USACG body finishing

[Hopkins]

Which grain filler are you using, and what did you use to thin it with?

 

[highway]

this is glorious . . . i found this today on another site with cherry and an ash telecaster . . . will probably do cherry on a p-bass with black guard

this is an ash body?

 

[bobdabilder]

Much better!

I have been wanting to do a bass with a transparent purple finish. Looks like this might be the way to go. How much water did you mix with the dye? Did you use the powder or liquid Rit dye?

Great question. I used royal blue liquid in the very first pic. About three ounces to three cups of water. After that i added some navy blue powder to the same water to darken. I added about two teaspoons navy powder.

 

[bobdabilder]

Which grain filler are you using, and what did you use to thin it with?

This is minwax ebony water based filler thinned with water. It came in a plastic squeeze tube and was way too thick.
Edit: they call it wood filler not grain filler. Thats why i thinned it. Also the sanding sealer is minwax water based sanding sealer. So everything is water based at this point. Easy clean up.
Edit: it's elmers wood filler. here's a pic of filler and sealer.

 

[bobdabilder]

this is glorious . . . i found this today on another site with cherry and an ash telecaster . . . will probably do cherry on a p-bass with black guard

this is an ash body?

Yep swamp ash. The body is standard j with rear route obviously. More pics to come.

 

[bobdabilder]

The sanding sealer is being sprayed through an automotive siphon cup. at about 40 psi. Doesn't take much to cover quite thoroughly.
after the grain filling, I'm spraying about 3 coats of sealer sanding lightly between coats. Once I've built up a finish thick enough, I'll start block sanding the surface flat. I'll try to illustrate that shortly.

 

[bobdabilder]

I've scoured the web until i was numb searching for clearcoat options. I've decided AGAINST nitro. Not because I don't like nitro. I love the way it looks but I don't want to wait a long time in between coats. This is what I'm going to try. It's crystalac clear I got it at mcfeelys (online). It's water based and supposed to be a hard finish. We'll see how it stands up. I'm now using the clear coat over the sanding sealer. I'm block sanding the clear coat and looking for shiny low spots. Here is a picture of the clear.

 

[bobdabilder]

After each coat of clear, I block sand with wet/dry 320 and 400 grit paper. I leave it DRY initially until i am sure I won't get any raw wood wet.

Here is a shot of the body with clear on it. You can see some sanding scratches in it which I sand out later. I'm building up the finish to make it level.

 

[bobdabilder]

here are some low spots. they are the shiny spots in the finish.

 

[bobdabilder]

Yes, I started wet sanding. I am careful not to saturate any raw wood because that causes swelling. if you can manage it, wet sanding is the way to go. It is easier to manage how much material i sand off and it removes small scratches. I soak my 400 and 600 grit wet/dry paper in soapy water for a few minutes prior to starting. The paper lasts much longer and won't clog nearly as fast when it's wet and thoroughly rinsed when you're using it. I dip it back in the bucket of soapy water frequently while sanding the body.

 

[bobdabilder]

Now so not-so-good news. I've sanded through some of the color on the edges. I'm not worried about it because I'm going to do a sunburst edging around it. The reason I bring it up is to let folks know that even though I have 6 or 7 coats of sanding sealer and clear on it, the finish is still really thin here's a pic of the edge where i've sanded through. that's not a reflection, it's a light spot.

 

[gjbassist]

Now so not-so-good news. I've sanded through some of the color on the edges. I'm not worried about it because I'm going to do a sunburst edging around it. The reason I bring it up is to let folks know that even though I have 6 or 7 coats of sanding sealer and clear on it, the finish is still really thin here's a pic of the edge where i've sanded through. that's not a reflection, it's a light spot.

Edges are a pain no matter what finish you do! I remember reading a tutorial on finishing online that talked about how much the edges hate you and will do anything they can to ruin your project!

This thread has inspired me to give this a try. I have an OLP Music Man bass that I had started a refin on. I was doing a rattle can paint job but am not totally happy with how it's turning out. So I'm going to strip the bass down to bare wood and try it with the OP's technique.

 

[Hopkins]

This is minwax ebony water based filler thinned with water. It came in a plastic squeeze tube and was way too thick.
Edit: they call it wood filler not grain filler. Thats why i thinned it. Also the sanding sealer is minwax water based sanding sealer. So everything is water based at this point. Easy clean up.
Edit: it's elmers wood filler. here's a pic of filler and sealer.

Thanks, I'll try that next time I need a black grain filler. The one I usually use only comes in Neutral, Brown, and Mahogany.

I've scoured the web until i was numb searching for clearcoat options. I've decided AGAINST nitro. Not because I don't like nitro. I love the way it looks but I don't want to wait a long time in between coats.[/IMG]

I have sprayed up to about 15 coats of Nitro a day before. My problem with Nitro is that it takes about a month to completely out gas, before you can wet sand and polish it. I will be keeping a close eye on this thread, I am always looking for new finishes. Right now, automotive urethane is my go to.

 

[bobdabilder]

Edges are a pain no matter what finish you do! I remember reading a tutorial on finishing online that talked about how much the edges hate you and will do anything they can to ruin your project!

This thread has inspired me to give this a try. I have an OLP Music Man bass that I had started a refin on. I was doing a rattle can paint job but am not totally happy with how it's turning out. So I'm going to strip the bass down to bare wood and try it with the OP's technique.

I'm glad it's inspired you. The edges are a pain. no doubt.

 

[bobdabilder]

Thanks, I'll try that next time I need a black grain filler. The one I usually use only comes in Neutral, Brown, and Mahogany.







I have sprayed up to about 15 coats of Nitro a day before. My problem with Nitro is that it takes about a month to completely out gas, before you can wet sand and polish it. I will be keeping a close eye on this thread, I am always looking for new finishes. Right now, automotive urethane is my go to.

I am used to spraying auto poly. I will most likely go to that for the final top coat. Haven't decided yet. Keeping the trash out of the finish is my biggest issue so far.
Edit: I was impressed with the grain filler. It was a bit on the light side but once i put sanding sealer on it, it darkened right up.

Thanks for the responses. I'm new to bass playing but came from guitar so I'm a quick study. It's far more gratifying than guitar IMO.

 

[bobdabilder]

Going to do the sunburst in a few days. I need to sink the hole for the 7/8 output jack so the electrosocket sits flush with the body. I will post pics of that and the sunburst as soon as it's done. More pics coming of the wet sand process.

 

[bobdabilder]

Here's my block sander. I prefer a narrow stick of pine so i can work the edges with less force.

 

[Beej]

^ I think you've casually tossed a sandpaper covered object for a pic a few too many times on the that car...

 

[younggun]

Sub'd! Thanks for the detailed description and pics of your process.

 

[bobdabilder]

^ I think you've casually tossed a sandpaper covered object for a pic a few too many times on the that car...

Ain't she a beaut?