What's On Your Workbench?

[rojo412]

I was just tasked with some very... INTERESTING projects, brought to me by my drummer:

And the thing which will forever make setting up a Floyd Rose quite simple by comparison:

They haven't technically made it to the bench yet. And the pedal steel is bigger than my bench, so I may have to rig it up on an engine stand to work on it. But this is what I get to play with soon.

 

[ctmullins]

 

[Beej]

Compared to what some of you are doing and building..........I'm embarrased with what's on my work bench.

I bought a road worn Mike Dirnt swamp ash body from Stratosphere (4 lbs. 8 oz. body, should net an 8 lbs + something bass.). I'm going to try to make a bottom half pickguard out of cow hide. For a real deal "cow poke" P Bass.

Don't hold your breath but whenever I get this done, I'll post a complete job. (Not meant to be pretty and nice. Going for rugged and crude but very playable.)

View attachment 4508044 View attachment 4508045

That strikes me as an awesome idea! Nice piece of cowhide too, they look made for each other. Are you gluing the leather to a pickguard or plastic sheet of some kind? I wonder what direction would be best to get the hairs in a 'non-interference' configuration with fingers? Please keep this updated, I'd love to see the results.

I was just tasked with some very... INTERESTING projects, brought to me by my drummer:

View attachment 4508090

And the thing which will forever make setting up a Floyd Rose quite simple by comparison:

View attachment 4508088
View attachment 4508087
View attachment 4508089

They haven't technically made it to the bench yet. And the pedal steel is bigger than my bench, so I may have to rig it up on an engine stand to work on it. But this is what I get to play with soon.

That looks like a lot of ... er ... fun. Are you doing a cleanup/setup or something more?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

@Bruce Johnson Something about what you've just told us I don't understand. You apply the Stew-Mac oil to a fingerboard and it "hardens and forms a barrier against moisture", now you apply it to a maple body and it "would easily get grubby and stained and worn".
What causes the difference between the two results?

It sinks down into the pores and hardens, which prevents moisture from seeping down into the pores. But it leaves the surface of the wood almost bare.

 

[Flamingo21]

Compared to what some of you are doing and building..........I'm embarrased with what's on my work bench.

Don't be. There's a lot of amateurs, beginners, and weekend warriors here, they (we) just don't always show it.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Compared to what some of you are doing and building..........I'm embarrased with what's on my work bench...

Don't be. There's a lot of amateurs, beginners, and weekend warriors here, they (we) just don't always show it.

This ^^^
Seriously, if I've learned anything from my first year of trying to be a YouTuber it's that you simply don't post the failures, then you look like this amazing pro.
I screw stuff up all the time, I just don't usually share those pics. I suspect there's lots of others here too that operate the same way.

 

[mapleglo]

I screw stuff up all the time and I show the pictures. It seems people are interested in how I fix mistakes, I suppose, in case they make the same mistakes. Or something.

 

[rojo412]

That looks like a lot of ... er ... fun. Are you doing a cleanup/setup or something more?

Cleanup, restring, checkover, restore to some degree of both. Pretty sure he's wanting to sell the Airline, but the pedal steel may be destined for our band practice area. Though wherever it goes, it's staying there because it's heavy as all get-out.

The pedal steel... scares me. It's like a piano, bicycle, and guitar had some crazy 2-headed baby. I've worked on guitars and bicycles, so I'm hoping the piano is a recessive gene here.

Of course, the other thing with both of these is, they are old and valuable and parts are not really "orderable" for some of it. So I need to be VERRRRRRRRYYYYY careful.

 

[bassdude51]

That strikes me as an awesome idea! Nice piece of cowhide too, they look made for each other. Are you gluing the leather to a pickguard or plastic sheet of some kind? I wonder what direction would be best to get the hairs in a 'non-interference' configuration with fingers? Please keep this updated, I'd love to see the results.

That looks like a lot of ... er ... fun. Are you doing a cleanup/setup or something more?

I have a scrap piece of thin one ply white pickguard materal and I'll glue the cowhide unto that. I will use a non solvent based rubber glue because the plastic will melt and/or distort with solvent based. Thanks for your interest and comments!

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Cleanup, restring, checkover, restore to some degree of both. Pretty sure he's wanting to sell the Airline, but the pedal steel may be destined for our band practice area. Though wherever it goes, it's staying there because it's heavy as all get-out.

The pedal steel... scares me. It's like a piano, bicycle, and guitar had some crazy 2-headed baby. I've worked on guitars and bicycles, so I'm hoping the piano is a recessive gene here.

Of course, the other thing with both of these is, they are old and valuable and parts are not really "orderable" for some of it. So I need to be VERRRRRRRRYYYYY careful.

I was going to say… I think the pedal steel may need an auto mechanic and/or a plumber!

 

[TerribleTim68]

Mostly today I'm just angry that I have to sit at work when I'd much rather be at home working on my build. After I get off work I'll be angry that Tru-Oil takes too long to dry between coats.

I hate slow things.

 

[Flamingo21]

I have a maple neck with a maple fretboard. It is new and has no finish. It feels and looks good.

Now I'm considering leaving it unfinished. Is this an option, or will it lead to problems?

