New bass build

[Kaa]

Cholis, do you like having a CNC machine? I'm getting a feeling...of this. I'm sensitive to this type of phenomena.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Cholis, do you like having a CNC machine? I'm getting a feeling...of this. I'm sensitive to this type of phenomena.

It definitely opens up all kinds of possibilities.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Tonight I machined the inlays. They turned out perfect.

They were cut using precise bits .02 shell end mill at 5ipm. The shell was held with carpet tape.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Tonight, I did all of the finish sanding on the body, and coated the back and sides in shellac to prepare to stain the top. This will have prs style binding, so the shellac does a nice job of sealing before staining the top.

Mahogany and shellac is like a match made in heaven.

 

[jbossolo]

Nice! Sub'd.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Next I masked off the outer area and shellacked the center section to help bring out the grain and to seal against the stain bleeding into that area. I used a razor blade as a card scraper to push down the wood fibers which helps accentuate the figure.

 

[Headless Llama]

Very interesting!

 

[fjadams]

I definitely want to see the rest of this. Interesting design thought.

 

[Splods]

How much will these be selling for? I kind of want to test one out.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Thanks for looking! I hope to have my website updated soon with all the guitar and bass models with options and pricing.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Here is the staining process. The end product we're going for is purple flames with a blue overall look. I'm using water based dye in filtered water. I started out by masking the center section:

We wanted the dark flames to be purple, so we started with dark red followed by a light touch of black. Looks pretty cool as is:

Then I sanded with a random orbital sander and 220 grit:

To get the flames to turn purple, I applied a concentrated blue:

I sanded again:

I applied lesser concentrated blue dye until I got the shade I was after:

Here is the final look. This picture doesn't do it justice since the top dried. Once I get the nitro on there it'll really look nice:

I did two rounds of grain filler on the mahogany.

Next, I'll be doing some sanding to reveal the natural binding on the top edge. Then spray nitro sealer and lacquer.

 

[shporsche]

Very nice, cool retro looking bass.
Love the contrast between the natural wood and the blue.
Heaps jealous of your CNC, I'm tired of building templates.

 

[CholisGuitars]

Tonight I sprayed vinyl sanding sealer. I applied 3 wet coats around 45 minutes apart.

 

[fjadams]

Very nice. This is a good looking bass.

 

[SolarMan]

This is outrageously gorgeous. Good God Mon!

Your work is stunning. Simply stunning.

 

[walldaja]

Amazing!

 

[CholisGuitars]

Thank you all for the kind words!

It was too cold to spray more today, so I will resume tomorrow.

 

[CholisGuitars]

More sealer today. Man, this thing looks like velvet.

Pretty excited to see it polished up.

 

[dukeorock]

Decided to stop lurking long enough to say, this build is just beautiful...great work!

 

[CholisGuitars]

Decided to stop lurking long enough to say, this build is just beautiful...great work!

Thanks! Much appreciated!