First Build - JBA-4

[Mathew]

@Chris
I don't have any orange peel. There are just a couple of tiny specs I see (that no one else has noticed) which are slightly lower than where I level sanded too. I hardly see the specs myself now.

I appreciate what you wrote about wood being an imperfect material, and the finish is about enhancing the timber. In fact, your assistance throughout this build has been invaluable and your posts very influential. So thank you.

Your Angelus dye and gluboost method heavily influenced this build, and inspired the standard to strive for. I'm not sure that the dye is as even its yours, or that the gluboost is as evenly applied as yours. But, it feels great, it plays great, it sounds amazing, and it's just the look I wanted.

I am looking forward to more builds, learning more techniques, and experimenting!

[Simon Barden]

The only way is up.*

*also includes negative values for ‘up’.

[Mathew]

I'm posting this just for my future reference.

I'm surprised by how quiet (in a great way) this bass is. There is no hum whatsoever at any volume. Maybe passive pickups simply don't produce hum, I don't know. Anyway, here's a photo of the shielding. I just used the shielding tape supplied by Pitbull. The only thing extra I did which is not in this photo is add a soldered wire began the bridge pick up cavity and control cavity.

Pickups are Toneriders.

[Simon Barden]

Passive single coil pickups certainly do pick up hum, but shielding cavities can be pretty effective. As the Toneriders should have one pickup wired reverse wound/reverse polarity to the other, with both pickups on at matched volumes, the pickups become humbucking, so will generate a lot less hum than if just one pickup is in use.

But the pickups can only pick up hum that’s around, they don’t generate it themselves. So if you have an electrically quiet environment, there’s little or no noise to pick up. But don’t assume they will always be quite so quiet when playing in a different location.

[Mathew]

Hey.

I used Angelus dyes, which like NGR, are alcohol based so they won't raise the grain.

The Ash body will require grain filling. But if you use a black Timbermate, it will define the grain and create a flat base for you to apply dye over. I used a black acrylic spray as a burst over the purple dyed body, then acrylic Clearcoat. I posted my method at the beginning of this thread.

I look forward to seeing how yours comes out!

[Jetblack]

Hey Mathew.
Thanks for the tips, I'm still waiting on the kit to arrive, just taking in all the suggestions, looks to be quite a few methods for coating these puppies. Black timber mate hmmm didn't know that was available, sounds like a plan. Cheers.

[Jetblack]

The Angelus dyes look to be very good, would you suggest spraying or is it just as good to use a brush/cloth wipe on process ???

[Simon Barden]

Hi Jetblack, best to start a build diary of your own to ask questions in, otherwise when you do, answers will be spread out all over the place and it becomes very confusing for everyone.

Although you'd normally grain fill Ash, if you want a really deep black body then you are best leaving it unfilled so the grain becomes more prominent. But obviously you won't be able to achieve a smooth glossy finish, more this sort of effect

[Jetblack]

Hi Simon,
Yes, I just worked out the best way to go is get a build diary setup, cheers. That black in the picture is exactly what I'm looking for, wasn't too excited about smoothing the grain out too much and expecting a gloss finish, that one looks sensational would be very happy with a finish like that. As soon as my kit arrives I will start the build diary, thanks for the tips, appreciated. Cheers.

[Paul_H]

Hi Simon,
Yes, I just worked out the best way to go is get a build diary setup, cheers. That black in the picture is exactly what I'm looking for, wasn't too excited about smoothing the grain out too much and expecting a gloss finish, that one looks sensational would be very happy with a finish like that. As soon as my kit arrives I will start the build diary, thanks for the tips, appreciated. Cheers.

It is definitely possible to get a glossy finish on an ash body, but it does require effort. And patience. I did a black high gloss finish on my last bass build, a P-style, and it looks pretty good. But I nearly went mad with the preparation. Will aim to get a pic up tomorrow.