My first build diary JBA4 Jetblack

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Originally Posted by Jetblack

Attachment 44620Indian ink over ash sample, this is what im looking for, one half has had 3 coats exterior grade clear coat no sanding at this point, but that's the color i'm after. I will now empty the ebonizing mix (glad it was a cheap process) good results if you want a tobacco burst color, but this puppy will be as indicated "Jet Black".............

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That looks really good. I am following your experiments with great interest! Not the least reason is that I have another paulownia body that I am thinking about using to replace a heavy body in my Frankenjazz bass. The current body is black, and I'd like to keep it that way...and ebonizing with a product that won't kill me is intriguing.

BTW, my paulownia P-bass has become my go-to bass. My back loves it. I kept the headstock small-ish, and used Hipshot ultralite tuners. It doesn't really have a problem with neck-dive, as I feared it might. I did a lot of experimenting with the bridge, and, although mine is string-thru, it worked fine strung on top in my experiments. It dents relatively easily, but other than that, I would not hesitate to use it for a fender style bass or Tele guitar. But I also think it would asking for trouble to use it on a Strat with a trem. That said, my paulownia p-bass is almost exactly a kg lighter than my swamp ash p-bass. Worth a dent or two to save my back ;-)

Attachment 44624This my choice of finishes so far. The exterior grade Cabots I found scratches off the surface quite easily which surprises me due to it being an external grade clear gloss, although Acrylic was never going to be the final clear coat of choice, I did only want to gloss the surface of the inked ash to see how it finished in gloss. The Micador for artists picture varnish in Satin clear, is what I will use on the final coat. It does not scratch easily, and a satin finish gives more to the appearance of timber. This is all experimental using the sample ash pieces, but I think Ive now found what I'm looking for. I do hope so. My next approach, when the body is colored to my liking, will be the neck, I'm leaning towards the tobacco stain effect for the back of the neck and a gloss black finish for the tuner peg face.

Im hearing you with the back problem. One of the other problems I found with other Basses I own (also have an Ibanez SDGR SR590) is really just the shapes, I dont play the Ibanez at all, even though it has the thin neck and me being small handed lends to my playing, the shape of the body is awkward to me. The home made P bass I don't mind but tends to nose dive, very frustrating at times. Ive chosen this shape as I ve tried a few of the Fender Jazz basses in the shops, and they all fit my body well, comfortable and helps a lot while playing. I did consider a true Fender Jazz Bass, prices made me choke, The Squier basses appealed to me, but for the cheaper prospect of doing something I havent done before and the challenge to get something out of this with my own touches is my inspiration, and a hell of a lot cheaper, so why not ????

‘Exterior grade’ can mean what the manufacturer wants it to mean, but generally it should indicate that it’s UV-stable and water-resistant. It may or may not be particularly knock-resistant. I’d be looking at a yacht varnish for that, which used to mean oil-based polyurethane varnish with high VOC solvents. I don’t know if more eco-friendly alternatives are now available.

Yes, I know there are a lot a choices, but very happy with the Micador satin clear. Ive sanded the black test piece using 1200 grit then a further 2 coats of the Micador, smooth as a babies bum and retains the grain texture, looks a little uncertain when first sprayed on there but after it dries, looks great. Pictures certainly aren't doing it any justice, its like silk. Attachment 44627

That looks great.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

That looks great.

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1+! Is the black India ink or the tea? If the former did you find it as messy as the lady in the vid?

Hard to beat Precision and Jazz basses for comfort. That said, even a factory Precision can have neck dive...as does my '75 Fender. The paulownia bass has less. The differences between it and the swamp ash bass are light tuners, smaller headstock and heavy bridge. With that the neck dive is minimal... Not completely sure what accounts for it. My Frankenjazz had some neck dive too, but the res-o-lite tuners helped. We shall see how it does when I get around to putting the paulownia body on it.

Fender3x, The ink can be very messy, but as ive only, so far, used the sample pieces, the mess was very minimal keeping the pieces on an an off cut piece of radiator pine board and using 4mm dowel to hold it down while I painted it on using a soft "sponge" type brush. Doing the body, I will layout drop sheets under my work horses and lay some ply wood over the workhorses, like a bench and throw a clean cotton sheet over that. The bottles of ink are only quite small, will likely have to tip it into a larger open container to get the wider sponge brush in the pick it up, but the ink does go a long way. The Ebonizing process Ive now decided to maybe use that on the back of the neck as it has a really nice tobacco color, which I think will be a nice look. Very surprised with the Satin finish its feels amazing and looks very nice. Love to see the Paulownia body. I think the neck dive thing is an issue for a lot of guitars, I did try using some velcro shoulder support, terrible idea,,,, but there are grip type straps around. I think for the way this new one feels and sits up on my body Im going to be pretty happy with it. I am also looking for the bridge and pickup covers, probably go chrome with those, give it classic touch.

Will look forward to the reports on how you like the application to the body. Good that you did the testing first.

Here's a pic of how my paulownia p-bass came out. Red, not black ;-)

Attachment 44634

A "sticky" strap only gets you so far with neck dive. I have a G&L ASAT bass (looks like a telecaster body) that would pull my shirt up in the back and down in the front, until I found a strap extender (like on the high end Steinbergers). The paulownia bass doesn't do that. It wants to hang with the neck at 90 degrees to my body. Maybe not perfect but taking weight, shape and balance all into account, it's hit the sweet spot. I should also mention that a contributing factor is the PB custom ordered jazz bass neck, which just feels great.

Thats a great looking bit of kit, the bridge looks like it means business, have any issues with the string lengths ?? Is that a 34 scale ?? the bridge looks to be sitting a fair way back ??? Great looking Bass.