No. 29 is underway. (GPB-4M P Bass Maple f/board.)

Yes No. 28 the Firebird is still getting finished, and No.27 The Seconds Order Explorer is nearly finished....binding issue.

But I have grabbed one of these just for me.

I have ordered the kit from PBG with these extras:-

Entwistle PBXN pickups
Graph Tech TUSQ nut
Sprague 0.047uf capacitor
Switchcraft 1/4inch jack socket
Bourns Audio Taper Mini 250k pot.

And these from Real Parts:-

PB Style pickup chrome cover
PB style Bridge chrome cover
Wilkinson 4 string Bass Bridge
Bourns 250k push-pull pot
Allparts four inline chrome elephant ear tuning machines
Schaller style straplock buttons
Metal Dome Chrome knobs

And from E-Bay

A black plastic Bass guitar Thumb Rest.

All together to make a sister/brother for this Jazz Bass.

But I don't know if I want to colour/dye/stain the body. Or just perhaps use a coloured Timbermate on the grain and then seal it.

Leaning towards the rubbed finish again. The J Bass feels so amazing over 12 months later.

So thinking Feast Watson Fine Buffing oil and then Gillie Stevensons Cabinet Makers Wax to seal it.

But the neck will be one of the few bare Maple necks and fingerboards I have done. I am wondering how oiled and waxed necks and fingerboards handle the strain of regular use from the big strong Bass strings flapping over its surface.

The shade or colour of the finish of the J Bass was set by the use of Walnut Timbermate on the J Bass and then the amber shading over it from the Fine Buffing Oil.

Timbermate comes in a range of colours....

https://www.timbermate.com.au/timbermate.html

I like the idea of the BrushBox, Teak, or Rimu on the Body....and maybe use Rimu, Pine or Oak on the neck and the fingerboard.

Or maybe I should just make a choice and do the whole thing in the same Timbermate and then just seal it up.

I will be cutting the paddle headstock into a P Bass style....I have a multi page template file and I will find which one fits the most of the existing headstock shape....most bang for buck.

I have the wiring diagram from Weirdy from an earlier build and I have the push/pull pot on order and will be putting the parallel/series switching in place.....thanks again Weirdy. :)

Any suggestions for a natural style finish colour scheme? It would be nice to try something different.

Just can't help yourself :)

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Originally Posted by ozzbike

Timbermate comes in a range of colours....

https://www.timbermate.com.au/timbermate.html

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You can also grab the Natural Tint Base & add just about anything to make your own colour at 4:50 -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwBbE0PG5tY

Nice kit Ozzie and with a maple fret board too.


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The body is quite light for Ash and very close to the Maple neck which would lend itself to a vibrant all over stain colour. Translucent Tree Frog Green comes to mind. What do you think?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

The body is quite light for Ash and very close to the Maple neck which would lend itself to a vibrant all over stain colour. Translucent Tree Frog Green comes to mind. What do you think?

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Translucent Tree Frog Green....great how your mind works. Funny.

I think enhancing natural colours and those produced by the finish will be the extent of my efforts. Sadly my coloured finishes never end well.

Thinking of doing similar to what I did with the Jazz Bass. Use a coloured timbermate to produce an overall hue on the body....then the Fine Buffing Oil and Cabinet Makers Wax will leave their Amber/honey hue over the top.

I am thinking of trying to get a darker brown colouring in the deep grain with a honey colour on the higher grain. I was also thinking of doing similar on neck and fingerboard. So no bright coloured neck for this one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emuflats

You can also grab the Natural Tint Base & add just about anything to make your own colour at 4:50 -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwBbE0PG5tY

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This interests me....but will it work with the watered down nature of an all over body fill we use on guitars? The video is colouring the timbermate in putty form. I can assume it will.

I have lots of water based stain colours at home....test and tune time I think.

I want a darker brown down deep in the marked grain....and the higher smoother wood to be a more amber or honey colour. I hope that will look okay.

My concern of using my own mix would be colour matching any repairs.

I may try a colour of timbermate off the shelf I think.

Flying green shed visit today.

I now have NATURAL/NEUTRAL tint and Cedar/Blackwood. The colours look way different in the plastic jar.....and even different to the sample board hanging in the green shed.

I think I will do the normal body wash fill with the cedar/Blackwood and sand it back....then make a mix with the neutral tint and some orange to light brown water based stain.....make a thicker custard style paste for a large portion of the body not the edges......sand back again....then make a mix with Amber/yellow water based stain and again in a custard consistency smeared in a small middle section.....sand back again.

Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil applied with 000 grade steel wool with the grain...only. Left to get tacky....coarse cloth....five to six hours.....soft cloth. Repeat once a day until the finish is the desired tone I seek.

