DIY bass kit: counsels?

[brucehum]

Hello,

Tomorrow I'm ordering (from Europe) a Carvin bass kit. It will take anything between 4-12 weeks to get here. So I'll have time to read stuff and prepare.

This will be my first DIY project in ages (since school, back 20+ years ago when we were innocent and had dreams about the future).

For fun I'm going with a 5 string fretless (but with lines, complete newbie, so I'll need them). That way I'll have something different than my 4 string p-bass.

Any general counsels about this undertaking? It should be fairly doable all, except for the finish. There I'm afraid I am going to blunder horribly. I found an ebook in the internet about guitar painting: paintyourownguitar.com . Would it be worth buying it?

Thanks for your help,
Bruce

 

[dman_113]

I would consider doing a finish you can rub on, something along the lines of oil and wax for two reasons. A) Its harder to mess up than a sprayed on finish, sprayed finish needs a pretty dust free environment to go on with out getting stuff in it. And you don't have to worry about it running. B) Its less expensive, you don't have to buy spray equipment that your not going to use that often, oil and wax goes on with a rag. Plus if you want to color the wood you can apply oil and wax over stains and dyes. Just my two cents.

 

[Musiclogic]

oil and wax, wipe on poly, gel stain, polyshades by minwax, something simple.

Just remember that good sanding is always the key to a good finish.

 

[keyboardguy]

Tung oil is the way to go! See below:



Tung oil Procedure

This is my normal routine of using Minwax Tung Oil.

I’ve used this over half a dozen times and the results are perfect every time.

After a final sanding down your Bass with 400 grit sandpaper, do the following:

Lightly sand with 0000 wool, then a coat of Minwax tung oil applied with a 2" square piece of paper towel.

Let it sit for FIVE minutes only! This is important. If you wait any longer, the tung oil turns into a consistency of honey, and is difficult to remove.

After 5 minutes, wipe off with some T-shirt rags, wiping off evenly.

Wait 5-6 hours and then apply another coat without sanding.

Repeat the whole thing the next day. This way you’re putting on 2 coats per day.

I recommend at least 4 coats for the neck, preferably 6-7, and 10-12 for the body.

Follow these instructions and you will get a wonderful looking Bass Guitar.

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

[62bass]

I've built the Carvin Bolt 4 kit. Nothing could be simpler as far as putting the parts together. The hardest and most time consuming part is putting on a finish. Since you have no experience I'd also suggest something really simple like the Minwax Tung Oil finish. If you can't do a decent job with that you're beyond help.

I'd suggest that while you're waiting for your kit to arrive you go to the Carvin website and download the instructions for the Bolt kits. They tell you how to apply this finish. Then go out and buy some cut offs of the same type of hardwood as your kit and the tung oil, sandpaper, paint thinner etc. and practice on the scrap wood. By the time your kit arrives, if you start on it right away, you'll have enough exoerience to pull it off.

There's probably nothing wrong about that book, but I'd go for a simpler method such as the one Carvin recommends for a first attempt.

By the way, you'll love the sound and playability of the Carvin. It's my favourite bass to play. I got the Bolt 4 fretted with the single coil J99 pickups. Great sound and a great neck, light, well balanced and high quality throughout.