I was gonna comment on how I love the new blue finish, but Reed beat me to it!
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Winter Buildoff 2022: Still A Diva
- Thread starter TerribleTim68
- Start date
Okay, I've taken too long of a break here and need to get back on track! Let's lay out the list once again -
Okay, so now on to some unrelated things:
For those who recall the Jeep accident my wife was in a couple weeks back (today marks the 2 week point exactly), I'm driving to work this morning taking my usual route and I'm sitting at a traffic light waiting on my green. As my light turns green for me to make my left turn, this van coming from the oncoming direction turns right in front of me heading in the same direction of travel as I was. The thing that caught my eye was this big gash in the rear side panel of it, just behind the rear tire. As I looked at the gash I thought to myself "Huh, that sure looks like the kind of gash that a high lift jack mounted on the front bumper of a Jeep would make...." -
So I snapped this pic and sent it to my wife after I got to work and said "Check this out..." Her reply was "THAT'S THE VAN!!!!" So I replied to her "Happy Valentine's Day?"
I can say, it crab walks going down the road like nothing you've ever seen. The savvy among you will note the distance from each wheel to the center dashed line, she's cocked a few degrees.
I like to believe that karma always works itself out. But my gut tells me there's no way this guy has insurance,
he probably doesn't even have a business license, and I'm fairly sure nothing will come of it. But being able to provide the case number with this photo and then let them do what they will with it is some small victory.
- Body -
- Drill bridge insert holes & ... insert them. (Can't do this until after fretboard is finished)
- Final shaping of heel.
- Drill bridge ground wire access.
- Turn volume knob (and make a woodturning video for my YT channel out of that! )
- Shielding of cavities. (pretty sure I wanna wait 'till after finish is...finished)
- Fretboard -
- Finish nut slot (includes final nut shaping/height as well)
- String ball end retainers (polish and install)
- Finish sanding sides
- Apply finish (I think I've decided to just go with the StewMac stuff, as little as I'm gonna play this thing and as easy as it'll be to fix any scratches later, it seems fine)
- Neck -
- Final Shaping/Carving/Sanding.
- Headstock (all of this is on hold until tuners arrive) -
- Final shaping, sanding.
- Final -
- Final Sanding Of Everything
- Finish (committed to Behr water-based crystal clear gloss wipe-on poly at this point)
- Wiring / Assembly
Okay, so now on to some unrelated things:
For those who recall the Jeep accident my wife was in a couple weeks back (today marks the 2 week point exactly), I'm driving to work this morning taking my usual route and I'm sitting at a traffic light waiting on my green. As my light turns green for me to make my left turn, this van coming from the oncoming direction turns right in front of me heading in the same direction of travel as I was. The thing that caught my eye was this big gash in the rear side panel of it, just behind the rear tire. As I looked at the gash I thought to myself "Huh, that sure looks like the kind of gash that a high lift jack mounted on the front bumper of a Jeep would make...." -
So I snapped this pic and sent it to my wife after I got to work and said "Check this out..." Her reply was "THAT'S THE VAN!!!!" So I replied to her "Happy Valentine's Day?"
I can say, it crab walks going down the road like nothing you've ever seen. The savvy among you will note the distance from each wheel to the center dashed line, she's cocked a few degrees.
I like to believe that karma always works itself out. But my gut tells me there's no way this guy has insurance,
he probably doesn't even have a business license, and I'm fairly sure nothing will come of it. But being able to provide the case number with this photo and then let them do what they will with it is some small victory.
None of my business but if you are reporting the damage to the jeep to your insurer you should definitely notify your insurer of the license plate make and model of the van. You might not have to pay yr deductible. Stranger things have happened.
I had a lady parked right next to me, brand new ding on my side bumper, her white paint on mine, my green paint on hers, exactly same height above ground. She undeniably sideswiped me pulling into the space. I knew who she was, confronted her about it, and she bald-faced denied it. The insurance company said that unless a cop witnessed the accident, knowing the perp is kind of irrelevant. Theres a kind of satisfaction knowing who did it, but they'll still stff you on the deductible.
