Warmoth Gecko owner's club

[gpx1200]

thanks, the cover is made of a few layers of the headstock veneer epoxyed togeather with a tiny bookmatcht top just like the headstock. I wish I had only drilled the one screw hole in the top since it holds it in place just fine but ill put the other 2 screws in when I get some black ones.
I like the way the grain flows togeather, even though the headstock doesn't match the body other than the fact that it's zebrawood I think the neck provides a good transition and makes it all flow.
I got the zebrawood veneer from a woodcraft store for $14 for 6 matching 12x6inch slices, and I still have enuf to make a cover for the controle cavity, I bet they have koa veneers as well

 

[kzr750r1]

Yep. It's a matter of setting aside the time to do it. Bass works so I really have no need to tear it down right now. There are plenty of things I need to do. This is filed under a want to do catagory.

 

[gpx1200]

gecko #2 is under way...

natural swamp ash body emg mm5tw/40px5,john east preamp, lined fretless wangay/ebony neck

 

[kzr750r1]

What's the plan on finish? Clear, stain and clear or paint? Waterborne stains look like the way to go these days if you go that route. Would look great with a three tone burst.

 

[gpx1200]

it will be a clear gloss finish with a dark grain filler to highlight the grain, I put a thin sealer coat on it last night today ill do the grain filler

 

[gpx1200]

grain filler and fist coat of clear

 

[Hues]

That looks beautiful as is....Satiny.

 

[kzr750r1]

LOL your going to end up with a production line soon.

 

[gpx1200]

That looks beautiful as is....Satiny.

thanks, the grain isn't filled all the way but I like the color like it is so im not adding any more filler, ill do a few more coats just to make shure it's all sealed and probably leave the open grain feel to it.

LOL your going to end up with a production line soon.

I'd love that, ill take painting guitars over work any day.

 

[TapyTap]

grain filler and fist coat of clearView attachment 450138

The dog looking out the window is great.

 

[gpx1200]

thanks, the grain isn't filled all the way but I like the color like it is so im not adding any more filler, ill do a few more coats just to make shure it's all sealed and probably leave the open grain feel to it.

well that plan went out the window pretty quick....I just put another coat of clear on and it looks so good with a wet gloss on it the new plan is for a glass smooth high gloss finish

 

[bal704]

What are you using for clear? Wipe-on poly, tung oil?

 

[gpx1200]

What are you using for clear? Wipe-on poly, tung oil?

im spraying ml cambel kleervar conversion varnish, it's nasty stuff but the end result is worth it, I don't even open the can without a respirator on!! and that before I add the catylist

 

[KINGPIN_88]

Hey Guys,

Here is the update on the warmoth G5

Solid one piece swamp Ash body

Bird's eye maple neck

The Preamp is a GlockenKlang 3 band 5 knob.

Light weight

Waiting on my reed James neo zebrawood pickups

Finish hand rubbed satin.

Acoustically this bass is a beast.

 

[gpx1200]

neck showd up today, another beautifull piece from warmoth! wangay/bubinga w/lined fretless ebony board, the neck will get clear but I haven't decided weather or not to epoxy the board
it has a emg mmtw in the sweet spot and a 40px in the neck position and a john east j-retro preamp

 

[kzr750r1]

For the sake of longevity you should epoxy the board. But why finish the rest as I'm sure you know wenge can be left raw. A little oil and buff would never hurt.

 

[gpx1200]

I'm leaning tward epoxy now because I have noticed that the board is not flat and the maple lines are higher, I was wanting to just bolt it on and try it out with the raw ebony first but now the nut has to come off and possibly be recut anyway depending on how much I have to bring down the fretboard so if im doing all that I might as well do the epoxy while im at it.
then again after paying a $105 upcharge for the lined fretless I'm a little pi$$ed off and might just send it back to warmoth to have them make it right.
I know I could leave the wenge raw but I love the satin finish I get using the keelrvar clear and sanding it with micro mesh pads and lemon oil, you can get any level of satin or gloss depending on how far up the series of micro mesh pads you use (I stop around 3600-4000) using lemon oil instead of water means you can go right onto the frettboard and polish the fret edges at the same time( if it has frets)
plus I like to protect the wood from stains and dirt, I not a fan of the road worn look.

 

[kzr750r1]

Interesting so your using the oil to wet sand the poly... I'm a little surprised on the raised lines. Maple shouldn't swell after the final sand.

 

[gpx1200]

yup, I don't like using water anyware near the fretboard or any open end grain or even screw holes so I used lemon oil (kyeser lem-oil) instead to do the back of the neck on my last gecko and it worked like a charm, I didn't flood it like I would with water but I used quite a bit spraying it on as I sanded right from the bottle, you need to wipe it off a few times and start fresh because it doesn't wash away all the sanding sludge as well as water but it works, I have read about diluteing it with mineral spirits but I haven't tried it because I hate the smell.
I went right up over the fret edges and now you cant even tell them from the wood without looking.
on this new gecko I planned for a high gloss finish so I went out of my way to seal every screw,wire,string,pickup and neck hole on the thing so I could wetsand and polish it without wory and it was worth it, it was the easiest finish I have ever done and it's like glass without ever touching a buffing wheel, I'm probably going to go back redo the other geckos finish with the micro mesh pads so it looks as good as this one

 

[gpx1200]

sanded down the fret lines today and then some, I went up to 6000 grit micromesh pads with the lem-oil and a raidus block, it shines like clear coat but its just ebony and lemon oil, it has been dry for about 8 hrs in these pics