How did you go with the elbow cut?
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How did you go with the elbow cut?
Hi Fretworn
I simply measured the height using a 90 degree angled ruler and put dots with a pencil on th sides certain length apart. On the comforted part I had to do this just by my eyes and a fret height ruler. Then I connected the dots with masking tape to create as straight line as possible and then working one cm at a time and parts of mm depth I routed one layer at a time all around the body. When I was getting close to the wanted depth, I started to work 1-2cm at a time checking the dept wit a approx 4cm pieces of binding I had bended to a different curve.
The hard part and why the final depth got 0,5 mm too deep was that routing with a 6mm wide tip makes an uneven / not flat surface that when sanded straight got that much deeper. Now it is easier to glue on but still needs sanding to make sides look good.
Hell of a lot of work and plenty of chances to screw up. Can't recommend this approach. Next time I'll get my hands on the Siminoff or stewmac dremel routing tip.
Hey Arzi awesome work so far, could you link me to the preamp you found?
https://m.thomann.de/gb/artec_se2a.h...rch=1442649085
Hi Kelooe
That is the Thomann UK site link. I don't know of the shipping costs to Aussies but in Europe its 12 = approx 16 AUS $.
Artec SE-2A. 2-band with concentric, volume and blend pots. Similar specs as the Tone Monster version. My guess is " same s**t different package"..,
Hi,
so I tried to attach the binding today. I say tried cause I donīt know how it worked out yet. I know it didnīt go the way I planned it but these photos tell more than a thousand words:
First I beveled the lower edge of the binding to make it sit better on the not so steady channel:
Attachment 5394
Then I shaped the binding to the body by heating it and bending it using a hair dryer for help:
Attachment 5393
So far so good until - HOW ANNOYING IS THAT:
Attachment 5395
When I finally pulled myself together I decided to patch this with a piece of binding I had left from the routing job. I donīt have a photo of how this worked out yet but I know itīs not good for now. Might be able to sand it acceptable at least... :(
Glued the binding in place and I have a feeling that the whole job went sideways... After I got the last bit taped, the first 5cm I glued seemed to stick out and had come off. Had to put more glue on and found out at this point that the binding had twisted and wanted to point upwards. Could be some kind of chemical reaction from the glue - I donīt know.
I used Loctiteīs product that is basically a fast superglue but with a delay of approx 5 minutes to adjust what Iīm doing. It should be ok to use on basically any material and Iīve used it before to glue for example bone nuts and itīs been great for that.
Anyway - since I donīt get my hands on Tarzan grip I had to use what I could. NOT so professional looking but then again - Iīm not one.
Attachment 5396
The glue should be on itīs full strength in 24 hours so tomorrow weīll see if I have to go to plan B and shape the body again not using any binding.
Will keep my fingers crossed...
Hi
So I removed the tapes and the result was... not so bad as there are some areas I need to work on but I think I know how.
So - this was how it looked under the tapes:
Attachment 5426
Attachment 5427
Attachment 5428
This one raised mu blood pressure...:
Attachment 5429
To be continued...
And after preliminary sanding this is the way it looks now:
Attachment 5430
Attachment 5431
Attachment 5432
Attachment 5433
Attachment 5434
To be continued...
This and couple of small cracks Iīm gonna seal and smoot with a paste made of acetone and pieces of the same binding. Just melt these with each other and when the acetone evaporates the plastic hardens. Then itīs time for sanding again. Especially gonna need that with these:
Attachment 5435
Attachment 5436
Iīm also gonna sand the edges more to fade them in to the top and this way fade those differences (waves) in the binding in contrast to the top. Hopefully this will work. The glue I used seems to be still "rubbery" next to the binding and difficult to sand.
Will post when I make more progress.
Looks kinda nice and exciting - looks flush even though itīs not... :)
looks good Arzi, this is a difficult shape with the elbow cut and curved edges.
