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black & blond P makeover (etc)

#106
wraub said:
I also vote no guard on that. Again, not a fan of red, but I say it stays like that. There, now you can't change it ever. :D



Hmmm... I seem to recall a certain someone taking a saw to a freshly painted body recently... ;)
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Someone who would do that sounds slightly unbalanced and playing red basses confirms that. I'd avoid them like the plague.:cautious:
 
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#109
JIO said:
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That's just freakin' sexy. Classic and yet different. I love it. I just keep staring at the pics.
 
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#110
I've decided to attack the Signature J alder body, making it a P/J. (and a light one at that) The P pu will be placed exactly where my '66 is located, which is lower than on most P/J combo's. I'm going to plane/rout the top and back and laminate wood on the top covering the cavities. While I'm at it, I'll drill some big holes to further lighten/chamber it under the laminate. I'm thinking of no pg and I may also do binding on the top.

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I made this jig/platform that will allow me to essentially plane off a consistent percent of the top and back using a router. The connected planks slide over the length to provide a support for the router. I'm thinking I will make the body 1/4" thinner overall, and will laminate the top with a 1/4" light wood - so I need to remove 1/4" off the top & 1/4" off the back. Not sure how I will eventually finish it - not black, not Fiesta Red, not Oly white, maybe "woody"… no, not woody - I'm just not drawn to exotic wood basses, call me weird but I prefer paint (or gilding). Maybe that very pale robins egg blue that Fender's are painted - Daphne blue I think it's called. With cream binding & pu covers (no pg) Would be very pretty.

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#111
Did the er.., "slimming" today with somewhat mixed results. My jig was not, shall we say, precision made and before I knew it "a little off the side" resulted in a butch-cut. So the new plan is nothing off the back, and a trip to a furniture maker I've used to do a bit of leveling using his industrial planer. I'm still good, but after it's leveled I'll determine how thick my laminate piece will be. My jig concept was correct, but since I threw it together using surplus wood, it was far from uniform. Oh well… someday I'll construct a nice basic shop but for now.., another live & learn project that is still in the game. Considering what this body has been through, it's a challenge to wrestle it back into service after subjecting it to the slings and arrows… :)

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check this beauty out - it's Sonic Blue, but this is what I'm talkin' about -

View attachment 507263 View attachment 507264
 
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#113
ICM said:
This thread just gets better and better.
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Thanks Ivan!, it is episodic but it doesn't surprise me - I just love basses! I took the bass formally known as mongrel (Fiesta Red J- chapter 3) to a jam-session earlier and dialed a wicked tone on my rig. Even the drummer commented on how good it sounded - and that's sayin' a lot! There's nothing like being in 'the zone' when the tone sets you up. It's like, it's yours to lose! It's at the intersection of engage, flow and steer. And as bass players, we all know who steers the ship… ;)
 
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#115
BassHappy said:
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It's nice JIO, but this is my favorite blue:

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What wood are you going to use for the top laminate and are you doing the blue paint or letting the wood speak?
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That is a cool blue - and perfect w/the maple neck & pu covers. Also like the fret markers a lot. I'm thinking maple for a bit of tone shaping, and paint w/cream binding. I currently only have one bass (Parker Hornet 5'r) that is 'natural/wood' - everything else is painted or gilded. Like I said, I just like a painted finish over natural usually.
 
#116
JIO said:
That is a cool blue - and perfect w/the maple neck & pu covers. Also like the fret markers a lot. I'm thinking maple for a bit of tone shaping, and paint w/cream binding. I currently only have one bass (Parker Hornet 5'r) that is 'natural/wood' - everything else is painted or gilded. Like I said, I just like a painted finish over natural usually.
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Jens calls it Super Baby Blue, but Sonic Blue is awesome too!
 
#119
BassHappy said:
If I were going to do a finish that covers up the wood, my first choice would be to gild it, but my second choice would probably be the super baby blue.

How is the Bond Girl thing coming along? Still rehearsing? Any upcoming shows on the books?
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Going good - I have a rehearsal tomorrow and a few gig inquiries/requests sent out to some local venues. Looks like the rest of the year will be concentrating on learning new material for a longer set-list and coming out swinging in 2015. Most Holiday gigs are booked by now anyway.
 
#120
Phase 1 done; Had access to a large shop stationary circular sander and eventually got it leveled at 1". Once done, I drilled a few holes… (holy swiss cheese - can you say honeycomb?) With a 1/2" of maple laminated on top, I'm going for light, a bit bright and resonant. The original alder body before any routing was somewhere around 5 lbs. My initial chambering (pic #110 above) brought it down to 4.78 lbs. As of now it's 2.76 lbs - a full 2 lbs lighter. Hopefully the maple cap will come substantially under that.

Oh, and I also removed the clear seal-coat off the back/sides. It was fairly substantial and removing it can only encourage some resonance from the wood. I used a heat-gun and a single-edged razor. As a bonus, I inadvertantly "roasted" the body which is ultra hip right now. I'm certain that alone will guarantee this bass will sound awesome. :rolleyes:

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