Special Edition build-off: OctoPhoenix

[ctmullins]

Heh. There will be a lot of shaggy people emerging soon, pasty-skinned and blinking in the sunlight...

Me, I stopped paying for haircuts 30 years ago!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

My wife cut my hair once, but the results were....less than entirely satisfactory. Let's leave it at that, a dim, painful memory (coughmulletcough).My sister in law is a licensed hair stylist but...corvid. Oh well, I look ridiculous, but so does everybody who ISNT living with a hair stylist. More time to polish frets, I guess. Dragged out the Hossenfeffer II last night and gave it a partial fret re-level, had a couple barely high frets, and it was kind of a rush job originally meeting my Son's graduation deadline and um... (mumbled excuses), so anyway now they gleam like bars of liquid mercury. I'm getting really good at fret polishing, at least. And anyway, what is up with this Mandolin Fret thing I've been seeing on some build threads? Nope! I like em' fat and shiny.

 

[Dadagoboi]

And anyway, what is up with this Mandolin Fret thing I've been seeing on some build threads?

Narrower the fret the more precise the intonation. 6230 is my fret of choice.

 

[Dark Horse]

Narrower the fret the more precise the intonation. 6230 is my fret of choice.

i prefer 6230 as well

 

[Gilmourisgod]

You skinny fret people gotta start your own Club. I still don't get it though, if you are crowning the frets right, only the knife edge centerline contacts the strings anyway, the rest of the fret width is irrelevant. It shouldn't matter how wide the fret is. I use the Fender Bass standard, I guess that's Medium Jumbo, and I crown them to a hairline running right down the middle, same as I would thinner frets. What am I missing here?

 

[ctmullins]

You skinny fret people gotta start your own Club. I still don't get it though, if you are crowning the frets right, only the knife edge centerline contacts the strings anyway, the rest of the fret width is irrelevant. It shouldn't matter how wide the fret is. I use the Fender Bass standard, I guess that's Medium Jumbo, and I crown them to a hairline running right down the middle, same as I would thinner frets. What am I missing here?

Dunno, but I suspect it has as much to do with the way it feels under the fingers as much as the string.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Dunno, but I suspect it has as much to do with the way it feels under the fingers as much as the string.

I'll buy that, some people describe mandolin frets as feeling "fretless", though oddly, my son's actual mandolin doesn't feel the least bit fretless. PLUS, if they start a Skinny Fret Club, we could crash it, and make snide or patronizing comments, hours of fun! I believe I have now exceeded my Thread Derailment Quota. Sorryt CT!

 

[Scoops]

I'll buy that, some people describe mandolin frets as feeling "fretless", though oddly, my son's actual mandolin doesn't feel the least bit fretless. PLUS, if they start a Skinny Fret Club, we could crash it, and make snide or patronizing comments, hours of fun! I believe I have now exceeded my Thread Derailment Quota. Sorryt CT!

So I think we need to differentiate between those that are in the skinny fret club/Jammie Pants Lounge Club and those in opposition

 

[Beej]

@Gilmourisgod I thought the same 'til I fretted a bass with narrow frets. It's somehow more comfortable, I can't quite put my finger on it... nyuk nyuk nyuk

 

[Dark Horse]

@Gilmourisgod I thought the same 'til I fretted a bass with narrow frets. It's somehow more comfortable, I can't quite put my finger on it... nyuk nyuk nyuk

 

[ctmullins]

Dry-sanded through all the grits of MicroMesh. Kinda hard to photograph.

Might hit it with some polish tomorrow.

 

[ctmullins]

I hit it with some Meguiar’s.

Honestly, I’m experimenting (“learning by experimentation”) with finishing techniques. I’m pretty sure my initial wet sanding wasn’t thorough/aggressive enough, and I left lots of the little dimples in the clear coat. That means subsequent finer sanding and polishing hit the high spots but not the low spots. So now I have a highly reflective finish that still has the textured appearance of orange peel. Best of both worlds?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Shiny Orangepeel! Yeah, I think you have to back up a step and wet sand the whole thing to matte, with no shiny spots, if you want to get it up to mirror gloss. The trick is not sanding through the clearcoat, which I have not mastered except by laying it on really thick. It's probably a judgement thing you only get to by trial and error, I'm definitely still in the error stage.

 

[ctmullins]

Gonna call this one done.

It’s not perfect, but it embodies and represents some important progress in my evolution from H. Neanderthalis to H. Sapiens.

 

[Beej]

That done came out real purty

 

[Reedt2000]

What more did you end up doing to the finish?

 

[ctmullins]

What more did you end up doing to the finish?

Nada.

I'll try harder next time.

Edit: That sounds a bit more flippant than I intended. The truth is that this is already an improvement over my previous rudimentary finishing skills, while helping illuminate how to do an even better job in the future.

 

[Dark Horse]

Love it !

 

[postalflunkie]

Awesome job, can't wait to hear this one

Nice strap choice also

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Does it thrum like THE HAMMER OF THOR? it sure as hell looks like it should. Dang, I always wanted an 8 String. Came out WICKED NICE, as we Massaholics say. How many basses you got now CT? Might be time to post on Show Your Basses! Watching this is giving me the Builders Itch, bad.