First Build - JBA-4

Just ordered a JBA-4 (Ash Body) kit along with some upgrades:

• Gotoh GB640 Res-O-Lite Tuners
• Tonerider TRJ1 'Jazz Plus' Pickups
• Schaller S Strap Locks
• Rotosound RS77 Monel Flat Wounds
• Babicz FCH 4 Bridge (Black)
• Copper Shielding Tape
• Bone Nut
• .047uF Orange Drop Capacitor

Accessories:

• Mono Betty Guitar Strap
• Phil Jones Micro 7 Combo Amp

I'm aiming for a black burst over a dark purple base with a glassy finish, and with a matching headstock. After reading many posts and watching many videos, I've settled on the following methodology:

Note: I will continue updating this methodology as I receive feedback from others.

PRELIMIARY

• Test Fit & Adjust
• Fret Crowning

BODY
1. Sand to 240 grit
2. Grain fill black with Timbermate Ebony Woodfiller
3. Sand from 240 grit
4. Apply Angelus Leather Dye Purple (1 coat, let dry 24hrs, lightly sand, let dry for 7 days)
5. Apply Gluboost Fill n Finish (2 coats, sanding in between with 220 grit, 400 grit for final sand)
6. Apply 5 double header coats of SCA Acrylic Aerosol Paint (Clear) , 20mins drying between each set
7. Spray burst edges with SCA Acrylic Aerosol Paint (Black)
8. Finish with 15 double header coats of SCA Acrylic Aerosol Paint (Clear) , 20mins drying between each set
9. Let dry for 7 days
10. Level sand with 600 grit then wet sanding with Micro Mesh Pads (1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000) changing sanding direction with each grit
11. Finish with Maguire's Polishing compound, Scratch Remover, Ultimate Polish

NECK
1. Cut headstock to shape
2. Tape off fretboard and where neck fits into guitar
3. Scruff up with 400 grit
4. Apply Angelus Leather Dye Purple to headstock (1 coat, let dry 24hrs, lightly sand, let dry for 7 days)
5. Plug up tape tuning holes with tape
6. Apply 1 double header coat of Cabot's Clear Stain Exterior Aerosol (Gloss) to face of headstock
7. Spray burst face of headstock with Self-Priming Acrylic Aerosol Paint (Black)
8. Apply decals produced on Waterslide Decal Paper
9. Apply 5 coats of Cabot's Clear Stain Exterior Aerosol (Gloss) to headstock front, level sanding before final coat
10. Apply 3 coats of Cabot's Clear Stain Exterior Aerosol (Satin) to headstock sides/back and neck), sanding to 2000 before final coat
10. Level sand headstock face with 600 grit then wet sanding with Micro Mesh Pads (1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000) changing sanding direction with each grit
11. Finish with Maguire's Polishing compound

ROSEWOOD FRETBOARD
1. Oil with Dunlop Fretboard 65

SETUP

• Truss Rod
• Nut
• Saddle Height
• Intonation

This method has been updated and now reflects the method I used in my actual build

My kit arrived in the post today. Just waiting for my toneriders to arrive tomorrow and I'll make a start.

Surprisingly, the kit arrived with the stock pickups installed and the bridge screw holes pre-drilled.

Body and neck look really good!Attachment 43409Attachment 43410Attachment 43411

I've written to Adam to solve the mystery of the preinstalled pickups and pre-drilled bridge screw holes.
Attachment 43412

Great to see another new builder

I used black wood filler and dye on my build. I really liked the results so look forward to seeing the results of yours. I was not looking for a super smooth finish so I only did the grain fill once. If I had done a couple of fills it would be easier to get a flat surface. This seems to be what more experienced builder recommend if you are going for that look.

I have been using wipe on poly for the first time and can recommend as a great way to get a good cover. I don't have a great set up to spray when it is winter so I was looking for an alternative. I did do two very light coats of the Cabothane Poly Gloss before the wipe on as sealer as I had seen it as a recommendation to stop the dye bleeding into the wipe on. Not sure if this is necessary but it made sense to me and worked.

Enjoy the build.

I was wondering about sealing the dye... I'll add Cabot's 300g Gloss Oil Based Cabothane Clear Polyurethane Aerosol to my shopping list - thanks Juz!

(By the way - the finish on your Tele looks amazing)

Made some progress today:

Designed the headstock
Attachment 43428

Enlarged the pickup cavities and pickguard to fit Tonerider Pickups
Attachment 43429

Crowned the frets and removed the plastic nut
Attachment 43430

Cut the headstock
Attachment 43431

Neck ready to finish
Attachment 43432

Next step is to sand the neck and body, then start filling/dyeing/painting/staining/polishing.

