RD-4 build: Trials and tribulations.

[abw]

There were some issues with my finish that I decided to correct. I sprayed over the area that I had worked on and then this happened. Now I have a dead fly stuck in my wet clear and 20 hours of waiting before I can sand it away. At least he went quick.

[Simon Barden]

I've heard of fret buzz, but body buzz...

[Chuck]

Well that's a certainly a fly in the ointment of this build - sorry Simon, thought you might have gone with this!

What a bummer - that finish looks great abw.

[FrankenWashie]

oooo crap. Bad Norwegian words. Lots of bad Norwegian words. I hate that sort of thing happening, it's like the universe testing your calm.

[andrewdosborne]

Damn flies! I've noticed my local Australian flies have a liking for grey primer spray....

[abw]

Thanks for your kind words. The fly will always be a part of this bass. The spot where the fly met its demise is still visible under the new coat. I used a bit of solvent to remove it and some must have remained. In direct spot lighting you can see some bubbles. Life has gotten in the way lately, but I finally had some time this weekend. Went ahead with sanding, buffing and polishing.




This is the result on the front, I am pretty happy with it and it is as good as my level of skill will get it. For the sanding I used an overpowered random orbital sander with 2000, 3000 and 4000 foam pads. For the buffing and polishing I also used a orbital sander with two different pads and compounds. Not the best idea as the sander has a way too high RPM, but it is what I had. The buffing compound suggested 800 RPM, the sander works at 12,000 RPM (unloaded). Up close in direct lighting you can see lots of small circular cuts. I call it Pre-Relicing™.




Another important step in Pre-Relicing™ is to make sure that you get big splotches of hardener as your can of clear coat runs dry. They give the finish that rustic charm and extra mojo. Joking aside, I have made my peace with it. Then and there I had a faint hope that it would meld into the rest of the coat, but that did not happen. If I were to do the whole job again it would be too time consuming right now and something else would go probably go wrong. Professional results are for professionals.


Now comes another fun challenge, making a new pick guard. I am torn between keeping with the original shape or going full on Liberatore era Voivod. A part of me also wants something in chrome to match the hardware, but I am not as cool as Glenn Tipton.

[abw]

And there we are. Making a pickguard shaped like the original proved to be way beyond me. But hey, it sparkles and that is good enough for me. Maybe I'll try again someday.

There is some selective noise and hum here and there, not sure if it is faulty soldering or lack of proper shielding.

As far as playability goes, it is mostly good. I am still getting my head around this whole setup and adjusting thing.

[Fretworn]

It's great to actually see one of these babies finished.

[pablopepper]

Hawt! This is great. I agree with Fretworn, been looking forward to seeing one of these buttoned up. What bridge have you used?

[wokkaboy]

nice looking RD-4 ABW, have you got any more pics of the finished build ? you should enter it in GOTM