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my lane poor conversion

#21
well, temptation got to me. I was trying to figure out how to wire up the OPB-1, and decided since I already have a pre-amp pedal (sansamp), that I'd just wire it passive and see how it sounds. I think it sounds amazing, so i'm going to sell the opb-1! who needs batteries! :)

notice, right now, the bridge is just floating. i didn't want to install the anchors before paint. what a pain they'd be to get out to paint the body!

here's a quick sample. just simple playing. new strings, that are stretching.



now that i know it works and plays, it's time for the paint shop! man, a quantum leap forward today!
 
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#23
so in my time taking to get rid of all the 'seam' marks on my bass body, i've been practicing my large metal flake painting skills on a jazz bass for my niece. I got the silver sparkle down, and though not perfect, it looks (and feels) really good considering it's my first one. This is going to get a Kandy coat of pink, with a pearl white pick guard. The picture doesn't do the sparkle justice! :)

sparklejazz.jpg

using this technique, my Bigsby Bass is going to be red, with big flakes, lots of flakes
 
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#24
ok, i got a little side tracked and focussed on the jazz. it's finally done. Other than a few little sanding spots, and a little more buffing, it's a player! sparkle pink. it's a gift for my niece. i added skull knobs and ordered a skull concho to use as a string tree. Once it's here, it's done!

On a side note, I put fender american standard jazz pups in it, and in my jazz I have 70's custom shop. my CS's are much louder and fuller. I might shop a little for different pickups. these sound good, but seem very low output.

here's pics of my sparkle finish.
the Lane Poor conversion will use bigger flakes and be red!

20180115_124910.jpg 20180115_124915.jpg
 
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#25
it's been a while, so i decided to get off my butt and do some work. I got the body and neck painted and cleared. now the sanding begins... why oh why 24 frets?!?!? the headstock is done, and back of neck done, now individually sand each space between the frets - I should invent something for this.

20180123_115327.jpg


more news, i have some ideas for a pickguard, but am still trying to figure out what i'm going to do for side dots, and if i'm going to use fretboard markers or not!
 
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#29
well, a couple of [long] rounds of sanding, running through finer and finer grit, i was ready today to kandy coat it and put some clear down. I can't even explain how beautiful this guitar is right now, but i'm going to try. apparently there's some secret to capturing sparkle with the phone camera that i haven't figured out.

it's red. deep red. over huge silver bass boat sized flake. i'm telling you it looks amazing! i'm finally getting the hang of this large flake painting.

I struggled with what to do with the fingerboard. I'm still struggling. I was thinking of maybe just dripping the red kandy paint where the dots would be. I tried it on a couple of lower ones, and didn't like it, so i filled them in. Then didn't like that, so I left the whole fingerboard just shiny silver flake. For side dots, i taped off areas that didn't have dots, so now, where a side dot would be, the side of the fretboard is red. that should work well enough.

sure wish my photos could do this thing justice....

so now, a day or two to bake out, then i'll work my way up to 2000 grit, run some polishing compound over it, and bob's your uncle. gimme that bigsby, it's almost time to put it back on!

20180124_191104.jpg


20180124_190822.jpg


one more thing. i meticulously masking taped each fret wire before painting, believing i could just peel the tape off and reveal the metal fret. Now, after x number of coats of paint, i'm thinking i should just leave the tape on. I don't want to damage the finish trying to get the tape off. Even if i cut right up at the side of the fret, i'm worried i'll peel up the finish. Anyone see any harm in a taped fret? I can't really. I mean you get good tone on a fretless and that's wood!
 
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#35
Ps, 3 knobs, but only 2 work right now. I have an OPB-1 and was still considering using it, so I drilled a 3rd hole. I'm good with passive, so for know, until I find a more creative hole filler, a dummy pot sits there.
 

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