Tribute to my brothers P-Bass.

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17-05-2021, 05:31 PM
Wayne.Mumford

1 Attachment(s)

Tribute to my brothers P-Bass.

Attachment 40610
This is a picture of me in 1977 with my brothers P-Bass, unfortunately it had a bad crack in the neck which I tried unsuccessfully to repair. Not long after it went to heaven. I was only 17 with no skills of anything ha ha. Anyway, I am going to have a crack at a replica to dazzle him.
If you haven’t noticed, it has a Tele headstock,strange. It also has the vintage “chicken head” knobs, which I purchased of eBay. I am pretty sure that the colour is Decota Red. I have never attempted a solid colour as all my kits are stained with poly, so wish me luck. I might need some help as that colour is a vintage nitro colour. First I would like to know what sort of sanding sealer I should get. I already have some, Feast Watson from Bunnings. A little worried that nitro and poly don’t play well together. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
17-05-2021, 05:37 PM
Wayne.Mumford

Just in case someone is going to pull me up about the “stained with poly” line, I meant stained and then finished in poly. I know there will be someone just itching to pull me up, ha ha.
17-05-2021, 05:48 PM
ozzbike

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne.Mumford

Attachment 40610
This is a picture of me in 1977 with my brothers P-Bass, unfortunately it had a bad crack in the neck which I tried unsuccessfully to repair. Not long after it went to heaven. I was only 17 with no skills of anything ha ha. Anyway, I am going to have a crack at a replica to dazzle him.
If you haven’t noticed, it has a Tele headstock,strange. It also has the vintage “chicken head” knobs, which I purchased of eBay. I am pretty sure that the colour is Decota Red. I have never attempted a solid colour as all my kits are stained with poly, so wish me luck. I might need some help as that colour is a vintage nitro colour. First I would like to know what sort of sanding sealer I should get. I already have some, Feast Watson from Bunnings. A little worried that nitro and poly don’t play well together. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

The Feast Watson Sanding Sealer is really hard to use mate. It sets like a rock and on the two occasions I have used it no amount of sanding could get it down enough to allow stain to pass through.

I honestly recommend that you chose one method or the other here....mixing paint and poly is not going to work for you. May I be so bold to suggest you see if you can find the nitro colour and go the whole way with nitro if you are comfortable with the hassles of that spray route.

The red colour from Angelus Leather dye is very red....but not Dakota Red...and it sits very well under the red label marine grade Cabot's aerosol oil based polyurethane.

In the end you need to choose a direction you intend to take with this and then stay the path. Lots of sanding sealers out there....from shellac through the FW stuff to mohawk and behlen products.

This stuff is good but really not cheap.......

https://luthiersupplies.com.au/mohaw...sealer-aerosol

They have lots of other stuff too.....not cheap....

https://luthiersupplies.com.au/luthi...uitar-lacquers
17-05-2021, 06:40 PM
McCreed

As has been pointed out, nitro and polyurethane are not compatible, any nitro base colour will require a nitro top coat is you want to clear coat.

You can achieve the same result with acrylic lacquer also. It doesn't have to be nitro unless you're really looking to be period correct. There are advantages and disadvantages to using nitro but I won't get into that debate now.

If you don't have spray equipment, there are places you can get acrylic lacquer mixed to a paint code and put into aerosol cans. I think SCA actually offer this now. It still isn't cheap going this route, but cheaper than dropping a grand on a full spray set up.
I personally would suggest going with acrylic.

BTW you can find paint codes for GM Dakota Red easily on the internet.

IMO if you're going with a solid colour, you won't sanding sealer. Unless you're using a really open grain timber that requires filling (that's another discussion) all you should need is primer. And you want to use white primer under a red base coat.
17-05-2021, 07:52 PM
Simon Barden

Indeed, primer/filler and top coat. No need for clear over the top except on the neck.
18-05-2021, 06:14 AM
McCreed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Indeed, primer/filler and top coat. No need for clear over the top except on the neck.

