ESB-4SC - First build!

Hi All!

My father and I are working together on building an ESB-4SC that arrived a couple of weeks ago. Pitbull's was the only hollow body bass kit we could find online, and happily the consensus on the forum seems to be that it's a good one. We've decided to build some instruments as a diversion from our regular work, and I've always wanted to learn the bass, so here we go.

First some confessions: I barely play guitar. My father doesn't play guitar at all. And neither of us has ever played a bass guitar. Also, we've never disassembled a guitar or looked at the innards. Luckily we're pretty handy guys, and there's a lot of great info here. So, we think we've got a pretty good handle on what needs to be done.

After oohing and aahing at the contents of the box, and confirming that we had all of the parts, my father did the sanding on the neck and body. Perhaps we should have checked neck alignment first, but I wasn't going to be around for a while and we were eager to get work started on the project. Luckily, no ill came of it.

Next, we bolted the neck on to check neck alignment.

The neck was actually a tiny bit too big to fit in the pocket correctly, so some careful judicious sanding was needed. Also, there was a bit of...slag? in the pocket (wood bits in the corners that hadn't been routed out correctly), so a bit of time with a file was needed to clean that up. Once we were sure the neck was seating in place properly, we threw some clamps on it.

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...then we had to learn what a floating bridge and trapeze tailpiece are. Luckily, Google (and this forum) to the rescue! After figuring out the proper alignment of the tailpiece and putting in a couple of screws, we found that the action was WAY too high. We knew the nut was too tall, but the bigger problem lay with the bridge. Luckily user Dekka28 has been down this road before us, building this same guitar, also as his first build, and he asked a LOT of excellent questions in his build thread here:

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=4222

In regard to the bridge, Dingobass gave the excellent tip of putting a piece of 180 sandpaper upside down on the body of the guitar, and using that to sand the base of the bridge (go up and down, neck to trapeze, not side to side, to make sure the bridge conforms to the curve of the guitar).

We sanded the bridge lower than it needed to be, so that we won't need to be at the bottom of the bridge height adjusters when we get into final intonation. When we were happy that all of our measurements are at least in the ballpark, we unclamped the neck from the body, and knocked out the nut and placed an order for a TUSQ nut from amazon.

Next we stained the body and neck, deciding that we'd do the staining while the guitar was still in two pieces, and then glue in the neck so the guitar could be finished as a single unit. We used Solar Lux dyes (because our friend had some on hand, and we'd read that they were good for this sort of thing), applying medium brown mahogany to the neck and the sides of the body, and golden fruitwood to the front and back. (We did the back, then let it dry thoroughly. Then did the neck and sides, letting them dry. Then we did the front.) The dyes looked great while they were wet, but ended up very "flat" looking when they dried.

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(I'm out of attachments on this post, so tale continued next post!)

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Stain application went well, with two small issues. There's a smudge on the back where we got some of the dark stain on the lighter back of the guitar, and there's a place near the neck pocket that must have had some glue in the wood. No matter how much we sanded, we couldn't get the glue out enough to get that spot to accept the dye the same way the rest of the guitar did. Ah well, we'll find a way to hide it.

Next we moved on to gluing the neck into the body. We used plenty of hide glue, clamped, and let the whole thing sit for more than a day.

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Next step is to apply the finish. We've decided to go with Tru Oil, as we want a thick glossy finish, and lots of coats of Tru Oil seems to be a popular way to accomplish that. The color was very flat and plain looking after it dried, but luckily the very first coat of Tru Oil began to allow the grain and the beauty of the wood to show through.

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I've been away from the shop, so my father built a rig to suspend the assembled guitar, to allow for putting oil on the entire thing at once. We didn't want to have to deal with doing the front, letting it dry, then doing the back--if we didn't have to.

My father writes:

"It became pretty evident after applying the first coat of TO to our bass that instead of waiting for either side to dry why not make something to suspend it and be able to apply a coat to the entire guitar.

Construction was pretty simple. we took to short pieces of 5/16 rod, bent into a J and threaded the ends. Next was to drill a piece of bar stock to mount the hooks and a third to secure the center pin, this was threaded on one end the other welded into the bar holding the J hooks. You will also note at the top I drilled a hole for a pin, a safety measure just in case the nuts loosened enough to let the rod slip out and all come crashing to the floor, something I suspect would not happen till the very last coat was applied. and I added the "accessory" T bar for easy rotation while oiling. This will also work for a six-a-side headstock simply by making one hook longer to suspend using two holes.

I attached my holder to a beam in the shop, other suggestions may be the end of a kitchen cabinet, drill some holes in the side of your refrigerator attaching with easily obtained sheet metal screws, this would allow easy and quick access to a beer(grog) while working, any door, even the shower but I'd caution that you may not be able to bathe while finishing your guitar. The options are endless, good luck."

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Now to solder together some wiring while we apply a couple of dozen coats of Tru Oil.

If there are any pitfalls upcoming that might catch us off guard, we're very happy for any advice from folks who have been down this road before. This forum has been a great help to us so far. It's nice that there are so many folks out there eager to help each other when trouble arises!

That's looking great! When I was first thinking of taking up guitar I read a quote " Buy the guitar that you will WANT to play" I think there may be fights over who gets to play this one!

Thanks Dedman! My father and I live about two hours apart, so we might have to build a second bass so we both have one to play with!

Four coats of Tru Oil applied:

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BTW, does anybody know why the thumbnails of my pics are rotated 90 degrees, but they are oriented correctly when you click on them?

wow love the build Hooligan, the colour choice is excellent and coming along really nicely. Love the hanging jig you made. Looks like an interesting workshop a vintage car and a cool looking motorbike what are they ?

