Wishbass Club pt. 2

[Thunderitter]

Thanks again man. By the way, that bass certainly is a Looker! How long ago was it made?

#837, 2007.

Here's a better pic of the full front:

 

[M.R. Ogle]

+1 on the Tru-Oil.

Here's a pic of my bass as it left Wish's shop.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

And after a little finesseing, lots of sanding and a bottle of Tru-Oil. I just considered that I was buying the process of having someone build the basic body/neck, and I took over from there and finished it off. It's #74.

 

[UncleBalsamic]

It's looks so much better now it's finished and everything. Great work!

 

[LexTron6K]

Wow. Thanks Ogle. It's great to see the before and after images. It looks like it will definitely be Tru-Oil for me. I like the scrolled headstock. Did Wish charge you extra for that? And how did you carve the little scrolls in the side like that? Also, I've heard that a lot of Wish's basses are rather top (head) heavy. . . .do you find that is the case with your bass, especially w/the scroll?

 

[M.R. Ogle]

I had Steve just leave kind of a "block" of woof up there, and I attached two carved wood scrolls (from Rockler) to the sides of that block.

No, mine's maybe a tad neck-heavy, but I shaved the neck to P-Zone thickness... never really noticed excessive neck-dive with it. Also it's a solid walnut/bubinga topped body, so it's got a lot of body mass.

Tru-Oil is so dang easy... I'd put a coat on in the morning, go to work, come home and sand on it, put on another coat that night.. It's just about foolproof, and hey, if you "run" it, just sand it off... if you scratch it, slather on another coat to fill the scratch.

 

[49sfine]

Cool. Thanks 49sfine.


Can you tell me about the the angle of your headstock? Are you talking about the angle on the top of the head, or the angle of the head itself in relation to the neck?

LexTron; The angle I refer to is the very top of the headstock, not it's relationship to the neck. Not only did he angle it in the opposite direction (pointed to the left), but he left me enough extra wood up there to create a cutaway that is similiar the the body curves - it looks very kool. This is all I have done thus far to this guitar. I am waiting to finish this one after I move (next spring).

Speaking of headstock angle relative to the fingerboard, my Scarab #168 has none! In other words, the fingerboard/neck and the headstock are all on the same plane - the headstock comes away from the neck straight out - not angled down as you normally find. It is quaint looking for sure, but I am growing to like it. The neck on this one is so narrow (yet fat), it really fits my hands well - I love it! It's interesting to have one of his earlier efforts; and it was so cheap ...

Of the Wishes I have owned (10), I have refinished 4 of them. My Banana bass was done in a satin finish spray lacquer, my Hyper in Tung Oil, and the Stude and JB in Tru-Oil. I want to do one of my basses in an oil (like Watco), that has no sheen to it, but don't know which one yet. Right now I plan to continue to use Tru-Oil, although Tung was very easy too. Perhaps one difference between my methods and Thunderritter's is that when I refinish a bass that Wish has already sprayed, I end up using my luthier rasps (fine cut) on almost the entire bass before I proceed to the various grits of sandpaper. This is an effective way of striping the bass without using chemicals and forces you to re-contour and/or perfect the existing contours of most of the guitar. Blending the edges, and neck-to-body relationships is especially rewarding and will yield amazing results. Wish's woods really come alive once you smooth everything out. It usually takes me about 25 - 30 hours on one guitar, but I like to take my time and get into it. Fingerboards do NOT ever get a permanent type sealant on them, they need a certain type of breathable oil rubbed into them which can be renewed every so often.

Also, about your neck dive question - only the Scarab I own is headstock heavy. This is because the body is so light. Even on this one it is not too bad though, and I do plan to reduce some of the mass of the headstock in the future (if I can do it in a way that doesn't detact from the character of this particular guitar). In other words, I have not found neck dive to be the norm, rather the exception.

Anyway, there are enough of us on this forum that have had great success refinishing Wish's work so browse these threads and ask questions - we're happy to help you out.

 

[BadJazz]

I've had two Wish Basses for at least five years now. No fancy logos or serials to be seen.

I traced a friends (later mine, then his again, now his cousins) Rick 4001 onto a large sheet of paper. He pretty much nailed it, even down to a slip of the pen.