When you round off the edges to meet with the binding it should look excellent
keep up the good work !
Now thats a different approach...
I like it :)
terrific job Arzi
Hi
Thanks guys. Hope to make it tidyer. Stan; not so much terrific as it was terrifying....
When every step is something you haven't done before you're just so happy there is a forum like this one and youtube.... :)
Nice work Arzi. Like where you're going with your binding. Looking good!
Great to see your vision starting to emerge from this kit. Looking great Arzi!
That's looking great Arzi, well done mate. Love the binding.
Hi
So... I was supposed to fix the binding and I did it today. Here are some pics (alot) of how I did it
First got the acetone and pieces of binding and melted them in a glass jar:
Attachment 5465
Made a paste and started to work:
Attachment 5466
Some shots of the paste applied:
Attachment 5467
Attachment 5468
Attachment 5469
The paste dried in about 5 minutes and needed to be applied several times cause it shrinked some while drying. Very easy to do. The melting took about 30-45 minutes and when it was the way I wanted I poured the excess acetone out of the jar.
More pics to come after awhile....
So here are pics after I sanded the binding and also shaped the edges of the body to meet the binding. Looking a lot better now even though some ares close to the horns are still "in need of work" but some of them I just have to leave as they are for there is no binding left to sand off.
Attachment 5470
the place where I joined the 2cm piece of binding:
Attachment 5471
Attachment 5472
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Attachment 5474
Also shaped the headstock today. Classic MM shape. Now I was gonna put a 2mm pearl binding on this also but Iīll make a decision on it in a couple of days. Should be easier and faster now that I have some experience on it and it would be placed the "classic way".
Attachment 5475
Even though this hasnīt come up totally perfect, Iīm pretty happy with it and can live with my "early works"... :)
Very nice, Arzi. Loving this so far.
So.. Headstock day and binding...
First I thought Iīd just route the channel and put the 2mm wide binding in but then after I routed the channel (with my 5 dollar chinese dremel accessory) I found out that the 2mm binding was way too fragile to work with.
Then I thought that why not do it the way I fixed the body binding earlier - melt the binding in acetone and tap it in the channel then sand it to fit when it dried. So I did... first of all I had to put at least 20 layers of the paste one after another around the channel. The paste dried very quickly and then retracted to maybe 1/5 of the initial amount I put there. Reminded me of working with naughty oil. :) Got it done eventually and let it dry for a few hours.
Then got to sanding it and Iīm quite pleased with the results. The paste is a just bit soft still so Iīm gonna let it cure over night and then do the final shaping and tidy it up. Here are some photos of the process:
First the routing:
Attachment 5583
Attachment 5584
This photo is how it looked when done:
Attachment 5585
And this is the result before the final sanding part tomorrow:
Attachment 5586
Attachment 5587
When polished, the color of course is not the same as in the body binding and scratchplate, but still itīs pearl white - shiny and clean. So far Iīm quite happy with it and thought to use it in some of my future builds - maybe could do some inlays with this method or something... :)
That looks very cool Arzi. this is going to be a great build.
That looks great!
Nice one Arzi!
Update
So far I've put on the red on body top and headstock as well as "victorian walnut" on the sides and back of the body. So far haven't had the time to post pics but will soon enough.
I've also done two coats of naughty oil on both body and neck. So far so good - have to see how things look under the tapes over binding.
The victorian walnut actually does look like very old furniture and gives an expensive look on the body.
But it's best not to talk too much before hand - I'll try to post pics asap.
Hi
now got some pics for you but sorry about the quality of them - some are with flash and some not. The colors are a bit different in real life but you get some kind of idea on the result. Havenīt cleaned the binding yet so some stain is visible there. As I said before - the parts have two coats of TO on them to seal the color in.
