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Trying a bass build this time.
Kit seems nice. Needed to tackle one or two glues spots around a crack that seems to have been glued in the body.
Have had a little success with goof off and a wire brush, and then scratching away with a needle followed by 60 grit sand paper but some of the glue seems to be more than a surface phenomenon. Has diminished considerably though.
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That does look like a nice body and the join lines seem to be straight; not angled like they often are. Is the crack in an obvious place or will it be hidden by a scratch or control plate?
Crack not a majot issue Simon. Have grain filled. Interesting tho - when I did the mock up build everything fitted perfectly. 2 months later the neck is too tight for the pocket (been very wet and humid here in Perth - so wondering if that has contributed)
Mineral turps reveal following grain fill and sanding with 80Grit. Hmmm ... looks like an old oak church pew. Lovely - but not what I want. Thinking I will ebonise wood with steel wool and vinegar solution, buy a red pickguard and do something like a Wilko Johnson black-n-red Fender tribute (albeit a bass version).
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some awesome grain there DJP, should look great in red and black. It's usually worth grain filling ash, have you done so or plan to ?
Yes, this has been grain filled with ebony timbermate. I laid it on quite thick and ended up leaving it a few weeks. Was like rock when I started to sand it off ! However, when you look closely you can see it really has done a great job. It is amazing how many really tiny holes / wrinkles in the grain there must have been ! The photo is the first sand back with 80 grit. Never owned a bass - this is a bit of an experiment.
no worries DJP that's why the grain has popped so nicely. Keep on sanding !
Happy with the headstock - not too much cutting and sanding required to get it to this state.
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Here is result after a lot of sanding. Still got some great grain. I was going to try a tea followed by steel wool and vinegar wash to darken it. However having tried it in the neck pocket, it is clearly rubbish on Ash even after applying tea ... unless you want the beautiful chestnut and funny greyish green result. Am now thinking about perhaps trying a black india ink stain. I want black, but with grain (not as black as priests socks ... perhaps more a strong blackish grey - with the ebony timbermate still showing the dark figuring). Then a nitro spray finish. No idea if I will be successful r.e. the colours tho.
Hi Buddy, just caught up with this thread and was curious to see how the chemical wash worked on Ash.
On my Alder Tele the first stain coat looked more olive green than grey/black and I completely freaked out but shouldn't have panicked as it still keeps oxidising for several days. Stupid me grabbed some cheap black ink pad ink to darken it up and oh what a disaster.....best to avoid that crap as it has a very sticky oily residue and makes everything look crap.
Ended up sanding most off and thankfully had left the steel wool in vinegar solution to brew a few more days so there was enough to do the job.
If you want more black/grey tones then a good quality India ink is the go and suggest trying to soak up as much as you can from the initial stain application, ie. dunk rag in ink and wipe on and then with a clean rag try to almost buff or polish off as much as you can before it completely dries. Using a damp clean rag works better but being water based and introducing more water watch out for Timber Mate shrinkage once it rehydrates and dries again. On my Red J Bass this left unexpected grain contours which I think now look great and retained them as a further grain feature.
I've got greens, greys, a little black and some beautiful chestnut colours. To be honest it could be a really interesting finish - distressed / weathered... but it's not what I am after (and I'm not sure how consistently it would develop). I think the india ink might be the best route. Will have a go later next week - thanks for the tip about the timbermate. Can you just spray nitro straight on the inked wood after leaving it dry for a long enough time - or is any other prep needed. ?
Should come up nicely, i like the timber on this one
Well I wanted black ... and I guess I got it in spades.
Used speedball indian ink. Applied with a folded up piece of cotton T-shirt.
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Went on an absolute treat.
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This is starting to look like it is going to work ....
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Spray time ...
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Thats blacker than black.
I also like your courtyard. I'm slightly jealous now
Yep ... its black ! Shiny like coal .. very nice grain. I think I have spotted a very faint bloody hairline crack in the body which seems to have been invisible prior to finishing ... or just developed.
Oh well, I'm too far down the road to cry now ... it doesn't look major structural issue, is buried under 8 coats nitro and seems to be associated with the crack I spotted on the end that had been glued up - so it might actually be glued anyway...