Good point about not needing a clear coat over the colour, but it's something lots of people do and a personal preference/choice.

The same applies to (some) non-metallic acrylic colours. I have done it with and without a clear top coat. I prefer a clear coat.
18-05-2021, 02:10 PM
Simon Barden

If you have a painted headstock with decals on, then you'll certainly want clear over that. And if you do have clear over part of the paintwork, you'll probably want it over the rest of it as it can have a slight affect on the colour, and is likely to age differently as well. Nitro clear is certainly very slightly yellow, just a bit less so than Tru Oil, but poly any acrylic clears are clear enough.
27-05-2021, 06:12 PM
Wayne.Mumford

O.k. I have decided to use Duramax primer/undercoat by Dulux, I have used it before on my axe bass. The only problem with that is that they don’t have a corresponding red colour I need. So I got some Duplicolor “Hermitage” which is pretty close. I have tried a small test swatch and it seems to be fine over that primer. Two coats of primer and it’s looking good. Pics to come, too dark out to get pics now.
06-06-2021, 09:27 AM
Wayne.Mumford

2 Attachment(s)

Attachment 40765 Attachment 40766
Some Pictures of my progress, I am really liking this Duramax primer, goes on well and sands easy.
06-06-2021, 03:44 PM
McCreed

Looks good. The colour match looks pretty dang close (from what I can tell from the original photo). It has a nice gloss to it's on it own too.
15-06-2021, 10:29 AM
Wayne.Mumford

3 Attachment(s)

Ok, so I didn’t get to put binding on the fret board so I cheated a bit and painted it on, I think it looks pretty good and will do for now. I used a pale cream to give that slightly aged look then hit the whole neck with Duramax clear gloss finish.
I hav also put the final coats of colour on the back. Wait a few days for it to dry and hit the front with the final colour. Not really impressed with the shine on the Duplicolour so I think I will also hit it with the clear gloss a few times.
Attachment 40814
Attachment 40815
Attachment 40816
15-06-2021, 10:44 AM
McCreed

Looking good. Too bad your initials aren’t WMD...
but that would make you Wayne M Dumford... probably not so good 😊.
18-06-2021, 05:33 PM
Wayne.Mumford

Good one Mac, I have never been called that before. Much.
19-07-2021, 10:16 AM
Wayne.Mumford

2 Attachment(s)

Hi all, I haven’t been home for 4 weeks, working away at the moment but I got home for a weekend and did a bit of a test fit and temporary install of parts so I could get some holes drilled and lined up before final clear coats.
Attachment 41058 Attachment 41059
Starting to look like something in the picture.
Take care in lock down all.
19-07-2021, 10:25 AM
Trevor Davies

Looking good.
19-07-2021, 11:08 AM
McCreed

Cool!
I like how you turned the chicken head knobs to the same orientation as the photo! Cheeky!
23-07-2021, 11:29 AM
Wayne.Mumford

I didn’t think any one would notice that ha ha.
23-07-2021, 07:50 PM
Fuzzyworbols

Great work dude
25-07-2021, 12:03 AM
Wayne.Mumford

Thanks for the feedback guys, hopefully I will be able to get back home soon to finish it.
26-07-2021, 06:21 AM
McCreed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne.Mumford

Thanks for the feedback guys, hopefully I will be able to get back home soon to finish it.

Are you locked out of Sydney from somewhere else???
29-07-2021, 05:33 PM
Wayne.Mumford

Thanks for the inquiry Mc,not locked out, but have been out of Sydney for 6 weeks with work. I do painting and maintenance work for Best and Less and have been repainting our Port Macquarie, Dubbo and Mooney beach stores. The boss is worried that if come back that I won’t be allowed out again. Luckily I will be back home on Saturday.I Know I will be in lockdown but it will be nice to get home and get back to my guitars. I have got my old Suzuki acoustic to keep me company while traveling.
29-07-2021, 07:16 PM
McCreed

That sucks. I'm sure returning from the road will be a good thing, but you'll be returning to "measures [that] are the harshest Australia has ever faced in a lock down..." to quote Gladys.