Then seven days to gas off....then Gilly Stevenson’s Cabinet Makers Wax with 0000 steel wool and then buff until achieving the sheen I need.

Well that is the plan.....timbermate and waterbased stain and sanding produced light burst with an Amber/Honey hue on the neck and headstock.

Hey Ozzie, I'll be watching this build with interest as I have just got a P-Bass Kit. Been thinking of keeping it pretty natural, but will try and highlight the grain.

Good luck with the build, but as its #29 I guess you've got a pretty good handle on how to do it by now. ;)

rob

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Originally Posted by robin

Hey Ozzie, I'll be watching this build with interest as I have just got a P-Bass Kit. Been thinking of keeping it pretty natural, but will try and highlight the grain.

Good luck with the build, but as its #29 I guess you've got a pretty good handle on how to do it by now. ;)

rob

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You would think that...but sadly no. I only do hand applied stains and finishes and getting even reliable colours and or shades has escaped me. My better finishes have been ones where...as in this project...the grain and figure is highlighted by the grain filler and sealed by the top coat. If I have to use colour I often sand through parts in my vigour to finish.

However, I have a few tech items and you also have one of them...Weirdy...and I enjoy soldering and wiring challenges.

Sanding and fitting I don’t mind...applying stains and finishes not bad either....finish sanding...wet sanding....polishing gets me every time.

Oh, 29 is the number of guitars and basses in my possession....made about 25 from kits.

It is a hobby and you will become a victim of G.A.S. (Guitar Acquisition syndrome)

Lol, already got acute G.A.S. Its a wonderful ailment. ;)

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Originally Posted by robin

Lol, already got acute G.A.S. Its a wonderful ailment. ;)

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Acute or chronic? Haha

your 29 makes me feel so good :p

Keen to see how the timber mate sessions work out.
Agree that when you take lid off the contents look anything but the colour you expected.

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Nice start Ozz. Timbermate is a great grain filler / putty, but not sure as a colour. As always - if possible do a test piece unless you are happy with surprises. Also a good way to test base and topcoat compatibility . This looks great, waiting to see the fine results

After leaving to go away for work before Easter I finally got home today. Nice to have a friend in the postie parcel truck. Nice safe, dry pile in my garage.

Nice figure on both the body and the neck.....the headstock is lots bigger than I thought.....nice.

Tired now....but shall check it all off in the morning....nice work for a few days off. :)

Sadly I now have a collection of different shades of Timbermate...never hurts.

I used the Cedar/Blackwood as a base all over....then the edge in Ebony.....then the middle of both front and back in a colortone vintage amber stained neutral tint timber mate.....then walnut around the edge of the body over the ebony.

The cedar went on and sanded off really nicely at 240 grit. The ebony came off blotchy....hence the later walnut overcoat.

The hand tinted neutral tint (coloured with Vintage Amber) achieved not a lot at all.

The neck and headstock have been shaped to a P Bass American Deluxe template I had....the corner up under the circular end of the headstock....where the shaped bottom edge meets the round end of the headstock.....very hard to do.

The neck and headstock have had a coat of cedar/blackwood timber mate and has been sanded progressively to 240 grit.

Both the body and the neck....fingerboard and all....have had a single coat of Fine Buffing Oil.

The body wood has had some serious bug infestation during its growing years....so weird marks and shapes in the figure....but I like it.

The maple fretboard on the maple neck is really just flat.

A buff of both later this afternoon and leave to hang over night.

Photos tomorrow and then more Fine Buffing Oil.

It is a yellow/amber colour overall.....lighter than my Jazz Bass that was Fine Buffing Oil over two coats of Walnut timber mate.

Not what I was hoping for.....but I like the effect.

Arrival pics....

other end....

I have sanded and timbermated (is that a word?????) all over...body...neck...fingerboard.

Not one hundred percent happy with the headstock....but it matches the template I have pretty close.

This pics taken just after the application of second coat of Fine Buffing Oil......leave to get tacky then hit with a coarse rag....leave for five hours and then buff with a soft rag....it cleans up very nicely.

It is applied with steel wool...so you get the little black lines from the shredding steel wool....but they buff off pretty well.

Some more dry and buffed pics this afternoon.

Back to work again tomorrow. Roster change....so not gone ten days now.....four days away for three days home....more guitar work.

Look close at the body front and back....some serious bug/worm/weather damage lines on these pieces of wood....they have a nice 3D effect to them.

The neck looks bland and has no flame or grain much at all.

The front of the headstock has some growth circles as if the neck was cut flat and not in the quarter sawn manner.

Nice grain on the body Ozzie.

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Nice grain on the body Ozzie.

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Heck yeah, really nice

I have done four coats of the fine buffing oil. The neck feels so smooth and has a creamed honey appearance to it. I am noting a few spots of wax build up on both the body and neck. I think I will let it hang for a few days and then buff it out....before making a choice whether I put any more coats on.