Nice to see a heastock design different from the usual P/J bass.:cool:

Timbermate Ebony woodfiller done, sanded to 400 grit. Really happy with how the grain looks and how smooth the body feels.
Attachment 43435

Looks good. Really nice grain pattern. Should come up really well with the dye.

This was my second attempt with the dye... The first attempt, I went over it with dye too many times and the dye turned a green/gold/metallic colour. So, I sanded it back, went over it again with one light coat of dye, sanded it lightly... It's better now, definitely the colour I was looking for, although a little patchy. I'm not game to sand further as it's already close to the bare timber in places. But I think it will look fine under a gloss finish and black burst edges.
Attachment 43438
Attachment 43439

Headstock dyed, and a test to see how it will look together. I'm not proud of the dye and sanding, but it will look good once I do the black burst. I'll let the dye dry for a week before seal and finish.
Attachment 43440
Attachment 43441

The gloss makes a huge difference. I think it probably takes a bit of trial to see how the colours work with different wood. It is easy to see why people who cut out their own bodies keep the offcuts to test out the finish on. It is a huge learning cure but that is what I am enjoying about my build.

That looks great!

@Juz: Thanks for the words. I'm feeling much better about the finish knowing the clear coat will help. Yes, it's a huge learning curve, but so much fun!

@JohnH: Thanks for the compliment. It's appreciated!

I love that you stained the headstock. I wish I had done it to my build. I was worried about the different wood but the grain can still be seen there. I will definitely try this on a future build.

I appreciate the feedback, Juz. I used a little ebony timbermate on the face of the headstock to bring out the grain before dying to match the body. I'm really happy with how the headstock looks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mathew

Headstock dyed, and a test to see how it will look together. I'm not proud of the dye and sanding, but it will look good once I do the black burst. I'll let the dye dry for a week before seal and finish.
Attachment 43440
Attachment 43441

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your dye looks patchy, off the top of my head is that an ash body or basswood? this is my 2c I wouldn't have used Timbermate if you're going to clear it with lacquer as it will swell and shrink back for months if your not getting good penetration you have sanded it with too finer grit paper on basswood I would only sand to120 grit and Ash 180 grit before dye as you will get better penetration with your dye, if your going the road you are with your stain and Timbermate you would be better if you use wipe on Polly or tru-oil you will just have problems with a lacquer trying to fill the grain for a smoother finish and if its Ash body you will need to seal it well after dyeing it for lacquer.

love the colour and nice grain if you do another guitar in the future you will need to go another way to prep if you want to go with lacquer, btw DO NOT sand every coat go 6-7 double header coats then lightly sand with 400 w&d then thin out you're clear to 2 to 1 if you are using rattle can just recoat it without sanding but leave it 20 mins between coats 🤘

@Phrozin: The body is Ash. I agree, the dye is patchy. I think your comment about sandpaper was spot on as my second attempt with dye (after sanding to 400 grit) seemed to sit on the surface rather than penetrate.

I do love the colour and grain, so I'll work with it. I'm doing all this by hand with Sandpaper on blocks, and am not really set up to (or confident in) stripping it back and starting again. I've ordered another guitar to do after this one, so I'll go another way with prep for my next project. I drew so many ideas from so many people for my current methodology (including from yourself) - I need to consider compatibility next time.

Thanks for the great and honest feedback. I really appreciate it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mathew

@Phrozin: The body is Ash. I agree, the dye is patchy. I think your comment about sandpaper was spot on as my second attempt with dye (after sanding to 400 grit) seemed to sit on the surface rather than penetrate.

I do love the colour and grain, so I'll work with it. I'm doing all this by hand with Sandpaper on blocks, and am not really set up to (or confident in) stripping it back and starting again. I've ordered another guitar to do after this one, so I'll go another way with prep for my next project. I drew so many ideas from so many people for my current methodology (including from yourself) - I need to consider compatibility next time.

Thanks for the great and honest feedback. I really appreciate it.

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yeh your sort of committed atm with this one if you need any advice you know how to contact me I do read the forums but rarely comment, with your next build try get a plan of what you want to achieve and you will soon get some nice gear, I do read the forums but i rarely comment

As Phrozin says, 400 grit is really too fine for sanding before staining. The wood surface needs to be a bit rougher to absorb the stain evenly. 180 grit is about as fine as I go if I'm staining. Sometimes you just need to try with a few more stain applications to help level things out. Saying that, your stain finish is only very slightly patchy IMO, and I've seen far worse stain jobs. Sometimes the wood itself has areas with cross-grain patterns in it that absorb the stain in a different way (sometimes more, sometimes less) than the surrounding areas and there's not much you can do about that.

