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How did you personalize your Bass?

CaribooBass

CaribooBass

Nov 30, 2017
686
1,360
Cariboo
#1
I am not sure if this is the right place for this post so please move it if you feel it has to be changed.

I have always preferred basses that are stained or finished in a way that accents the grain of the wood.

I am not a big fan of painted basses. Do not get me wrong some of them are really nice; they just would not be my first choice.

Painted basses are however a perfect canvas to personalize your bass any way you want to.

So what have you done to personalize your Bass?
Airbrush work, hand prints of your loved ones, ornate designs like the ones common in Mozart’s time ?

I have seen a lot of these things done on basses when searching the internet and some are very nice.

I am curious what fellow T.Bers have come up with.

Thanks
Clayton
 
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#2
abstract-trio-jpg.4755802

^^^These are the only 3, which my roommate painted for me throughout time. All 3 i've built & had these sort of ideas, which she delivered & did a fantastic job on them. I'm planning a stingray bass build next year, where she'll be doing a charcoal gray/lime green hydradip type paint job on it.

Other than these 4, & my drum kit which she also painted, the rest of my builds are solid painted.

tiger-jpg.4755799

^^^This is an old build of mine, that i had revamped & in this iteration, gifted to a friend of mine who wanted a thunderbird bass. He loves it, & i was kinda sad to let it go (cause it played better than ever xD), but i was happy it'll be getting a better life & use than in my hands. This one, i simply blowtorched the stripes/design onto the wood, cleared overtop & voila.
 
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#6
CaribooBass said:
That is really nice work.
Thanks for the pictures and tell your room mate thanks for the inspiration.
Click to expand...

I shall! She did it all with acrylic paint over a basecoat of flat/matt paint (depending what i was going for. The BB & Bass VI have white base, the SuperNova Space bass is blue base). The Stingray might be over a white base down the line to have the Lime Green pop & the Charcoal Gray to remain neutral dark as it should.
 
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#8
Here's a finish style that I came up with for my Walnut series Scroll Basses. I call it the Old Walnut finish. It looks like a "natural wood" thing but it's actually a complicated color scheme.

IMG_7253B.jpg


The wood is walnut. I start by partially filling the grain with brown-tinted epoxy and sanding back. But I don't fully fill it; I leave some grain texture in there deliberately. Then come several coats of polyurethane, lightly tinted medium brown. Followed by some light back sanding to make the color somewhat patchy and uneven. Like an old board that's been refinished many times over decades. Then, a gentle sunburst of darker brown tinted polyurethane around the edges, making the perimeter quite dark brown.

IMG_7254B.jpg


Then I use a small fine file to file a tiny bevel all around the edges of the perimeter and the F-holes. That bevel goes through the paint to the bare wood, creating a thin pinstripe-like highlight. A little more lightly tinted clear polyurethane for protective topcoats. Level sand, leaving some of the grain texture. Buff to a mild shine, and rub in some black shoe polish.

IMG_6985B.jpg


The neck and headstock get a similar treatment, including the fine filed bevel edges.

IMG_6987B.jpg


I'm showing you this as an example of how you can be creative with finishes and color schemes, without going to bright opaque colors or pearls and metalflakes. This is made to look like an old wooden bass. It's not Relic'd or beat up, it's just old.
 
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#10
This has really caught my interest in how the “painted” part of this violin accents the curve, the grain of the wood and the finish.

Even though this Stradivarius was made a few yesterdays ago it still stands out.
In my opinion the work on this violin is so well conceived and accomplished that it will never make the Stradivarius dated.
 
#17
Bruce Johnson said:
Now, that's an example of how you can get creative using all of the advanced finishing techniques. :D

Geo's showing off. Those are officially Tone Holes, carefully positioned and sized for specific frequencies.
Click to expand...

Somehow my original post replying disc-a-piered! Where was I ... oh yah, yes... CAD assisted and specifically located and at specific calculated depth to enhance sustain, resonance, and overall dynamics of its tone... and ... it also helped make a heavy ash body a bit lighter in the process! Kidding aside - the bass sounded awesome! (aided by the Novak Dark-Star) And, the owner in Seattle loves it. :)
 
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#18
Bruce Johnson said:
Here's a finish style that I came up with for my Walnut series Scroll Basses. I call it the Old Walnut finish. It looks like a "natural wood" thing but it's actually a complicated color scheme.

View attachment 5003973

The wood is walnut. I start by partially filling the grain with brown-tinted epoxy and sanding back. But I don't fully fill it; I leave some grain texture in there deliberately. Then come several coats of polyurethane, lightly tinted medium brown. Followed by some light back sanding to make the color somewhat patchy and uneven. Like an old board that's been refinished many times over decades. Then, a gentle sunburst of darker brown tinted polyurethane around the edges, making the perimeter quite dark brown.

View attachment 5003974

Then I use a small fine file to file a tiny bevel all around the edges of the perimeter and the F-holes. That bevel goes through the paint to the bare wood, creating a thin pinstripe-like highlight. A little more lightly tinted clear polyurethane for protective topcoats. Level sand, leaving some of the grain texture. Buff to a mild shine, and rub in some black shoe polish.

View attachment 5003978

The neck and headstock get a similar treatment, including the fine filed bevel edges.

View attachment 5003979

I'm showing you this as an example of how you can be creative with finishes and color schemes, without going to bright opaque colors or pearls and metalflakes. This is made to look like an old wooden bass. It's not Relic'd or beat up, it's just old.
Click to expand...
Outstanding work Bruce.

Has someone commissioned that bass, or are you making it for yourself?
 
#19
ToddB1963 said:
Outstanding work Bruce.

Has someone commissioned that bass, or are you making it for yourself?
Click to expand...

I'm a pro builder, and that's one of my standard, most popular models. That particular bass was completed several years ago and is out there happily making music with its owner. I'm currently working on a backlog of orders for about 12 of them, in that finish scheme.
 
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#20
Bruce Johnson said:
I'm a pro builder, and that's one of my standard, most popular models. That particular bass was completed several years ago and is out there happily making music with its owner. I'm currently working on a backlog of orders for about 12 of them, in that finish scheme.
Click to expand...
Very nice. The Ampeg scroll-style bass with the f-holes has always piqued my interest. What sort of pickup/ups do you install?
 
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