Great woods and great instruments!
Nice to see that the hair shot tradition is being preserved!
Nice to see that the hair shot tradition is being preserved!
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.
Roberto-Venn: The Dream Starts...
- Thread starter Thumpin_P
- Start date
Okay...
First off, my sincerest apologies to all of you for missing the past two days. Camera karma was not with me... The first day, I forgot to bring my memory card, then day two, I brought my memory card, but the "AA's" died on the first shot. So, a quick recap and disclaimer of sorts. First, all of the holes are drilled in the electric, except the hardware screw hole, which will come after the finish, so the only thing left on the bass is finish sanding. As I already have the body to 220 grit, there will be no discernible difference from day to day, until lacquer gets sprayed, I still have plenty of work on the acoustic, yet to go, but, Kris is really pushing for getting finish sanding done, so we can be in the spray booth next week. At that point, while the nitro is curing, we will have time to work on the acoustic. So, until I start with the spray, the upcoming pictures will be the last that you will see of the electric...
Now.. with that being said, the acoustic is slowly moving along.
We will start with a label and rosette shot...you might have seen this before, but I just felt like taking another one...
You probably knew about trimming the fat off of the sides, but, if not, we sanded the excess wood from the top and back, and then used a router to get it pretty flush with the sides.
You will notice that the marking are still here, along with a little brace wood sticking out from the sides. Today, I took a sanding block w/ 80 grit paper, and flattened the sides. Not necessarily squaring them with the back and sides, just flattening the humps and dips, from the bending process.
Really starting to look like a guitar!!! No marks, the sides are flush with the top and back. There is still the evidence of the braces, but, that will be covered up by the binding, which will probably be the next process.
Our binding will be wood binding. I am torn between bubinga and koa binding. All the other choices just didn't seem to look right with the Indian rosewood and spruce.We will also be making the trim around the neck joint and the wedge at the tail block out of the same wood. That's all I have for tonight, I will be going in tomorrow to do more finish sanding on the bass. Hopefully, I will make some serious progress.
Thanks again for watching, and i do apologize for the delay. I now keep batteries at the school, so this will not happen again.
Thumpin_P
First off, my sincerest apologies to all of you for missing the past two days. Camera karma was not with me... The first day, I forgot to bring my memory card, then day two, I brought my memory card, but the "AA's" died on the first shot. So, a quick recap and disclaimer of sorts. First, all of the holes are drilled in the electric, except the hardware screw hole, which will come after the finish, so the only thing left on the bass is finish sanding. As I already have the body to 220 grit, there will be no discernible difference from day to day, until lacquer gets sprayed, I still have plenty of work on the acoustic, yet to go, but, Kris is really pushing for getting finish sanding done, so we can be in the spray booth next week. At that point, while the nitro is curing, we will have time to work on the acoustic. So, until I start with the spray, the upcoming pictures will be the last that you will see of the electric...
Now.. with that being said, the acoustic is slowly moving along.
We will start with a label and rosette shot...you might have seen this before, but I just felt like taking another one...
You probably knew about trimming the fat off of the sides, but, if not, we sanded the excess wood from the top and back, and then used a router to get it pretty flush with the sides.
You will notice that the marking are still here, along with a little brace wood sticking out from the sides. Today, I took a sanding block w/ 80 grit paper, and flattened the sides. Not necessarily squaring them with the back and sides, just flattening the humps and dips, from the bending process.
Really starting to look like a guitar!!! No marks, the sides are flush with the top and back. There is still the evidence of the braces, but, that will be covered up by the binding, which will probably be the next process.
Our binding will be wood binding. I am torn between bubinga and koa binding. All the other choices just didn't seem to look right with the Indian rosewood and spruce.We will also be making the trim around the neck joint and the wedge at the tail block out of the same wood. That's all I have for tonight, I will be going in tomorrow to do more finish sanding on the bass. Hopefully, I will make some serious progress.