You've also got an ash body and a maple neck, and with the same stain, ash and maple will end up very slightly different colours as the wood colours are that bit different.

So if I'm staining, I often lightly stain, and then use a tinted clear lacquer of the same colour to provide most of the finish before putting clear over that. That generally helps even things out, but it still can't counter some odd grain pattern in the wood that reflects light differently to the wood around it, making it look darker or lighter from some angles.

If you were a big manufacturer, you'd probably chose to paint wood like that with a solid colour, and only chose the best wood bodies for clear/translucent finishes. But when you've just got the one kit and you're set on finishing it a certain way, then you just have to make the best job of it you can and accept small imperfections.

@Phrozin
@Simon Barden

Thanks both for your advice. For me, if I end up with something which looks good and is playable, I'll be delighted. While I don't want to approach this as a 'trial' project, I've already ordered either kit to apply some early lessons learned. And as Simon pointed out, I had in mind a finish before I even saw the body. So in time, it will be good to be confident enough to work with the wood, rather than use the wood as a canvas for the finish I want to end up with.

The perils of rushing...

I gave this two coats of gluboost, which I thought l had sanded reasonably flat. But I don't go too hard with the sanding as I was paranoid about sanding into the dye. Alas, I didn't sand enough and the first clear coat revealed a lot of rippling in the glue. So, I think I need to let cure, sand back nice and flat (hoping like heck I don't bite through the dye) and start the clear coating again.

Attachment 43445

Apply another coat or two of glue and sand out the high spots. The trick is not to sand through the glue.

Cheers Chris

As the GluBoost is basically clear CA, in theory you should be able to ignore the ripples and just keep on adding your clear coats. You may need a few more coats of clear than originally planned because of the ripples, as when you sand back flat you’d really want a surface that’s all clear coat, with no small flattened ridge of GluBoost that’s poking through. Whilst the GluBoost is transparent and should polish up just like a clear coat, it’s reflective index is probably slightly different to the clear coat so it may show up as a very slightly duller or brighter patch (though it may not).

So I’d just add more clear until you’ve got enough depth to endure that you don’t sand through to the GB ridges and leave those covered with clear.

The GB filler was probably not the product to use on a stained surface just as a filler as you should really should sand the surface flat after applying, which means you are likely to sand off some stain when doing so. I’d assume it’s meant more for use on bare wood. If you applied enough GB to sand it flat without breaking through to the stain, then you’ve got enough protection to just polish the GluBoost to a shine and not bother with a clear coat. Though if you are applying decals to the headstock you’d want clear over those for protection.

If you sand off some stain, then that means the wood should be exposed and free of GluBoost in those spots so it should take up more stain, but it may look a bit patchy around the edges of that area where there’s a mixture of exposed and partially GB covered wood. It may depend on how saturated the wood was with stain to begin with. If the wood was stained until it didn’t get any darker, then in theory, you should be able to stain and stain again and achieve the same colour. But theory and practice don’t always match, so I’d take the less risky route of just applying clear.

However, if you want to attack just the ridged areas to start with, I suggest you use the scraper and strip sand method described in this StewMac video (after the initial chip filling section). I've used it successfully myself.

https://youtu.be/rTVScFJoe24

Crisis averted.

I sanded back to the dye, relaid 3 coats of gluboost (so much easier 2nd time), sanded flat, and laid down 5 light coats of clear coat.

I'll let cure, spray the edges black, and then more clear coat.

Attachment 43457

Good news.

I'd sand the clear back flat as much as possible before spraying the edges black. It will make like so much easier when sanding the final clear coats. You'll also want the surface to be slightly rough (say P600) so that the fresh clear will adhere to the cured clear. There's no strong solvent in acrylic, unlike with nitrocellulose, so the new layer won't melt into a cured layer, it will sit on top. If it remains shiny, there's not a lot for the finish to grab onto, and it can delaminate over time or if knocked. So a sanded surface is much better for the acrylic to grip to.

Damn weather...

I have paper templates cut to spray the edges black. If the weather is good tomorrow, I'll flatten the clear coats with 600 grit, spray the edges, and spray the burst. Then more Clearcoat, and onto the neck.

Loving this project. Loving being part of this community too!

