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Six string spalted maple, fretless, and first build ... kit

#221
dewbass4 said:
For your next project: Please post the step by step here in the LC forum and the finished project on the Essex Bass Club club forum (Douglas basses welcome there too as part of the Rondo family)
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Will do.

Today was the day I have waited for since I ordered the kit in early November, the day I finally stained the spalted maple top of the bass.

Let's review, shall we, how the top looked after sanding:

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I bought a freshly mixed can of the Minwax Island Water stain today at lunchtime, and did two coats this afternoon. First, I used the pre-stain conditioner, which really made the spalt pop.

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Then, I put two coats down, with two hours wait in between. It looks, with one major exception, amazing:

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The two spots on the lower horn just wouldn't stain evenly. I tried adding more coats just on those spots, and I just can't get it any better. Here's a close up shot from after the first coat.

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I don't know if I should risk sanding down that part and trying again, or live with it. Worst case, I could color it in with a blue Sharpie, as I used to serialize the bass in the neck pocket.

I also bought a can of Minwax aerosol spray lacquer (clear gloss) today for the finishing. I attempted to apply the headstock label and logo today, but I need to reprint the labels with the white, not clear, label paper and try again tomorrow.

Also on the docket tomorrow is to put the walnut stain on the side, to complete the staining. For good measure, here's an outdoor shot of the stained top, in full sunlight:

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#224
michaelwayneharwood said:
That looks to me like a potential glue bleed through issue. When they glued the veneer on some of the glue may have seeped up through the wood, and depending on the glue they used it may not get better.
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Hmm, that's possible. If you look in the pre-stain photo, there's a smudge closest to the neck pocket and pickup route that I couldn't sand away without risking sanding through the veneer.
 
#229
eightyearsapril said:
I will become zen.

I'm not there yet, though.
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There are still options! I thought about how I would approach this last night. The biggest challenge is sanding through the veneer since it's o thin, and if it IS glue bleed through sanding is not going to help you. Here are my thoughts:

1. Sand back the whole top VERY carefully with high grit sandpaper to try and get that effect evenly across the body and then spray the top with a transparent blue coat of some sort.

2. Sand a few other "splotches" back to add that effect in other plces to make it more intentional looking with either a clear or transparent blue coat on top.

3. Sand back both horns so that the blue slowly fades out into the horns.
 
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#230
michaelwayneharwood said:
There are still options! I thought about how I ould approach this last night. The biggest challenge is sanding through the veneer since it's o thin, and if it IS glue bleed through sanding is not going to help you. Here are my thoughts:
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Thanks. We went with option 4: try to cover the spots with ink. It doesn't look perfect, but almost looks like another spalt blotch.
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I say "we" because my wife did this work, with my direction. We also did a burst around the edge, which helps a bit to distract from the horn's imperfections. Here's the current view, with another burst layer to come this afternoon:

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I blended some black India Ink with the Minwax stain for the burst color. The next coat with have just a drop or two of black with the Minwax, but will be applied further in from the edge.

I think, too, we're going to do a walnut burst on the side. I really like how the top looks with the side, but getting the transition to the walnut backside is the goal. So, it'll be a walnut burst from the edge of the back side towards the top.
 
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#231
The second burst coat looks fantastic:

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I think that'll be it for the top. I could keep adding stain, but I don't want it to get too dark. After I took this photo I went back and put some stain in each pickup cavity, just in case I over-enlarged the cavities. Also, don't mind the black splotch by the bridge area, I wanted to see how a drop of black India Ink would look.

It also did a nice job of cleaning up the lower horn.

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The transition from the back walnut to the side is next, after this finishes drying.
 
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#232
I saw my wife's uncle at a mother's day lunch yesterday, and discussed fixing the blotch and planning for the lacquering. He recommends sanding back that part and apply more stain there, so if I get the cojones to do so, I'll start on that this week. It'll be almost two weeks until I can drop off the body for lacquering, so I have time to perfect things.

I did a test of the headstock logo on white-backed waterslide paper (the stuff I originally and accidentally bought for the fingerboard inlay logo) and it looks great. I'll probably work on finally applying the logo, too, this week.
 
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#233
Good progress this evening, as I got brave and sanded off the ink and tried restaining the lower horn. I used a mix of black ink mixed with the Minwax stain, and coats of the Minwax. I also worked on the burst as I focused on the horn.

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It still looks like an inconsistent splotch, but it's coming along. I spent over an hour staining and wiping, and repeating. As a result, the top looks more blue than before, but more consistent in its burst. It's also very smooth, and I probably need to resand it to get the stain to stick. The spalt is harder to see unless you get a closer look, but it looks more rich and should take well to lacquering.

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I also made two veneer sandwiches for the control cavity and truss rod covers. Remaining on the to-do list before I drop the body off for finishing:
  • Fixing the walnut-to-side transition
  • Possibly restaining the headstock to match the body
  • Applying the headstock logos once I decide on the previous
  • Cut and sand the two veneer sandwiches into shape, and install their rare earth magnets
 
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#234
Did more work this evening and I'm really at the stopping point with the staining. It's getting darker, but the splotch isn't filling in.

