Leafenbacker

[Hopkins]

I vote for a natural finish as well. I would do an oil finish, which will give it a bit of an amber color which will work very well aesthetically with this bass. Also I bet the mahogany is going to get darken more than the maple when finished which will also be a plus in the looks department. I definitely wouldn't use any solid color paint though.

 

[atracksler]

You could make Ebony knobs for tuners like this:

Invalid Link Removed

And inlay them, like the old gibson mandolin knobs:

.. just my 2 cents.

PS. I Love the build, and I'm a Rickenbacker owner.

 

[Liam McMonigle]

I just placed the order. Please don't tell my husband.



I think Levy's got the idea from this thread









Ouch!







I laughed when I read this! This comment wins the thread - it's downright sig worthy!







Ah, paint. Well, I'm working with someone who has a lot more experience in that department. We're attempting to come up with a color scheme that works. I'm thinking I may go with some kind of autumn colors - brown, yellow, red perhaps, sunburst kind of thing just on the leaves, with some kind of background on the insets.



Frankly, I'm a litte torn. My previous build was all maple, and it is a bit plain. This one has a lot more going on, so I'm not sure if paint will be too much, or add to it.



What do others think about using some color?



And finally, regarding the tuners, I'm happy with the current set. On the other hand, if I found some kind of decal, or even a pattern I could etch on the cloverleaves, I might do that.



Lots of great suggestions and input, thanks you all for your help

I reckon you should take the colours straight from Lemmy's bass, it just works well, happy to see how good this Is going!

 

[mapleglo]

only bass I own w/(dull) gold hw is this one and as you say, I decided I can live w/it. (did take off the gold knobs though)

Yes, the gold works on that bass. I think the black knobs were a good choice as well.

Yes, sorry. I think it looks pretty cool as it is, just finish (complete) it and finish (finish) it and play that sucker well.

I vote for a natural finish as well. I would do an oil finish, which will give it a bit of an amber color which will work very well aesthetically with this bass. Also I bet the mahogany is going to get darken more than the maple when finished which will also be a plus in the looks department. I definitely wouldn't use any solid color paint though.

I'm definitely going with the oil finish, and I also think the mahogany will darken. I'm still undecided about the the use of color. I have to go shopping for some jig saw blades today, to use for cutting the aluminum sheet I got for the lower portion of the pickup covers, so I'll look at some color samples while I'm there.

If I may chip in with a suggestion, just with personal preference.
I wouldn't use the gotoh style tuners, not a fan personally. I feel as though that design cheapens the look of the instrument.
Same with the flower looking things gibson puts on guitars for that matter.

I would just keep it with the classic clover shape. The maple leaf is a cool idea, but I would vote no because the rest of the bass has oak leaves on it (even though the bass is made of some maple...I digress) also they would be pointy and hurt your hands.

Have you considered lollipop tuners?

(By the way, JIO, that gold hardwared tele bass you posted is just fantastic looking)

You could make Ebony knobs for tuners like this:

Invalid Link Removed

And inlay them, like the old gibson mandolin knobs:

.. just my 2 cents.

PS. I Love the build, and I'm a Rickenbacker owner.

I am pretty much settled on the current clover leaf tuners I have. I already drilled the holes in the headstock, and I'm happy with the way they look. And of course, I'm already way over budget on this build, so different tuners are not a priority at this point. If something comes up as available at some point, I wouldn't be against changing them, but for now, it's the Hipshot tuners.

Many of the tremolo users recommend locking tuners, so I can imagine that if these don't work for some reason, I may have to go with those Sperzel locking tuners. But at this point, changing the tuners is not something I'm looking to do.

I reckon you should take the colours straight from Lemmy's bass, it just works well, happy to see how good this Is going!

Another vote for no color then. Though Lemmy's bass is walnut in color, and mine is maple, so it'll be lighter overall. I don't think I want to stain it though.

In other news, I took today off from work, so I'm hoping to get a little more work done on this. Pickup covers, and maybe some winding. Also, the leaf/acorn strap shipped this morning, along with the Schaller strap locks I ordered. I was going to use the Grover locks I have, which are on some of my other basses, but I'll need the Schallers for the 4003W I ordered, so I might as well be consistent.

Once again, thanks for all the input and suggestions.

 

[gmjhowe]

Another vote for no color then.

I also vote for no colour. I love using wax on my projects. A brand I use over here called Briwax has no end of colour options (and its a cut above the rest in terms of quality) including a 'natural' clear version. So, I tend to just pick a level of colour that brings my wood to the same colour I want.

 

[mapleglo]

I also vote for no colour. I love using wax on my projects. A brand I use over here called Briwax has no end of colour options (and its a cut above the rest in terms of quality) including a 'natural' clear version. So, I tend to just pick a level of colour that brings my wood to the same colour I want.

Thank you. There seems to be a pattern developing…

In other news, I just wound the neck pickup. Just have to solder on the cable, and pot it. I'll likely wait until I wind the middle pickup before I pot them. This one didn't wind as evenly as the first. Perhaps because I set the bobbin ends further apart. It also didn't seem to wind as tightly. I'm afraid to pull harder on the wire for fear that I'll break it. I'll see how the next one turns out.

 

[Hopkins]

Thank you. There seems to be a pattern developing…

In other news, I just wound the neck pickup. Just have to solder on the cable, and pot it. I'll likely wait until I wind the middle pickup before I pot them. This one didn't wind as evenly as the first. Perhaps because I set the bobbin ends further apart. It also didn't seem to wind as tightly. I'm afraid to pull harder on the wire for fear that I'll break it. I'll see how the next one turns out.