Look after yourself mate.
04-08-2021, 02:09 PM
Wayne.Mumford

Thanks Mac, I have this week at home and have resumed work on the bass. After an extra coat of colour on the body I left it out in the sun and low and behold a bloody air bubble. Never mind, sanded patched and painted again.
04-08-2021, 02:41 PM
Simon Barden

I’ve had quite a few annoying paint blisters on my Jazz bass build. You can’t get the finish too hot before it’s had a chance to dry otherwise the surface goes hard whilst you’ve still got solvent underneath. This vaporises and the gas forms those bubbles. If you ate quick, you can pop it and push the bubble down so it sticks back again with minimal damage. But certainly with nitro, the solvent softens the layers below, and left too late, the bubble can take off more paint with it, leaving a pit below it which takes more filling.

You have my sympathy.
04-08-2021, 03:20 PM
McCreed

Yes, "drying" in the sun is not a good idea, as you've discovered.
Sounds like you managed a good recovery though.

I'm sure you know already, but we're (SE Qld) in lockdown now too! At least until Sunday, but scuttlebutt around government departments is it may very well be extended another week.
05-08-2021, 07:05 PM
Wayne.Mumford

Thanks guys, unfortunately it was back to the wood. So a quick sand of the area and filled with epoxy and away we go again. Luckily it was on the arm cut-out, so I could tape off the rest of the top and just re-paint that area.

There is a COVID cluster not far from us in a unit block and Campbelltown is in one of the main 8 lockdown areas. Not allowed out even for work at the moment so I have another week off. More time to spend on guitars,yay.
06-08-2021, 05:57 AM
Wayne.Mumford

4 Attachment(s)

Attachment 41191 Attachment 41192
Attachment 41193 Attachment 41194
Some pics of my repair on this bubble. After a bit of wet sanding I will give it a couple of clear coats to seal it and hopefully it will look as if it didn’t happen.
08-08-2021, 04:33 PM
Wayne.Mumford

2 Attachment(s)

Had a bit of spare time today, ha ha ha, so I added a bit of bling to the headstock. Coming along nicely.
Attachment 41226
Attachment 41227
Too much time on my hands in lock down, not used to this not working business. I might have to start pulling other guitars apart and re-finishing.
08-08-2021, 05:14 PM
ross.pearson

Nice looking vintage BML tuners. Headstock and decals look great. Really nice job.
16-08-2021, 11:05 AM
Wayne.Mumford

3 Attachment(s)

Hi all, I have finally finished this little fun project and have learned a few lessons in spraying solid colours. I sent these pics off to my brother (who didn’t know about it) but haven’t heard back yet. I had a small problem with the action being too low, so I used a sharp chisel and took one mm off the neck pocket at the inner end to give it a very slight angle. Worked a treat. Attachment 41297 Attachment 41298
Attachment 41299
16-08-2021, 11:20 AM
dozymuppet

That looks very tidy. Nice work.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk
16-08-2021, 01:49 PM
ross.pearson

Fantastic work! Looks really good, I hope your brother likes it!
16-08-2021, 05:08 PM
Simon Barden

Looks lovely.
16-08-2021, 06:07 PM
Trevor Davies

Looks great. Well done. I hope your brother likes it.
17-08-2021, 01:35 PM
Wayne.Mumford

Thanks again guys , don’t know if said brother liked it because he hasn’t really said much. The main thing is, I enjoy making it and now I have a new bass. I’ve had better feedback from you lot. I was also going to put a vintage pickup cover on but they sent me the wrong one. Looking forward to my next one. Not putting it in GOTM, leave that for the newbies.