Thanks again for watching, and i do apologize for the delay. I now keep batteries at the school, so this will not happen again.
Thumpin_P
Looks much better on this than it did on your 0.5" camera LCD screen, Paul. Also, I don't feel very good right now. How much did you let me drink last night?
Three and 1/4 coronas. You took care of the Benadryl...you big dummy. Hopefully your wife is still talking to you.
I had a few more Coronas when you left.. Anyways, photos of what Thumpin_P and kG (and wife) did last night! You may not know that in addition to building guitars, Paul also is an expert at following patterns in children's pumpkin carving kits!
Mine:
Paul's:
Mrs. kG's:
Group shot:
I did forget to mention, one of our instructors came in to class for some free work time today. Josh told us " you can come in, but keep the questions to a minimum" I understand that, and I simply wanted to keep working on the finish sanding. I also sanded a groove into the side of the control cavity, for access to the lid. I didn't take my camera, but, I will take some photos and update Monday
Paul, this has been a very inspirational thread. I've been thinking about getting in to building, and it's brought up a lot of things that never really crossed my mind. Keep up the good work. I'm subbed and will be watching with anticipation!
Well, i didn't get pictures today, I was too busy sanding and reaming. But, tomorrow, I will have pictures of the sanded body and neck, and the new size peg holes. The school only has drill bits up to 1/2", and I needed 35/64" for the bushings on my new Hipshots ( No, I don't have mine yet, but i was able to use a "test" one to check fit). No screw-ups, though, and my bass is ready for the finishing process! Like i said, I will take some pretty detailed shots tomorrow.
Thanks for Watching!
Thumpin_P
Thanks for Watching!
Thumpin_P
Killer thread! I just got my acceptance letter to R-V a couple of weeks ago, and have been approved for the maximum FAFSA grant, but it isn't enough for everything, especially living expenses. Can you give me some tips for getting a Stafford loan, or let me know what route you took in securing funding? It would be really helpful! I am so glad I found your thread, it is showing me what to expect and I am totally psyched up for February!
Okay guys, recap:
I have completed the finish sanding process. I was checked off yesterday. I took some final detail shots of the end grain, along with shots of the widened tuner holes, so without further ado;
finished top wood...pretty!
end grain, nice!
more end grain, glad the sanding is over!
yep...
before anyone freaks out, I sanded a finger groove into the side, to help with removing the cover... which you can't see in this picture... oh well.
neck end grain, still a couple of scratches, but they will not be seen, once bolted in...
and big tuner holes!
Now, we move on to prepping for actual finishing.. I will need something... Oh yes!
A stick!
We screw this into the neck pocket of our bolt-on instruments, to act as a handle ( while spraying) and as a hanger ( while drying). Here is an example, bolted in...
The color on the handle does not represent the desired finish of this bass... I am going cherry sunburst on this one! I know that a solid, translucent, color would look great, but, I need the experience of a burst, and i don't like a whole lot of bursts out there. Just letting you guys know, so there will be no swaying my decision.
The next step in preparation, is to file a nut slot. Since I am doing a fender-style flat headstock, I have a smaller nut ( Please don't run with that one... I have already put my foot in my mouth on that one... I know it... I am sure it will end up as a signature somewhere) than the scarf-joint guys, so, here 'ya go!
I screwed up the actual cutting, but was able to recover. from now on, I will figure out a better way of doing this.
After the nut slot was cut and sanded smooth, it was time to tape off my neck. The fretboard ( and anything else that does not need lacquer ) got taped off.
and the "ramp" portion of the fretboard will get lacquer, just not the nut slot...
By the time I got this done, it was 5:00 and there was already a backlog of people waiting for the spray booth. Time to hit it tomorrow!
On a separate note, we were given the material for the binding and wedges for our acoustic instruments, I chose koa... very pretty koa!
This will be cut into strips, then bent to fit into channels on the sides. I think we are also using this for the fretboard binding.
This piece is for the butt wedge , where the end pin is... NICE!!!!
and this one for the heel cap... just as nice!
