EX-1L: Stevies 21st pressie "Magellan"

[Bass Guy]

Project #2 is up and running. The neck fit is spot on and all the pre-drilling is done.

There's a couple of visible gluespots, but you will see in the photo the instruments of torture I will subject the glue to.... He he he hee.... You will also see the Deadly Sinner (7string) sulking in the corner after its sanding...
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[Gavin1393]

Haha, yeah! Elliot, those brushes sure will do the work!

[Brendan]

Well worth the $3.50 or so for them...

What colour for the EX?

[Bass Guy]

Yes, the brushes did the job very well...although I may have left a few "rustic" gouges in the body. More sanding should take care of it, right? ;)

As far as colour goes, I am awaiting word on the availability of Amaranthine... Stevie the birthday boy is apparently a nutter for Purple... DB, do you have any news on it?

[keloooe]

For the $3 I spent on them, they are damn awesome!!!!

[dingobass]

Fear not, good friends, the Aramanthine is coming.
Hopefully it should get here in a couple of weeks so keep sanding those glue spots!

[Brendan]

More time to sand, sand, sand. Surely with all these muso's someone can come up with an Ode to DB that has as a chorus "Sand, sand, sand and then sand again".

[Bass Guy]

First coat of Wudtone Original Vintage Yellow neck base coat. I'd forgotten just how impressive this stuff is.

The third photo will show the difference between stained and unstained woods. Remember, this is coat #1!

El
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[WeirdBits]

Definitely a great colour... but it's a set neck, right? Be careful with the Wudtone on the neck heel otherwise you'll have trouble when it comes to glueing the neck in. Or, does it just look that way in the pics?

[dingobass]

Well spotted Weirdy! Bassguy, you will need to sand that neck heel with 80 grit to get rid of the Wudtone and leave a good tooth for the glue to grab onto..

[Bass Guy]

Ah! Thank you gents! I hadn't thought of that....

[iNSANE]

Very nice guitar. Cool to see another lefty named Steve with an EX-1L !!!

[Bass Guy]

Error (hopefully) corrected, and awaiting the second coat. Tomorrow.
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[WeirdBits]

Looks good, ready for gluey goodness.

[Bass Guy]

180grit sanding completed. Lovely grain patterns starting to appear...
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[Bass Guy]

Second coat of base- Original Vintage Yellow.
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[Bass Guy]

Sanded to 240grit.

Amaranthine, o Amaranthine- wherefore art thou, Amaranthine?.... :P :P
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[WeirdBits]

DB is probably bathing in it... but, in the mean time:


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[Bass Guy]

Hahahahahahaaaargh!!! That is fantastic!! :o :D

[Bass Guy]

Neck finished- final top coat applied.

The second shot shows the marked difference between bare wood (for gluing) and luxuriant finish.
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[Bass Guy]

Headstock hardware locked in. Neck finished!
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[Bass Guy]

First application of Amaranthine deep colour. Some noticeable glue spots which were missed initially, but I had intended to sand this coat back anyway so I will rectify these then.

It's a lovely colour, but I can't help being reminded of Gestetner Ink...(the youngsters among us won't get that reference... :D )
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[wokkaboy]

looking good bass guy, you might have beaten me to the 1st to apply amaranthine, I applied mine about 10:30pm lastnight ?
bummer about glue spots, more sanding !

[Fretworn]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Bass Guy on June 20, 2013, 10:05
First application of Amaranthine deep colour. Some noticeable glue spots which were missed initially, but I had intended to sand this coat back anyway so I will rectify these then.

It's a lovely colour, but I can't help being reminded of Gestetner Ink...(the youngsters among us won't get that reference... :D )
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/6el2b-image.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/e78j3-image.jpg

But does it smell like a Gestetner print? Oh the heady days of infants school alcohol sniffing!

[Brendan]

Gonna come up nice Bass guy!

[Bass Guy]

Scraped back top, wire-brushed gluespots and reapplied deep colour. That's more like it!
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[Brendan]

Looking much smoother!

[Bass Guy]

Testing finish with neck...
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[keloooe]

that looks great Bass Guy!!!!

