Arzi's Hybrid Bass "HEMI"

[Arzi]

Hi everyone

Now it was time to make the control plate for pots. As it was I had to make 1cm longer cavity for the pots and also a custom plate to fit it. I got 4 small pieces of mirrored 2mm thick stainless steel from a friend of a friend for a price of one pack of menthol smokes. This is where I started - drilled the holes.



Then took the Dremel and cutting disks to cut it out.



Then it was filing and sanding with 150-180-240-400-800-1200 and 2000 grit. Still have to polish it with a polishing compound but that comes later on. So far it's like this:



The mirrored side was the other one - not a clear mirror but cleaner anyways...

Then it was time to fit it with the scratchplate and also tidy and bevel the plastic plate's edges. Not happy with the fit but it can be made better by the acetone+plate mix later on. Now you can see some wood from the seam and it's not good. Good enough for this stage anyway - first time for everything.

Here is the mock build I did afterwards to see how it will look. Quite pleased so far - still afraid there will be surprises later on but nothing that can't be fixed (hopefully)...





Next I'll have to make room for the output jack. I'm gonna use a regular jack so I have to make the outer edges of the hole 20mm wide to fit it. Have to get some more drill bits first or do it with the Dremel. Will use a 1mm thick square Tele/Les Paul jack plate for it. After that it's color time... Ordered some Bolgers orange water based stain powder from ebay cause I was so happy with the red before. Will probably test mix it with some bright yellow to search the shade I want if it's not it to begin with...

Will be back in a week...

[Arzi]

Update

I finished the output jack, put on the black stain and sanded the stain out... Now what I have is a dirty and old looking surface on the wood - and I like it so much that I decided to just put on the TO. No orange on my hemi... Will post pics later...

[gavinturner]

Wow lookng amazing Arzi. I love the scratchplate design and the control plate fits beautifully. This is an awesome scratch build!

cheers,
Gav.

[Nickosaurus]

This is so cool man

[ihasmario]

Wtf it looks so good. I love the backwards part at the end. Futuristic as

[Arzi]

It's actually lot like the original p bass from '51. That's the shape of the scratchplate and Fender's ashtray from that era. Only difference is that the single coil pup is located 1cm closer to the bridge and I've added the neck DiMarzio model one. I'm trying to get some of the vibe of old '51 and later Telecaster bass whitch came with the wide range humbuckers.

Now that I look at the body surface more appropriate name would be something like "Dirty old BASStard"...

[wokkaboy]

This build is looking awesome Arzi. Love pick guard shape and control cover.
For a first scratch build you have a natural talent. Can't wait to see stain on

[Andy40]

I got 4 small pieces of mirrored 2mm thick stainless steel from a friend of a friend for a price of one pack of menthol smokes.

I'm not sure how much ciggys cost over there but in OZ they cost and arm and a leg!

[Arzi]

Hi Andy

Here it' almost impossible to buy small pieces of steel unless you know someone who works with it. And the cost of a square meter is TOO MUCH to spend on a guitar project. And for a reference the pack of smokes costs about 8 euros here after raised taxes in the beginning of the year. An expensive way to ruin one's health and I was a smoker for 20 years. Now have been using a vaporizer for about 5 months and loosing that too when I turn 40. Whitch is in 3,5 months... Too soon..

[Arzi]

I tip of the month:

If you have trouble taking off some sort of glue from stickers or a stain/pen mark etc from a surface and have tried "everything - try to use baby butt wipes on it just for the heck of it. Found out that these " skin friendly" wipes are excellent and even remove calsium stains from bathroom tiles! Can't believe they are considered good for kid's skin..... We use Pampers and Libero products here but seems every brand does the trick.