SX SPJ-62 Fretless conversion and neck refinish

[OldBluesGuy]

How in the heck did you sand the headstock and not the decals?

Looks awsome by the way. I'm waiting for it to dry out a little around here and I'm gonna begin mine. No fret removal, but neck refin and fret massage. I've got 2 orange julius tinted SX necks.

I used a light touch on the headstock and I think I must have skipped the 150 and 220 grit.

 

[Spacelordmother]

Awesome job thus far!

I am in the testing/worrying phase of finishing my own neck and watching this thread vigilantly. Thanks for all the inspiration and know-how!

I'll be sure to document and post my own progress pics when the time comes.

 

[jmain]

Very nice!

I'm gonna take some of the tips to more than likely strip the neck on my incoming Jag copy. Also have an old table I wanna strip and will use this citristrip.

 

[BananaKing]

Hey,

What else are you going to be doing to the neck as well?

Besides de-fretting it, are you going to be doing any other heavy modifications? (Not saying that de-fretting is easy or anything, just asking)

 

[troyus]

Will that citristrip work on the poly paintjob as well you think?

 

[jwsamuel]

I just finished using Citristrip on an SX neck I had here. It did not affect the decals on the headstock on my neck either. Citristrip seems to work on heavy poly but not decals. Go figure.

Jim

 

[OldBluesGuy]

Awesome job thus far!

I am in the testing/worrying phase of finishing my own neck and watching this thread vigilantly. Thanks for all the inspiration and know-how!

I'll be sure to document and post my own progress pics when the time comes.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to see your pics.

 

[kraigo]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to see your pics.

Where does yours stand? I'm looking forward to finished pix. I've only seen the neck, not the entire bass.

KO

 

[OldBluesGuy]

Will that citristrip work on the poly paintjob as well you think?

I just finished using Citristrip on an SX neck I had here. It did not affect the decals on the headstock on my neck either. Citristrip seems to work on heavy poly but not decals. Go figure.

Jim

Agreed. I just stripped another SX neck (STL-50) and not only did the Citristrip work fine on the poly, the decal was unaffected as well.

Before:

After:

Decal:

obg

 

[OldBluesGuy]

Hey,

What else are you going to be doing to the neck as well?

Besides de-fretting it, are you going to be doing any other heavy modifications? (Not saying that de-fretting is easy or anything, just asking)

I'm letting the poly cure for a week or so and then I'm going to epoxy the fingerboard with System Three Mirror Coat. After that I'll be installing a new Tusq nut and re-assembling.


obg

 

[OldBluesGuy]

Where does yours stand? I'm looking forward to finished pix. I've only seen the neck, not the entire bass.

KO

Right now I'm letting the poly cure before I move on to the epoxy of the fingerboard. I'm leaving the body as is. It's the SX tobacco sunburst finish with a black pickguard. I've replaced the pots with Alphas and the tone cap with a Sprague Orange Drop 715. I'll be upgrading the jack to a Switchcraft, but other than that it's staying stock for now.


obg

 

[felixxx]

Absolutely fantastic.

Amazing work, you are a natural. I know for fact it's not that easy as people might think just looking at your posts.

 

[OldBluesGuy]

Absolutely fantastic.

Amazing work, you are a natural. I know for fact it's not that easy as people might think just looking at your posts.

Wow! Thanks! I really love doing this stuff and it's so great to be able to share with such a receptive community.



obg

 

[OldBluesGuy]

Time for an update. I applied the first coat of epoxy this weekend and the results, while less than stellar, were about what could be expected now that I have the benefit of hindsight to fall back on.

I used System Three Mirror Coat and the product is very easy to work with and produces a great looking epoxy finish.

I mixed and applied the epoxy per the included instructions and used an 1 1/2 brush to spread the epoxy over the entire neck.

The epoxy flowed on beautifully and I was able to remove most of the bubbles with a propane torch.

I found out after a few hours why some threads discuss removing the initial coat with a squeegee after setting up for 30 minutes or so. The unsealed rosewood soaks up the epoxy unevenly and so do the veneers.

I'm in the process now of lightly sanding the entire neck and hope to apply another light coat of epoxy tomorrow night.


obg

 

[Micolao]

hey hey hey!!!

where's the rest????


:scowl:

 

[OldBluesGuy]

hey hey hey!!!

where's the rest????


:scowl:

Sorry about the delay, but I've just been busy with work, family and playing.

I finished prepping the neck last night for the next coat of epoxy which I plan to apply tonight. Stay tuned! I hope to have pics to post tomorrow night.


obg

 

[OldBluesGuy]

I'm back with a quick update.

I put the second coat of epoxy on about ten days ago:

and I've been letting it cure ever since. It's been fairly cold here in NE and I wanted to be sure that the epoxy was well cured before attempting to sand and shape it.

I'm going to start on it tonight with the 12" radius sanding block and some 150 grit. I was debating a third coat, but I think it's thick enough now. We'll see - I''m still learning as I go.

obg

 

[Bassplayer_479]

that...is..epic...

 

[BananaKing]

Very Pretty!

 

[kraigo]

d and shape it.

I'm going to start on it tonight with the 12" radius sanding block and some 150 grit. I was debating a third coat, but I think it's thick enough now. We'll see - I''m still learning as I go.

obg

I'm dying to see the fingerboard after sanding. I'm thinking of doing the same to my BB300. That and a Darkstar pickup.

Are there dots top and bottom on the SX neck?

KO