PB-4 Build no 6

While build no 5 is drying I ordered and received a precision bass kit, the PB-4. It came with a hole in the back of the box which resulted in damage to the back of the body. I had read about steaming out dents so I gave it a go and voila the dent is basically gone and what is left will sand out. I think because basswood is relatively soft it recovered from the dent quite well. i had to sand the neck pocket because the neck would not fit but that did not take long. A few obvious glue spots but the goop off should do the job on those. A mock setup shows everything looks good. This bass will be thoroughly upgraded to:

Bone Nut
Tonerider Pickup (see picture)
Gotoh Bridge
Gotoh Tuners
Precision bass wiring upgrade
Gotoh strap holders

I am intending to do a two colour sunburst with F&W Golden Teak and black opaque paint sprayed using a air brush. I will practice air brushing before I launch into applying the paint to the bass. I have bought a spray can of 2K Spray Max poly for the clear finish as you dont have to wait a month for it to dry!!

Love my P Bass(es) and the Tonerider is a good addition!

Those all sound like great upgrades. FWIW, I really like my Gotoh Res-o-lite GB640s. If you are already doing the upgrade, light tuners are a +. I like my Hipshot ultralites fine. The GB640s are a little heavier, but are also more precise.

Great work on the dent.

Paint a 'J' over it and make it a djent bass.



I'll get my coat...

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

I'll get my coat...

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:D (love a good Fast Show reference)

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Originally Posted by dozymuppet

:D (love a good Fast Show reference)

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Ahh Inspired me to add this tune to my repertoire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g1mGkq-H_M
Good ol' Burt Bacharach.


cheers, Mark.

Bacharach is certainly a good chap, but that song/tune was originally written by Eddie Miller and Robert Yount in 1949.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Bacharach is certainly a good chap, but that song/tune was originally written by Eddie Miller and Robert Yount in 1949.

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Yeah..stuffed it up again.
It was Englebert...I get the two mixed up.

cheers ,Mark

Shaped the headstock to a fender shape and have started to put coats of wipe on poly on. Stained the front and back with F&W golden teak. Didnt do the sides as they will be painted black anyway. The golden teak was darker than I thought it would be and I may change my mind to do a three colour sunburst using cherry red for the red colour. Installed the upgrade electronics kit and wired it up the way tonerider suggested with the cap earthed on the volume pot. It makes a noise when you tap the pickup poles with a screwdriver so that is a good start. Noticed the pots have solid posts so I will have to buy some suitable knobs for them. Not sure if you need the copper on the scratchplate but put it on anyway.

Attempted a sunburst using the air brush and water based black paint around edges and sides and then a subtle cherry red leading to the black. Had some problems putting the cherry red on with the air brush and had to do some adjustments by hand. The worst of the front gets covered by the pick guard so i am not too concerned. Its not the greatest and I do admire people who can do a good sunburst. I may adjust a bit more when everything dries properly.

I will never ever attempt a sunburst because I doubt I'd ever be close to getting it right. Did a pink to purple fade on a ST I built for the missus and that was hard enough. Looking forward to your finished product.

I've only done bursts on pedal enclosures and I used the cardboard masking technique. I think that's the only way I'd try doing a body, at least my first time. It does really help getting a good gradual transition.
Did you use a mask?

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Originally Posted by McCreed

I've only done bursts on pedal enclosures and I used the cardboard masking technique. I think that's the only way I'd try doing a body, at least my first time. It does really help getting a good gradual transition.
Did you use a mask?

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No just used the air brush to do the fade in based on a video on the pit bull site. I had considered the cardboard masking but that appears to be done using spray cans. The air brush is much easier to control.

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Originally Posted by stansby40

Attempted a sunburst using the air brush and water based black paint around edges and sides and then a subtle cherry red leading to the black. Had some problems putting the cherry red on with the air brush and had to do some adjustments by hand. The worst of the front gets covered by the pick guard so i am not too concerned. Its not the greatest and I do admire people who can do a good sunburst. I may adjust a bit more when everything dries properly.

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If I am reading right...you have laid down the Feast Watson Golden Teak and let it dry then did the black by airbrush. Okay...but you have two different style stains....black is water based...golden teak is alcohol based...and you have dilution of the golden teak at the base of the neck pocket and around the cutouts on the back.

Honestly to avoid that and to get a good transition line you need to apply the stains at the same time.

e.g. Use multiple pieces of cloth with the different colours...plus intermediate cloths for the mix areas...and apply them at once and keep moving the stain around until you get the transitions to happen nice and neat.

If this was me....I would have five clothes on five pieces of thick paper towel, maybe even two pieces each. I write the colour on 1, 3, 5, and the intermediate ones....e.g. 2 and 4 get mix notes e.g. Black and Red. This is to try and stop me from dragging colour around.

So...work the GT on first....cloth 1....work the black on around the edge....use the 5 cloth....work the red across both the edges of the black and the yellow from the yellow side once only...use 3 cloth. Now use 2 cloth to enhance the mix between yellow and red....then 4 cloth to rub in the transition between Black and Red.

Use 1, 3, 5 occasionally to add some more pure colour to the location and try to stay away for the transition area....use the intermediate cloths to drag the colours over and along.

The trick is to keep the colours moving until you are happy with the coverage.

Also, I don't even go near the surface unless it has about 3 coats of shellac. It really helps to prevent end grain from soaking up the stain and going very dark....but it also helps the surface absorb the stains in a non blotchy way. (Sanding Sealer.)

I really like the colour of the body....the black is pretty cool too. I think you can make the transitions smoother and less defined....as in a feathered finish.

The gloss finish will make this very pretty. Your clear coat will fix and flatten all the colours....but it will highlight blotches and hard transition lines.

I like this one....it looks great.

Thanks ozzbike for the advice. Yes I was going to adjust the colours manually later. I will digest what you have said and work on it to make the transition look better.

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Originally Posted by stansby40

Thanks ozzbike for the advice. Yes I was going to adjust the colours manually later. I will digest what you have said and work on it to make the transition look better.

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I don't mean to tell you what to do. Just trying to help. I love the colour from the Golden Teak....and I think you can get a great burst on this.

It looks great.

Mixed the colours better and used some cedar stain from F&W to get a reddish tinge. Happier with it now and makes the grain look good. Still some fine tuning to do but getting there. Looks good with the pickguard on.

Definitely a lot better indeed. Far more of a burst than a solid line.

Wet sanded the clear coat and polished after 3 days using Spray Max 2k clear gloss spray. It is expensive ($48 per can) but dries very hard and you dont have to wait a month to sand and polish. It was not my greatest spray job and quite a few imperfections are still there but it sounds great and plays well so I will probably leave it as it is. The upgraded bridge and tuners (Gotoh) and the tonerider pickup and upgraded electronics I think all add up to a nice sounding bass.

Never used soundcloud before but tried it out and it is easy to use. Uploaded a clip of the bass in action as well as the ST-1 kit I recently made for a retirement present. Here is the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-29073340/bill-strat

Hope you enjoy.

Both instruments sound great!

That’s very cool. Nice demo, nice playing.

Nice work! Bass sounds really punchy and the strat is very "stratty" :p

Are those the kit pickups in both instruments?
Also, was the recording done with a backing track or did you do the keys & drums too?

Note: I thought I posted this the day you put up the link, but apparently I forgot to hit the "post" button :o