[Fretworn]

The difference between the colour when it's in shade and when it's in the sunlight is astonishing.

[Bass Guy]

The back- second deep colour coat, in direct sunlight. It's a shame the audience won't see this side...
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[wokkaboy]

sweet bass guy,good to see that damn glue is gone. Looks cool with the neck in place.
I can't wait to see the SGD bolted together, I'm doing my headstocks in amaranthine, hope to cut the headstocks tonight and get a coat on

[Bass Guy]

Amaranthine headstocks!!! Photos, or it didn't happen! :D

[wokkaboy]

thats the plan BassGuy, probably vintage yellow neck and back of headstock and ama ontop of the headstock, should look cool with the 12 string headstock being so long !

I'll do my best to get at least one headstock cut, sanded and coated tonight so check my build diary later tonight

[dingobass]

That is looking just the Ants Pants Bassguy!

[Bass Guy]

Final base coat- now awaiting the gold highlights.
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[wokkaboy]

sweet az Bass Guy,
hey can you please help me out with a wiring diagram for the PBH ? your JB had a humbucker and neck pickup ? - cheers

[Bass Guy]

No it was two single coils, but I will have a hunt around for you.

[wokkaboy]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Bass Guy on June 27, 2013, 12:51
No it was two single coils, butnI will have a hunt around for you.
Hi Bass Guy,
thanks mate, this is my first bass build and I'm not that familiar with them, attached is a photo I took its got 4 pots, humbucker bridge and the 2 singles on the neck. Sorry to hijack your build thread but thought you would see this message !
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ycdef-2013-06-27-07.27.20.jpg

[Bass Guy]

So happy with it, that I showed it to Stevie's mum. She's thrilled.

Hence the celebratory ale.
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[Brendan]

I like the Tadcaster. The EX 1 looks awesome too!

[WeirdBits]

Definitely worthy of an ale or two... that colour looks amazing.

[dingobass]

Eleventy eleven out of eleven! :)

[Bass Guy]

Gold highlights added to the top. Adds a subtle warm glow which is most appealing. It will be interesting to see how it dries against the Amaranthine...
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[wokkaboy]

cool looks good El, can't wait to hear how the gold highlights look after a top gloss coat

[Bass Guy]

A quarter of the way through cutting out the 2 in 21. Slowly does it, methinks.
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[brett40]

is that going on the head stock? m.o.p is so painfully slow to work with

[Bass Guy]

I am going to inlay it into the body- somewhere fairly prominent. Probably behind the tailpiece.

[Brendan]

Holy cow - nice job - seeing Gav do an inlay yesterday, just shows how exacting and long this process takes...

[Bass Guy]

Gold highlights applied to the back now...
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[Bass Guy]

MOP finished! Now for the scary bit- the embedding!

[Bass Guy]

The MOP is done! Now for the scary bit, which can wait until tomorrow....
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[Bass Guy]

MOP seated in cavity. Couple of gaps to fill, but all in all not a bad first attempt.
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[glenno3228]

Nice work El and brave as well. My mate is wanting me to try something like this on Winki but its probably still a bridge too far. What did you use for the recess? Dremel?

[Bass Guy]

Dremel, scribe and small chisel.

[wokkaboy]

Hey bass guy. Excellent effort. This is the next step I want to make a 4D MOP inlay fair bit of work but sure it can be done. How good is ama wudtone?

[Brendan]

Looking great El.

[Bass Guy]

Cavities filled and dyed. Awaiting the curing period, and then the top coat is applied with gusto.
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[Bass Guy]

Second coat of top coat. Starting to come together.
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[keloooe]

You entering it in GOTM???

[robin]

Well done El. Way beyond my abilities. I think I've done well after I've sanded a flat piece of wood!

rob

[Bass Guy]

Pest- If it's finished in time....which it might not be. We will see.

Robin- thanks muchly, old bean! I am pretty pleased with how it's turning out. Hope the birthday boy is too!

[wokkaboy]

looks sick El, well done, I'm taking the ama coats real slow but love the colour.
MOP looks slick !

