First Build: JBA-4 Jazz Bass

G'day everyone,

I finally took the plunge and bought my first kit! I didn't have a bass, so I figured it was best to start with an ash jazz bass build.

Here are a couple of pics of the body and mock build:

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I'm thinking I want a subtle dark green burst as seen here:

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Did anyone have any tips of what dye to use? I was thinking of maybe using rit dye like I've seen some guys on youtube successfully use?

I'm also thinking of going head first into it and building my own pickups too, so I'll keep you posted with how that goes too!

Hey guys,

How do you guys go about bringing your rosewood necks to a darker colour? My neck is a little lighter in shade than I'd like it to be.

Does lemon oil do the trick?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by mattmethods

Hey guys,

How do you guys go about bringing your rosewood necks to a darker colour? My neck is a little lighter in shade than I'd like it to be.

Does lemon oil do the trick?

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Linseed oil will make the rosewood darker. Lemon oil will too, but probably not make it as dark. Love to see how the homemade pickups go!

Sweet as, thanks @Andyxlh!

Did you have any recommendations on what brand of linseed oil to use? Or would the Diggers boiled linseed oil from the big green shed be suitable? https://www.bunnings.com.au/diggers-...d-oil_p1670039

Hey all,

Quick question, do I need to fill the grain with something like ebony timbermate before I begin dying the guitar with Rit Dye? Or would applying a black dye bass coat do a similar thing to filling the grain?

Well... The award for using too much Ebony Timbermate definitely goes to me! I also should have masking taped up the cavities.. Oh well.

I sanded the body all over with 180 grit sandpaper, and then proceeded to timbermate the body:

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I didn't realise I wouldn't need to go as thick as that.. 2 or so hours of sanding later, and here's what I've got

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I still need to go over a couple of patches with some more 180 grit to get the rest of those patches off. Then I'm thinking of going all over with 240 before then dying the guitar. It's moments like this I wish I had an orbital sander hahaha

So I've finally made a bit more progress with my bass build. I drilled holes for the bridge and sanded back the timbermate further with 180 and then 240 grit sandpaper.

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Then I decided to try out some dye on the back, as it wouldn't be the end of the world if I stuffed it up. I changed my mind and wanted a Black to Dark blue burst, so I ended up using Black and Royal Blue Rit Dye.

I started by going round the edges with black first, sanding it back slightly in the centre to help the burst transition.

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Then I went over it all with a 3-4 layers of Royal Blue Rit Dye.

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Then I've let it dry for a little bit, this is what it's currently looking like.

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I'm pretty happy with how it's looking so far, I'm stocked that the grain is popping through with the blue!

I might go over the edges once more with the black, as it's currently slightly blue because of the blue dye. But I'm happy enough with it, I'll hopefully get started on the front sometime this week/weekend.

I'm also slowly accumulating parts to make a pickup winder so I can make some bass pickups. Hopefully I'll get a chance to build that in the coming weeks.

This build is definitely taking me a lot slower than I thought it would, but it's been a lot of fun so far!

So I've made a bit more progress!

I stained the front, and am pretty happy with how it's continuing to turn out!

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I even had the chance to clear coat it on the weekend with an acrylic gloss, so it's really starting to come along :)

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I'm going to wait for the clear coat to cure a bit more, then I'll cut and polish it. Does anyone have any tips for any particular compound to use to cut and polish it? I'm thinking of using Meguiar's ultimate compound.

I’ve used Meguiar’s ultimate compound, it’s good.