Honestly, I think the neck is done.....hang....solvents gas off....then wax a few times.

The body has a few spots that could benefit from more Fine Buffing Oil. I think I may work towards the seven coats I did on the last one I used Fine Buffing Oil on.

The nice smooth and natural finish under the hand is amazing.

Some nice necky pics......and one of the bum.

Wow, that is really impressive Ozzie.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Wow, that is really impressive Ozzie.

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Thanks.

The different shades and tones of timbermate left their mark in the grain. But overall the effect is just too subtle. I don’t think a burst using timbermate would be possible to the point that it would be noticeable.

I would be interested in seeing what the buffing oil would do over a stain though.

Like tru oil there will be an amber colouring in the oil itself. I just wonder how much colour the application with steel wool would drag out. I think you would either have to go Browns and oranges or a really overly bright colour and let the oil and steel wool tone it down. The finish is only ever going to be a low sheen waxed finish...so not really robust....but all done really quickly.

Don't be too harsh. I thought what you have done does a great job in highlighting the natural Ash grain. Any darker may have ended up looking weathered or dirty.

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Wow this one has gone fast. The body and the neck/fingerboard/headstock have now all had seven coats of the Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil.

They will get the coarse cloth buffing and the fine cloth buffing later today and then hang until my next group of days off.

I like the figure in the body, and even the neck looks good. But I have to say WOW the neck feels so smooth. It is not polished and buffed wax smooth....but very silky and naturally without grip. I like this semi-gloss sheen finish.

The body pics.....

Neck is really like creamed honey in colour and tone.....

Looking sweet as........honey?

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The body, with all its faults, which I believe give it character and make it mine and a unique Bass, is now finished.

I have used differing colours of timbermate finish.....not a noticeable difference across the body. But I do like the subtly differences down in the grain.

Body not stained or coloured. Sealed with seven coats of Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil. This stuff is a tung oil and bees wax and carnauba wax liquid that soaks in and dries hard....for a wax finish.

Then four coats of Gilly Stephenson's Cabinetmakers Wax....a stiff paste of bees wax and Carnauba Wax. (This one needs lots of elbow grease.....ouch....worse than sanding.)

Then finished and buffed with Gilly Stephensons Carnauba Polish.....like a creme wax polish.

The buffing oil and cabinetmakers wax were applied with varying grades of steel wool and buffed off with anything I could get to rub the wax in and off.

The Carnauba Polish was applied with a soft cloth and then buffed off with a fluffy and fine thread micro fibre cloth....so nice this one.

And some more...including the weapons of finishing. :)

That body looks great Ozzie. Really digging that Ash grain.

TUSQ nut fitted. Gotoh elephant ear tuners. Fret level and crown. Fret polish. Fingerboard edges rolled, frets rounded over and smoothed.

My daggy headstock logo "Nothing Fl4sh", and "Handcrafted in Buderim" made from waterslide laser printed decals attached.

Same as body finish all over, including the fingerboard. Seven coats of Fine Buffing Oil, four coats of cabinetmakers wax, 3 coats of carnauba polish.

Electronics start tomorrow and body cavity shielding. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robin

That body looks great Ozzie. Really digging that Ash grain.

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Thanks mate.

I like all the worm marks and scratches....this wood has lived a life. Natural finish feels so good under my hands. Just not that robust though.

Done:-

Electronics completed today with a push pull pot in the neck volume position to change series and parallel.

Bridge fitted. TUSQ nut set. Strap Locks fitted.

One issue:-

Entwistle pickups did not come with springs for the screws. Nor did they come with foam to keep the body of the pickup up into the removable cover. At the moment they will just have to hang in there....will chase some foam. I did use the springs form the PBG pickups.

Neck to body fit was really nice. Even the neck screw holes lined up. Small shim under the top of the neck in the pocket, as the TUSQ nut is not as tall as the factory plastic one, may have to go the two pieces of business card. (Basic setup completed at this stage...wait until the neck settles and check again.

Really low action....had to lift the A and D strings up from 4/64 to 6/64 to get no fret buzz.

The A string will not quite intonate.....may have to consider moving the bridge back...3 to 5mm will do I think. (Nut to 12th fret is 431.5mm.....12 fret to mid range of E string on bridge is presently 435mm.)

Back to work for another rotation so should finish next trip home. Oh, the pickups sound really nice on my Roland Bass 120XL amp....though the tone at 437k capacitor is not really giving much of a difference.

I have to finish:-

1. Pickup and bridge covers to fit.
2. Thumb rest to fit.
3. String tree to fit to headstock.
4. Full setup to complete once the neck has settled.

More piccies.....the neck feels so smooth.

Sumptuous!!!