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Time for some timbermate touch-ups. For this build I decided not to grain fill all over, but instead just fill any questionable areas like the old ground wire hole plug, bridge pup lugs, the body seam and tearing on the back of the body.
I find a mix of Pine and Natural Timbermate makes a good colour match for basswood, particularly when staining.
Attachment 16983
Attachment 16984
Attachment 16985
Once that was dry I sanded again with 240 and then up to 320 grit.
cont.
Body is fully prepped and ready for some colour, so it's time to set it up for the painting rig. Basically, an arm/shaft that is bolted into the neck pocket while allowing full access around the pocket.
Attachment 16986
Attachment 16987
This then slots into my rotating painting socket that's held in a vice.
Attachment 16988
Attachment 16989
Attachment 16990
cont.
Time for some colour.
When I first purchased this kit I also purchased Wudtone Dark Tease to go with it, as that's the colour I envisioned. That bottle of stain has been sitting unopened, sealed in a zip lock bag, in my ammo crate finish locker under my work bench on the large concrete slab that is the floor of workshop and double-garage. That seems to keep things at a nice stable temp and extend the life of finishes somewhat, but that's still over three years and waaaaay out of date I wasn't sure if it would still be usable. It's a dark bottle so I gave it a lot of shaking and a test on some ply, it looked ok.
1st coat of three year old Wudtone Dark Tease. I started with a heavy application in the pup routs to reassure myself it was going to work.
Attachment 16991
Attachment 16992
Attachment 16993
Attachment 16994
cont.
Fat dotted girls, you make the rockin' world go round…
I had some 8mm white MOP dots that I would be unlikely to ever use on a guitar, so I figured a 24 fret bass would probably be my best chance. Why not. I thought I'd be happy enough just trusting in the position of the existing 6mm dots and just drill the new dots holes directly over them. As such, I drilled some small guides and radiused them to match the fretboard.
Attachment 16995
The plan being to double-sided tape them in place and then drill with an 8mm forstner.
Attachment 16996
However, the first hole at the 3rd fret showed not only how far out the 6mm dots were but that the 8mm over the top just further emphasised how far out of whack they were…. I couldn't live with it. I grabbed some rosewood headboard and cut a plug to fill my newly drilled 8mm fretboard hole and glued it in with black super glue (black for a reason).
Attachment 16997
After that I measured the position for each dot, marked, double-checked and then carefully drilled the 8mm hole to depth. In a few spots the new holes only just covered the out of alignment old dots. The forstner bit left a slight hump in the middle of the holes so a touch of dressing was required, as it messed with the depth for the dots. More work, but eventually I was able to glue and press the dots in for a nice clean fit.
Attachment 16998
cont.
There were a few weird dents and score marks on the back of the neck, so I did a bit of steaming to get the worst of them out.
Attachment 16999
Attachment 17000
The scarf has a bit of unsightly fill, but I really didn't want to mess with it so I'm leaving it as is.
Attachment 17001
cont.
5 days drying and then a light rub with 0000 steel wool and the body got it's second coat of Dark Tease.
Attachment 17002
Attachment 17003
Attachment 17004
Attachment 17005
That upper edge of the body is my favourite, I love the way the colour is working with the grain.
cont.
If I'm replacing the fretboard dots I may as well do the side dots with white MOP too. I had to fudge the position of the new dot holes in a couple of places, otherwise they wouldn't have covered the old plastic dots which weren't always in the right spot.
Attachment 17006
Attachment 17007
Taped up, black super glue, and dots at the ready.
Attachment 17008
Attachment 17009
All done.
Attachment 17010
cont.
Time to finish up the fat dots. Some lengths of masking tape stacked on top of each other and then drilled through with a sharp 8mm brad point to act as guards for the fretboard so that I could use a file to rough down the radius on the dots.
Attachment 17011
The initial radiusing revealed a flaw on the 15th fret dot that was previously hidden. My first reaction was to drill it out and replace but the shape grew on me so I decided to leave it.
Attachment 17012
Final cleanup of the new dots and then a scrape and fine sand of the fretboard up to 1500 grit.
Attachment 17013
I seated a few frets, touched up the ends, and then it was time to level. Fret rocker to find the high points, marked with black, and then everything else gets red.
Attachment 17014
12" radius sanding block until the black is gone and the red is just touched.
Attachment 17015
cont.
Re-crowning the frets, worth the investment in a good tool.
Attachment 17016
Sanding up through the grits and then a final polish with 0000 steel wool.
Attachment 17017
I then sanded the back of neck up through the grits to 400, but stopped at 240 for the headstock face.
Time for some inlay.
First step is to print out the pattern on standard A4, cut to size and then paint with brush-on super glue. This toughens up the pattern and makes it much easier when routing.
Attachment 17018
Position and mark where you want the pattern.
Attachment 17019
Paint the area with liquid paper! This provides a surface you can glue the pattern onto, but can be removed without leaving a residue (in my experience).
Attachment 17020
cont.
Glue the pattern to the liquid paper.
Attachment 17021
Tape up the area with some extra wood to provide a more stable base. The tape protects the headstock and also matches the level of the taped up area with the height pattern and liquid paper.
Attachment 17022
Dremel with fine downcut router bit and aquarium air pump. I'd like a bit more air flow but it's enough.
Attachment 17023
A good light source and magnifying headset really helps with the routing. The result isn't perfect, but good enough.
Attachment 17024
Pattern peeled and liquid paper scraped.
Attachment 17025
cont.