Well, got it re-shaped and primed.
I might quit for the day while I'm ahead!
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Well, got it re-shaped and primed.
I might quit for the day while I'm ahead!
Every time I don't stop while I am ahead, I wish I had in hindsight.
Yeah, i know that feeling. :(
What happened?
Just checked the forecast, and it's looking like low to mid-20's all next week. Perfect painting weather. (that's C° for you US members)
You gotta love "winter" in QLD!
Hopefully I can take advantage of this warm streak and get the rest of the spraying done.
I first started work on this guitar (sanding, shaping, dying) in October 2019. If I could have it all wrapped up before the 12 month mark, I'll be happy. That will officially be the longest time I've ever taken to complete a build.
Pretty sure this will be my last new build for a while too.
Decided on a colour... Holden "Impulse" (blue metallic).
Just got it mixed at SCA. I really like the other Holden colour I used last year (Poison Ivy) so I thought I'd roll with it.
Attachment 36998
Not my ute btw :p. Just a random photo pinched off the internet to show the colour.
Looks great dude
Thanks BD. I think that metallic blue with a white pearloid pickguard and maple fretboard will come together nicely.
Oh heck yeah. I see your vision.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Catching up with the posts and love your LesTele. It reminded me of an old ‘70s Kay shortscale bass that I have stored away somewhere. Started turning some wheels in the old grey matter and I have now earmarked it for conversion to a 30” baritone LesTele as I have a surplus of telecaster parts at the moment. Basically, fill the tuner holes, refit with 3L/3R, new brass nut ( it has a zero fret), Tele bridge and pickups and see how it goes. Just in my head at the moment, thanks for the inspiration 😀Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Sounds like an interesting project Impala59. Look forward to seeing some pics here when you get it going.
BTW, my brother used to own a '69 Impala. That was in 1971 though!
A picture of the donor before surgery, together with the extant headstock and proposed re-shape. The large Fender bridge cover is not standard, to quote 10cc 'it hides a nasty stain that's lying there'. The neck is straight and adjustable at the body end. The frets are in good condition and seem unworn. This is quite a shallow bodied guitar at just 1"(25mm)thick and is actually plywood. I am intrigued by baritone guitars and as I don't think this old bass has any real value (please correct me if I'm wrong!) it will make an interesting project when the current ones are finished. As always, any advice, warnings, tips and guidance is most welcome. When and if I get started I will start a new thread. Best thing is, her indoors will not see an additional, "just repairs dear on an old one!"
Kay1 (1).JPG (93.5 KB)
headstock kay.jpg (68.8 KB)
SH1 (2)k.png (58.1 KB)
Body thickness is a big consideration when considering pots, pickups and controls.
If you are thinking of humbuckers, a typical humbucker rout is 1/2" deep for the main part and 1" deep for the two mounting leg locations. That isn't going to work with a 1" deep body! You can of course modify any humbucker by bending up the legs and having them flat and drilling and tapping new screw holes, but you won't be able to fit a very long spring if top mounting, so the pickup fit could be rather loose. Direct mounting to the body could work with modified pickups.
Single coils will be thinner overall, so easier to fit; so those or single-coil sized humbuckers would be an option.
You can of course just use the existing pickup. You may find that despite having four holes cut out in the cover, it doesn't have individual pole pieces or slugs, but has a solid bar instead, so will work just as well (or badly depending on how it sounds) with 6 strings instead of 4.
You won't have the depth to fit anything but standard short-shaft pots, but if you wanted extra switching options, then mini-toggle switches would be viable depth-wise if there was the physical space in the control rout for them and the pots. You could probably just squeeze a box-style selector switch in if you added another pickup, but a Switchcraft style lever switch is probably going to be too deep. I'd keep the controls as single volume and tone, even if you do use two pickups. So definitely measure and check cavity depths before ordering any parts.
Definitely measure the neck width and the existing bridge's overall string spacing distance. Those short scale bases generally had very narrow necks, often narrower than a 6-string and quite often don't get wider down the neck like guitar necks normally do. So you may find that a standard Strat hardtail-style bridge is just too wide. Some bridges for Asian-made guitars have a string spacing that's a couple of mm smaller than standard. On the other hand, if the neck turns out to be wider than a 6-string, then as long as the outer strings aren't too far from the edge and reasonably parallel (which partly depends on how you cut the new nut for use with the the zero-fret) you should be able to live with a slightly smaller spacing. Again, measure and try and source suitable parts first before commencing the project.
Worth of a short-scale Kay bass? As much as anyone is willing to pay. It's certainly not in A1 condition, but few of these old cheap instruments are, and some people do get obsessed with 'vintage' instruments, especially if they are building a collection. So it may well be worth more than you think. I'm sure someone would pay £150 for it if you found the right person.
Great advice as always Simon, many things to measure, consider and test. This will probably be a slow burner as other things are in front of it. Was initially prompted by the similarity to the excellent LesTele’s body shape. I appreciate your input and interest
Well the weather was on my side today and I managed to get all my base and clear coats on.
