Lefty Fretless Jazz Bass

[JIO]

If it's not smooth yet, more filler is needed. It needs to be blemish-free smooth from the first stage to be glass smooth at the end.

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

If it's not smooth yet, more filler is needed. It needs to be blemish-free smooth from the first stage to be glass smooth at the end.

Got it. Thanks. It is actually very smooth right now, but it sounds like I won't hurt anything by trying to make it smoother. It is at a point where it actually already does feel like glass, so I think this is going to turn out great…assuming I don't mess up the spraying of course.

 

[wraub]

I definitely like the white wash idea, or milk paint or similar. I personally like the grain there, but you could still get the effect of the grain and get the "white" look you seek with a thinner finish.

And, again personally, I like the back as well.

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

I definitely like the white wash idea, or milk paint or similar. I personally like the grain there, but you could still get the effect of the grain and get the "white" look you seek with a thinner finish.

And, again personally, I like the back as well.

I've been getting a lot of suggestions for the whitewash/milk look. I posted this on leftybassist.com when I first got started (several months ago), and that was something that at least one person suggested. I do like the look.

 

[pedrodelawasp]

That's a smoking piece of Ash, would be a shame to cover it entirely...

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

I've gotten this thing sanded down to a beautiful surface. Giving the body another once-over, I noticed some areas in the wood that I can only describe as "pitting" for lack of a better term (/my knowledge). I played around with some really fine grit sandpaper to see if that would help anything, but it doesn't seem to; it just keeps taking the wood down and the pits remain. It's almost like the wood is just exceptionally porous in these spots:

I don't know if what I tried will work, but we'll see what happens when I go this route:

Basically I'm applying the grain filler with a small-ish paintbrush to see if that will fill the pits.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to do this the right way? Is it wood filler (or maybe spackle) time?

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

That's a smoking piece of Ash, would be a shame to cover it entirely...

Are you looking at my ash?

 

[pedrodelawasp]

Are you looking at my ash?

I can't help myself...

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

Does anyone have any clues about this pitting I'm seeing on my body? I sanded last night after letting the filler dry, but I couldn't get a good view on how much pitting I'd resolved as it was late and I didn't have the advantage of the sunlight to get the light I needed. In the shots above, that is in my garage during the late afternoon with the overhead fluorescent lights cranked and a ton of sun pouring in, which is what allowed me to catch those pits to begin with. To the touch it feels like I took care of it, but I won't be able to confirm until tomorrow...

 

[JIO]

They look pretty tiny and may not be an issue after primer coats, wet sanding, finish coats, wet sanding, and (if used) clear coats, wet sanding/buffing.

 

[AGH]

Really liking this project. Sub'ed.

 

[Splods]

A similar thing is happening to the Douglas Fir body I am working on right now. My guess would be that it is sections were the grain is more open than other parts of the body. Grain filling is probably going to save you time and sanity.

 

[wraub]

Agreed. with JIO.

Proper finishing will do lots to hide that junk.

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

They look pretty tiny and may not be an issue after primer coats, wet sanding, finish coats, wet sanding, and (if used) clear coats, wet sanding/buffing.

A similar thing is happening to the Douglas Fir body I am working on right now. My guess would be that it is sections were the grain is more open than other parts of the body. Grain filling is probably going to save you time and sanity.

Agreed. with JIO.

Proper finishing will do lots to hide that junk.

Thanks, guys. I'm all about doing this properly. I have already grain-filled the heck out of this thing, and I was just kind of wondering whether more grain filler for these problem areas is the appropriate course of action or if it would require something different — such as spackle or whatever.

I will still be applying sanding sealer, then paint, then clear coats, so whatever it takes to make this into a beautiful and professional looking axe is what I will do. I just need to know what it is that I am to do.

 

[JIO]

Thanks, guys. I'm all about doing this properly. I have already grain-filled the heck out of this thing, and I was just kind of wondering whether more grain filler for these problem areas is the appropriate course of action or if it would require something different — such as spackle or whatever.

I will still be applying sanding sealer, then paint, then clear coats, so whatever it takes to make this into a beautiful and professional looking axe is what I will do. I just need to know what it is that I am to do.

Stop, take a deep breath - continue as planned.

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

Stop, take a deep breath - continue as planned.

Ha! OK, thanks. I just really want this to be perfect. I have high expectations about this bass, even though it's only my first build.

You've got to keep in mind my perspective: fretless basses for lefties are pretty much impossible to find, let alone one made exactly as you want. I've been waiting years for this bad boy!

 

[bassingeorge]

subbed!

 

[JIO]

Ha! OK, thanks. I just really want this to be perfect. I have high expectations about this bass, even though it's only my first build.

You've got to keep in mind my perspective: fretless basses for lefties are pretty much impossible to find, let alone one made exactly as you want. I've been waiting years for this bad boy!

Just realize that perfection is an unachievable concept only made acceptable by knowing that. Strive for completeness, enjoy the journey and celebrate the result to create and expand what you love, which is playing music.

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

Just realize that perfection is an unachievable concept only made acceptable by knowing that. Strive for completeness, enjoy the journey and celebrate the result to create and expand what you love, which is playing music.

So wise, so wise. Thank you for the splash of water in the face to wake me back up! I'm just really excited about this.

Not only that but I've got some majorly rad ideas in my head for my next project(s). To say that I have the build bug would be putting it mildly. I have a 2D CAD model of my next design, which is my own all-original, and I put it into our modeling computer rig at work today and got an actual three-dimensional model with radiused edges and everything. Once I saw it in a somewhat real rendering where we were able to rotate it around and see all the shapes and contours and such, man I was hooked.

 

[Brett Zeppelin]

It looks like treating this with some additional grain filler was the trick. This is actually two more rounds of grain filler:

I have now noticed some other spots on the body that have this pitting, but the pitting is minimal in those areas so I think we are ready for Link Removed now. I'm still kind of making my paint station setup, but that should be good to go by tomorrow. If I am lucky, I should be able to get that totally put together and then have a layer of sealer on there before Memorial Day barbecuing.