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Multi-Build

#121
MarkL said:
Dumb question: are you spraying lacquer directly onto the fingerboard - frets and all? I only ask because I love the look of a finished fingerboard but thought you would have to do that before fretting. Do you just sand the lacquer off the frets after it's cured?
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Not as dumb of a question as you might think. Yes, I am spraying the lacquer directly onto the fingerboards and frets. A trick someone once mentioned was to rub a crayon or wax over the frets before you spray. Then the finish can be scraped/sanded off easier. There are a lot of suggestions for how to get the lacquer off the frets - a penny with a groove filed in the edge, a fret file, or just play and the strings will eventually wear the finish off the frets. I actually found that using a house key worked really well for me - go figure.
 
#122
I did a little more sanding this morning and got another coat of lacquer on. It's not flowing out quite as nice as I'd like - I'm spraying thinner coats than normal so I don't have to use retarder. In any event the lacquer is looking good. I'll spray more tonight and probably again tomorrow morning and it should be done.

I took the body and neck outside to try and get some better pictures.

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#127
Well, finally got back to work on this one. The lacquer cured for a couple of weeks and then I started rubbing out the finish. I started by wet sanding through 400, 600 and 800 grits. Then I switched over to rubbing compound. I found some 5" padded terry cloth pads at the auto parts store that attach quite nicely to a random orbit sander, making it a mini buffing machine. After the rubbing compound, I switched over to some McGuiers polishing compound. I didn't take pictures of the whole process, but here are a couple pics of the body after the final polish.

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#131
Jason_A said:
I got a fresh supply of lacquer and sealer today, so on to more spraying. I got the neck sanded, did a little more touch-up work on the frets (especially the fret ends), and got it ready to spray. Here's the body with a 2nd coat of sealer (sanded in between coats with 320 grit).

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And the neck with it's first coat. The humidity is crazy, and the retarder is just barely doing the trick. I think I'm going to switch to spraying in the mornings when the temps are lower... hopefully I'll be able to lay on slightly heavier coats so the sealer will flow out better.

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Are you adding retarder to the vinyl sealer?
 
#132
Another quick update. I started assembly yesterday. Here are a few shots with some of the parts starting to get installed.

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Today I started on the nut. For this one I'm using amber buffalo horn. It seems a little less hard than bone, and actually cuts a little nicer (quicker anyway). I got interrupted half-way through, so the slots still need a lot more adjusting to get them down where they need to be. Once the slots are where they need to be, I'll sand the nut down to 2000 grit and polish it. The horn material is translucent, so with a good polish it should look pretty cool. I strung it up and gave it a rough setup. Even with the nut way off, it still plays reasonably well. After the nut is finished, I'll do a better setup and tweak the frets a little if necessary. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to finish the nut and do the wiring. I'll be playing this one at church this weekend, so I'm trying to get it set up and tested early this week to make sure it's ready to go.

I was also able to put the bass on a strap for the first time today. It balances very nicely - zero neck dive on this one. It is a little on the heavy side, though. I'll have to weigh it... that maple body isn't helping anything. That said, my current main bass is on the large side and is walnut and maple, and I would guess that this one is in the same kind of ballpark for weight. I mostly play at church, which means I only ever play for 20-30 minutes at a shot, so the weight isn't too much of an issue for me.

Probably a little early for too many observations, but one that I can comment on is the neck. I'm really happy with the profile. It's got a little bit of meat to it, so it feels substantial, but it's also not a log. It feels stiff, without being massive - seems comfortable so far. After some prolonged playing we'll see how comfortable it remains. All in all I'd say my best neck to date :)

Here's where the bass is as of right now
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#133
grumpyjfc said:
Maybe somebody's already asked this so I apologize if its repetitive: what do you use to shape your body contours?
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I use a combination of different tools for the body and neck carving - Shinto saw-rasp, flat and round Microplanes, various finer files, and of course sand paper. Carving the body and neck are actually some of the more enjoyable parts of building. It also happens to be some of the more physically demanding work, but there's a great sense of satisfaction from doing the contouring.
 
#135
Absolutely Beautiful Jason! Love your work and looking forward to some completed glamour shots! Are you going to do any shielding? I might be jumping ahead of the gun..I know this was just basic assembly. I did notice what Hoon was saying..the polepieces do kinda line up..very cool! Looking forward to the next installment. Thanks again for sharing.
 
#137
Thanks for the comments guys. I don't think I would have noticed the PU pole pieces... I mean, the pickup decision was completely thought out at the beginning of the build as an essential part of the aesthetic ;)

I was actually looking at the bass hanging on the wall this morning and trying to figure out what the upper horn reminded me of, and initially I thought Conklin, but I think it is more like F-bass. It's hard to design anything original anymore :) The upper horn design on this one was purely functional - on my first design I didn't like that the upper horn was so close to the neck, so I moved it "up" a little, and extended it a bit as well. From a functional/ergonomic standpoint, it works perfectly. Seated or on a strap, this bass sits perfectly balanced.
 
#138
It's a credit to how much this bass appeals to my personal aesthetic that you've managed to simultaneously completely depress and yet totally inspire me with it! :D
Thanks for sharing and I know I am only one of many who are looking forward to seeing the others take shape!
 
#139
Last night I got the bass wired up. The electronics are passive, with VVT and each pickup has a 3 position switch for parallel/single coil/series wiring. I was only able to briefly test it out through some mediocre headphones, but each of the switch positions has a distinctive sound. I'll reserve opinions of the pickups until after I've played them through my normal rig with a band, which will be Thursday night.

I also finished up the nut slotting, and the bass plays much nicer now. I spent some time shaping and polishing the nut, and I think the amber buffalo horn turned out pretty cool. Most people would probably look at it and think its plastic, but it has a cool translucence.

I also spent some more time leveling the frets. I still need to mess with neck relief and string height, but the setup is getting closer. Needs to be intonated as well. I also need to make a truss rod cover... my previous basses went for over a year without them, so I'm trying to be better this time :)

I didn't get a chance to get any new pictures - I'll try to snap a few tonight. Should be pretty well finished up today or tomorrow and hen I can try to get some "glamour shots".
 

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