My 1st Build - ESB-4SC

I ordered my kit yesterday and now waiting for Mr Postman.

One quick question is. How do I shield my electronics in a hollow body bass? It seems there is no lining in the cavities for the foil to attach to.

Cheers,

TonyW51

Hi TonyW51. As no one else has responded I’ll give my two cents worth.
I asked the same question in my ES-5V diary. The answer was there was no practical way to shield the electronics in the hollow body. Mine is not shielded and I’ve had no issues. If anyone has more detailed knowledge about your kit/shielding I’m sure they will jump in and correct me.

Thanks DarkMark. It's a little way ahead yet so plenty of time to think about it.

Yes. You can't shield the interior of a hollow body. The best you can do is use shielded cable throughout to minimise noise pickup (not the standard kit thin unshielded single core wire).

Hi Simon,
Thanks for your response and build references. I am pawing through them at the moment and picking up a number of hints.

I have received an ETA on delivery for next Tuesday so I have been busying myself preparing the work space in the man cave.

Cheers
Tony

Hi, I am building this Bass for my son who would like me to use Dingotone Bondi Blue front and back with a dark - ebony? - for the sides and a light highlight for the bindings. Does anyone have a site recommendation for finishing in this way?

Cheers
Tony W

Well it has arrived on time and undamaged. I was most impressed with the quality of the kit (given the price) and the way it was packed. All but a very small amount of plastic was totally recyclable cardboard or paper and I am able to re-use the box to protect the body and neck during the build. Well done Pit Bull.
Attachment 30440

I have checked the fitting of the neck and it is tight but good. There may be a little sanding there to do to give me a little wriggle room if needed. Tuners, bridge and trapeze all fine along with hardware. One small matter has arisen with regards the electronics and that is the kit supplied had 2 X A500K’s and 2 X B500K’s. This is at odds with the published wiring diagram and the pre-drilling of the body. I discussed this with my son and Brenda and Adam at Pit Bull. The upshot was that I shall build as per the original wiring diagram with 1 Bridge volume pot, 1 Neck volume pot, 1 Master volume pot and 1 Master tone pot. Another volume pot is in the mail along with the finishing kit. I must say that the customer service given by Brendan and Adam is great.

The sanding has been done down to 1200, which is considerably finer than the recommended 400 by Dingo Tone owing to the potential polishing effect of such a fine finish causing an uneven take up of the stain. I shall be breaking this “polish” with a very light rub down with 400. I have used this method before on wood turning and furniture finishing to good effect as you know for sure there are no scratches or uneven surfaces on the piece.

I have commenced the wiring and soldering using a cardboard mock-up of the body sound board with all mounting holes and pick-ups cut and fitted with their respective components (currently missing the Master Volume Pot).



So now I am waiting on Mr Postman to deliver on Friday

Hi Tony, welcome to the forum.
Bondi Blue looks rather pale and washed out on most of the builds posted on this forum and feel that even with roughing up using 400 grit will not open up the timber enough to show much stain or colour.
I would suggest 120 & 180 are required, maybe 240 but no finer.
Cheers, Waz

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G'day Waz,
Thanks for your post. It is my intention to do a sunburst on the back of the body, so I will have an opportunity to experiment with the depth and take-up of the Bondi Blue around the edges that will eventually be covered by Black Stump. I will keep the results posted.

Today I de-soldered my previous work as I found single core shielded cable at JayCar that is so much more appropriate than the 2 and 4 core I had previously used. I have now completed the wiring as much as is possible without my last A500K pot, which is in the post.

The finishing kits and vol pot are due on Friday, so it is model aircraft building in the mean time.

Cheers,

TonyW51

Post arrived on Thursday and soldering completed yesterday afternoon. My son is to drop off an amp/speaker for testing tonight.

I cut the body back to a 240 finish and I am disappointed with the finish. I think Wazkelly is correct about this so I shall cut back to 180 for my next coat.

DT needs all the help it can get to penetrate and display a decent amount of colour. Don't be afraid to drop back to 120 and then a light dusting with 180.
The smoothness is easy to achieve through multiple layers of top coats.

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Crikey you’re right, I cut back to 180 and I still have areas that aren’t taking up as well. The second coat has improved the cover so I am hopeful the third or fourth will get me to where I want it to be. I am giving it 24 hours between coats so it will teach me patience.

Hi Tony.

I've used DT Bondi on my PRS semi-hollow.

You most definitely need 4 stain coats and 4 intensifying coats. Let it cure well between coats. I don't think you'll get more than that to stick.

G'day andy,

Yes, that PRS-1H looks great. I think I am on the way with mine now. I shall post a photo when I can get one that will fit within the Forum limitations.

Thanks.

Here are the photos of my staining progress to date. First coat then second coat and second coat on front. I think all should be good by fourth coat

I wish you lotsa luck with trying to get some colour into that. Looks like a small amount has been picked up in the open grain but the rest is still very highly polished and may just stay looking natural timber colour.

Might need to re-start with 80 grit and finish on 120. Once some DT is already down it could be difficult to open things up enough unless you are prepared to do a full sand-off and try again.

I should say that I did grain fill with ebony timbermate first which darkened it up a bit. You don't need to grainfill with maple though. I recall that Adam Barnes did a lighter bondi blue on a semi-hollow and it looked pretty good.

Thanks for the tip Andy, I checked out Adam’s “lighter Bondi Blue on a semi hollow “ and I think I may have mine just a little darker now (and I have now run out of stain). Adam’s photos have given me heart though and I have found his build very interesting reading given the problems he encountered with the hollow body build. I have hung the stained body up now for Easter to let the stain really dry off and I shall use the intensifyer next week then head off on holiday for a couple of weeks before using the finish coat.

That’s the plan anyway.

Cheers

Keeping to my schedule of no more finishing work until after Easter, I have been checking out the neck fit and I have found some slight anomalies that I would like to correct. BUT I note the caution in the Pit Bull manual, not to sand down the heel or floor of the neck pocket. The gap between the neck rebate face and the front face of the body (sound board) rises to about 2 mm. You can see about 1 mm convex curve on the neck and I have put a little Blue Tack in the floor of the neck pocket and pressed home the neck to find there is about a 1 mm gap in there at the inner part of the heel. I therefore feel I could shape the neck rebate face to the sound board and get a much closer fit. Although this may cause a little grief on the other joint surface matings.

Is there anyone with some experience in this area? Photos below

Hi,

I had the same issue when I built mine.

Check my diary but in the end it did not really impact the bass itself.

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ighlight=dekka

good luck

Thats a great post from Dekka's diary

Hi Dekka,
Thanks for that lead. It has given me a good way of looking at my issues.

I am out of town for the next couple of weeks so I shall be silent for a little while. There is another bottle of Pacific Blue in the mail to get to the depth of colour I am seeking, the electronics seem to be working well and now I have a method of sorting out my neck connect. Things are looking good.

Cheers