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Custom Grabber - 1st A to Z build

#262
So the good news is that bondo works like a charm, the bad news is that it'll take me a very very long time to fill in everything. Other bad news, the epoxy didn't want to dry, so i removed it in the spots i had put it into and cleaned up those areas to bare smooth wood. To fills those spots, i'll be using minwax wood filler and pretty much cover the whole back side of the bass including huge gauges and missing wood. Once that's done, i'll round over the edges a bit more, sand everything down to 220 grit, and apply 4 coats of dupli color metal speck blue (again) and let it set for a week. At worse my new deadline will be the end of january which i'm sure i'll acheive since i'll also touch up the front with one coat of transparent liquitex purple. Once the week is up, it's a light wet sand to 600 grit & then it's clear coating the whole body with poly gloss clear. Waiting two weeks for it to "cure" then wet sand to 2000 grit and polish like i've never polished before.
 
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#264
Painting has begun. Two coats down, 3-4 more to go-flip it over and touch up the front with one coat of purple.

Update: painting is now complete. Now it's waiting a week before i clear coat the whole body once again with 4 coats of gloss clear. Then 2 weeks after before polishing and assembling everything again. All is going well, and will be complete on january 28th.

p.s. i've done a burst type effect on the back of the bass with blue flake middle and purple outside since the outter parts weren't insanely perfect. Then again, it looks nice and unique.
 
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#266
Hey guys, i've redrawn my headstock template to see what measurements would make the strings look more adequate traveling to the tuner posts, & im quite tempted to remove the tuners, plug the original tuner holes and TRC holes (cause they're a bit weird and not aligned with the TRC). But i'll think about it, the headstock would be a bit narrower and the strings wouldn't break at such a weird gibson reissue angle :D
 
#268
Really anxious to get it all back together :hyper: Also, i'll be using standard long scale strings since i've shaved off half of the backside slimmer, and the super long scale strings that i had on it before is now on my precision bass since one of the strings snapped and i need that bass for most of my band practices :D. 5 days left, then it's all back together. Wonder if the case is in yet :eyebrow:
 
#269
So i kinda got ahead of myself and just decided to re-assemble the beast once and for all. Did some minor wiring repair, wet sanded and polished (not perfect mirror, but it wasn't before either), and it feels 100% better than it did before. I mean i've only shaved 1/2 inch off the backside and wow what a difference. If i compare it with one of my instruments, it's on the same line as my black Precision bass copy. Given, my pbass doesnt have a maple body, and so on a strap it's pretty light (i suspect alder possibly or maybe some type of ash but uncertain) anyways, this grabber just has a better look and vibe to it now. Before it felt like i was reaching for the first 3 frets, now it's a breeze to play. And while sitting down, since i've reshaped the tummy cut to mold it better with the horn, it doesn't dig into my rib cage anymore and the arm rest cut is closer to my body so my arm rests naturaly without feeling extended.

Tomorrow, i acquire long scale strings and it'll be done. Just need the case now and it'll be complete!!
 
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#271
Today most likely :D it's so wonderful: the thought that i've built this thing from the ground up and it's my first one as well! Although some minor imperfections (some sanding lines are still visible but it's not such a big deal), and the backside is far from perfect since not every gap/hole was filled before painting (althought it's very hard to notice on natural wood :( ) i've learned a lot from this build and my next one (which will be sometime in march possibly - gibson RD standard with a few customizations for one of my friends - more on that when it starts :P )it'll be properly done, taking my sweet time to see that everything is perfect & i won't forget to measure 17" from the 12th fret to the top of the fretboard and cut the nut slot to have it at 34" scale length loll.
 
#272
So i just got back with some nice long scale strings. And i've decided along the way there, that i'll make it the proper 34" scale. So for the next hour or so, i'll measure from the 12th fret up to the nut and cut the exces off, glue the nut, plug up the old TRC holes, paint the newly exposed wood black to match the headstock, place the TRC and drill new holes & screw it in. String it up and then set up, stretch the strings and play/pictures. Stay tuned. I'm going non-stop now.
 
#273
Since i've kept you all in suspense, here's some treats. It's been fun, i've learned alot, and i'm excited to start my next projects. Speaking of which: since i've got left over wood from this build mainly body wood, i'll be using them for my custom built one-off thunderbird, and if i still have some left over after that, i'll start making my own Gibson Ripper body. Not sure if i should start threads for each, or if i should keep going on this one since it's pretty endless. xD
 

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#274
While in college tonight, i've thought about the grabber and what i could've done else. Cause i've noticed that although it sounds good, it's lacking the punch factor that i'm used to having in my other basses. I thought: if i ditched the bridge and the pickup and the ferrules and the tuners (just to make everything chrome), And replaced them with a gotoh 201B-4 chrome bridge, an EMG HB pickup in white (precision bass tone in a humbucker shell), and just some import 2x2 tuners, it'd probably have that tone i'd actually like. And even though i hate active electronics, at least i wouldn't have to drill for a battery access (it'd be hidden under the pickguard :D ) But anyway, maybe it's for later on in it's life, or after 5 years :)

For now, it's doing the job, it's good enough.
 
#275
We learn by doing, right? I know I've had that same experience myself ("Next time I'll <fill in the blank>"). I think that's normal and healthy, but it doesn't mean that the build you just finished can't be a fun and rewarding instrument in its own right. Accept it for what it is, and it can become a valued member of the stable.
 
#276
Couldn't agree more :) The neck profile is good, but while at the music store earlier last week, i played a schecter omen 4 string and i was blown by it. everything about it was pretty spot on what i liked and needed, and at 425$ holy damn. it's not part of my stable but it is on my list of basses, plus it's active, doesn't hurt to have one active in the stable :P For my own future builds, neck profile will pretty much be replicating the omen.
 
#277
I've accented the highs and mids and dialed a bit of bass out of the eq and this bass has balls. But i do think that in another long long while, i'll swap the pickup out for a GFS humbucker lipstick pickup chrome and have a higher output to match my other basses (precisions, thunderbird) just so the Eq won't shift drastically and the volume won't be pumped up so much either. I'd probably revisit the neck profile (it's more of a compound profile: slim and chunky at the first frets, flat and wide near the 12th and beyond) to make it slimmer all round and even faster.

I'll try to see if i can get some sound clips on here.
 
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#278
While looking at it, i've realized why its overall length is longer than the original is because everything on the center of the body should've been pushed down by an inch. Except for the pickup I'd still leave that in it's original placement (maybe an inch more in either direction's moveability) Then afterwards the body wouldn't look so wide and long. Weight would probably be more distributed as well and the neck wouldn't be a far reach (although it's not much) as is now. Hopefully when i get a job: i'll revist this bass years later (maybe) and do the following:

-Reshape the neck so it's slimmer and faster
-Totally new body w/same colour scheme & less dents/patches, where everything visually looks like the original grabber (with a few mods like on this one)
 

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