My first pitbull, IB-5 five string bass.

[keloooe]

Yhep, especially now in winter when it is anything but warm!

[Tindrrel]

I wanted to make a truss rod cover a bit more interesting than the provided black trapezoid.

So I got some red pearl celluloid veneer. It's about 1.25mm thick.
Marked and cut out the shape:


Since it's thinner than the plastic cover, the original idea was to inlay it into some rosewood veneer. The rosewood turned out to be thinner than I expected and it wasn't much thicker than the celluloid so I glued to to the top.

This didn't really have the desired result, nevermind that the glue spread into the wood and stained it.

So I glued together two rectangles of the celluloid and marked out and shaped it:


Drilled holes and countersunk them, then peeled the tape:


I think that'll do.

(nut not yet glued in place and neck top coat not finished.)

[keloooe]

Nice cover Sam!

[GeneralKaos]

Wow, looks great! I'm getting a little chubby over here......

[wokkaboy]

nice truss rod cover Sam well done ! I agree the ones supplied are very plain

[Tindrrel]

nice truss rod cover Sam well done ! I agree the ones supplied are very plain

It's not that so much as it is an area I can customise without laying into the wood with tools and skills I don't have. Not that I'd change the IB-5 body much. I'm considering an ST or TL kit to give me more opportunity for customisation.

[Tindrrel]

So I'm struggling with the top coat.



It might just be that it's too cold here - however I've tried applying it in a heated room that I kept heated for several hours and heated again the next day. Top coat did the same thing - that is, it seemed to disappear.

This time however, I'd left the body flat, so I don't think it ran off onto the floor.

So I showed it to a friend locally. He said he'd seen something similar with an ash body (and this IB-5 is ash) where it sucked up all the top coat it was given until it was given several coats of sanding sealer.

What do you think? Should I try some sanding sealer?

It's had a couple of coats of the stain and intensifying stain, and seems to have vanished four top coats.

Should I be concerned about the veneer/cap and all the stuff it's apparently soaking in?

[wokkaboy]

thats no good Sam, I'd look for an alternative clear coat, you have tried everything by the sounds and had no luck.
Sanding sealers are generally applied earlier in the build process.
Might be time to head down the gun shop for some naughty oil

[Tindrrel]

Sanding sealers are generally applied earlier in the build process.

Wasn't something I thought I needed to do, and it took the colour so nicely. I suspected it would be too late now the stain is already applied.

There is a good chance it is still just that it's too cold. The maple neck doesn't seem to be behaving much better - though I've got one more coat going on the neck with the laying flat and heated room treatment to see if there's a difference between the maple and ash behaviour.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Sam,
see how the neck goes then but now winter has just begun, not much chance of warmer weather. Where are you located SE Melbourne near Pest ?