Things are really going to be moving fast, so i hope that i can keep up!
Burt, I will send you a pm regarding your question. I think that your decision is a great one! the biggest thing is to play by the rules,and you will have an excellent time and learn a lot!
For the rest of you guys, Thanks for watching!
Thumpin_P
I have completed the finish sanding process. I was checked off yesterday. I took some final detail shots of the end grain, along with shots of the widened tuner holes, so without further ado;
finished top wood...pretty!
end grain, nice!
more end grain, glad the sanding is over!
yep...
before anyone freaks out, I sanded a finger groove into the side, to help with removing the cover... which you can't see in this picture... oh well.
neck end grain, still a couple of scratches, but they will not be seen, once bolted in...
and big tuner holes!
Now, we move on to prepping for actual finishing.. I will need something... Oh yes!
A stick!
We screw this into the neck pocket of our bolt-on instruments, to act as a handle ( while spraying) and as a hanger ( while drying). Here is an example, bolted in...
The color on the handle does not represent the desired finish of this bass... I am going cherry sunburst on this one! I know that a solid, translucent, color would look great, but, I need the experience of a burst, and i don't like a whole lot of bursts out there. Just letting you guys know, so there will be no swaying my decision.
The next step in preparation, is to file a nut slot. Since I am doing a fender-style flat headstock, I have a smaller nut ( Please don't run with that one... I have already put my foot in my mouth on that one... I know it... I am sure it will end up as a signature somewhere) than the scarf-joint guys, so, here 'ya go!
I screwed up the actual cutting, but was able to recover. from now on, I will figure out a better way of doing this.
After the nut slot was cut and sanded smooth, it was time to tape off my neck. The fretboard ( and anything else that does not need lacquer ) got taped off.
and the "ramp" portion of the fretboard will get lacquer, just not the nut slot...
By the time I got this done, it was 5:00 and there was already a backlog of people waiting for the spray booth. Time to hit it tomorrow!
On a separate note, we were given the material for the binding and wedges for our acoustic instruments, I chose koa... very pretty koa!
This will be cut into strips, then bent to fit into channels on the sides. I think we are also using this for the fretboard binding.
This piece is for the butt wedge , where the end pin is... NICE!!!!
and this one for the heel cap... just as nice!
Things are really going to be moving fast, so i hope that i can keep up!
Burt, I will send you a pm regarding your question. I think that your decision is a great one! the biggest thing is to play by the rules,and you will have an excellent time and learn a lot!
For the rest of you guys, Thanks for watching!
Thumpin_P
Thanks J! I have more goodies (finally) for everyone!
I apologize for my tardiness, last night, I went to a classmates house to work on a logo, for my bass headstock. I was there until at least 10:30, so when I got home, I did not feel like posting. I did, however, come up with a logo. The image you see is a vinyl, bumper sticker-sized version. I have a sheet of much smaller versions, which, upon test printing, I will print on water-slide paper.
I will be sure that the font color on the smaller ones will be black.
I really stressed about this, because, it is now time for lacquer!!!
You had seen the finish sanding and the taping off of everything, so, the first step was to lay down two coats of vinyl sealer. Normally these "wash coats" are 50/50 lacquer and thinner, but, they wanted to try something different. We will see how well it works. I believe they have tried this with fair success.
here we have some very nice quilt..you will also see the edge of my neck.
this is the new drying room...very nice!
After two wash coats, it is time for pore filling. This process ensures that, as your lacquer builds up, the tiny pores in the wood grain do not create little divots in the finish. The best way of explaining it would be to simply say that it takes less lacquer to have a smooth finish. Because my body and neck contain all closed pore woods, I did not need to pore fill, so I asked Ron (L) and Casey (R) if they would mind me snapping a pic...
