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No. 35 is alive...and ordered.
I have taken the plunge and ordered number 35 today. I have ordered the bass kit with the only upgrade being a bone nut.
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...-guitar-kit-2/
The Tele Bass kit.
I am going to try and make it like this one here....a Squier.
https://shop.fender.com/en-AU/squier...325202506.html
I have seen two things so far that may challenge me.
1. The yellow colour of the neck...I have not scored well on this in the past.
2. The Squier has a unique wiring setup on the 3 way switch plate. It will be fun getting same or similar tones as they get.
Plan...Spray can Black gloss paint body.....yellow translucent stain on the neck....with some sort of clear over the top...Tru Oil or polyurethane....or spray can clear I don't know.
The Squier has a classic/vintage style bridge. I may have to source one of these.
Order is in....and now some painting learning and buying of stuff to do it. :)
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The search has begun....hard to find things.
Thanks McCreed, but I don't have that confidence. I have done one previous guitar with spray paint and it did not go well.
I have been chasing a couple of things online today. I found a wiring diagram that other T Bass builders have used....an Esquire wiring pattern. This appears to use the three position switch. But it needs a single resistor....that is fun to find. Also it uses 2 x 0.050uf caps and a standard 0.047uf cap. Are the 0.05uf caps different, and where am I going to find them? The resistor on the diagram is a 3.3k ohm resistor....I can find one that is rated for 1 watt....but no voltage details....and it is blue and not a cream/yellow colour. I enjoy wiring but serious electronics is beyond my skills.
Also the bridge I can find on E-bay...for a Squier apparently....but it is a string through design only.
The piccy above (in my first post) has a two brass shared saddle design, but with a back end on the bridge for a string from the back of the bridge design.
I may have to just use the Chrome with Brass four saddles Wilkinson Bridge I like.
I think it is time for some YouTube clips on using spray cans to paint a guitar.
I would like.....a gloss sealed body. A clear poly...or perhaps my normal oil/wax finish over a coloured translucent amber/yellow neck and fingerboard.
Body:-
(The plan in my head and the questions I hope I can answer from you guys and YouTube....thank you if I can pick your brains.)
The kit write up says the body is Basswood....so the figure is not something I will really need to keep to come through my normal colour and oil/wax finish.
I want to smooth it out.....fill the pores....probably prime the body. Then a base coat of BLACK...maybe three coats of that...then three coats or so of a nice gloss top coat.
Sanding is no chore for me....I enjoy the calm it brings me. But, I normally stop at 240 and then it is steel wool and oil and then wax. So with this do I pore fill at 180 grit...then sand the timbermate off at 240, and then keep going through the grits? When do I look at primer...how many coats...do I sand it...wet or dry...to what grit...600? The a base coat of Black...is it better to use a flat black or a gloss black, as I would intend to use a clear gloss top coat? How many coats of that black? Do I sand between each or after so many? Wet or Dry...what grade say 800?
Oh and the big one...what paint do I use...lacquer...enamel...acrylic?
Then how many clear coats? I know it will need to be sanded as high as I can go. I have the little foam squares guitar sanding kit from the sandpaper man that goes to about 3000 grit I think.
Final step would be auto polish and then wax.
(I wonder how hard and tough are the 2K cans of clear to use?)
The Neck:-
I have some yellow water based stain from U-Beaut and some Amber colortone stain from Stewmac. I like the finish Tru Oil gives, and I like the gloss result you can get with it. But, I don't know how a fretboard in Tru-Oil will last. I suppose no worse than the maple boards I have here now finished in just oil/wax. They seem okay.
I think I will try the yellow stain as Tru Oil puts its own amber tone over things...amber over amber will just be brown.
I have some Fender headstocks (templates) and I will have to have a look if they include a T bass....or maybe I will have to stretch a six string guitar one.
Off to YouTube time. :)