5 String bass

[David M]

This is my fifth build but my first attempt at building a bass.

I have noticed a few comments about staining. Some saying the stain wont take or takes too well. One thing I've learnt in my past builds is sand, sand then sand some more. If the stain isn't taking, it's probably because of glue residue and nothing to do with the timber, so sand, sand, sand.

I usually start with 180 grit and work up to 1200. I don't see the need to start any lower unless the finish is complete shite. You'll find a nice smooth finish before staining will reduce "bleeding" and produce a much more even colour.

That said, here's my latest attempt. I made a few stuff ups along the way but nothing past experience didn't help me solve. The first minor stuff up was breaking one or two of the neck screws off during the mock up. (Sorry Adam, but your bolt on neck is now a set neck )

[wazkelly]

Hi David, welcome to the forum.

Some timbers, particularly rock maple, can end up glassy smooth when sanded to 1200 and therefore repel most attempts to stain them. From personal experience 240 seems to be the spot where maple necks will still absorb an even spread of stain colour.

On Basswood bodies they shine up fairly quickly too and I also tend to stop at 240 as on my first build went up to 320 and there were shinier smooth spots that didn't absorb as much stain as they could have if the grain wasn't so closed over from using finer grits.

Everyone has different experiences and the grain will also differ from one body to the next and I have found it easier to get better blend of colour with a bit of texture still present and the introduce the finer grades of grit once plenty of top coats have been laid down. My last build is a good example where back is basswood and at 240 it still struggled to take an even spread of colour all over due to the variance in grain patterns quite often found with that timber.

[David M]

Thanks Mate. It's great to hear your feedback Waz

My first experience with basswood was a shocker. The body was complete rubbish (in terms of finish) and the neck wasn't much better. I ended up doing some solid colours to cover up the mess. If I can find a pic I'll post it. (It's an Iceman shape and now has a set of Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pros instead of the pickups that came with it.)

On this project I've only gone as high as 400 grit so far as it sanded up really nicely. Some of the red bled a little but nothing too dramatic. I've gone over the whole guitar with a white limewash. It looks a little "ghostly"?? and makes the red look faded.

I'm going to finish in a few coats of clear and then buff it off to get a more satin finish.

One thing I'm not sure of is the pickup wiring on this one. Most setups I've done have an active and an earth from the pick up. This one has 3 wires. The only 3 wire pickups I've done are actives (EMG's and the like) so any help, words of advice will be most graciously accepted.

Anyway, I'm off to "The Shed" to do some more on this beast and a few other projects I've been assigned

Hi David, welcome to the forum.

Some timbers, particularly rock maple, can end up glassy smooth when sanded to 1200 and therefore repel most attempts to stain them. From personal experience 240 seems to be the spot where maple necks will still absorb an even spread of stain colour.

On Basswood bodies they shine up fairly quickly too and I also tend to stop at 240 as on my first build went up to 320 and there were shinier smooth spots that didn't absorb as much stain as they could have if the grain wasn't so closed over from using finer grits.

Everyone has different experiences and the grain will also differ from one body to the next and I have found it easier to get better blend of colour with a bit of texture still present and the introduce the finer grades of grit once plenty of top coats have been laid down. My last build is a good example where back is basswood and at 240 it still struggled to take an even spread of colour all over due to the variance in grain patterns quite often found with that timber.

[WeirdBits]

Are the "3 wires" actually green with a bare, red & white soldered together at the tip, and black? That would be usual for the style of pickup now supplied with this kit. If so, black is your hot/active, green & bare is your ground/shield, and the soldered red/white pair is the series link between the coils (for coil splitting etc.). If you won't be coil splitting just inslate the red/white tip so it can't short on anything.

[wazkelly]

Hi David, nice iceman.

For the stock IB5 humbucker pickups they are actually 4 conductors where a couple have been paired together. Simplest setup is to heat shrink the ends off on the paired wires and connect the others. If you have a look under 'Forum' - 'Wiring Pickups' - 'Split coil wiring for stock Chinese PBG Humbuckers' I have described which wires do what and also how to split the coils if you want to try something different.

Edit- Scott just beat to the post and is spot on with the wire colours. Thanks Weirdy.

[David M]

I only had a quick look at the pups to be honest. I'll have a better look when the time comes to do the hardware.

The iceman came up really well in the end. With the new pick ups it sounds amazing especially with a bit of overdrive (well maybe a lot) it will sustain for days.

(My wife says she can see a British/English trend developing and thinks I'm secretly plotting to go back home for good. The last build was the Union flag and now an abstract take on St Georges Cross?????)

I'll check out the tutorials and give you a shout if I get into strife.

More pics to come

PS: I had a better look at the pups and you're both right. 3 lots of wires, not 3 wires

[Simon Barden]

You definitely don't want to come back here at the moment!

You did a good recovery job on the Iceman.

In my opinion, solid basswood bodies without a veneer are really designed for solid or almost opaque colour finishes.

[wazkelly]

In my opinion, solid basswood bodies without a veneer are really designed for solid or almost opaque colour finishes.

Hey Simon, that's a bit harsh as some Basswood bodies turn up with a bit of interesting grain pattern happening. Maybe not as much as you find with Ash.

[David M]

So I've been told Simon. I've been speaking with my cousin on Skype in sunny Devon the last few nights. He said it's been a bit on the cool side of late. I'm coming over in June/July for his 89th birthday bash.

I was a bit lucky as the grain patterns were on the Iceman. they weren't to bad at all. But the dye bled like no ones business, mostly on the back. I did the back in solid black and also the white in a solid colour. the red and blue I managed to leave for the most part and hide the edges with the white

You definitely don't want to come back here at the moment!

You did a good recovery job on the Iceman.

In my opinion, solid basswood bodies without a veneer are really designed for solid or almost opaque colour finishes.

[Simon Barden]

Not trying to be harsh, just practical. You may get lucky and get some with a good grain pattern, but because of the general nature of Basswood, if I was ordering a body in one (as opposed to say ash), then I'd already have planned to do a solid finish. If it turned out to have a decent grain, then I might change my mind. The definition of what constitutes 'Basswood' is quite broad and there are about 30 species in the Lime/Basswood family (of which most are found in Asia), but they generally have very little grain.

So if I was planning to do a solid colour, basswood would be fine, but for something with a decent grain to go under a planned translucent finish, I'd be ordering something else that I'd know would have decent grain pattern.