ATTACK OF THE GIBSONS!!!! ha ha! I told them that i would use that as the title of the picture...there you go, guys! Thanks again! They are wiping a nasty, oil based paste with the grain of their mahogany, then, to wipe it off, they wipe at a 45 degree angle to the grain, ensuring only the excess is removed. Then you let it dry for a day. Since I had the luxury of skipping that step, I went on with day two...
A third coat of vinyl sealer, then I could start with the base coats of lacquer. Today I got four coats of lacquer on, some of it runny, but, I was assured that the leveling process would take care of it.
AWESOME SHOT!!!
I love the quilt in this picture!
Tomorrow, I believe we start with some sanding, re-taping everything off (to break the edge of the lacquer) and start the process of color...WOO_HOO!!!
On a separate note, work is done on the acoustic. i did not get all the appropriate pictures, because I was movin' and a groovin" today, but...here's a recap:
Our binding was cut into strips, then bent in the side bender. I had one piece break, but, I have spares...We had a demo on setting neck pitch, looking forward to that tomorrow. After the binding is bent, it is taped into the sides of our molds ( I knew we kept those things for a reason), so that they will keep their shape.
Last thing, if you want to know how the koa looks, I needed to glue the heelcap onto the heel, before setting the pitch...I like this...
Looking forward to tomorrow!
Thanks for watching!
Thumpin_P
I apologize for my tardiness, last night, I went to a classmates house to work on a logo, for my bass headstock. I was there until at least 10:30, so when I got home, I did not feel like posting. I did, however, come up with a logo. The image you see is a vinyl, bumper sticker-sized version. I have a sheet of much smaller versions, which, upon test printing, I will print on water-slide paper.
I will be sure that the font color on the smaller ones will be black.
I really stressed about this, because, it is now time for lacquer!!!
You had seen the finish sanding and the taping off of everything, so, the first step was to lay down two coats of vinyl sealer. Normally these "wash coats" are 50/50 lacquer and thinner, but, they wanted to try something different. We will see how well it works. I believe they have tried this with fair success.
here we have some very nice quilt..you will also see the edge of my neck.
this is the new drying room...very nice!
After two wash coats, it is time for pore filling. This process ensures that, as your lacquer builds up, the tiny pores in the wood grain do not create little divots in the finish. The best way of explaining it would be to simply say that it takes less lacquer to have a smooth finish. Because my body and neck contain all closed pore woods, I did not need to pore fill, so I asked Ron (L) and Casey (R) if they would mind me snapping a pic...
ATTACK OF THE GIBSONS!!!! ha ha! I told them that i would use that as the title of the picture...there you go, guys! Thanks again! They are wiping a nasty, oil based paste with the grain of their mahogany, then, to wipe it off, they wipe at a 45 degree angle to the grain, ensuring only the excess is removed. Then you let it dry for a day. Since I had the luxury of skipping that step, I went on with day two...
A third coat of vinyl sealer, then I could start with the base coats of lacquer. Today I got four coats of lacquer on, some of it runny, but, I was assured that the leveling process would take care of it.
AWESOME SHOT!!!
I love the quilt in this picture!
Tomorrow, I believe we start with some sanding, re-taping everything off (to break the edge of the lacquer) and start the process of color...WOO_HOO!!!
On a separate note, work is done on the acoustic. i did not get all the appropriate pictures, because I was movin' and a groovin" today, but...here's a recap:
Our binding was cut into strips, then bent in the side bender. I had one piece break, but, I have spares...We had a demo on setting neck pitch, looking forward to that tomorrow. After the binding is bent, it is taped into the sides of our molds ( I knew we kept those things for a reason), so that they will keep their shape.
Last thing, if you want to know how the koa looks, I needed to glue the heelcap onto the heel, before setting the pitch...I like this...
Looking forward to tomorrow!
Thanks for watching!
Thumpin_P
Okay guys, I will keep this one brief...
I got quite a bit done today, but, because of my expedience in the matter...., yep, you guessed it... I didn't get one picture.
Quick recap, and if there are any questions, please, let me enlighten you!
