VP4 - 2nd build

Hi. A little behind on posting, work and such has been a little over the top. But had a minute so I thought I'd post some of the progress. My dad got me a VP-4 for my birthday. He's PapaKen, built the ES-1GT in the Feb GOTM (which is a freaking SPECTACULAR guitar - I got to see and play it in person, I know pics don't do justice but it was phenomenal). We had been chatting and I was talking about wanting to start another project, and I love the big chrome pieces on the VP-4. So, for my bday, one showed up in the mail.

Right out of the package, I was a little disappointed to be honest. The ground wire on the pots was literally hanging by a wire - it fell off as soon as I pulled the pick guard out. No biggy, I love soldering anyway. Then I did a dry fit - the neck and pocket have a very noticeable gap when dry fit. I couldn't get a good picture since it just looks like a shadow, but imagine if the pocket was cut so the sides were lower than the center or the neck was cut so the middle was thicker than the sides - there is a noticable gap on each side. No biggy, just some sanding and leveling. The pick guard... there is a huge gap at the end where the jack is. The guard comes to a point, and the routed hole actually widens. It can be moved to cover the hole, but then the neck cut out is waaaaay off. Even trimming up one side of the neck cavity part of the pick guard so it will fit around the neck and cover the routed hole isn't an option, because then the *other* side of the neck cutout on the guard is way off, and I can't *add* material. No biggy, I don't like that red in person and so the first thing I decided was I'm going to order a piece of pick guard material and make my own.

Also, the chrome cover that goes over the pups, looks like one side will just mount to *only* the pickguard. Not sure if that is normal or not.

The neck had some spots that were visibly softer, and easily dented with only moderate pressure and a fingernail... But who whould press on a neck with a fingernail... My plan was to use a superglue solution to help harden the soft spots so we'll see how that goes.

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The next part was deciding on color and finish. My last build I used a lacquer finish just because I read that was a good and classic finish. After using the guitar for a while I decided that since the VP-4 is a solid wood (no cap) and I could sand the living hell out of it if I wanted to, I was going to go with a hand rubbed oil finish so the wood would look and feel like wood, not like wood encased in plastic. I decided I was going to go dark so the chrome would stand out and be the highlight. I was thinking about popping the grain with a black dye and then using a pickling to make the softer wood a lighter gray. So first step, a test with some black ink (to see how the grain reacts and raise it for the initial sanding). On the front there was a crazy solid line between two of the planks used in the body. One of the boards was super soft and soaked up like a sponge and the other.... didn't. There were a bunch of pretty severe glue spots too. The line I wasn't so concerned about since I could cover with pick guard. The glue spots... time for some sandpaper and elbow grease! Apparently I didn't get a good photo of the stain difference on the front, but that will be apparent soon....

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Good to see you back kenfu. Was a big fan of your LP-1SS and was going to ask if this one will be as shiny. Interesting what you said about the plasticy feel above. I was considering that for another build but may opt for another option because I don't like the plasticy feel.

happy sanding!

Hey andy. Thanks for the comment on the LP. The lacquer didn't protect as much as I thought (already a ding) and it feels ... not like wood. Not sure what I would have done differently with the cap though. Finish wise. If you want shiny, there really isn't much of an option other than a finish that makes a "case" over the wood, from my frankly amateur understanding. I've always used an oil rub for wood. So I thought I'd go back to that.

Sorry for the delay, got a few things happening right now. thought I could get all the pics and the synopsis up, but best laid plans...

Anyway, the sides of the body did exactly what I thought it would. Soak up everything (end grain). I was a bit surprised at the spot on the front that was so receptive to the wash. It was like end grain on the front. But like I said, I figured that was prime real estate to be covered by the pick guard (and the controls *have* to go in the guard there anyway, so no big deal).

Insert here busting out the orbital sander to go from 50 - 320 grit. I should have taken some pics from those jet black to bare wood again. With the exception of that one spot on the front... Crazy. It was like it was made of sponge. After going to 320 with the power sander, I went back down to 150 up to 320 again with 3m Sandblaster Pro Ultra Flexible. I love this stuff. It is P grade and I wrap it around some cloth or sponge. If you haven't tried it, do. Since I was going for an oil hand-rubbed finish, I figured it wasn't going to be shiny so I wanted no sharp curves. Wrapping this stuff on a sponge gave me just what I wanted-any high point got sanded down, but only the high points. The high points pressed harder into the sponge, so they got more "sanding". Everything just equalized to the lowest common denominator and after a few days of working in the evening (one grit per day per beer) it was gloriously smooth.