And then raise your rates because you are a liability.
And then raise your rates because you are a liability.
Well, in my case they wouldn't be too far off base.
Back To Work (I Ran Out Of Cool Catch Phrase Titles) -
I took a few hours tonight to get back to this mess. The first thing was to drill the holes for the bridge posts, but I don't want to insert them yet. I have a fear that they will stick up past the fretboard and get in the way of sanding/finishing that for now. Anyways, holes -
I drilled them first with a forstner bit to create a recess for the top lip, then a regular bit to create the hole for the post body. I'm happy with it...for now. We'll find out if I messed this up later, for now it waits like this.
Don't Fret! -
I been stressing on this fretboard for a while now, so it's time to just make a move. I spent a lot of time tonight filling some gaps along the joint from the fretboard to the neck with dust and CA glue. I'm glad I kept a bunch of that rosewood dust from when I sanded the radius in the fretboard on Lucifer. Standard method, pack the crack with dust, drip some CA over it, give it a minute before hitting it with the accelerator and then come back and file/sand as needed. I then went over the whole fretboard again with the 400 grit to smooth it out. I know some of you get crazy sanding fretless boards up to like 1200 grit and stuff, but I believe that after about 400 grit you're just burnishing the wood and whatever finish you plan to use isn't actually gonna grip the wood as well. It felt super silky at 400 grit, so I stopped there. Then we hit it with some denatured alcohol to make sure it's good and clean and then apply some of that StewMac Fretboard Finishing Oil -
Give that a few minutes to dry and then come back and buff it with a clean rag -
Okay, let's peel the tape off of this and let that fretboard fully dry overnight.
Oh, but you guys know I can't leave well enough alone! Let's go ahead and install strap buttons since we need to drill for those screws. And while we're at it, why not drill the screw holes for the pickup too. Oh heck, maybe we better just do a mock up of where we are so far, right?
Gimme a minute, okay? 
So Where Are We?
Okay, let's talk about some things. The eagle eyed among you may have spotted the bare spot in the blue stain on the upper horn. Tim is an idiot and didn't pay attention to the far end of his file when doing some shaping of the neck near the heel transition and managed to puta couple nicks on it that needed sanded out. So now we're gonna get to remask the body and go back on the stain to do some touch up and hopefully blend it without screwing the whole dang thing up. There's also a tiny spot at the "top" of the pickup that needs touched up too, because Tim's an idiot and wasn't watching where his chisel was leaning when doing some work inside the pickup recess. Hand tools are super cool, but so is paying attention kids.
Some of you may be asking "Hey Tim, why is there only one string retainer in it?" Well, good question. That one fits kinda loose so it drops right in and comes right out. The others, not so much, they are a tight fit and will need pressed in somehow, and I'm just not ready to do that yet. The bridge is also just sitting in there, because I haven't pressed the posts in yet, I'm not ready.
So I want to let the fretboard dry and then come back and mask off the fretboard and start doing the sanding/finishing on the body/neck. I think I'm closer than I think I am....
Or...closer than I feel like I am. You know what I'm trying to say. But I need to get to applying finish if we're gonna make this deadline.
Now, let's talk about some concerns I have. I'm at a point where mocking this thing up is starting to tell me if I've done a good job or if I've made expensive firewood. I know, that sounds drastic, and I don't think anything is that drastic. But my mind runs full speed keeping me up at night wondering.
Problem #1 - Like others on this forum, I was pretty certain I had my bridge recess template in the right spot. I measured like crazy, drew centerlines on the body, drew centerlines on the fretboard, drew centerlines on the template, all that stuff the big kids do. After I routed it it started to become apparent that the template shifted somehow. Now, I don't think it's a huge deal, but what I do know is that my low E string is dangerously close to the edge of the fretboard down at the body end. It's fine at the nut end, really it's fine up to about the 14th fret. From there it concerns me. I'm also not sure there's anything I can do about it now, I may just have to live with it. But I know that every member of TalkBass is gonna immediately point to it when looking at photos, meaning I'm probably not winning that Renewal Compressor I covet so badly.