First, leveling the finish. If there were any runs or bubbles (which there were) we take stearated 220 grit, knock them down, level with the rest of the finish, without sanding through all the coats (which I did...). for everything else, simply scuff the finish to allow the next coats something to bite into. It took me a while to get to the spray booth, as everyone was in there today, but, I sprayed the second coat at 5:15. I will consult with Josh on Monday, and see what to do next.
Second, sanding the pitch into my neck joint. If you are doing a set-neck electric, a certain degree of pitch is necessary. Most builders know this, just mentioning it for noobs. The same is true for acoustics. So, using a straight edge, we check the clearance at the bridge location. sanding the heel at the appropriate angle, until a clearance of roughly 3 to 4/32" is achieved. It is also necessary to align the neck, in regards to side-to-side pitch. Mine was off a little, so that was corrected. When it is all said and done,there will be final alignment, once it is time to create the actual neck joint, but this is good enough for now. I will have pictures of the completed stuff on Monday.
Lastly, one piece of binding....yes, just one piece. As I was bending the koa binding yesterday. I broke one piece, as I was putting it in the mold. Not forcing it,not wrestling with it...just placing the edges in the mold. Anyway, I got that one piece in the mold, taped it up and no breakage... I am happy.
On a separate note, I test printed the sheet of headstock logos, and they turned out pretty good. I will also get some photos of that on Monday.
We also had a fairly informative lecture with Jason Lollar. I am ashamed to say that, before this class, I had not heard of him, but now I understand why so many people go crazy over his pickups. The lecture was not all-encompassing, but, he will be teaching a class on pickup winding tomorrow, so, he isn't exactly going to give it away.
All in all, it was a very good day. Hopefully, Monday will be just as good!
Thanks for watching,
Thumpin_P
I got quite a bit done today, but, because of my expedience in the matter...., yep, you guessed it... I didn't get one picture.
Quick recap, and if there are any questions, please, let me enlighten you!
First, leveling the finish. If there were any runs or bubbles (which there were) we take stearated 220 grit, knock them down, level with the rest of the finish, without sanding through all the coats (which I did...). for everything else, simply scuff the finish to allow the next coats something to bite into. It took me a while to get to the spray booth, as everyone was in there today, but, I sprayed the second coat at 5:15. I will consult with Josh on Monday, and see what to do next.
Second, sanding the pitch into my neck joint. If you are doing a set-neck electric, a certain degree of pitch is necessary. Most builders know this, just mentioning it for noobs. The same is true for acoustics. So, using a straight edge, we check the clearance at the bridge location. sanding the heel at the appropriate angle, until a clearance of roughly 3 to 4/32" is achieved. It is also necessary to align the neck, in regards to side-to-side pitch. Mine was off a little, so that was corrected. When it is all said and done,there will be final alignment, once it is time to create the actual neck joint, but this is good enough for now. I will have pictures of the completed stuff on Monday.
Lastly, one piece of binding....yes, just one piece. As I was bending the koa binding yesterday. I broke one piece, as I was putting it in the mold. Not forcing it,not wrestling with it...just placing the edges in the mold. Anyway, I got that one piece in the mold, taped it up and no breakage... I am happy.
On a separate note, I test printed the sheet of headstock logos, and they turned out pretty good. I will also get some photos of that on Monday.
We also had a fairly informative lecture with Jason Lollar. I am ashamed to say that, before this class, I had not heard of him, but now I understand why so many people go crazy over his pickups. The lecture was not all-encompassing, but, he will be teaching a class on pickup winding tomorrow, so, he isn't exactly going to give it away.
All in all, it was a very good day. Hopefully, Monday will be just as good!
Thanks for watching,
Thumpin_P
Jason Lollar is a VERY knowledgeable guy, and a real nice guy. He lives on Vashon Island here in Washington and I have had a few opportunities to meet him when I worked for Dave Bunker of Bunker Guitars. I strongly recommend absorbing anything and everything you can from him. He is a master.
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
