H's JBA-4 Fretless

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks Waz, I've taken your advice and got 8 coats on before sanding. I would have kept going with more, but the finish was feeling slightly rough after 8 so I very lightly sanded back at 1200. I've got either 2 or 3 coats on since then (lost track), and it's looking good.



It's been gradually getting smoother and smoother, but there are still tiny (and several not tiny) "holes" in the grain.



I like the texture they add, but I can't decide if I'd prefer them to stay or go. Will they gradually disappear as more tru oil goes on?

Also, what's the suggested wait time between the last coat of TO and starting to polish? 3 weeks like with DT? I wouldn't have thought so because this stuff dries so much faster, but what do I know?

[FrankenWashie]

Mmmm, lovely lovely colour on that. Nice shine coming up too. Great work!

[wokkaboy]

looking good H. After about 1.5 weeks I'd do a fingernail test somewhere under the pickguard see if the TO has fully hardened before you can polish it. Being in Melbourne you may have to wait 2 weeks to be sure

[Andy40]

H

I find that the TO dries much faster than other finishes, but it depends how fast you put the coats on.

Yes if you keep putting coats on it will eventually fill up the grain gaps and make a glassy type surface...but it takes a lot of coats.

[wazkelly]

G'day H, I gave up trying to grain pore fill on my Ash J Bass after about 20+ coats of TO as it was taking forever plus the ridged effect looked pretty good to me and added a bit more texture to the overall finish that helped to accentuate the timber mate grain fill.

It was April when that baby was finished so weather up here was still quite warm and only gave it about a week to settle before the micro mesh wet sanding session and final polish.

As you get up in the layers is does harden up considerably after about 15 or more, depending on how many in between wet sandings have been done, as they help to flatten things each time you do them with subsequent coats seeming to go down easier, dry faster, and look shinier, all leading to a thicker and harder surface to work with.

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks guys!

I like the pores, the texture and look of them is nice and I think I'll leave them rather than trying to fill them. With 10 coats on, plan is to lightly sand every 2-3 coats if it's feeling rougher or if there's visible dust or something on it. I'll start assessing at 15 or 16 coats how much further I want to go but I'll likely go to 20 and see how it's looking anyway. Coats are going on way easier and with less oil, and I figured out to keep the cut edge of the rag off the finish to avoid tiny little specks of cotton getting stuck.

The neck is feeling and looking really smooth. Is there a reason to use fewer coats on the neck? I've read people saying they stopped at 5 or 6. I'm intending to keep going on the headstock the same as the body, but should I think about stopping the neck coats if it's already feeling good?

[wazkelly]

Necks are made out of much tighter grained rock maple and as such seem to be done at around 6 - 8 coats, any more tends to make them feel thick and sticky like an overdone lacquered finish which you would end up sanding back anyway.

[UpperCaseH]

20 coats and a fair bit of careful sanding between them and...







I think it's coming up pretty well. It's just sitting together in the pics, not assembled.

Now I wait a week or two and polish and assemble (and hope my nut files show up in the mean time).

I pulled the Sadowsky flats off my P Bass and replaced them with Elixir Stainless Steels and am loving having that level of brightness again. The flats are gonna go on this one, and then I'll have two* basses and most of the tones I want. Probably gonna need another one with frets and flats. And maybe a 5 string. And a semihollow. And I've always liked the thunderbird style ones. And...

(Actually, next build is likely to be an LPA-1, maybe in transparent black).




*Well, there's this acoustic bass sitting over here too...

[pablopepper]

Looking damn good H.

[wokkaboy]

very nice H, must be almost ready to put the hardware on !