@Simon Barden
@Phrozin
@Curtis5000
@Christodav
@Juz
You guys are amazing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Good news.

I'd sand the clear back flat as much as possible before spraying the edges black. It will make like so much easier when sanding the final clear coats. You'll also want the surface to be slightly rough (say P600) so that the fresh clear will adhere to the cured clear. There's no strong solvent in acrylic, unlike with nitrocellulose, so the new layer won't melt into a cured layer, it will sit on top. If it remains shiny, there's not a lot for the finish to grab onto, and it can delaminate over time or if knocked. So a sanded surface is much better for the acrylic to grip to.

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No, I would leave it alone Simon, I'm expecting the black not to work as he's using a black rattle can for a burst I would put 6-7 coats of clear before the burst so if he has issues he can recover the clear with light sanding ideally not spraying a burst with a rattle can as I've never seen a burst look ok with a rattle can, doing a burst is really experienced builder territory with spray gun or airbrush, if he has used a filler with wood putty why does he need a gluboost i have heard of gluboot but isn't it just a clear CA glue I use CA a lot as a grain filler if I doing a colour finish i think Mathew has read so many versions that he's a little lost with this one but I get what he's trying to do with this build, I guess if it goes west on him he could sand it all off and start again but I think for this one with his dye would have been better with tru oil on this one as its almost fail proof

Matthew trying to do his best and he's learning and he's asking the right question

So...

If I was confident with what I was doing, I would have followed Chris' advice and sanded the clear coat. But as I was unsure how the burst would come out using cans, I followed Phrozin's advice and didn't sand, in case I needed to sand the burst off and start again.

But...

I'm happy with the burst! For cans, I think it looks pretty good. The body matches what I had in mind, which is a purple glow popping out of a dark body. I think it will look great with Clearcoat. The headstock came out just as I intended too, with just the purple popping through the centre.

I'll let it dry tonight/tomorrow, and lay Clearcoat over the weekend. I'm planning 15 double-headet coats of SCA Acrylic on the body, and 3 coats of Cabot's Marine poly on the neck - gloss on the face of the headstock and satin on the rest.

Attachment 43459

Attachment 43460

Looks good to me.

Thanks, Simon. I used the masking method you described to spray the edges and burst - it worked a treat.

Doing a burst with a spray can can be a bit risky. The spray mist isn’t as fine as from a gun, and some sprays can be a bit spluttery and deposit large blobs where you don’t want them. So it’s worth thinking about getting a mini gun and compressor if you plan to do a lot more of this sort of thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Doing a burst with a spray can can be a bit risky. The spray mist isn’t as fine as from a gun, and some sprays can be a bit spluttery and deposit large blobs where you don’t want them. So it’s worth thinking about getting a mini gun and compressor if you plan to do a lot more of this sort of thing.

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100% Simon, Mathew has been picking my brain off forum, it's his 1st try so everything he does is learning for the next one before you know it he's winning GOTM

I would not have started a project like this but for this forum, and I would likely have given up were it not the the feedback I've received both public and private. This is my first time doing anything like this, and I can see this becoming a hobby that I'll continue long after this project.

What I'll do next time is:
1) Apply an appropriate finish to best reveal the body, not use the body as a canvas to achieve a finish I want;
2) Look to the forums for inspiration, not use the forums to piece together methodologies which may be incompatible:
3) Invest in the right tools and equipment for the job;
4) Don't panic, because it shows in the finish.

Meantime - I got my decals on this morning. I give thee:

Purple Thunder

Attachment 43461

Looking good.

+1 for it being a great hobby, +1 for investing in the right tools, and +1 for don't panic. I also go by the belief that you learn by your mistakes, and that most mistakes can be fixed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trevor Davies

L I also go by the belief that you learn by your mistakes, and that most mistakes can be fixed.

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People make mistakes? (I was going to go with the slightly more snarky quote "Only a fool learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from *other peoples* mistakes.")

I rubbed a little of the purple Angelus dye which I used for the body onto the white edge of the pickguard. Now I have a nice purple halo to match the guitar body.

Attachment 43474

15 coats of acrylic clear on the body, 3 coats of satin poly on the neck, and 3 coats of gloss poly on the headstock.

The neck feels OK, but not as smooth as I would like. The headstock will need a wet sand and polish I imagine. And the body will also get a wet sand and polish - as soon as I figure out how to do all that!

Attachment 43477
Attachment 43478
Attachment 43479

This is coming together very well! Lots of excellent details.
And great to see bass guitars getting built!