With my (sans Rick, ad pre-lawsuit G&L SB-1) collection:

It's my Rickenballer 9000 f. I have a fretted version yet unfinished, but it played well and sounded fantastic. I use a Bartolini MM style pickup.

And yeah he's a forgetful old coot. I initially ordered a fretted and he forgot the frets.

 

[Thunderitter]

Perhaps one difference between my methods and Thunderritter's is that when I refinish a bass that Wish has already sprayed, I end up using my luthier rasps (fine cut) on almost the entire bass before I proceed to the various grits of sandpaper. This is an effective way of striping the bass without using chemicals and forces you to re-contour and/or perfect the existing contours of most of the guitar. Blending the edges, and neck-to-body relationships is especially rewarding and will yield amazing results.

I'd definitely recommend the uses of rasps. Next one I do, I'll do with my rasps, which at the time I did #837 were in a box on their way to me from my father's garage in Scotland! I did a lot of re-shaping of the body/neck join and also the over all edge of the body. I think I did pretty well considering I was just using sandpaper!

 

[LexTron6K]

Thanks again gentlemen! I can't wait to start digging into the instrument and getting down to business. Be assured that there will be plenty of pictures as I get to know my first WishBass.

Nice Stick BaddJazz! Man, someday I'll get myself one of those as well. . .One instrument at a time though.

I've been internally debating whether to use a rasp or not. . . I'm kind of thinking that I may avoid it and hope to get by with the sandpaper, simply to keep cost down a bit. But I guess that I'll just have to wait and see what the Bass tells me to do.

As long as we're posting pics, I gotta put a few up of my rig. I know that there's no Wish in the photos, but there will be soon. . . .

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

...

...

That's wild...for some reason, just yesterday I was wondering if Wish would do a Ric-style bass. I guess that answers that...

 

[BadJazz]

He followed my outline to a T. I just sent the tuners, Bad Ass 2, and Bartolini and he did the rest.

Who knows, he may still have my diagram. Email him.

 

[LexTron6K]

BadJazz: Is that your finish on the WishRic or the Wishster's finish on the WishRic?

 

[BadJazz]

I did the finish with Formby's Tung Oil, per his recommendation. No pro job by any means, but I like the hand made look. SHould probably dust it off and give it another once-over. I rarely touch it.

Oh and FWIW, I was going for the Rick Cheyenne look but Music Man tone. I forget the woods he used but it's not a half bad impression.

 

[49sfine]

Gubna: Have you seen the latest candy striped bass on Ebay? Might be had for about $300 which is not bad for a 6'r. What is this slap plate he is talking about? By the way, I wrote to him and asked what woods are used in this one and he said he doesn't know. Serial number is 577 and the headstock is angled. This was purchased by him right here on Talkbass secondhand. Gosh, I wish he has some pix of the back, headstock and neck - oh well ...

 

[Thunderitter]

A slap plate is a piece of metal, which does what the frets do on a fretted neck, that is, allow you to slap the string against it.

I'm not sure how effective it would be on this Wish' due to where it is in relationship to the bridge. I'd have thought the ideal spot would be down the neck a bit where there is a little more movement in the strings. Who knows?

 

[49sfine]

Thanks, Thunderitter - I didn't think Wishes were particularly suited for slapping, but I still have a lot to learn. Still, my instincts tell me otherwise. Oh well, to each his own ...

 

[Thunderitter]

A couple of nice Lobes sold on the 'bay tonight.

I was bummed missed out on the ambrosia Maple 5 string - one great piece of wood.

My standing eBay search arrived 2hrs after it sold. Thanks eBay!

It would seem like there's a real pick-up in demand for Wishbass these days.

 

[49sfine]

I agree! People seem to be scooping them up lately. That purpleheart Lobe went so fast it made my head spin. - I really liked that one, and the other recent walnut Lobe - very promising pieces. Also, I'm surprised the nice Scarab on Ebay right now is not getting any bids, it really looks like a nice unit - perhaps that body style is an acquired taste. (Mine's really growing on me lately) It will be interesting to see what develops with all of this as time goes by. Wish on ...........

 

[wave rider]

How does the Scarab hang? Neck heavy?

=wr=