First Build - "Lucifer"

[Jon Clegg]

I've seen people make their own glow dots by using a forstner bit to make recesses in a plastic cutting board and casting them using glow powder and CA. I might try something like that sometime including the aluminum tubing rings I've done previously.

Luminlay is kinda meh for the price IMHO.

 

[postalflunkie]

Glow powder and CA works ok, only problem I had was sanding it back after it dryed. I didn't have a problem with the glow powder getting into the wood grain, but it was the wood dust getting into the poors in the glowy dots. My solution was to wait for the CA to dry first, then add a second coat of CA to the dryed dots. Then sand them flush.

 

[postalflunkie]

I was just out in the garage and dug out my glow powder. I found these needle topped bottles at the craft store, they're perfect to store the messy stuff in and allows me to tap in the powder without getting it all over the neck.

 

[RodRy]

Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong, I think the Luminlay stuff looks awesome and seems proven. It was probably simpler than what I'm doing too. I'd like to try it for a future build. But yeah, I got gun-shy listening to some folks on the book of faces talking about how they were waiting months and months. That chatter got pretty evil there for a bit, but that's just what the book of faces does.

Yep, whole book of faces, but so many of them are like this:

 

[TerribleTim68]

Awe. Happy Birthday to my very first build thread! One year ago today I posted this thread.

Now, I'll be honest here, I didn't actually start working on the actual build part until much later. My very first day of woodworking on this one was Memorial Day weekend. Then I returned to it again on 4th of July weekend, and then again on Labor Day weekend. So, considering that I've really only put about 5 honest days into it, and then some random days tinkering with small things, it's come a long way!

I did say this build would probably take me a couple years to complete, so I think I'm right on track!

 

[Reedt2000]

It's all good, my 1st major project (nowhere near as ambitious as this one) took a year to fully complete. That time included multiple finish screw-ups & do-overs, along with a healthy dose of laziness

 

[Slidlow]

screw-ups & do-overs, along with a healthy dose of laziness

The bane of my existence. You're doing fine.

 

[dwizum]

Heck my first bass wasn't finished until 20 years after I started it...

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Sorry for the derail... but you gave me a bitchin idea.

A "ceruse" finish on open grained wood, using glowey stuff as the filler.
Kinda like this... but glowey.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYESS!

Glowy always wins.

 

[Fat Freddy]

It's all good, my 1st major project (nowhere near as ambitious as this one) took a year to fully complete. That time included multiple finish screw-ups & do-overs, along with a healthy dose of laziness

My build is way behind mostly because I'm a moron!......

 

[S-Bigbottom]

My build is way behind mostly because I'm a moron!......

 

[RodRy]

View attachment 4004147

Smart cat!

 

[TerribleTim68]

I'm as scared as I can be y'all!

So I've got a fret end beveling file (2 in 1, 90 or 45 degree), a leveling beam (all be it rather short) and a crowning file. I've never attempted this before. Somebody hold me.

Maybe I'll head back to YouTube University for a bit.

 

[dwizum]

You'll do great!

I like to bevel first. It's probably also the simplest, you just file until the frets are down to flush on the edges. Then level. Make sure the neck is supported during the leveling, else it's easy to push too hard and end up with a back bow because you've shoved the middle of the neck down as you leveled. It's better to go light than heavy with your touch when leveling. The frets will tell you when they're level - just work the fretboard until all frets have been just barely kissed by the file, then you're done! Crowning is the same, you just run the file back and forth on a fret until the marks from leveling just barely disappear (or they're just a razor thin line down the center of the fret).

In terms of tools I use a pretty short file to level. I know some people like a beam that's the full length of the neck but I don't see the need for that. If you're starting with a level fretboard, then all you're trying to do is even out the odd high or low fret, you don't need to establish a level plane from scratch. So don't sweat your shorter leveling beam.

When I first started in this stuff, there were really only two things I was scared of. Neck carving and fretwork. Both ended up much easier than I had expected!

 

[Jeff Siddall]

What he said ^

Go slow, light pressure. Protect things you don't want damaged with tape. Check your progress regularly. You will end up with better frets than most bases you see.

EDIT: One more tip: run a line of Sharpie down the top of each fret before you start removing material to make it easier to see what you haven't taken off.

Also, I forgot until I just saw it again now how nice that fretboard is. And those zebra wings are awesome too. This thing is turning out great!

 

[TerribleTim68]

Thanks Jeff, yeah that fretboard is amazing. I couldn't pass that piece up. Luckily I've got enough left over for I e more too.

Thanks for the tips gang. I feel like I understand the process. But like carving the neck, I need to just get after it. At some point you gotta just do it.

 

[Rôckhewer]

You got it.

 

[Flying B]

Hey Tim. Great thread! This thread somehow passed me by until now, just finished reading the whole thing. Whilst I love all the builds here in LC I particularly enjoy the "first builds" as they tend to be more detailed and more useful for beginners like me (also trying to finish off my first build, over 2.5 years in!).
It shows that most people with a reasonable amount of common sense and an ability to logically follow a process can build their own bass.
Good luck with the fret levelling, it's really not that hard, the hardest bits are behind you already.
One thing I didn't see whether you had is a fretboard protector, (thin strip of metal with a slot in it) or make sure you mask off the fretboard well to avoid marking it. And it's easy enough to make a long flat beam from wood with some abrasive glued to it, I personally think if it's covering all the frets at once that is the most foolproof way to get them all level.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I was really nervous about neck carving. I’ve used the “facet” method on two builds now, and it was pretty controlled and stress free.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Hey Tim. Great thread! This thread somehow passed me by until now, just finished reading the whole thing. Whilst I love all the builds here in LC I particularly enjoy the "first builds" as they tend to be more detailed and more useful for beginners like me (also trying to finish off my first build, over 2.5 years in!).
It shows that most people with a reasonable amount of common sense and an ability to logically follow a process can build their own bass.
Good luck with the fret levelling, it's really not that hard, the hardest bits are behind you already.
One thing I didn't see whether you had is a fretboard protector, (thin strip of metal with a slot in it) or make sure you mask off the fretboard well to avoid marking it. And it's easy enough to make a long flat beam from wood with some abrasive glued to it, I personally think if it's covering all the frets at once that is the most foolproof way to get them all level.

I do have a fretboard protector, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna use it. I'll probably tape off the board, just to be safe. I also made a long beam out of tube steel with one side sanded "flat". Took a long time and lots of checking with my machinist's straight edge, but it's about as close as I can get it without actually having it machined. I just don't know if that's what I want to use or not.

I'm still pondering this whole procedure and sort of waiting until I can really get lost in it before I start. The last thing I want to do is get half way through it and be pulled away, then come back and not be in the same frame of mind. I'll probably wait until the weekend when work isn't bothering me, then I can "go at it" for several hours without interruption.
I've got a few things I can do at this point. A proper fret job is first on the list. Then I still need to cut a nut, which means mounting tuners and bridges. The main issue there is that I don't have strings and Dingwall is out of stock on the long scale 5-string sets and hasn't answered when they would have them back in stock. Ideally I'd like to have the actual strings in hand to do all that, but I see guys mount bridges using string, so I guess there's that. There's always more sanding to do too, but I hate to get too far down that road without having everything else done for fear of scratching it along the way.