Back from hiatus with some new builds

[pilotjones]

Cool.

Care to show what the backside of that pickup block looks like?


And speaking of backsides, maybe I missed it, but what's the hollow behind the neck base for? Battery box?

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Sure, here you go:

I made a frame around the 45DCs out of walnut. The Pau Ferro top then went on. I then rounded the corners of the block and glued on the flamed maple and bloodwood veneers I made from some scrap of the neck laminates. At the thickness I used the flamed maple conformed to the corners with just clamp pressure but the bloodwood had to be steam bent. Even with the steam bending a few areas of the grain split and lifted in the corners, so I had some cleanup to do. The Pau Ferro from the pickup is a lot more brown/grey than the brown/red of the fretboard. I wanted to use the same piece, but the fretboard was not wide enough for the pickup. The fretboard was maxed out at the end of the board where it needed to be 3.75" for the .75" string spacing at the bridge and I needed a piece wider than that as the 45DCs are 4.5" wide.

I've never owned a bass with figured walnut. I think it may be one of my favourite woods now. It also reminds me of my father's Citori 16 gauge shotgun that has a beautiful figured walnut stock, from when I was a kid.

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through finishing my fretted bass. The process I use with Watco Danish oil is:

Initial coating - 1 hour then allow to dry 24 hours
Second coating - 20 min then allow to dry 48 hours
Wet sand - 400 grit with oil then allow to dry 48 hours
Wet sand - 600 grit with oil then allow to dry 48 hours
Wet sand - 1000 grit with out then allow to dry 48 hours
Wax

Right now I'm done the 600 grit and I'm waiting for it to dry until Saturday and I'll hit it with 1000 grit. If all goes well I'll wax and install everything on holiday Monday.

 

[skullservant]

Beautiful looking basses. The inlay is seriously amazing

 

[pilotjones]

Hey Geoff, can you comment on whether I'm interpreting this correctly?

"Initial coating - 1 hour then allow to dry 24 hours" - ?Keep soaked for 1 hour, wipe clean, and then allow to dry 24 hours?
"Second coating - 20 min then allow to dry 48 hours" - ?Keep soaked for 20 min, wipe clean, and then allow to dry 48 hours?
"Wet sand - 400 grit with oil then allow to dry 48 hours" - ?Are you wiping clean following the wet sand?
...etc.

Also, did you grain fill before starting this process, and is your result a full level gloss, or a grain-textured surface?

Thanks.

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Thanks skullservant!

Yeah, that's right PJ, wipe clean after each coat or wet sanding. I didn't grain fill. The goal is a grain textured finish. The walnut is the only thing with open pores.

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

With the exeption of a setup and a pair of 9V batteries, this thing is complete!

 

[francotedescoga]

That looks awsome! I really dig the Infinity Inlay.

 

[FatStrings]

Beautiful work! Love the carving!

 

[suraj]

*jaw drops to floor* Taking notes, dreaming to achieve anything close to any of that..!!

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Thanks a ton guys. I'm almost giddy with how this one has turned out. I hope the fretless will be as nice.

Total weight of the fretted with everything installed (even the two 9Vs) is 9lbs 2oz, so I'm very happy with that.

A weird problem I'm having with the EMG BQS preamp is that the bass, mid and treble controls all create a lot of noise when turned from their 0 dB center detents for boost or cut. Has anyone possibly had this problem before? I find it odd and can't see it being a grounding issue. My instinct is that it's defective. It's not too hard of an issue to check as I have another preamp for the fretless and it's a simple matter of swapping all the connectors (thankfully EMG stuff all comes with molex type connectors which make this easier than if it was pretty much any other preamp).

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Well, that was easy. The preamp is clearly defective as the other unit is dead quiet at all positions of the b/m/t controls. Now to send an email and see about warranty return.

 

[Bradass]

Incredible looks...would love to hear a sound clip!

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

I'm planning to get one up. I'll just have to look into how I can capture a good one to upload. It really sounds great. Tons of mid hump!

 

[pilotjones]

Beautiful work, Geoff. Makes me want to try some carving on my next one.

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Thanks PJ! I was hoping to avoid some carving for a bit, but a friend convinced me to start on this:

You can't deny that carving adds a bit of a look of effort to the top. It also adds a lot of effort to the build!

 

[francotedescoga]

Man! I wish I had the ability to build such a masterpiece!

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Thanks Franco! You'd be surprised. All it really takes is planning, patience and the ability to cover and correct any mistakes you make. For instance, the control cavity on this bass snapped in half at one point during the build.

Overall I'm pretty ecstatic about how this one has turned out. I didn't even know I could do this.

 

[francotedescoga]

I'll start my first build before the end of the year, I'm hoping to get a bass half as good as the builds on TB.

 

[pilotjones]

Thanks PJ! I was hoping to avoid some carving for a bit, but a friend convinced me to start on this:

You can't deny that carving adds a bit of a look of effort to the top. It also adds a lot of effort to the build!

Nice -- trapeze tailpiece guitar?


Hmmmm


-think-think-think-