Anyway - here it is:
The body top:
Attachment 5638
Attachment 5639
The back:
Attachment 5640
The headstock:
Attachment 5641
Attachment 5642
Now itīs just TO after TO after TO after wet sand after TO and so on... will take some time to build up and I have to order some until I can continue. Still - feels good to get rid of the sanding and move forward. :)
coming along really nicely Arzi, love the mods you have done and the colours look excellent. First time I've seen the battery box you have done a tidy job. So have you made a small perspex cover for that or is that still to do ?
Hi Woks and thanks
I have a factory made plastic battery box that I'm gonna use and it is a flush fit for the cavity.
There were some glue residue in places I had not noticed before stain and had to sand these in middle of coloring. Some are still there and they will stay there - too big of a chance to screw up the binding edges if removed. Especially the upper part whitch is sanded round and very thin.
After enough TO coats some of these will somewhat fade but I still have quite a lot of cleaning to do.
no worries Arzi sounds good.
Hi
got the mini switches placed on the control plate. Seems to fit just about. Switches are really MINI but still work ok and no chance Iīd hit them by accident even though placed this way.
Attachment 5728
TO finish is coming up slowly but anyway. The neck has about 6 or 7 coats and body about the same. Should be able to do the first TO wet sandind later this week. Canīt do more than two coats a day at home - only possible after the kids are asleep. Frustrating at times but should have the finish ready in couple of weeks. Then itīs Pickguard and assembly time... :)
sounds good Arzi, getting there !
looks great Arzi, you are doing an awesome job
Hi
Didnīt have the opportunity to do any TO today ( so much work on this left) so I went and placed the pickups and shaped the scratchplate. At this point just so that the pickup holes are in place and the general shape is ready. After I get the neck placed in the future - then the final shape and fitting will take place.
Had to take a photo to take a sneak peek... :)
Low lighting and some plastic particles on the top (my bad...) but still looks nice.
Attachment 5764
This is going to be an absolute beast! Great job Arzi this bass looks already phenomenal!
Is the stain the Keda dye red?
looks excellent Arzi, so you just have to cut out the neck heel shape in the pickguard ? The pearloid guard really matches the binding nicely
Thanks guys. The color is Bolger's red dye from UK (ebay) mixed with a hint of keda black. I'll shape it for the neck when I'll get to assembly phase and do the angle on sides as well. The black seemed to settle well in the grain while also darkening the basic red all together. First I was gonna use this mix to pop the grain before putting on the basic color but it turned out great by itself so three coats of the mix did the job.
Arzi you did well with the colour, I'd call it a slightly deeper cherry red. More naughty oil and it will look the biz !
Ok...
Long time since Iīve done an update. So far Iīve attached the neck to the body, polished the surface, attached the pickups, finished the scratchplate, attached the tuners, attached the bridge... alot of attaching.... :)
Anyway - here it is. A huge step back with the headstock - as you can see it has a crack... DAMN! I put on the ferrules as before, screwed the tuners on an when I flipped the neck - bam... there it was. Itīs not all the way cracked but Iīm wondering if it will stand the 50kg pressure of the strings... will see. I donīt know what caused this as the ferrules were just as tight as before - almost could push them in with my fingers.
The headstock is exactly the same color as the top - lighting just does some tricks with my phone camera.
I put on golden screws to bring some additional bling to it. I like it - some might not.
Iīm waiting for stereo jack to begin the soldering job as the preamp needs it. When that is done - truss rod cover and stringing it up if electronics work. If the jack is not in the post by tomorrow - Iīll get one from a local shop. Canīt wait to finish this.
Sorry about the poor quality pics - dirty lens and dirty surface but Iīm kind of in the middle of something here... at work...
Attachment 6178
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Forgot to mention - leveled and polished the frets and filed the fret ends too...
That looks great Arzi. bummer about the crack is it the finish or the wood?
Hi Dekka
The wood... I wouldn't mind the finish so much. Now I'm a bit afraid if the headstock can take the string tension without breaking totally...
We'll see in a couple of weeks. Right now it doesn't seem like GOTM material anyway...