Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
New Build- My Eighth, and a challenge
- Thread starter Rip Topaz
- Start date
Best wishes, Paul, on your recovery. I once spoke to a woman who had back pain who said that, comparing it to child birth, that the back pain was far worse.
pilotjones said:
I can honestly say that this is without a doubt the absolute worst pain I have ever felt. The bruises that are showing up lead me to believe that what was done while I was under might not have been the most... Um... Gentile. I'm slowly turning purple. Moving the SCS battery is one thing. Fishing the lead wires through my side to get them from the back to my abdomen, entirely something else.
- May 12, 2007
- 481
- 43
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist for Low End bass guitars, DNA Amplification
If that bird doesn't end up with a glowing red fiber optic eye, then there's no justice in this universe.Today saw me awake at 4:30am, for absolutely no good reason. So I made use of the quiet time to design the bird inlay that will go on the upper horn.
Still deciding if I'm going to do the inlay with shell or by fiber optics, but this is the design I will use.
There would be no way to route for the optics at this point. Sorry. If I can figure out the routing I'll do it, but honestly, it's on the back of the bass. You'll never see it anyway.
My original plan was to put the bird inlay on the front of the bass, right over the cavity that houses the LED. But I decided that the Cocobolo was too pretty to put an inlay over, plus the grain is so busy it wouldn't look right. So I moved it to the back. Not sure I can get a fiber strand to it now.
Edit: I took a look. The cavity for the optics is in the upper "horn", and the inlay is in the lower end of the same body wing. I could drill through from the inlay to the cavity, but the inlay is very shallow. Also, it would leave me in a position of having to plug a hole in the body wing. I don't think it's worth the extra hassle for a single fiber strand. I'll be sure to use something special for the eye, but I'm gonna have to pass on possibly mutilating the entire upper wing to route one strand of fiber optic. Sorry, guys.
My original plan was to put the bird inlay on the front of the bass, right over the cavity that houses the LED. But I decided that the Cocobolo was too pretty to put an inlay over, plus the grain is so busy it wouldn't look right. So I moved it to the back. Not sure I can get a fiber strand to it now.
Edit: I took a look. The cavity for the optics is in the upper "horn", and the inlay is in the lower end of the same body wing. I could drill through from the inlay to the cavity, but the inlay is very shallow. Also, it would leave me in a position of having to plug a hole in the body wing. I don't think it's worth the extra hassle for a single fiber strand. I'll be sure to use something special for the eye, but I'm gonna have to pass on possibly mutilating the entire upper wing to route one strand of fiber optic. Sorry, guys.
Back to work today, at least for a few ten minute clips. Started on the sanding, and fine tuning of the neck profile. The neck is actually looking and feeling pretty nice, nowhere near as thick as my previous builds. Very "'birdlike".
My main focus was the neck/body join, and the spots where the wings contact the neck blank. I got them both pretty smooth, really taking my time to get all curves and transitions as smooth as possible before I attack the Cocobolo top with Micromesh.
So at this stage of the game, I take a quick look at what still needs done.
Fretwork. That's for another day.
Final smoothing and sanding of neck. It's now at 220. Taking it to 400, then Micromesh.
Final finish sand on body. It's also now at 220. Taking the whole thing to 400, and the top through the Micromesh process.
Shim for nut. Because of the fiber optics, I left the fretboard thicker than I normally would. This leaves me with an issue to deal with at the nut, because it now sits way too low to the edge of the fretboard. (next neck, I'll cut an extra slot for the nut instead of my usual practice of butting it against the end of the board.) Any suggestions for the best way to make this look nice?
Still gotta make the cavity covers out of the Korina. I bought an extra board because I originally didn't save myself any. Made a gunstock for my drummer out of the fanciest figured part of the board, have plenty for covers.
There's plenty more I'm missing, like wiring and such, but this will keep me focused in the coming days.
I'm starting to feel a little better each day, so hopefully by this time next week I can get back to serious time on this bass and get it DONE.
My main focus was the neck/body join, and the spots where the wings contact the neck blank. I got them both pretty smooth, really taking my time to get all curves and transitions as smooth as possible before I attack the Cocobolo top with Micromesh.
So at this stage of the game, I take a quick look at what still needs done.
Fretwork. That's for another day.
Final smoothing and sanding of neck. It's now at 220. Taking it to 400, then Micromesh.
Final finish sand on body. It's also now at 220. Taking the whole thing to 400, and the top through the Micromesh process.
Shim for nut. Because of the fiber optics, I left the fretboard thicker than I normally would. This leaves me with an issue to deal with at the nut, because it now sits way too low to the edge of the fretboard. (next neck, I'll cut an extra slot for the nut instead of my usual practice of butting it against the end of the board.) Any suggestions for the best way to make this look nice?
Still gotta make the cavity covers out of the Korina. I bought an extra board because I originally didn't save myself any. Made a gunstock for my drummer out of the fanciest figured part of the board, have plenty for covers.
There's plenty more I'm missing, like wiring and such, but this will keep me focused in the coming days.
I'm starting to feel a little better each day, so hopefully by this time next week I can get back to serious time on this bass and get it DONE.
