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New Build- My Eighth, and a challenge

#121
James Mobius said:
hope you're feeling better man. this is some gorgeous work, and I'm another of those not especially enamoured of T birds.
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Thanks, man. It gets better every day. I was actually able to play drums for a few minutes today. Carefully, of course, but two days ago didnt have enough mobility without pain to even try. My bandroom is in my basement, so my drummer's kit is just downstairs. I've been playing drums almost as long as bass. It gives me a better understanding of grooves and really helps when it comes time to lock in with the drummer in a band situation.
Anyway, I was downstairs playing acoustic, and I looked over
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and decided to give it a shot. I only lasted a couple minutes and wasn't trying anything too physically demanding, but I'm starting to be able to move alot better. The soreness from the surgery is easing up, and it's a good thing. I'm supposed to play drums at church next Sunday. I'm confident I'll be ready.

I'm glad you like the 'bird. This has been a real labor of love. Both my main basses are Thunderbirds, and they have always been my favorite bass shape.
Quick pic of me jammin' for effect.
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I know most people hate the neck dive and the restricted upper fret access, but for me, they work just fine. The dive doesn't bother me and the ones I build have 24 frets and a little better access.
 
#122
Glad to hear you're up and moving around. I took up drums too and you're right, it really does make a difference in how you approach your bass playing. I spend a lot more time on consistency and tempo when I practice now. Just trying to tighten things up.
 
#124
More oil coats today. There probably won't be many more pix before the big reveal at this point.
Here's my finishing schedule. It's pretty much the same as with Tru Oil. Usually I get about 3-6 coats a day, depending on conditions and how thick I put them on.

I start each day with a quick sandback of the day before's fuzz. Oil finishes have a tendency to get a certain grittiness to them, and if you don't knock it back and flatten it from time to time, it'll be stuck in the final finish. So I sand back every couple coats to avoid any blemishes in the finished product.

This particular bass is being good to me so far. Because of the tight grain of the Cocobolo, I've only had to sand back very lightly with 600 once so far. I'm being super careful about runs.

Normally I hang my basses from a hook to finish, but that makes it very awkward when a guy is trying to recover from surgery and has stitches in his stomach, so on this one I'm finishing the front first, and the back and sides when the front cures. It'll take a little longer, but saves me the pain of stretching to reach everything while it hangs.
Here's the front with about ten thin coats, and about twenty to go.
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It's very time consuming to finish this way, so in the near future I can see an investment in spray equipment.
 
#126
Nothing pic-worthy today. I resawed a few slices of the black limba for cavity covers, now I just gotta sand them to final thickness once the bass is dry and out of the shop.
Other than that, a pretty uneventful day, except for two points.
One, when I sat down at the end of the day (around 2pm), I decided to charge the SCS implant. This is done by holding a wireless charging unit against my skin directly over the implant. Normally this is a simple process, takes three hours and leaves me sore from the inside when finished. Today, I charged for three hours and when done, I turned on the stim, and NOTHING!! The d@mn thing is malfunctioning, a week and a half after the surgery to relocate it!!! Looks like a 5th surgery is in my future, to replace the damaged battery in my abdomen. (insert LONG string of expletives here)

And two. In true celebration of the Thunderbird, my wonderful wife scored me something special for me.
7bb9ae24.jpg
That's right, row 14!!!! Based on the tickets, I should be on Mick Mars' side of the stage, close enough to feel the heat from the pyro. Oh, how I love that woman of mine!!
 
#130
erock0138 said:
Sounds like an awesome wife to me! Pushing you to build, that's awesome. My ex-girlfriend hated when I Just played. Anyways, Keep up the good work, it looks like it'll be an awesome piece!
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I'm pretty convinced she likes me building cuz it keeps me out of her hair!!!
Seriously, my wife is an amazing pianist (must fight the stupid jokes), so our house is VERY musical. Even my six year old son has his own bass!!

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Can't wait to get this one together and take it for a test drive.
 
#132
PDGood said:
Man, sorry to hear about your continued medical woes. Hope everything gets fixed with the NEXT surgery.

Meanwhile, the bass looks fantastic! Keep up the good work.
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Thanks man. This is really frustrating. Something must've been damaged while they were relocating the battery pack. I'm hoping today's calls from Boston Scientific's people take care of the issue, cuz I'm really not down with another surgery. Enough is enough.
 
#135
So what started off as an easy finish has decided to make me work for it. I've been getting drips, runs, and every other blemish you can think of. This bass is making me crazy.
I'm really looking forward to this one being done, but every time I think it's ready for the final cure, I notice something little that I absolutely cannot live with. Maybe I'm just being OCD, but I want this bass to be perfect, and am not willing to accept much less than that.
 
#136
Quick question. I'm kinda stuck and in need of some advice.
I went to test fit the bridge today, and the specs I got from Bill at Hipshot said that the bridge stud holes were 7/16". I drilled them to 7/16" using a brad point bit, but unfortunately that measurement seems to be the first part of the insert, not the part with the ridges that holds it into the bass's body. In other words, the hole is too small.

What should I do? I can't just force it because the Cocobolo could crack.

How do you guys normally place the threaded bridge inserts when installing bridges that use them? This is a Hipshot D style so there aren't alot of them out there, but it's the same as the Supertone or a Tuneamatic. How deep should I sink them? The holes are 1" deep. Should I glue them into place?
 
#137
Rip Topaz said:
Quick question. I'm kinda stuck and in need of some advice.
I went to test fit the bridge today, and the specs I got from Bill at Hipshot said that the bridge stud holes were 7/16". I drilled them to 7/16" using a brad point bit, but unfortunately that measurement seems to be the first part of the insert, not the part with the ridges that holds it into the bass's body. In other words, the hole is too small.

What should I do? I can't just force it because the Cocobolo could crack.

How do you guys normally place the threaded bridge inserts when installing bridges that use them? This is a Hipshot D style so there aren't alot of them out there, but it's the same as the Supertone or a Tuneamatic. How deep should I sink them? The holes are 1" deep. Should I glue them into place?
Click to expand...

Maybe fill the holes you have drilled with 7/16" dowel, so that you can redrill to the correct size.
 

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