With the rotated thumbnails I'm not sure, sometimes they come out the right way, main thing is the full size pics are orientated the correct way.

You will defintely need a bass each so build another model for the next one !

For someone who has never built a kit I am really impressed at your knowledge and mods you have had to do, you really have done your homework

Keep em talking wokka, I'm gonna run off with that Indian

no worries Dedman is that what the bike is an Indian ? interesting looking donk is it a V-twin ?

flat head V-twin, I'm guessing late 40's early 50's by the rear end. Great bikes!

cool Dedman you do know your early bikes. Sure Hooligan will confirm when he gets online.
One of my favourite movies is Worlds fastest Indian, inspiring true story

I worked off and on in restoration garage and I freelanced as a photojournalist for a few bike mags back in the 80's and 90's

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Originally Posted by Dedman

Keep em talking wokka, I'm gonna run off with that Indian

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BAHAHAHAHA! Dedman you're a legend!

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Originally Posted by HooligansMusicLab

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That suspension jig is fantastic! I love that you built a safety into it, really clever idea, which of course we will steal at the first opportunity.....YOINK!

Thanks for the kind words everybody. Yes, the bike is a '47 Indian Chief that I'm restoring in my spare time for a customer. The car under the sheet is a Stanley Steamer, but I'm not sure of the year or model and don't want to give incorrect info, so I'll get the specifics and update. My father's main business is antique car restoration, mostly early steam cars, but that one's a personal project. You'll also see bits of another Stanley (a "mountain wagon", the steam car version of a bus) in some pics. And maybe we'll sneak some other items in the background of some upcoming guitar pics.

We can't take credit for the idea of the suspension jig. I saw someone else's build thread where they were finishing the body of their guitar and had it suspended via what looked like a clothes hanger through a pot hole in the face. We figured, why not do that with the whole guitar? I didn't have any input into the hanger design, though. That was entirely my old man's work. And I think he did a good job. The cotter pin in the top is a VERY good idea.

good stuff Hooligan some cool projects at your Dad's workshop

Looking good Hooligan, the coolest thing about this project is that you're doing it with your Dad...enjoy:)

Thanks for the kind words, everybody. Work continues!

After the fourth coat of Tru Oil I cleaned up the binding with some 0000 steel wool and went over the wood with 00 steel wool lightly, as recommended on the TO bottle. No surprises. I applied a fifth coat of TO, let it dry, cleaned the binding, and applied a sixth coat.

Pics!

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It's really starting to shine! We're finally getting the grain filled and starting to get a nice gloss. Obviously many more coats are needed, but we'll keep at it.

Questions!

1. I've gathered that Dingobass hates Tru Oil. Why is that?

2. We've been applying it with a bit of a cut up T shirt (new piece every time, pretty much). But I'm concerned about lint and fuzz and generally not getting a good coating of oil. Is there a better way? sponge brush maybe? regular paint brush?

3. My father really doesn't like being able to see in the F holes and see the unfinished inside of the guitar. Is there something that is normally done to darken the inside of the guitar body? If it's not normally done, is there something we CAN do? Will people give us weird looks if they hear we've darkened the inside of the body?

Thanks again for all of the help!

Great colour choices and the Tru-Oil is really starting to look the goods! Great job guys.

cheers,
Gav.

I've completely missed this build. Looks sensational especially after the Tru Oil which really does add depth to a finish

Inside of f-holes, personally I prefer natural wood but nothing stopping you from maybe spraypainting some black inside?

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On Tru Oil application I have ended up on using small squares of paper kitchen towel. The good quality stuff doesn't appear to leave any fibers in the finish. DB and Tru Oil, various reasons and I'll let him answer that.... :)

From what I understand it's a bit of a carcinogenic brew and a pain to remove when undertaking restorative finishing tasks

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Hi All!

We've been quiet because we're mostly just putting on coats of Tru Oil. The gloss gets a little better every time, as expected. We're up to ten coats now, and the grain is almost totally filled. I'll grab some pics and post them on Thursday.

So we'll see you after another 10 coats then!!!:p

Good stuff Hooligan looking forward to seeing the final result


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We're up to 14 coats of Tru Oil at this point. Each coat gets thinner as the surface no longer absorbs any new oil. It just lays on top until it cures. Most of the guitar is very very smooth now (check out that reflection in the last pic!), though there are a couple of spots that still have some grain showing. I think just a few more coats and we'll be done. Then the plan is to let it cure for a couple of weeks, then buff it to a high shine. Then, FINALLY, we'll be able to put the electronics in, do some set up, and play it!

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looking awesome!

looking very nice Hooligan, you and your Dad must be stoked with the results !

I'm new here, Hooligan, I just read about your build and saw the results. It's a beautiful instrument.

So, how does it play? How does it sound?

Looking good. I was just reading up on Tru Oil (heard the name before but never knew exactly what it was) and one luthier's web page says that it doesn't take too well to buffing (probably machine buffing). I'd test out any manual buffing on a small area first that's less important if it goes wrong, or easier to fix (e.g. the back of the headstock). As with any buffing, avoid a build-up of heat as this will soften and damage the finish created by the Tru Oil.

Yeah I tried Tru Oil Buffing on mine before I changed tactic - it didnt really like being bufffed whatsoever - went all cloudy and stuff. Do I have decent buffing gear? Not at all - so Im absolutely positive others would get a FAR better result from TO than I did - but it really did not like me at all...

Considering it's intended use is rifle stocks, they tend not to be super glossy so, not really surprising it doesn't go to a mirror finish

On all 4 of my builds the Micro Mesh Pads & Meguiars Car Polish did a great job of making things very smooth and shiny on the Tru Oil. Only hand rubbed and maybe that is the trick.