 

[dwizum]

Maple does poorly unfinished, in terms of appearance. It picks up grayish greasy dirt deposits very easily and they're very obvious and ugly once present.

Necks also really need a finish in general in order to have good long term stability. Unfinished wood will shift moisture content quickly with changing environmental conditions. Finished wood changes moisture content much more slowly and hence won't warp or move as easily.

Many people have unfinished necks and claim they're stable, I don't always believe them and have seen enough firsthand to know the difference. There are certainly some bare necks out there that don't move enough to cause people to complain, but to me it's a compromise. Consider that Warmoth won't warranty a neck that hasn't been finished.

If you want the "bare polished clean wood" look on maple, in my experience, the best finish option is a few thin coats of wiped on oil based poly. I like the Minwax brand Satin Wipe On Oil Based product. It will add plenty of protection, it's easy to apply, it cures quickly, and if you stop at maybe 3 or 4 coats it leaves the wood looking very natural. Best part, it won't gunk up like bare maple.

 

[dwizum]

Here's a Warmoth neck that another tech sanded back to change the profile (make it thinner). They left it as bare maple. you can see the nastiness starting, even high up on the neck where it wasn't played much.

I have had this neck in my shop for a couple weeks and just finished working on it. There was so much finger oil in the wood, even in the spots that were not discolored, I had to scrub it down with naptha several times and then sand it back. Even after the naptha bath, the sandpaper was still loading up with greasy deposits.

Here's the same neck with three very thin coats of wipe on satin poly. It looks like bare wood but is well protected and will be more stable and much easier to keep clean.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I screw stuff up all the time and I show the pictures. It seems people are interested in how I fix mistakes, I suppose, in case they make the same mistakes. Or something.

Yes, we are interested. It takes creative thinking to make mistakes, and it takes creative thinking to fix them. All part of being a Luthier.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I'll second that notion. I am determined to post the Good, Bad, and Ugly on my builds, which is partly altruistic, wanting to help somebody avoid my screwups, and partly selfish, hoping somebody will bail me out with a great fix suggestion, which is usually how it goes down. People are so sharp here, even if you TRY to hide an effup... they'll see it anyway.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Mostly today I'm just angry that I have to sit at work when I'd much rather be at home working on my build. After I get off work I'll be angry that Tru-Oil takes too long to dry between coats.

Has anybody tried the Stewmac Fingerboard Oil as a whole-bass finish? It seems like it would never get beyond a satin finish, but has the admirable quality of drying FAST, like in a few hours. I'm Toast by the time I get home from work, and busy all day every Saturday doing one thing or another (exciting stuff, like going to the dump, or raking the yard) which relegates me to around a 4-5 hour window every Sunday afternoon. Those are, of course, the fastest hours of my week, like a friggin' Time Warp.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Has anybody tried the Stewmac Fingerboard Oil as a whole-bass finish? It seems like it would never get beyond a satin finish, but has the admirable quality of drying FAST, like in a few hours. I'm Toast by the time I get home from work, and busy all day every Saturday doing one thing or another (exciting stuff, like going to the dump, or raking the yard) which relegates me to around a 4-5 hour window every Sunday afternoon. Those are, of course, the fastest hours of my week, like a friggin' Time Warp.

Sounded like the general consensus was that the fretboard oil won't build a top coat, it soaks into the wood and only dries down in the pores, so you never actually get a top coat buildup like a normal finish.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

Has anybody tried the Stewmac Fingerboard Oil as a whole-bass finish? It seems like it would never get beyond a satin finish, but has the admirable quality of drying FAST, like in a few hours. I'm Toast by the time I get home from work, and busy all day every Saturday doing one thing or another (exciting stuff, like going to the dump, or raking the yard) which relegates me to around a 4-5 hour window every Sunday afternoon. Those are, of course, the fastest hours of my week, like a friggin' Time Warp.

For a fast drying oil finish I use Lee Valley polymerized tung oil which dries to the touch within a few hours. You can buy high lustre which can build to a pretty glossy finish. I used it on my fretless build. Photos start here:

First neck build: Canarywood and Curly Maple fretless

The Lee Valley product is pure tung oil (not BLO or whatever labeled as tung oil) that has been heat treated and then thinned with solvent and driers. It is available in a low and high lustre versions that can be combined to make whatever sheen is desired:

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/supplies/finishing/finishes/20050-polymerized-tung-oil

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/sho...ng/finishes/20051-polymerized-tung-oil-sealer

 

[BishopJP]

Tru-Oil takes too long to dry between coats.
I hate slow things.

Apply the oil REAL fast, then go turn some knobs... literal or figurative!

Has anybody tried the Stewmac Fingerboard Oil as a whole-bass finish? It seems like it would never get beyond a satin finish, but has the admirable quality of drying FAST, like in a few hours. I'm Toast by the time I get home from work, and busy all day every Saturday doing one thing or another (exciting stuff, like going to the dump, or raking the yard) which relegates me to around a 4-5 hour window every Sunday afternoon. Those are, of course, the fastest hours of my week, like a friggin' Time Warp.

I've got a similar schedule...
I usually start my Tru-Oil on the aforementioned Sunday afternoon and do the subsequent applications in the mornings before work.
Lately I've bee trying to figure out if I can actually bring the project to work and do the oiling there! Should be fine...