At this point, no pics since it was just sand, sand, when you think you are done, sand some more... Then the big time. Water based, to keep my options open, or oil based. I figure, go big or go home. I had some ebony oil stain from a different project. This was a pigment based oil stain so no "danish oil" or the like. I put on a bunch of wood conditioner since the grain was all over the place. I put on some stain, and after a bit of soul searching it went on the fingerboard too. I know, heresy. But I had a tiny piece of rosewood that did very well with a quick wipe on wipe off.... On the LP, the ink did awesome but it was uniformly black. And since the fretboard got lemon oil as a final coat and lemon oil would be a safe finish for this oil stain.... Why not? Let it ride.... Either awesome or experience. Both fine choices.

After the stain, I sanded back the body and neck to try to "pop" the grain. I had in my brain a kind of "zebrawood" look. In reality, it looked like stained wood sanded back by a redneck in the basement. However, the grain had some great promise. So, one more round of stain, but this one was wipe on - wipe *immediately* off. Then, I did a little more on the sides, in the curves on the neck, and a little bit around the edges to soften the curves so it wouldn't have any sharp lines in contrast. And I wanted the edge to be black, and since it was end grain it complied gloriously. Note on the front the side that looks jet black. I thought I could maybe try to harden the grain, but whatever. Pickguard it is!

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... after some more sanding and a scoth brite, a little more tweaking with some stain around the edges,the first and the second coat of tung oil (yes, real tung oil) it is kind of looking great. It feels like wood, it isn't shiny but a great satiny shine... Smooth as. Going to try to get a couple more rounds of soaking in tung oil before putting it on hiatus for a bit while I move. Figure a few weeks of curing while I move, and then design the pick guard and cut it out. Super stoked on how it is looking, pics just don't do it justice. Oil soaked wood has a look you just have to see to ... well, see it. And the fretboard... Couldn't be happier. The grain is crazy complex. This thing is going to be insane with the chrome on it!

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Liking the colour mate

hey Ken I agree with Tony like how this build is progressing. Keep up the good work

Looking good, i have an image in my head of that body/neck in a high gloss finish with chrome machinery and its a fantastic image! Look forward to seeing the progress for this build.

Man that rosewood fretboard is somethin else!

FrankenWashie, with the oil rub I'm using to finish it, it will be a more satin finish than gloss. And definitely feels pretty awesome. Just put coat 4 on tonight. I think it is getting close to done since it really isn't soaking up much oil anymore.

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Love the natural organic look you have got going there.

For scratch plates there are plenty on eBay for most Fender shapes and reckon a silver mirror or brushed aluminium finish would compliment the chrome finish. Bought one for my Son's Strat copy a few months back for around $20 bucks delivered out of Hong Kong.

the sheen on that tung oil finish is beautiful, suits it perfectly

Excellent work, my boy! Thanks for the plug at the top for my Ashley! She still sounds as good as when you were home. Keep up the good work!

So the finish is pretty much all done. The wood was not soaking up any more tung oil so I decided to call it. I let that cure for a good long while and then put two rounds of carnuba wax on it. I realize that with the wax it will require a lot more work and regular maintenance, but the look and feel of it is just spectacular.

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You can see in that last photo how there are two very different (hardness? grain pattern?) looks of the wood. It is kind of weird. The grain is a lot more open where it looks "duller" in the picture. Absorbed a bit more stain too so it is a little darker. Not sure what it is, but the fretboard oil really brought out the difference. Going to put a couple more rounds of oil on and see what that does. Don't want to go too thick on that so I'm being super careful. If it stays like that, I can live with it. The little bit of dark stain on the fretboard really makes it pop though. I'm really happy with how the curves and edges turned out. I took a lot of time to sand with some super fine scoth brite to get some gradation in darkness of the stain. Kind of like a burst I guess but it is more like it accentuates the natural shadows to give it a lot more depth. The photos don't do a good job capturing the subtlety especially around the edges. It looks more like a solid border.

I've been going back and forth on the logo. I was planning on doing a lion head again, to match the LP I did. The plan was to engrave out the wood back to the raw wood so it would be lighter in color than the dark wood. But now that the finish is done I don't know.... I really like the look of just the wood. I was thinking of changing plans and just etching the lion head (or a variant) into the ashtray or pickup cover. We'll have to see. I may try the pickup cover first. That would be a lot easier to change if I didn't like it... Also thinking about getting a black/white sandwich sheet of pickguard material and engraving that down to the white. So that will be test two if I don't like how the ashtray/pickup guard turns out.