I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better, and not just because I love seeing progress on this build 
Omnipharious said:I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better, and not just because I love seeing progress on this build
Thanks. I'm doing my best to push through the pain, but my incisions still hurt BAD, so I'm getting nowhere near as much done as I'd like.
Still, I finished the day with the whole bass sanded out to 400, so tomorrow I hit the top and headstock with the Micromesh.
Here's a teaser of the back, wetted down to show off the grain.
Omnipharious said:
It's a super high grit abrasive on cushioned pads. I started using it on fretless fingerboards awhile back and use it for all sorts of polishing now. It really makes a surface shine if you go up through the grits properly.
Well, I'll trust your expertise on that one.
So, have you decided what to do with the emblem yet?
So, have you decided what to do with the emblem yet?
Thanks. I'm doing my best to push through the pain, but my incisions still hurt BAD, so I'm getting nowhere near as much done as I'd like.
Still, I finished the day with the whole bass sanded out to 400, so tomorrow I hit the top and headstock with the Micromesh.
Here's a teaser of the back, wetted down to show off the grain.
Oh my! That's purty!
When I first started this build, I was enjoying the relative plainness of the Black Limba in contrast to the Cocobolo, but as I've sanded out the black limba, it has taken on alot of character as the grits go by. Especially on the bridge end of the bass, alot of grain has popped now that it's at 400.
I swear it didn't look like that when I started.
I swear it didn't look like that when I started.
Lots of sanding today while I waited for a friend to drive me to the hardware store. Being on this many restrictions SUCKS.
So anyway, the whole bass is at 400 now. I had to take a bit of a step back on the back of the instrument, because it was time to do the inlay.
Armed with epoxy, Inlace blue metal dust, and an unrevealed ingredient, I mixed, filled and sanded. Started sanding at 150, cuz epoxy is some tough stuff. Got it sanded back out to 400, then Micromeshed through all the grits. Now we're talking. This thing is shiny!! The tramp stamp was a success.
So anyway, the whole bass is at 400 now. I had to take a bit of a step back on the back of the instrument, because it was time to do the inlay.
Armed with epoxy, Inlace blue metal dust, and an unrevealed ingredient, I mixed, filled and sanded. Started sanding at 150, cuz epoxy is some tough stuff. Got it sanded back out to 400, then Micromeshed through all the grits. Now we're talking. This thing is shiny!! The tramp stamp was a success.
In looking at the inlay this morning, I really gotta say I love the color of the metal flake.
I'm gonna order some more colors of the Inlace metal dust, and probably start using that for my logo inlays. It's super easy to get a nice looking inlay. Just mix with epoxy to whatever density you want, and fill the inlay route. Wait for it to dry and sand level and polish. It's that simple.
I'm gonna order some more colors of the Inlace metal dust, and probably start using that for my logo inlays. It's super easy to get a nice looking inlay. Just mix with epoxy to whatever density you want, and fill the inlay route. Wait for it to dry and sand level and polish. It's that simple.
Forgot to post last night. Nothing cool enough to bother taking a pic of. I started the fretwork last night, decided against pressing again. I'm starting to wonder why I bothered spending all that money on the tools to press frets, when I always end up with a hammer in my hands when it comes time to do the fretwork.
Btw, it feels like an Alice in Chains kinda day. I started my morning with a video on YouTube. We Die Young still sounds heavy after all these years. So today while I finish hammering in the frets, I'll be jammin' to AIC on Pandora!!
Btw, it feels like an Alice in Chains kinda day. I started my morning with a video on YouTube. We Die Young still sounds heavy after all these years. So today while I finish hammering in the frets, I'll be jammin' to AIC on Pandora!!
I agree, hammering in frets is just so much more effective and efficient than pressing. Besides, when you get past the heel, you end up hammering anyway.
All the frets are in. Still gotta file the ends and clean 'em up. Needed a break. Here in southern Pennsylvania, it ended up being a pretty nice day, so I can't really say how much more shop time I'm gonna get today.
I put a quick coat of Formby's High Gloss Tung Oil on the board before walking away. It'll soak up so much of it, I'm trying to get a head start. I've tried Tru-Oil and liked it, but the Formby's stuff is more readily available here so I've been using that instead.
The board will get thin coats of that for quite some time during the cleanup of the body in prep for finishing. Probably 20 or so that'll get lightly sanded from time to time. I really like the finishing process. With my shop just being in the garage, I can slip out during a commercial break for a quick coat of oil. Takes the monotony out of doing an oil finish.
Whew. I talk too freakin' much. Here's a pic of the headstock.
I put a quick coat of Formby's High Gloss Tung Oil on the board before walking away. It'll soak up so much of it, I'm trying to get a head start. I've tried Tru-Oil and liked it, but the Formby's stuff is more readily available here so I've been using that instead.
The board will get thin coats of that for quite some time during the cleanup of the body in prep for finishing. Probably 20 or so that'll get lightly sanded from time to time. I really like the finishing process. With my shop just being in the garage, I can slip out during a commercial break for a quick coat of oil. Takes the monotony out of doing an oil finish.
Whew. I talk too freakin' much. Here's a pic of the headstock.
hope you're feeling better man. this is some gorgeous work, and I'm another of those not especially enamoured of T birds.