Courtyard is nice but way too many leaves from surrounding trees.
I just thought. The hairline crack I found must have opened / become visible on the back of the body relatively recently ... I grain filled the guitar. I'm pretty sure I didn't see it when I sealed the guitar, and same after first coats nitro.
Ooooh WTF. There's 2 of them slightly offset (look like the cracks you get in wood when it dries out).
Clearly doesn't go right through though body - only seen on the back.
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HOW WORRIED SHOULD I BE ?
They are full of nitro (I suspect one has been glued) and one can definitely be felt as a slight ridge - which might just be the nitro building up in/around it.(surface was flat as before).
I guess I just need to finish the nitro and see what happens.
Aha. Not so new. I can see them very faintly in earlier photos of the grain filled / stained surface. They have always been there and were grain filled. I'm beggining to think the hairline cracks/defects are just showing up much more under the nitro. One feels raised and ridge-like -but I think its just nitro building up. Maybe they will tone down a bit when I level the finish.
That looks really nice, what wonderful wood grain. Let it settle down and see what happens with it.
Thanks Andy. I think it is going to be ok. It must have got some filler in it when I grain filled. So I think in some respects it is just a surface thing. It seems like the nitro is building ridges at the edges if the crack ... surface tension or something I guess. I sanded lightly, then found I exposed some wood at the edge of the crack. So I got the Speedball Indian ink out and a cotton bud and gave the crack a good few wipes to re-stain it, get the ink into it. Have now sprayed 8 more nitro coats over 2 nights, and it looks OK. Far less obvious. I guess a black filled crack on a shiny heavilly textured black guitar is always going to show up in a certain light, but it now looks part of the character of the guitar - i.e. it's not sticking out like the proverbial dogs whatsits. I've got to say - this Speedball indian ink is really nice to work with on Ash. It gives a finish like coal, with some grain shiny, other more porous grain a bit duller. And the smooth bits look great. Can't say I like working with nitro though ... will probably go back to Dingotone for next job..
Yes it does look wonderful. I used the Feast Watson black stain on my SV1 and it gave a similar appearance, although the basswood body had very little grain to show.
That's the nitro on the neck and headstock flattened with 1200 and 2000 wet and dry. I can't get over how shiny the 2000 grit gets it. Very pleased indeed with result - the logo margins on the headstock are invisible. And the flame in the maple of the neck is just beautiful. Will let nitro cure for a few weeks and then buff it up just a little.
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............ Hopefully the same approach with the body will give a good result. :p
Nice decal! Especially the custom build number. Great touch.
Crack really looks heaps better. You kinda got to know its there to spot it.
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Body flattened (as much as the nice grain texture will allow without me spoiling it).
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Just need to be patient for it to cure and occupy myself with fitting the bone nut I ordered.
Bone nut .... nice n snug.
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OK - That's polishing done. Enough shining with Meguars to give me tennis elbow. But HAPPY with nice shiney finish.
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Spotted this lovely little leather item in local music shop ... absolutely perfect colours considering the red-n-black theme for the build. Just had to accessorize as my Mrs would say. Also got some nice looking strap locks apparently made by a local company.
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Got neck in place and shielded cavities last nite.
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....And finished. Had minor issue with bridge pick up. Tonerider upgrade was dud - or at least it only produced very low volume. Popped in the originsl from kit and it sounds just fine.
Plays a treat. Nice and shiney. Got the effect I wanted and colour scheme as planned. Happy :)
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Nice one DJP came up a treat. How does it sound and play?
It sounds quite nice. It all seemed to work very quickly once I swapped out the dodgy pup. I really lucked out with the set up ... measured up easy and didn't require much effort to get intonation. I do not play base so its all very new to me. But I bought a small 25 Watt Fender Rumble practice amp and am having some fun with it. Not sure whether the tone pot could do with some kind of upgrade - tone is lovely and rich but I'm feeling that to my ear there is not that much movement in tone control.
Great looking bass, the tortoise shell and black is a great look, and the wood texture finish is really cool as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJP