SBO 2023: The Ocean - Assembly Build

[Beej]

I don’t want to go through that again. The sanded headstock is getting clear coated as is.

This makes me sad... you did a great job matching the colour and it was looking great until it got slightly yellowed by the clear. I bet the varathane will resolve most of the problems. Matching headstock would look great on stage.

If you don't like the varathane you could try an acrylic spray lacquer, they are usually pretty clear. If you do decide to give it another shot, I'd recommend finding a scrap of maple and doing a test piece including spraying and wetsanding just to clarify the process.

There's still almost two full months until the end of the SBO.

 

[Reedt2000]

I agree with @Beej

It really looked good. I know finishing in general is a PIA, but I think you can hit your original goal and IMHO the final result will be better for it.

(Though it is of course your project so if you totally ignore a stranger's opinion levied via the internet my feelings won't be hurt )

 

[MonetBass]

This makes me sad... you did a great job matching the colour and it was looking great until it got slightly yellowed by the clear. I bet the varathane will resolve most of the problems. Matching headstock would look great on stage.

If you don't like the varathane you could try an acrylic spray lacquer, they are usually pretty clear. If you do decide to give it another shot, I'd recommend finding a scrap of maple and doing a test piece including spraying and wetsanding just to clarify the process.

There's still almost two full months until the end of the SBO.

Thanks for your encouragement. I did use the dye on a piece of maple, and it looked good initially. But after my bumble with the warm gloss, I checked the maple test piece against the body in natural light and it just wasn't close enough. (The body has a gloss urethane finish that Warmoth did.) I'm a bit OCD about these things, and if the colors aren't a perfect match, I don't want to do it. I could keep trying to get it right, but in the end, that would be a lot of work. My patience has run out on matching the headstock, so I'm going to clear coat it and call it a day. With the hardware and decals on it, and the tiny bit of leftover color, it will still look really good.

 

[johndb]

Your build is coming along nicely. Putting basses together is the perfect way to build up the skills necessary to tackle building an instrument from scratch.

My milestones were:

1. Putting a nice bass together from components
2. Building bodies, finishing them, but using a manufactured neck.
3. Building my first bass neck (fretless) from scratch, including radiusing the fingerboard.
4. Learning how to slot and fret on my own neck
5. Building a neck through body bass from scratch

I applaud your efforts. Keep going!

PS- PLEASE, Don't use that Fender neck plate. What you put together will be Yours, not theirs. Find a cool neck plate on eBay. I had one made with a much loved, departed dog laser etched into it.

 

[MonetBass]

Hmm, that’s a good idea about the neck plate. I’ll look into that. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[MonetBass]

At @johndb's suggestion, I ordered a custom neck plate, which will be a color print on a steel plate of this picture I took when we were in Hawaii a few years ago.

As for the rest, I'm waiting on another copy of the custom decals so I can finish up the headstock.

 

[dave64o]

Love that idea!

 

[MonetBass]

Everything is installed on the body now.

 

[MonetBass]

Neck plate just arrived! I was hoping it would be printed on a chrome plate, but the black will still look good.

Edit: Yes, the image looks pixelated here, but it looks really good from a little further away.
Edit 2: And since the control cavity cover is also black, that makes the plate work.

 

[MonetBass]

New decals are on!

 

[definenredefine]

New decals are on!
View attachment 5141906

There's something about the bit of leftover blue that reminds me of waves, which seems appropriate.

 

[MonetBass]

There's something about the bit of leftover build that reminds me of waves, which seems appropriate.

Exactly! It worked out well.

 

[definenredefine]

Exactly! It worked out well.

I'm glad! I'm also glad that you understood what I meant, in as much as a I typed "build" instead of "blue"...

 

[MonetBass]

Had some scratches in the headstock finish, but I was able to sand them out. A couple (or three) more coats of poly and it will soon be assembly time!

 

[MonetBass]

The headstock is finished! Now to let it cure for a few days, then I’ll install the hardware and marry it with the body.

 

[MonetBass]

Ready for wire-up!

 

[dave64o]

Looking good!


... can't wait to hear it, too.

 

[Holdsg]

veddy nice

 

[MonetBass]

Headed to the guitar tech tomorrow! I stink at soldering, and I'm not about to learn on this beauty. It's on my 'to do' list, though.

 

[MonetBass]

Here is my official SBO entry.
* Warmoth swamp ash body with quilted maple top, transparent turquoise polyurethane finish
* Warmoth birds eye maple neck with ebony fingerboard, graphite reinforcement rods, GraphTek Tusq nut, and Mother of Pearl side dots
* Hipshot Ultralite tuners and string retainer
* Custom headstock decals
* Neck finished with satin polyurethane on back, gloss polyurethane on headstock face
* Fender MIM standard plate bridge
* Fender Custom Shop 60s pickups
* CTS 250K pots, Switchcraft output jack
* D'Addario strap pins

I'm not sold on the GHS Pressurewounds that are on it, but otherwise I really like the playability. I may make a video later this week.