- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
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Gilded Bird - Geo's new Thunderbird related project
- Thread starter JIO
- Start date
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Today was sunny and hot so it accelerated the (thin) glaze curing. What I did next was buff the finish with 0000 steel-wool, vacuumed all s-some here and there w dust, and wet-sanded the whole bass again. What this created was an organic removal of glaze, leaving some and getting back down to the gilding. It's very hard to photograph such subtle details but these pics hint at what's going on. It's back at a satin finish which dulls the metallic-effect, but once clear-coated in gloss and buffed - all those subtle details will delight the eye upon close inspection and dazzle under stage lighting.
Wet-sanding also removed the brown glaze off of the red-oxide which has a dramatic presence and contrast to the gold.
I found this pic of my SuperB 5'r which had a similar finish (red-oxide base/gold-leaf by me - gold dusting & clear-coat by Pat) It's the only pic I have that shows the gold-dusting which will also be incorporated on the VP.
Wet-sanding also removed the brown glaze off of the red-oxide which has a dramatic presence and contrast to the gold.
I found this pic of my SuperB 5'r which had a similar finish (red-oxide base/gold-leaf by me - gold dusting & clear-coat by Pat) It's the only pic I have that shows the gold-dusting which will also be incorporated on the VP.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Very cool
I like where you've gone through to the black layer. Might be cool to pull even a little more black out into the red where the "wear" on the side rolls onto the back.
Thanks! I have done such prior on my '68 Silvertone (Dano) 1443 Hornet. I dyed the (stripped) poplar neck yellow, sprayed red, and then black in a craquelure finish.
I wanted to keep this one a bit less 'distressed' but it's always so much fun to play with going further. It's like working on an abstract oil-painting canvas and thinking it's done, and the next day walking in and seeing how it could be better if adding some umber here and some cadmium red there. I will hold onto the bass until next week before sending to Pat to study it/reassess it day-to-day so it's not unlikely I will push the look a bit more.
That's beautiful stuff JIO. …truly an art form!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
A bit more black - mostly on the back. The black pg & hs face adds enough 'black' on the front.
I gilded this LP many years ago and Pat shot a nice trans-amber-brown tobacco burst to push it over the top. I think I'll get him to do something similar but minus the tobacco-burst/halo. (the back of the LP is dark trans-tobacco) The design was requested by my client - a combination of gold and etched-silver leaf. I think the warm amber-ing (over gold-dusting) will be the perfect final stage of the look.
I gilded this LP many years ago and Pat shot a nice trans-amber-brown tobacco burst to push it over the top. I think I'll get him to do something similar but minus the tobacco-burst/halo. (the back of the LP is dark trans-tobacco) The design was requested by my client - a combination of gold and etched-silver leaf. I think the warm amber-ing (over gold-dusting) will be the perfect final stage of the look.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Maybe a faint trans-tobacco burst similar to what Pat did on the Tempo. Could be cool... trad T-bird meets Goldfinger!
Back in the day, I wasn't a fan of bursts, but I've come to appreciate them. I own several now. I vote burst!
- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
My first bass in '66 (like the Tempo) was a black burst over trans-red. My second bass was a used VOX Cougar ss hollow-body classic sunburst. And next was my 'vintage' '63 T-bird II in brown-burst. So, I started out with the bursts but also love solid/opaque colours and non-burst finishes of many varieties. Like 'tort' - it just depends on the specific tort and how it's incorporated. Same with bursts.
I like mixing metaphors (burst over distressed finish in gloss!) as it illustrates that I'm not doing a faux-distressed illusion but instead visually riffing off those wonderful road-warriors for a fresh artistic gestalt.
Last edited:
Freekmagnet
Commercial User
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Cool - I really love how mine came out. For a bass that cost $40 in 1966 - doing a pro number on it transformed it. Like when a car restorer does a "ground up".
All red or trans red/black-burst?
Last edited:
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Boxed up and ready to send to Pat - maybe get it back late August, it's going to be a stunner! 
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Had to dredge this post from page 4! The Gilded Bird arrives from Pat tomorrow! He called yesterday to inform me it was being shipped so I can be home to receive it. (and not have it left on my doorstep ~) I asked him how it came out and he said "it looks great!", following up with - "it's my favorite of yours so far!" ... wow Bob wow... this year is the 10th anniversary of starting Gildaxe and dealing w/Pat. I've lost track with how many guitars & basses he's final-finished for me - a lot! And that this one tops them all? I can't wait to see it!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Sometimes it's a bit sooner but most usually it's a month - Pat's a busy guy and for a good reason!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,185
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Somewhat of a 'teaser' set of pics to start with lots of "fussy work" to do before getting it playable again. Starting with... shielding the cavities with three-coats of carbon paint.
Before sending to Pat, I tape off cavities to prevent excess build-up and that takes a bit of time & focus to carefully remove.
...then coated -
The control cover didn't fit anymore because of build-up so I removed the thick layer at the ledge so it sat flush.
...and shielded -
Control cover was taped to a piece of Pats cardboard - could be abstract art! I had to carefully remove the clear coat off the edges and slightly bevel the inside edges. Fits good now.
Anywhere that's been clear-coated, I need to carefully scrape it away so things fit like they did when I took it apart.
Just a little dust on the black - it didn't get the fine gold dusting the rest of the finish got.
Bridge posts holes scraped and posts installed along with the tail-piece, pu's and pots. More fine-tuning tomorrow, including cutting a blk/wht/bk pg to match the white one it came on. No two T-bird pg's are alike!
Before sending to Pat, I tape off cavities to prevent excess build-up and that takes a bit of time & focus to carefully remove.
...then coated -
The control cover didn't fit anymore because of build-up so I removed the thick layer at the ledge so it sat flush.
...and shielded -
Control cover was taped to a piece of Pats cardboard - could be abstract art! I had to carefully remove the clear coat off the edges and slightly bevel the inside edges. Fits good now.
Anywhere that's been clear-coated, I need to carefully scrape it away so things fit like they did when I took it apart.
Just a little dust on the black - it didn't get the fine gold dusting the rest of the finish got.
Bridge posts holes scraped and posts installed along with the tail-piece, pu's and pots. More fine-tuning tomorrow, including cutting a blk/wht/bk pg to match the white one it came on. No two T-bird pg's are alike!