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Sorry for the double post, but I had a big question and I forgot to ask. So this kit has a 34" scale length. I know I'm going to have to find the centerline, measure from 12th fret to saddles (saddles forward, right?) etc. I'm just wondering the order of install. Should I just temporarily clamp the neck to get the measurements and mount the bridge *then* mount the neck, or mount the neck and *then* make all measurements/alignments for the bridge? To me it seems easier to mount the neck first but I don't know... the LP had the bridge mounts pre drilled. FYI this is a bolt on neck. Thanks!!

Hey Kenfu,

I was considering a waxy satin finish on one of my builds. I see you've anticipated a lot more work and regular maintenance. Do you mean just re waxing? whats the finish feel like? smooth or sticky?

Sorry I've never built a bass but I would have thought the methodology in measuring the scale length would be the same as a 6 string? I stand to be corrected though.

The finish is very smooth. The carnauba wax dries to a nice hard finish, not stickyat all. With a wax finish you have to polish it yearly with a nice light wax. And it isn't very alcohol resistant so you don't want to spill many drinks on it. Looks and feels pretty amazing.

Edit- I realized I didn't specify the wax I was using. It is carnauba, but not 100%. I enjoy cooking and I burn through a couple of cutting boards every year. My gf's mom works for a place that makes/distributes essential oils/waxes/etc. So I have a giant playground of different materials to work with. I have two different waxes for my cutting boards - one is the carnauba wax and the other is a much lighter touch up wax I use about once a week. Here are my recipes, and they seem to work very very well. Keeps the cutting board sealed up pretty well through repeated abuse with knives and acidic veggies/fruits so I figure it will work well for the guitar. Not going to be slicing on them. Someday shredding hopefully...

Note that this has to be *pure* tung oil.

Initial wax: 1 part carnauba, 1 part beeswax. Grate them up seperately. In a double boiler, add the wax and just enough tung oil to almost cover. After everything is melted over gentle heat (no boiling the water and stir fairly constantly) seal it up and enjoy. (1)

Maintain wax: 1 part carnauba, 4 parts beeswax. Same thing, but I use food grade mineral oil rather than tung oil. This is just so I don't have to wait a week for the oil to cure. You can find it in the grocery store under "laxitives" (1)

polish: Note - *not* food safe. Great for furniture though. 1 part carnauba, 4 parts beeswax. Same process, but use turpentine or mineral spirits rather than oil and *do not* add them until after the wax is melted! Take that off the stove, allow to cool for a couple minutes and stir in about 1 part spirits. I prefer "odorless" mineral spirits and I'll add some essential oils (think "lemon furniture polish") I like sandalwood, the gf likes rose. (1)

(1) - The more beeswax you use, the shiner it will get with less effort but the softer the finish will be. With more beeswax it is also easier to just dip into and rub on. The more carnauba wax you use, the more durable it will be but it will be a little more difficult to put on. Heating a bit helps.

As long as I was working on the guitar, I did a round on our table since we are trying to sell it before the move. This is with the polish. Figured I'd take a pic since I'm sitting right here and it is a good example. Nice and shiny. If you buff it lightly, it is more semi-gloss. If you go for it, you can get it very shiny. It even fills in minor scratches like cat claw marks (little bastards). Speaking of which, excuse the cat hair.
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I have yet to try this but I have a citrus based non-toxic all-natural solvent for cleaning bike parts that as I'm writing realize I could probably use for the polish, but I'm not sure if it would evaporate like the spirits. I may have to experiment. I can post some results if anyone is interested.

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As far as scale goes, this is 34" scale and from nut to 12th fret is spot on 17", so I'm guessing 17" from 12th fret to saddle is right. Just not sure if I set the neck first or the bridge first.

Hi Kenfu, treble side of things seems to usually have the saddles furthermost forwards with low E a bit further back. Thankfully these F style bridges have plenty of travel.

I would measure 34" from inside nut to top of G string saddle. Clamping neck is probably better way to go as you really need to run E & G strings so that you can see how neck is aligned within the pocket before you start thinking about screwing it in place. How the strings pass over the PUP's and spacing at this point is also highly important not just for appearances but also sound quality too.

I think this website/forum has a thread or tutorial on it somewhere. For my EX-5 I cheated a bit as there are a couple of P Bass styles kicking around and took multiple measurements off them as a starting reference point to eliminate much of the guesswork.

Thanks waz. I had seen a couple of posts in my searches, and I saw a couple that said clamp first, and then there was the video in the "how to build" thread for Fitting the Bridge to a TL-1 and in it the neck was bolted before the bridge was placed. Then just now I was trying to find that post and I saw the "Sticky: Bridge placement on a bass" thread. :confused: How did I miss that?!?! Too many beers I guess. Or not enough. Whichever way, not the optimal amount of beer.

Wow thanks Kenfu!