I'm thinking I might try filing the bridge saddles and in doing so move the low E saddle over some to try and compensate. But honestly I think I have to get to the point where I can string it up before I make a decision there. Like I said, I may just live with it.
Problem #2 - My router bit wasn't long enough to get my pickup cavity routed as low as I'd like it to be. I have the pickup bottomed out in the cavity and it is sticking up above the fretboard a tiny bit. I know it's impossible to get the template back on in the same location at this point, and even if I could, I routed it as deep as I can go with that bit anyways so putting the template back on isn't gonna help me. This is one that I need to string it up, see where the action is and then I'll know if I have a problem. It might not even be a problem, but again, my brain is in high gear telling me every little detail that I screwed up.
So yeah, I've got some things on my mind. I share them with you guys in the hopes that someone coming after me doesn't make my mistakes. I guess I could always cut the wings back off, re-taper the neck blank, add some extra wenge on each side and start over, right?
I took a few hours tonight to get back to this mess. The first thing was to drill the holes for the bridge posts, but I don't want to insert them yet. I have a fear that they will stick up past the fretboard and get in the way of sanding/finishing that for now. Anyways, holes -
I drilled them first with a forstner bit to create a recess for the top lip, then a regular bit to create the hole for the post body. I'm happy with it...for now. We'll find out if I messed this up later, for now it waits like this.
Don't Fret! -
I been stressing on this fretboard for a while now, so it's time to just make a move. I spent a lot of time tonight filling some gaps along the joint from the fretboard to the neck with dust and CA glue. I'm glad I kept a bunch of that rosewood dust from when I sanded the radius in the fretboard on Lucifer. Standard method, pack the crack with dust, drip some CA over it, give it a minute before hitting it with the accelerator and then come back and file/sand as needed. I then went over the whole fretboard again with the 400 grit to smooth it out. I know some of you get crazy sanding fretless boards up to like 1200 grit and stuff, but I believe that after about 400 grit you're just burnishing the wood and whatever finish you plan to use isn't actually gonna grip the wood as well. It felt super silky at 400 grit, so I stopped there. Then we hit it with some denatured alcohol to make sure it's good and clean and then apply some of that StewMac Fretboard Finishing Oil -
Give that a few minutes to dry and then come back and buff it with a clean rag -
Okay, let's peel the tape off of this and let that fretboard fully dry overnight.
Oh, but you guys know I can't leave well enough alone! Let's go ahead and install strap buttons since we need to drill for those screws. And while we're at it, why not drill the screw holes for the pickup too. Oh heck, maybe we better just do a mock up of where we are so far, right?
Gimme a minute, okay?
So Where Are We?
Okay, let's talk about some things. The eagle eyed among you may have spotted the bare spot in the blue stain on the upper horn. Tim is an idiot and didn't pay attention to the far end of his file when doing some shaping of the neck near the heel transition and managed to puta couple nicks on it that needed sanded out. So now we're gonna get to remask the body and go back on the stain to do some touch up and hopefully blend it without screwing the whole dang thing up. There's also a tiny spot at the "top" of the pickup that needs touched up too, because Tim's an idiot and wasn't watching where his chisel was leaning when doing some work inside the pickup recess. Hand tools are super cool, but so is paying attention kids.
Some of you may be asking "Hey Tim, why is there only one string retainer in it?" Well, good question. That one fits kinda loose so it drops right in and comes right out. The others, not so much, they are a tight fit and will need pressed in somehow, and I'm just not ready to do that yet. The bridge is also just sitting in there, because I haven't pressed the posts in yet, I'm not ready.
So I want to let the fretboard dry and then come back and mask off the fretboard and start doing the sanding/finishing on the body/neck. I think I'm closer than I think I am....
Or...closer than I feel like I am. You know what I'm trying to say. But I need to get to applying finish if we're gonna make this deadline.Now, let's talk about some concerns I have. I'm at a point where mocking this thing up is starting to tell me if I've done a good job or if I've made expensive firewood. I know, that sounds drastic, and I don't think anything is that drastic. But my mind runs full speed keeping me up at night wondering.
