface. You can see a little light spot in the E and on the lower right part of the cross from the pores its seamless everywhere else. I hate decals... I really do.

 

[lbridenstine]

I think its a better practice to fill, even if it's just the small area of the decal. I've done it both ways, I love the look of open pore wood with a satin or flat finish but the ones that I've filled look better aesthetically.

Here's an example of one of my decals on open pore paduak finish the little pores can interfere with the decal attachment, its an un-level surface. You can see a little light spot in the E and on the lower right part of the cross from the pores its seamless everywhere else. I hate decals... I really do.

Thanks for the info.

So far, it looks like this walnut one is going to be okay. I'll keep an eye on it for a while to make sure nothing weird happens.

I guess if I'm going to do a wenge headstock or something, I'll epoxy fill that spot or something before the decal.

 

[lbridenstine]

Still spraying. I can't feel the edge of the decal anymore. I can still see it if I hold it at certain angles. Does that ever go away?

Spraying this too.

 

[scottyd]

Still spraying. I can't feel the edge of the decal anymore. I can still see it if I hold it at certain angles. Does that ever go away?

Spraying this too.

It'll go away with a little bit of level sanding. You'll just want to be sure you've got plenty of finish over the decal. I normally level sand it once and finish it off with a couple more coats and usually the lines disappear.

 

[scottyd]

That fingerboard needs to be on one of my builds!

 

[lbridenstine]

That fingerboard needs to be on one of my builds!

It's making me never want to use a wood that needs finish for a fretboard again though! I re-fretted to jumbos from mediums, and the soldering iron bubbled the finish along the frets (I scored with a blade against the frets the best I could before heating) and I didn't want to sand all the way down, so I just sanded it level and hoped the new finish would cover it up, but it didn't and I put the frets in anyway, then of course couldn't stand it and took the frets back out and sanded all of the finish off the fretboard, re-dyed, and started over. Ugh.

 

[scottyd]

It's making me never want to use a wood that needs finish for a fretboard again though! I re-fretted to jumbos from mediums, and the soldering iron bubbled the finish along the frets (I scored with a blade against the frets the best I could before heating) and I didn't want to sand all the way down, so I just sanded it level and hoped the new finish would cover it up, but it didn't and I put the frets in anyway, then of course couldn't stand it and took the frets back out and sanded all of the finish off the fretboard, re-dyed, and started over. Ugh.

The price we pay for perfection! I just scored a little bit of figured koa and mango that I will cut into fingerboard blanks. They'll likely need finished but will be worth the extra effort.

 

[lbridenstine]

The price we pay for perfection! I just scored a little bit of figured koa and mango that I will cut into fingerboard blanks. They'll likely need finished but will be worth the extra effort.

Can't wait to see it!

 

[Doner Designs]

Stating the obvious I suppose, but WOW, really nice work!!

 

[Doner Designs]

The price we pay for perfection!

Indeed! I'm more of a designer/assembler (not a real luthier) but have gotten hooked on the Warmoth unique choice tops which can EXPENSIVE but are so beautiful...and you know what it's going to look like - no surprises.

Bocote, flame koa and flame maple here for three of my projects...each top cost more than a beginner bass...ouch!

 

[lbridenstine]

Stating the obvious I suppose, but WOW, really nice work!!

Thanks!

Indeed! I'm more of a designer/assembler (not a real luthier) but have gotten hooked on the Warmoth unique choice tops which can EXPENSIVE but are so beautiful...and you know what it's going to look like - no surprises.

Bocote, flame koa and flame maple here for three of my projects...each top cost more than a beginner bass...ouch!

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Nice! Are you getting all three??

 

[Doner Designs]

Thanks!

Nice! Are you getting all three??

Was trying to hold back and not hijack the thread, but since you asked. Yes. I sold all of my factory/production basses to pay for 3 Warmoth J bass projects. The bocote one is done already and the other two are on order. The bocote is on an ash core and has an Indian rosewood neck. The maple is going on a chambered walnut core and gets a flame maple neck with bocote fingerboard. The koa is going on a chambered maple core and gets a birdseye maple neck. Here are a couple thumbs of the bocote one are attached below.

I didn't read the entire thread - was mostly browsing for pictures. Is the turquoise ground and mixed with epoxy or something? Looks real but I saw a couple pictures where it looked like a liquid.

 

[lbridenstine]

Was trying to hold back and not hijack the thread, but since you asked. Yes. I sold all of my factory/production basses to pay for 3 Warmoth J bass projects. The bocote one is done already and the other two are on order. The bocote is on an ash core and has an Indian rosewood neck. The maple is going on a chambered walnut core and gets a flame maple neck with bocote fingerboard. The koa is going on a chambered maple core and gets a birdseye maple neck. Here are a couple thumbs of the bocote one are attached below.

I didn't read the entire thread - was mostly browsing for pictures. Is the turquoise ground and mixed with epoxy or something? Looks real but I saw a couple pictures where it looked like a liquid.

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Cool!

Yeah, the turquoise was powdered and I mixed it in with epoxy and slopped it on/in the burl.

 

[lbridenstine]

Done!

 

[charlie monroe]

Done!

Three Cheers!

 

[lbridenstine]

For my other builds, it has just been myself along with family and friends trying them out and them giving me their opinions (which could be biased). This one is different because Evan is out playing it at shows/festivals and letting a bunch of people I've never met try it out. So far, he's told me that a guy who plays a Lakland bass played it and liked this bass better and another bassist with a custom built bass from a luthier in NY tried it and he "was blown away" by it. Pretty cool to hear that.