The bass that never was, redefined

[JIO]

Seal coat and decal on the neck, red oxide base-coat emory sanded and ready to gild (tomorrow) BG Rehearsal this afternoon and a jam session tonight - a day to play!

 

[BTL]

Very nice.

There may come a day when I incorporate gilding into some of my art finishes.

Should that occur, I hereby acknowledge you as my inspiration.

 

[JIO]

Hot off the press - face is gold (straight) and the back & sides variegated blue/green gold leaf.

Here's my orig brown tort pg - as expected it goes well with the gold leaf.

 

[JIO]

More pics showing the effect of light on gilded finishes.

electric light

natural light

 

[JIO]

Body seal-coated and will ship tomorrow to Pat before the holiday mailing madness begins.

 

[AltGrendel]

About the LED/Fiber dots.

Alembic says "Side dots are for you, front dots are for the audience".

Are you going to epoxy the FB or just clear coat? I'd think epoxy might rip off the leaf, but I'm curious.

 

[JIO]

About the LED/Fiber dots.

Alembic says "Side dots are for you, front dots are for the audience".

Are you going to epoxy the FB or just clear coat? I'd think epoxy might rip off the leaf, but I'm curious.

Yeh, fb dots are funny that way. They evolved into a sort of iconic decoration at a certain point. I like them, but can live w/o them - it's more a design element for me to incorporate them or not.

I applied a poly sealer coat over the leaf to protect it while being shipped. I did 2 coats on the neck - the second over the decal. Pat Wilkins will then shoot a clear base coat to level it and after sanding will shoot the poly clear finish-coat. I just mailed it to him yesterday, before holiday shipping madness slams in. (literally!) He is going to apply multiple coats of clear poly to the board to achieve some added dencity and it will be Plek'd level by Gary Brawer here in SF. As it is dial-able they can start lean and re-pass incrementally until leveled w/o invading the leaf (leveling only the clear-coat). Then a re-buff to gloss and mwah-city! That's the plan anyway - we'll see how it pans out.

 

[mongo2]

Was able to bend the fiber a perfect 90 degrees using needle-nose plyers and a bic lighter - also, looks like my 'error' hole in the plate stays as it makes for a good "on" indicator!

Nice project, I really like your gilding idea.

A question though...wouldn't the fret markers being on or off be an indication of whether they were on or off?

Black electrician's tape behind the hole would block your accidental on/off indicator.

 

[DerekW]

A question though...wouldn't the fret markers being on or off be an indication of whether they were on or off?

Literally lol'd

 

[JIO]

Nice project, I really like your gilding idea.

A question though...wouldn't the fret markers being on or off be an indication of whether they were on or off?

Black electrician's tape behind the hole would block your accidental on/off indicator.

That would be true - and yes, that would be the way to do it. I was attempting to put a positive spin on it w/tonge in cheek...

 

[mongo2]

That would be true - and yes, that would be the way to do it. I was attempting to put a positive spin on it w/tonge in cheek...

My question was also tongue-in-cheek. But you never know, so I added a possible solution just in case.

 

[AltGrendel]

@mongo2
You know, your avatar bass would look really good with this treatment.

 

[JIO]

My question was also tongue-in-cheek. But you never know, so I added a possible solution just in case.

 

[JIO]

Been a while… but it's back from Pat Wilkins and just assembled. Here's a few pics.

 

[Jon Clegg]

The Midas bass? Maybe the Goldfinger? Very pretty and unique.

 

[earlysecond]

Cool stuff JIO been considering LED options. Think I'll fab up when i begin to attempt a neck. . . Maybe.

 

[JIO]

The Midas bass? Maybe the Goldfinger? Very pretty and unique.

Goldfingerboard? I do like how tort goes with gold-leaf!

Cool stuff JIO been considering LED options. Think I'll fab up when i begin to attempt a neck. . . Maybe.

Thanks! Truthfully it's a very labor intensive procedure - installing the lighted dots was a learning experience. It would be much easier on a rw boarded maple neck. If attempting to do what I did again, I would angle each position of the fibers to a single "point of reference" (i.e., the player) to maximize intensity of the light. On this neck, I have each marker facing out 90 degrees from the channel. If angled at a fixed point, the intensity of the light would be mostly equal viewed from playing. As it is now, all positions are visible, but the optimality angled ones are more visible/brighter. Only issue would be that some 'dots' would be circles and some ovals. I'm thinking this is only a consideration of a low wattage battery-powered fiber optic set-up like mine compared to a more complex 9v LED set-up which would be way brighter/more intense. (and programable)

 

[JIO]

attempt at photographing the fiber-optic dots

attempt 2

 

[Jisch]

if you use a timer on your camera/phone and aim it at the stationary guitar both the guitar and that phone/camera will be perfectly still when the shot is taken. I've taken some pretty good low light shots that way.

 

[JIO]

if you use a timer on your camera/phone and aim it at the stationary guitar both the guitar and that phone/camera will be perfectly still when the shot is taken. I've taken some pretty good low light shots that way.

Yes, the iPhone6 takes amazing pics in low light - my now ancient Canon ELPH not so good...