[Gavin1393]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Bass Guy on July 13, 2013, 14:29
Second coat of top coat. Starting to come together.
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This coming together rather well, me thinks!

[Bass Guy]

Does the angle of the bridge posts look correct? To my eye it would seem the bass post is too far forward.

Has the factory drilled right-handed holes on a left-handed body?

And does it really matter too much?
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[DanMade]

It does look a little off. But it could just be a trick to the eye from the angles of the bridge and the body shape. Well that's what you can tell people anyway, lol.
I don't think it would affect anything, just the looks. Not that it looks that far out. You could always check it with for square off the pickups.

[Bass Guy]

Just measured an 8mm difference- the top post-hole is 8mm forward of the the bottom one.

I am going to rely on the adjustability of the bridge to correct the majority of any intonation errors...plus I might be able to cheat the neck angle when I glue it in pace...

[WeirdBits]

Quote from Bass Guy on July 22, 2013, 18:13
Has the factory drilled right-handed holes on a left-handed body?

Ouch... I think that may indeed be the case, although I can hardly believe it. The bass side bridge post should be around 1.5-3mm further back than the treble post, so you may not have enough travel in the saddles to be able to get it intonated accurately. And, even if it can be intonated, it's certainly going to look even more 'unique' than it already did.

If you want to try intonating it, remember you can reverse the individual saddles so the 'slope' may gain you another mm or so of travel if you're desperate.

But, before you do anything... get some accurate measurements from the nut (or 12th fret) to each bridge post before deciding what to do.

(edit: ah, measurements already done)

[DanMade]

Crap. I was thinking you were talking about the tails stop. I didn't notice it was a lefty because of the angle of the bridge, I thought it was right handed.

The bridge is back to front. Usually the treble strings are closest to the nut.

Surely that would affect the intonation. You have got this far, you may as well throw the strings on and see if you can get proper intonation out of it.

[Bass Guy]

I have measured from the 12th fret to the nut and got 313mm. Measuring from the 313mm to the brdge saddles there seems to be juuuuuuuuuuust enough play to intonate it. Phew.

[wokkaboy]

Hey Bass Guy,
if it helps here's 2 pics of my EX-1 kit, mine the bass post is about 3mm further than the treble post, this is my 1st build so it was ordered September 2012.
Sounds like you have just enough play to get the intonation correct which is lucky.
I'm sure Stevie will be stoked with his 21st prezzy, when does he get it ?
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/pb6us-2013-07-25-07.24.09.jpg
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[Gavin1393]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Bass Guy on July 22, 2013, 19:13
I have measured from the 12th fret to the nut and got 313mm. Measuring from the 313mm to the brdge saddles there seems to be juuuuuuuuuuust enough play to intonate it. Phew.

Hi BassGuy

The video was updated to show that you should get around 315-316mm from the crown of the 12th fret to the saddles of the bridge. The added 3 mm is explained in detail in the updated vid, and in other threads I have posted on 'Compensation". It's a bit more with a Bass!

[Bass Guy]

Hi wokka,

Yours looks a little more "normal" than mine, but I have shunted the saddles about a bit and have come up with an angle which should compensate adequately.

Stevie's birthday is the 11th of August. Should be ready by then... :?

[Bass Guy]

Neck glued into position. Let the 72 hours of curing commence....
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[dingobass]

Hot Damn that came up a treat! Fingers crossed that you can intonate her.

[wokkaboy]

Yes bass guy looks sweet although a dark photo. As DB says hope the intonation works out. How good is amaranthine on basswood. Wait till it hits the Ash bodies!

[Bass Guy]

All done! Strung up, and waiting for the neck to get used to the tension. Piccies are up on the August GOTM thread.

[DanMade]

Cool. Best of luck with the intonation.

[Bass Guy]

And finally, delivery to the birthday boy recipient!

He is VERY pleased!!
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/i2800-image.jpg

[stan]

Stevie and the Guitar go together well, they both look the goods, congrats

[dingobass]

Yep. Wot Stan said.
I got nuthin to add....