I like WD-40 as a metal cleaner, followed by Simichrome polish. I use a buffer pad on my Dremel for the polish application, then hand clean all the hard-to-reach areas.
What's your technique?
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The Mediocre Builders Club
- Thread starter MirandM
- Start date
What's your technique?
So far it's been WD40, elbow grease and, shall be some silver polish on a soft cloth and see how it turn out...I like WD-40 as a metal cleaner, followed by Simichrome polish. I use a buffer pad on my Dremel for the polish application, then hand clean all the hard-to-reach areas.
What's your technique?
The WD40 really freed up the gears on the machine heads though, good heavy chunky beasts they be!
Simichrome does a nice job of protecting the parts from new rust far longer than WD-40 does. You don't need a buffing wheel, I've had good luck with just an old sock.
I've nabbed rags out of the bins at work, hopefully start some oiling this evening if pizza and beers don't hinder that...Simichrome does a nice job of protecting the parts from new rust far longer than WD-40 does. You don't need a buffing wheel, I've had good luck with just an old sock.
We are oiling, pedal board that was welded up at work captured in the background...
Oh *insert naughty words of your choice here* I've totally ****ed the neck up. Body was looking so good too. Hmm. Now. Plan was to have it restored and sell on, now, not sure weather to try find a suitable replacement neck or just move the body and lectrics on as is.
What happened? Explaining this might get you some surprising comments...
Why were you cooking the neck?
Without the burning, this would have been a fix I could do. With it? Mmmmm...
Yeah I was asking this too, why didn't you just sand off the old finish. Applying heat to laminated / glued wood is very tricky. The heat makes the wood contract but the glue softens. This technique is used to remove a fretboard from the neck, heat up the fretboard while keeping the neck moist and it will come off fairly easy.Why were you cooking the neck?
Without the burning, this would have been a fix I could do. With it? Mmmmm...
When I looked at the last photo in your post #232 I saw clear crack lines in the back of the body. Looking at post #245 I see the same, although less, lines on the front of the body...
Makes me wonder if this bass has been abused. You payed next to nothing for it but using this as a starting point for restoring, investing time and money into it, well to be honest, I'm not sure it'll pay off.
The old finish was a thick, cracked, poly, sanding was taking forever, I used a heat gun on the body and happy with result. The lines are not cracks but from where the poly had cracked, think it had got wet at some point and I think that is the lines you are seeing on the body.
The neck was always going to be an issue as was bowed and, I was expecting the head to start coming apart. Might try my other p neck and see how the body sets up and how the pup and electrics work with a view to selling as a body only. 
The neck was always going to be an issue as was bowed and, I was expecting the head to start coming apart. Might try my other p neck and see how the body sets up and how the pup and electrics work with a view to selling as a body only.
Well yes, that could be the lines I saw, difficult to say from a photo.The old finish was a thick, cracked, poly, sanding was taking forever, I used a heat gun on the body and happy with result. The lines are not cracks but from where the poly had cracked, think it had got wet at some point and I think that is the lines you are seeing on the body.
The neck was always going to be an issue as was bowed and, I was expecting the head to start coming apart. Might try my other p neck and see how the body sets up and how the pup and electrics work with a view to selling as a body only.
Or buy a cheap-china P-neck for 30-40$, if the body is ok could be worth it.
Speaking of ruining a neck
I bought an all parts fretless P neck and was installing the nut, when I forced it into the slot, the end facing the headstock split out. I superglued the pieces back together, but I’m basically stuck with a neck that, while still playable, I probably could never resell.
chalk up to “experience” and remind myself to not force in a nut again.
here’s the repaired neck
I bought an all parts fretless P neck and was installing the nut, when I forced it into the slot, the end facing the headstock split out. I superglued the pieces back together, but I’m basically stuck with a neck that, while still playable, I probably could never resell.
chalk up to “experience” and remind myself to not force in a nut again.
here’s the repaired neck
Yes that can happen. It's a typical problem of the Peavey T-40 basses, although not exactly the same as yours split over the width of the neck. The T-40 has the truss rod nut at the top and it's well know to cause splitting over the length of the neck, usually very visible just below the nut.
My T-40 luckily doesn't have this problem, it's actually in an implacable state but it's a good thing to go easy on the truss rod. If it's already a bit tight, change the strings to a lighter gauge to have less force on the neck.
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right, fortunately, it was not an "as expensive as a bass" replacement neck to start with, else i'd be severely bummed
Are string nuts glued in? Or, held by friction and string tension? Asking because, if I venture into building another bass, I would like a brass nut.
It depends, sometimes they are if the slot is just a little wide and the nut could move. If the slot is a tight fit then most likely the nut doesn't need glue as it is held down by the string tension.
Two ways of removing a glued-in nut, applying heat to soften the glue, which doesn't work if superglue was used. Use a hairdryer to see if it loosens. Otherwise tap the nut out from the side (this is also the way to do if it's not glued). Don't put a flat bed screwdriver underneath it to wiggle it upwards because you'll probably splinter the fretboard close to the nut.
It's a bit tricky to do but with some care can be done.
Ah btw, if you need to widen the slot for a new nut to fit, always file the upper part, the part closest to the tuners, never down the fretboard as you will change the scale and correct intonation if you do that.
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It is about what gives the best combination of sound and beauty. I have been working with several oils lately. They work best on darker woods, I have some Mahogany which i plan to finish with oil, and nothing but oil. I am thinking tongue oil for it. My specific question is about when using woods which have great sounds but not beautiful grain, What opaque finish would give the best look of classy, without looking mundane. I have ebony opaque stain, but is there something that would really look great, with a top of natural cherry or oak?
i am not a pro. But here are some things i have learned the hard way.... (like a projects i worked on for weeks becoming firewood. I made a lot of firewood along the way)
I find that inserting the tip of my pocket knife or an Exacto knife all the way around the nut before trying to move it with a punch helps immensely. But like she said... don't wiggle to pry too much. i use a stroking motion like i am trying to cut the glue. not really hard but repeated cuts going deeper each time, then with a piece of wood used as a punch i very lightly hammer it until it moves. It is usually quite easy to remove them, but use caution because as MirandM said you can easily damage the fretboard.
As far as mounting a nut. I would definatly glue it. I typically use bone nuts and glue them with a high quality wood glue. For brass i would recommend a very light application of the thin CA Glue(superglue). i would stay away from the thick or gel versions because you want it to not shift when restringing, but you do want it to be removable in case repairs are eventually needed. Also avoid gluing to the fretboard as much as possible, depending on the style nut you would normally have part of the headstock or the neck wood other than the fretboard to glue to.
As far as intonation, I ALWAYS mount the bridge last. If there is any chance of changing the scale length, even just a little i would remove it and remount it after the neck work is complete. UNLESS, there was enough travel in the bridge to compensate for the changes. MirandM is correct that even a slight change in the nut position will change the intonation. always check by marking the full scale length measuring from the nut. then double check that the length from the 12th fret is exactly half that length. If it isn't, you will never get the intonation correct.
to set a bridge... i move the bridge as far forward as possible then measure from the nut and double check the twelth fret to be sure. i then position the bridge 1/8" toward the neck from there. Most bridges give 1/4" to 3/8" travel for intonation, rarely more than that. this puts your bridge where it can shortened just a little but lengthened a little more.
