First Kit build ESB-4

I have built a scratchbuilt bass before but this is my first kit. I suspect it will take a while - happy to take time and do it well.

I am so far just at the stage of checking everything and doing mock ups. There are a few glue spots on the veneer. I haven't got any Goof off, but since it is the recommended product for dealing with this I plan to get some, so I will wait and deal with the glue once I have got some. In the meantime I have a few questions. First - I am wanting a transparent cherry red/ruby finish. I have seen colortone dyes in cherry, but they seem very expensive, but also the bottle seems to be enough to do a lot of guitars. Does anyone know of good options in Australia? I am at the moment thinking of doing body, neck and headstock all in the cherry.

Next questions I have photos. If the photos don't show enough then let me know and I'll try and take better ones.

On the top there are a few places where the veneer is scratched. Normally I would just sand it out, but of course with veneer I am a bit scared in case I sand right through. That would look terrible on a transparent finish, but so will the scratches. What is the best way to deal? Do I try and steam it and see if that works? I would have thought steaming won't work on scratches, but I am willing to try.

Next question - the neck fits very well into the pocket sideways, but there is about 0.5 to 1 mm at the end of the pocket where the neck won't go. It is hidden by the fretboard extension, so won't be really visible, but I expect that gap will also weaken the joint. It looks as if the radius of the corners of the neck and the pocket are not quite the same and so it doesn't fit in properly. The neck needs to be a wider radius or the pocket a smaller radius on the curve. The instructions say to adjust the pocket always rather than the neck but in this case it is going to be easy to lightly sand the corners of the neck to fit properly whereas doing the corners of the pocket means getting out the router and making sure everything alights properly before cutting. Any reason not to just alter the neck slightly in this case?

I took a few more photos of the scratches with side lighting so hopefully they are easier to see. Look like sanding marks for the factory maybe?

Attachment 40853
Attachment 40854

I'd adjust the end of the neck as you suggest.

You can steam the veneer, it's always worth a go. I'd use the soldering iron and damp cotton rag method rather than a larger iron.

You can do a light sand of the veneer afterwards, but steam first as it will reduce the amount of sanding required. Let the wood dry out thoroughly after steaming before sanding.

Be careful when staining as the binding has small stress cracks in it that you'll only see once stain gets in them. The tighter the binding has been bent, the more cracks it gets. So those two front 'ears' are full of the things! Aways mask off the binding if staining. I've found that spirit-based stains penetrates the binding far more than water-based stains do.

For colour there is always the spray option with a heritage cherry red tinted lacquer spray. You'll probably have to go to nitro lacquer for that as getting tinted clear poly or acrylic is quite hard. Someone found a source of one of those types, but they aren't common. If you have a compressor and spray gun, you could probably mix your own poly or acrylic tinted lacquer though. Nitro spray cans aren't cheap, and it's quite a big body, so you'd probably need a couple of cans of the red and a couple of clear lacquer to go over the top. Spray enough coats of the red until the finish is deep/dark enough for you, then put protective clear lacquer over the top of that.

Lacquer has the benefit of not really being affected by glue spots as the colour is sitting on top of the veneer, not being absorbed by it (or not). Again, best to mask off the binding (3mm vinyl auto pin-stripe masking tape is great for following the bends), but lacquer can be scraped off the binding. Red lacquer on the body wood only, but I'd clear lacquer over the wood and binding.

There are any number of other staining options available. Leather dyes or Feast-Watson stains are often used by people on here. They are really all very similar despite being marketed for different end purposes; a pigment in a carrier liquid, which may be water, spirit/alcohol or oil based.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

For colour there is always the spray option with a heritage cherry red tinted lacquer spray. You'll probably have to go to nitro lacquer for that as gettingtinted clear poly or acrylic is quite hard. Someone found a source of one of those types, but they aren't common. If you have a compressor and spray gun, you could probably mix your own poly or acrylic tinted lacquer though. Nitro spray cans aren't cheap, and it's quite a big body, so you'd probably need a couple of cans of the red and a couple of clear lacquer to go over the top. Spray enough coats of the red until the finish is deep/dark enough for you, then put protective clear lacquer over the top of that.

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There is also the custom paint option and go for a candy in a water borne carrier finished off with either a water borne or 2k clear ;) .

Cool, thanks. So steaming the veneer can't lift it or damage it? If not I will give it a go and see what happens.

As long as you don't overdo it. The steam and heat can melt the glue in that area, which is why it's best to use a soldering iron so that the heat is as localised as possible, rather than say a clothes iron. Much better to apply just a little steam several times than a lot of steam in one go.

Just a quick update. I have removed a bit of extra wood from the neck pocket (looked as if the last router pass wasn't quite as big - there was a 1mm high and 1mm wide bit at the base that I took out with a chisel), sanded it square (was just a hair - maybe 1/4mm out) rounded off the one corner of the neck that was a smaller radius and the neck fits very well in it's pocket - I can't see any gaps. Next I have clamped it in place, clamped 2 tuners on and temporarily attached the bridge and 2 strings. Results are in the photo. Everything looks nice and centred to me.

Attachment 40909

That's all good news.

OK, it has been a while. Life happened and I have taken a long time to do the sanding needed to think about finishing. I have now applied the first stain coat, and there are a few patches that look like glue, even though I cleaned these bits with goof off and nothing showed up when I dampened the front. It just isn't taking the stain in a few patches. What is the best way to deal with this? More goof off? Obviously whatever I do I will need to re-stain.

Attachment 43970

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Originally Posted by PJS

OK, it has been a while. Life happened and I have taken a long time to do the sanding needed to think about finishing. I have now applied the first stain coat, and there are a few patches that look like glue, even though I cleaned these bits with goof off and nothing showed up when I dampened the front. It just isn't taking the stain in a few patches. What is the best way to deal with this? More goof off? Obviously whatever I do I will need to re-stain.

Attachment 43970

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The best way to deal with these patches is to sand them down until they are smooth and free of any glue residue. This may require a few passes with fine grit sandpaper. Once the surface is smooth, apply a wood filler to the patches and let it dry. Once the wood filler is dry, sand the patches until they are smooth, and then re-stain the surface.

Thanks. I am in the process of sanding it down. I gave it a really good clean with Goof Off again and a bit of a sand (almost a wet sand with Goof Off :-) ). That didn't work so I am sanding the whole lot with a view to spraying a transparent lacquer over it instead. I will give your suggestion a go first though to see how it works out.

Good luck! How are you applying the stain?

I have been using lots of paper towel to apply stain. I have seen enough people on Youtube doing it that way to know it probably works. It is easily disposable. The only think is that the rubbing wears it out pretty quickly