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I've put enough stain on you have to look closely to see the spalt, so it's more of a paint job than a stain. It looks good, though. As my wife said, I can get a stained spalted maple when/if I order a Carvin.

Closeup of the horn:

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I used the blue stain with some black ink dropped in, which really darkened the blue.

In other news, it's New Bass Day, as the B stock Douglas WOB 826 I ordered from Rondo Music arrived today. I plan to strip the finish off and spray paint it with that green sparkle paint I got recently.

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You can see the nick near the pickup cavity that caused it to be a B stock, and $55 cheaper than normal. Since I'm refinishing it, I jumped on the deal. This is my first six string, and I really took to it quickly. I can't wait to finish Zhenya now!
 
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#235
I've deemed the last stain job as the final one. I spent time this week with headstock logo application. I split up the graphic part and text part into two separate labels for easier (?) application. I got the graphic part on perfectly, but the text was a little off-angle. As the text was printed to curve alongside the top of the headstock, my wife convinced me it was unacceptable, so I tried re-applying that one yesterday.

I taped over the graphic label, sanded off the text label, restained the sanded part, and then tried applying the new text label. However, it curled in the drying process (it's only 1.5mm or so tall) and ripped as I attempted to straighten it out for application. Then, of course, as I removed the tape that covered the graphic label, most of the label came off with the tape, so I had to sand that off and re-stain.

Fortunately, I printed multiple labels on the same sheet, as I'm almost out of blue toner for my printer. :cool:

In other news, I'm going to be getting Hipshot Ultralight tuners, after all. I had an aversion to spending $180 on them, but I'm trading the Brice 5-string bass (seen, for now, in my avatar) to someone locally for an Ibanez acoustic bass and five Hipshot Ultralight tuners. I'll need one more for the build, but it's a nice $30 upgrade for Zhenya. Also, the Ibanez acoustic should be a nice practice bass. I've never played an acoustic bass before.
 
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#236
I cut, wet, and separated fresh headstock labels today and put them a few hours ago. They were better aligned this time, so I was happy and went straight outside to spray clear coat on them. I used the same Rustoleum clear coat enamel I used to seal the Zhe logo on the fingerboard last month.

And, well...

image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg​

Pictures taken after two coats of clear. I posted thumbnails rather than full images because I'm not crazy about it. The graphic of the cat looks ok, but lost its white background when I sprayed it. The text (White Devil Studio) is only legible up close and from an angle.

(White Devil Studio is the name of my home "studio". It's named after my cat, Yuri, who was nicknamed the Little White Devil by a roommate I had when I got him as a kitten. Fifteen years ago, my old apartment was called Crows Nest Studio because I lived in Rockville, MD, near an enormous murder of crows. So, when I "established" the new home studio in my current home, White Devil Studio was the obvious name. I had my graphic designer friend come up with the profile of a white cat with a devil tail, and then based the fingerboard Zhe character logo off it.

Anyway.)

My wife thinks I'm being too hard on myself, and it'll probably look ok once the tuners and strings are dominating the headstock. I really hope the white in the text and the cat comes back once things cure some. I don't want to sand it off and start over.
 
#237
Good news, finally. While the headstock logo is practically invisible, the touch up job on the body's transition from back to side is complete. I'm really happy with it.

image.jpg


I now consider myself done with all of the staining on the bass. The neck, save for some repolishing of the fingerboard after I removed the tape, is done.

Next up are the control and truss rod covers, before the body goes to my wife's uncle for lacquering next weekend.
 
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#239
eightyearsapril said:
I cut, wet, and separated fresh headstock labels today and put them a few hours ago. They were better aligned this time, so I was happy and went straight outside to spray clear coat on them. I used the same Rustoleum clear coat enamel I used to seal the Zhe logo on the fingerboard last month.

And, well...


Pictures taken after two coats of clear. I posted thumbnails rather than full images because I'm not crazy about it. The graphic of the cat looks ok, but lost its white background when I sprayed it. The text (White Devil Studio) is only legible up close and from an angle.

(White Devil Studio is the name of my home "studio". It's named after my cat, Yuri, who was nicknamed the Little White Devil by a roommate I had when I got him as a kitten. Fifteen years ago, my old apartment was called Crows Nest Studio because I lived in Rockville, MD, near an enormous murder of crows. So, when I "established" the new home studio in my current home, White Devil Studio was the obvious name. I had my graphic designer friend come up with the profile of a white cat with a devil tail, and then based the fingerboard Zhe character logo off it.

Anyway.)

My wife thinks I'm being too hard on myself, and it'll probably look ok once the tuners and strings are dominating the headstock. I really hope the white in the text and the cat comes back once things cure some. I don't want to sand it off and start over.
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If you used the same stuff you used for the 8th fret inlay then that's the problem for the white going away you need white backed decal paper that dries white not clear
 

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