I tried to take advantage of the late afternoon sun to highlight the sparkle. It shows up okay in the photo, but it's much much better IRL.
It was a long day, though I managed to learn a couple more things about spraying with a gun. Seems I do each time, which is a good thing!
Time to watch the paint dry...
Attachment 37019
Looking nice and sparkly there!
Thanks Simon.
I actually like this colour better than what I had with the previous experimental paint job.
I could have been happy with the other colour had I been able to rescue it, but such was not the case.
So kind of a silver lining scenario...
Well, I'm calling this one done!
After initially starting it 11 months ago, it has been the longest period of time I have taken to complete a build.
I'm pretty happy with how it's come out though.
It plays really well and sounds great. The Fender Gen 4 Noiseless pickups sound incredible. They're not cheap, but I'm glad I took the punt.
Attachment 37511 Attachment 37512
Attachment 37513 Attachment 37514
Here's a few other specs:
2-piece Alder body, Holden "Impulse Blue" metallic
Maple/Maple neck,12"R, satin polyurethane (feels great)
Alternative 5-way position switching:
pos 5 - Neck / pos 4 - Neck & Bridge / pos 3 Bridge / pos 2 - Middle & Bridge / pos 1 - Middle
Leo Fender's PTB tone circuit (Passive Treble Bass): Master Volume; Treble Cut; Bass Cut
The sparkle of the metallic didn't photograph as well as it looks IRL and the vibrato cover is also white pearloid like the pickguard, but it kind of washed out in the sun.
I successfully cut the nut so I don't need any string trees (so far). It's got some settling in to do still, but should be fine.
This will be my last new build for a while (no, seriously :o). Got some re-building/modding to do on some previous builds... and lots of playing!
Well wikkid!
Wow, I'd love to see the sparkle in person... Great work!
Top marks from me.
Would love a sound demo Mr McCreed
Great looking guitar. Well done.
Thanks all!
BD, I'll see what I can do soon.
I've been in computer crash hell the past 3 weeks (lost Reaper) but should have a new laptop this week.
Once I get all my programs restored, I'll knock something up.
Cheers,
Mick
Looking very nice there!
Really gorgeous. Super clean and love the hot rod finish.
Thanks fender3x. This is the second automotive colour I've used that are from Holden vehicles (General Motors Australia).Quote:
Really gorgeous. Super clean and love the hot rod finish.
I'm not a "rev head" but in some way it might be a subconscious homage to Holden, who's last Australian-made automobile rolled off the line in 2017. (or it might be they're just really cool colours! :p)
Well done McCreed.
Professional finish.
Wish I could photo my guitars to that level.
Definitely an art form there.
BTW Rather than outlay for a new laptop you should consider just up-grading to an SSD.
I put a new one in my aging Lenovo and it's performing like new.
Can get about 500 gb for just under $100.
cheers, Mark.
Thanks Mark.
Are you talking about an external SSD, or internal installation?
Internal replacement.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
It's the same physical size and same connectors
I'm actually replacing my partner's hard drive as I write this.
I got it from here.... 480 GB SDD
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SSD-120G...72.m2749.l2649
Loaded windows 10 pro in about 19 minutes.
cheers, Mark
A handy item is the HDD external sata usb docking station.
https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/...BoCsb4QAvD_BwE
I can slot the old hdd in and extract any saved data that's required.
Attachment 37519
cheers, Mark.
You've got me thinking now Mark...
How do you know which SSD is compatible with which laptop?
I don't see anything on the listing. I have an HP 15 (Intel Series).
All the laptops I have purchased in the past 10 or so years have a 2.5" SATA drive in them.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
So a 2.5" drive with SATA connections should fit.
Pull the cover off your laptop and check it out.
cheers, Mark.
OK thanks. Opening any computer is unexplored territory for me though.
I'll research and think about it.
Cheers
Have you got a model number / part number for your laptop? The newer HP laptops use an M2 SSD rather than 2.5".
Methinks McCreed's laptop is neither (new nor that it contains an SSD).Quote:
Originally Posted by jonwhitear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs6RDWgVqWc
cheers, Mark
Ah yes, good point!
Might be worth thinking about some new valves for it as well. ;)
SSDs are definitely the way to go, I've got four 1Tb Samsung 2.5 inch SSDs installed in my studio desktop pc, if your laptop has a 2.5 inch conventional HDD in it that's connected to the motherboard via a Sata cable, you should just be able to take the old 2.5 inch HDD out and pop-in a new 2.5 inch SSD drive, and it should work fine after you've formatted it, the benefit of going with a 2.5 inch SSD is that you'll get faster read/write times which will boost the performance of your laptop a bit.
Check out this website if you're interested in ordering a new 2.5 inch SSD online from them:
www.mwave.com
This is the same company I ordered my four SSDs from online.
I checked and my Lenovo E530 is 8 years old yet runs Sonar X2 as fast as a desktop.
cheers, Mark.
Maybe I should started a new thread for this! :p
Still weighing the options. Either way it's a huge PITA IMO. Even though I have decent backups there's a whole lot of stuffing around in restoration/recovery that will need to be done.
Laptop is 6 years old.