@Trevor Davies: Thank you. I'm very pleased with how the colours came out. The purple dye was difficult to work, with a bronze/metallic sheen produced if its applied too heavily. Seems to be a unique phenomenon to purple, possibly blue as well. I thought about adding some red or pink as a gradient, but I'm glad I decided to use just purple and black.
@FaustoB: The method I kept updating on the first post was largely for me to keep track of the tequniques I was drawing together and of the steps I needed to take. But I also thought it would be good to review the steps later for another build, or offer a compete methodology for other first-time builders like me.
@Juz: Thanks for your words and encouragement during this build. I followed your Tele project closely, and nearly changed the concept for my body entirely after seeing how yours was coming up. We post diaries to draw assistance; we are not aware how those same posts are inspiring others. I'm looking forward to to following your next project. Thanks again!
If you are happy with it and it doesn’t buzz, I wouldn’t bother. As long as you are happy with it and there’s no buzzing, it’s fine. What you like and what someone else likes after that is personal preference. If the saddles sit low, then fine. A lot of my guitars are like that. You may find that the bass gets set up to ‘factory spec’ with more bow and a higher action. Factory specs are far from the lowest easiest setup you can achieve, they just ensure that after shipping, the bass (or guitar) should play without buzzing if put straight on the wall. And it’s not time consuming to achieve. But often it’s not great at all. It is a starting point. From the sound of it you’ve got it better than that already.
@Simon
The only thing I was not confident about was the truss rod - I'd never heard of one before building my bass, and was not really confident it was set properly. So, in case I was inadvertently damaging my bass, I decided to take it into my local bass shop just to check.
I was nervous about the reaction, but they said the set up was great and just needed some minor tweaks. Major thing was the truss rod as it was set too neutral. A slight adjustment of the truss rod then meant the bridge saddles could be raised and adjusted to the match the curvature of the fretboard, the bridge no longer bottomed out, and the pickup clearance became perfect. The nut was also lowered slightly with proper files rather than my sandpaper wrapped around drill bits. Intonation was already great. Best thing is the technician talked me through the adjustments he made. The only suggestion he had to improve next time was to file the G-string a little more narrow than I had it (although, it was not causing any buzz or other issue).
It already played great with no buzz and a great tone. But now, I'm more confident in the truss rod, the action is lower, I have more control over the sound, and it is SO MUCH EASIER to play!
They guys in the shop said it was a great bass. I felt pretty awesome walking out, hearing the technician say to the salesman (with a smile on his face): "Have you tried the Purple Thunder basses? They're awesome!"
Mate, well done!
Mathew, you have done a great job. The bass looks great and from what you have said, it must be a good player.
I can't tell from the photos, but if you still have some orange peel going on, go with some more compounding and get it a bit flatter.
There is really no wrong or right way. There are shortcuts and as experienced wood workers or instrument makers will tell you, it's all about how you recover from your mistakes, because wood is not a perfect material and at the end of the day, it is often all about enhancing the timber with all its traits and imperfections. At the end of the day, a musician is all about the feel and playability of the instrument and the character - not always about how perfect the finish is.
I am glad I could assist. Now try something different the next time and experiment.
@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!
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