Problem #1 - Like others on this forum, I was pretty certain I had my bridge recess template in the right spot. I measured like crazy, drew centerlines on the body, drew centerlines on the fretboard, drew centerlines on the template, all that stuff the big kids do. After I routed it it started to become apparent that the template shifted somehow. Now, I don't think it's a huge deal, but what I do know is that my low E string is dangerously close to the edge of the fretboard down at the body end. It's fine at the nut end, really it's fine up to about the 14th fret. From there it concerns me. I'm also not sure there's anything I can do about it now, I may just have to live with it. But I know that every member of TalkBass is gonna immediately point to it when looking at photos, meaning I'm probably not winning that Renewal Compressor I covet so badly.
I'm thinking I might try filing the bridge saddles and in doing so move the low E saddle over some to try and compensate. But honestly I think I have to get to the point where I can string it up before I make a decision there. Like I said, I may just live with it.Problem #2 - My router bit wasn't long enough to get my pickup cavity routed as low as I'd like it to be. I have the pickup bottomed out in the cavity and it is sticking up above the fretboard a tiny bit. I know it's impossible to get the template back on in the same location at this point, and even if I could, I routed it as deep as I can go with that bit anyways so putting the template back on isn't gonna help me. This is one that I need to string it up, see where the action is and then I'll know if I have a problem. It might not even be a problem, but again, my brain is in high gear telling me every little detail that I screwed up.
So yeah, I've got some things on my mind. I share them with you guys in the hopes that someone coming after me doesn't make my mistakes. I guess I could always cut the wings back off, re-taper the neck blank, add some extra wenge on each side and start over, right?
I think that’s called the Summer BO, theme: UndoReDo what Choo just do...
I haven't really worked on the bass in a while and I haven't made any mistakes the whole time I haven't worked on it.
Okay, I think I'm gonna give up. Apparently one of my pickup screws decided to strip, with the pickup mounted on my test fit. So, I had to drill the head off of it to free the pickup and now my beautiful Delano has an ugly gouge in it -
And the body has some damage at the edge of the pickup cavity from the attempt to free it. So, clearly this thing isn't winning anything and I think I'm just gonna stop away from this build off. I don't think I can achieve what I was after it this point.
And the body has some damage at the edge of the pickup cavity from the attempt to free it. So, clearly this thing isn't winning anything and I think I'm just gonna stop away from this build off. I don't think I can achieve what I was after it this point.
You can clean up that hole with a counter bore bit, then do the others to match, then install threaded inserts and use black Allen head machine screws.
You can do a wood veneer over the top of the pickup that matches the body or the fingerboard…it’s what I would do.
There's probably 100 solutions.
Don't make me bust out profound country song wisdom on you.
Don't make me bust out profound country song wisdom on you.
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Weeelll f....
But imma channel Bob Ross again and call it... "happy accident "
Good time to fab up a custom ovoid wooden pickup cover!
easy peezy
You can even just glue wood veneer to the top... sand the roundover... leave the edge black plastic.
Black plastic pickups on custom basses is hella tacky anyway.
Thats why I cover most of mine.
You want it black? Use ebony.
I'll mail you some scrap if you don't have any.
Is it going to "look" exactly like a Marleaux Diva?
No... It'll look better .
They didn't bother to make pickup covers.
Buck up buttercup.
But imma channel Bob Ross again and call it... "happy accident "
Good time to fab up a custom ovoid wooden pickup cover!
easy peezyYou can even just glue wood veneer to the top... sand the roundover... leave the edge black plastic.
Black plastic pickups on custom basses is hella tacky anyway.
Thats why I cover most of mine.
You want it black? Use ebony.
I'll mail you some scrap if you don't have any.
Is it going to "look" exactly like a Marleaux Diva?
No... It'll look better .
They didn't bother to make pickup covers.
Buck up buttercup.