You need to get your wax a little hotter. You shouldn't see a thick wax film on the pickups when they are potted. The wax has to be hot enough to get into the coils, when its leaving a thick film like that it isn't penetrating.

 

[MPU]

You need to get your wax a little hotter. You shouldn't see a thick wax film on the pickups when they are potted. The wax has to be hot enough to get into the coils, when its leaving a thick film like that it isn't penetrating.

Or you should let the pickup stay longer in the wax. To me it looks like the pickup has not been warm enough to get saturated with wax. If you just dip the pickup it looks just like the one on the left.

 

[mapleglo]

You need to get your wax a little hotter. You shouldn't see a thick wax film on the pickups when they are potted. The wax has to be hot enough to get into the coils, when its leaving a thick film like that it isn't penetrating.

Or you should let the pickup stay longer in the wax. To me it looks like the pickup has not been warm enough to get saturated with wax. If you just dip the pickup it looks just like the one on the left.

The crock pot was on high. I'll have to let it heat longer I suppose, and leave the pickup in longer.

 

[gmjhowe]

Thank you. There seems to be a pattern developing…

Also, its easier to finish an instrument with wax or oil, then if you decide you don't like it you can sand then paint. Much harder to do it the other way around.

I just spend several hours getting a polyurethane coat off a headstock

Never going to use anything but wax ever again.

This is a pretty interesting article - http://briwax.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/did-you-know-that-briwax-is-reversible/

Not sure how other waxes fair.

 

[Hopkins]

The crock pot was on high. I'll have to let it heat longer I suppose, and leave the pickup in longer.

I use a rice cooker to melt my wax. It has a cook and warm setting. The cook setting has a timer, so when set to cook, it will be hot enough to get the wax melted, then when it switches to warm it will keep the wax hot and at a steady temp. It won't get hot enough to ignite the wax, and you don't have to deal with a double boiler. The best part is it was only $12 at Walmart.

Here is a set of Nordstrand NJ4's that I just potted this morning. You can't see any wax on them at all.

 

[mellowinman]

I vote for a natural finish as well. I would do an oil finish, which will give it a bit of an amber color which will work very well aesthetically with this bass. Also I bet the mahogany is going to get darken more than the maple when finished which will also be a plus in the looks department. I definitely wouldn't use any solid color paint though.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[mapleglo]

Also, its easier to finish an instrument with wax or oil, then if you decide you don't like it you can sand then paint. Much harder to do it the other way around.

I just spend several hours getting a polyurethane coat off a headstock

Never going to use anything but wax ever again.

This is a pretty interesting article - http://briwax.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/did-you-know-that-briwax-is-reversible/

Not sure how other waxes fair.

I couldn't agree more!

Definitely a pattern.

I was at Home Depot today, and the colors were overwhelming. I'm starting to believe that natural is the way to go.

I looked for tung oil and all they had was Minwax. Anyone have any experience with that, or should I just go with the Formby's?

I use a rice cooker to melt my wax. It has a cook and warm setting. The cook setting has a timer, so when set to cook, it will be hot enough to get the wax melted, then when it switches to warm it will keep the wax hot and at a steady temp. It won't get hot enough to ignite the wax, and you don't have to deal with a double boiler. The best part is it was only $12 at Walmart.

Here is a set of Nordstrand NJ4's that I just potted this morning. You can't see any wax on them at all.

Looks like it's time to trade in the crock pot for a rice cooker. Thanks for the tip.

Speaking of pickups, I started to cut out the lower portion of the pickup covers.

I learned two things today. When cutting aluminum, slower is better, or the blade gets clogged up with aluminum bits, it seems to melt, and then the blade is garbage.

I like working with wood much better than metal.

Sanding wood is much easier than filing metal.

And after hours of work, I have 6 lower portions of the pickup covers cut to size. They still need to be shaped - corners rounded over, and I have to cut out the insides.

I really wish I had a milling machine...

 

[Aislinn]

I'm definitely going with the oil finish, and I also think the mahogany will darken.

If you want to see what the wood will look like once it's finished, wipe or brush mineral spirits on it. It will just evaporate once it's dried and won't leave a film.

 

[Splods]

Did you use a vise for filing? I have been learning how to weld, and by far the most annoying thing for me was filling square tubing square again after it's been attacked by the hacksaw.

 

[mapleglo]

If you want to see what the wood will look like once it's finished, wipe or brush mineral spirits on it. It will just evaporate once it's dried and won't leave a film.

Great idea. I should have picked some up when I was at Home Depot today.

Did you use a vise for filing? I have been learning how to weld, and by far the most annoying thing for me was filling square tubing square again after it's been attacked by the hacksaw.

I do have a vise. Of course, it's wedged in-between the dryer and drill press inside my laundry room, and since we're now in the upper 90's here in Phoenix, I can only use that room to work in the early mornings. It's an outside utility room with no a/c, so it gets pretty hot during the day.

One of these days, I want to learn how to weld.

 

[Splods]

Welding is fun, but I've lost all the hairs on my left hand. Gotta be careful.

 

[mapleglo]

Welding is fun, but I've lost all the hairs on my left hand. Gotta be careful.

Good thing I don't have many hairs on my hands, and the few I do have, I wouldn't miss them if they were gone

 

[StereoPlayer]

I have read this entire thread. Great build! Very entertaining!
Continued success!

 

[mapleglo]

I have read this entire thread. Great build! Very entertaining!
Continued success!

Thanks! We aim to please