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McCartney HB4 Build
This is my second guitar build but my first Pit Bull. I'm building a Hofner style HB4 which will have a sunburst finish. My first guitar build was a Chinese Strat that was given to me by someone who got it as a gift but wasn't up to building it. Although I didn't spend too much time on the finish, it went together well, setup perfectly and played really nice. It looked great and I gave it away to a student.
I play bass in a Classic Soul Covers band called Georgie and the Tonics... a.k.a the G&Ts, (www.gandts.net), so I'm always after the muted tones of Motown, Atlantic and Stax. I normally play a G&L JB2 with flatwounds with the tone knob wound right back. I also love Paul McCartney's bass lines and have all the Beatles bass transcriptions. This seemed like the right way to get me some MCartney magic and it will look interesting on stage too.
Here is my Chinese Strat that I built.
https://i.imgur.com/L3AVdv2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fHzrbut.jpg
I really like the finish that @bass_guy gave on his Gollum HB4, so I'm going for something similar but with darker edges to the sun-burst. COOLANGATTA GOLD & OUTBACK SUNSET.
Because sanding and polishing are not really my thing, I'll be dressing this bass with the help of my good friend Brain, who has just finished his first Pit Bull JB 4, (which looks pro!), as he builds two more PB guitars. (C'mon Brian, hurry-up and get your build diary started.
Here is my trial build to make sure everything was supplied. (I'm already in love with the tiger-stripes on the top!)
https://i.imgur.com/6MCLyK0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JY76uQt.jpg
One concern I have is that the neck is a loose fit in the pocket. Does this look like a problem?
https://i.imgur.com/tNbm6g4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ibu4fCN.jpg
Wish me luck... I'm waiting on some Dingotone to be delivered.
Cheers - Damian
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Way to go.
Great kit choice Damian, I'm really looking forward to helping you get this one over the line.
I think we can get it lookin' pretty special and it will be great to see you using it at some of our gigs..
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I've set myself up a nice table with a light and so now I have a good place to work.
After a lot of thinking and planning, I started by screwing on the hardware - think thrice, measure twice, drill once!
https://i.imgur.com/5UELp8m.jpg
The neck is not on yet, so here it is just laying in position.
https://i.imgur.com/sOV45fp.jpg
...Then it was time to mask out he frett board and sand the neck.
https://i.imgur.com/FbUB90w.jpg
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Is that tailpiece lined up with the neck and pickups or the seam for the top's veneer? Sometimes the veneer line isn't exactly centred on the body. It may just be the photos, but I'd double-check with the neck clamped in place and run a centre-line/fishing line down the measured centre of the neck.
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Thanks WeirdBits, Yup, the tail piece is exactly center using the clamped neck and string method. I agree it looks weird in the photo.
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STAINING DAY
Started by taping up around the edges REALLY well. Brian had got stain in the wrong places on his guitar build and discovered you can't sand it off. I taped past the binding and then trimmed it back with a craft knife.
https://i.imgur.com/xa9IdEy.jpg
Then it was on to staining. Brian has amassed a good collection of stain from Dingo Tone and Bunnings. I had purchased Coolangatta Gold but used some "Bunnings Brown" around the edge to get a very slight sunburst. Perfect weather for it.
https://i.imgur.com/V1FXe1q.jpg
We put the stain on some wood first to see what they all looked like
https://i.imgur.com/oMbv5SA.jpg
Then I did a basic CG yellow cover at which point my tiger stripes started to appear, (along with some glue imperfections)
https://i.imgur.com/QoOPL4n.jpg
After that I rubbed both CG and BB around the edges until I got the blend I was after. That's Brian holding it up for me.
https://i.imgur.com/7AWnHbS.jpg
That was enough for the day, so we did a first set-up on his first build - a Jazz Bass, (JB4).
https://i.imgur.com/3nbIJcx.jpg
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5:00AM, LETS GET SOMETHING DONE!
I'm a busy person, and I like the mornings, so here it is at 5AM and I'm progressing my build.
Brian and I had made a block with frett slots for clamping the neck.
https://i.imgur.com/y1VaoqT.jpg
I needed to mark out where the strings would go, so we could put some extra slots for the strings so I can get the neck straight. I put the machine heads on and rigged up.
https://i.imgur.com/jlGK0hi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PnWLf5C.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/92oGW5E.jpg
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5 Attachment(s)
It's finally fininshed. Plays great and sounds great. I had to put the tuning pegs on an angle to allow it to fit into the case.
Attachment 34462
Attachment 34463
Attachment 34464
Attachment 34465
Attachment 34466
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4 Attachment(s)
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4 Attachment(s)
Assembly was really straight forward. Some simple soldering. I measured 1/2 to position the bridge. I still need to lower the action at the first frett.
Attachment 34471
Attachment 34472
Attachment 34473
Attachment 34474
