My TB-4 Bass Build

[McCreed]

I found that I liked playing the guitars I put together so much I got rid of all of my other 'branded' ones, except my Jazz Special and Stingray.

Even the few "branded" guitars I still own have no branding on them anymore. They have all been modified and customised beyond recognition! I also sold all my Fenders to make way for my own builds and "custom modifieds" as I like to call them!

[fender3x]

I found that I liked playing the guitars I put together so much I got rid of all of my other 'branded' ones, except my Jazz Special and Stingray.

This sort of snuck up on me. I found I was playing the builds more than the branded stuff. The last build was very consciously to replace my p-bass which is now 47 years old. Building one like it allowed me to retire the Fender, while also making some changes that I have wanted, but which would destroy the value of the real thing.

None of my builds are perfect, particularly in their finishes. But I have learned a ton about getting them to feel, sound and play the way I want them to. This process has made all my instruments better, whether I built them or took things I had learned here and tinkered with them.

[lunaticds]

I've started the painful job of trying to flatten over the decals. They were raised quite a bit, in no small part due to the couple of layers of polyurethane I sealed them with. They're now reasonably flat, though I've still got a ways to go to build up the layers to get them all flat. The rest of the body and neck has had a stack of coats and the last sand was wet @ 800 grit. I'm kinda keen to see if I can make them vanish under the tru-oil before I go over the whole thing with 1200 and whatever higher grits I've got before I give it a week to harden before polishing. I don't have a lot left of that bottle, so I need to start rationing a bit. It's overall pretty glossy looking.

[blinddrew]

Don't forget that with tru-oil it's common to mix in up to 50% meths for the later coats so you might be able to extend what you have left.

[Simon Barden]

*50% turps

[Simon Barden]

It just makes it go on a bit flatter, so whilst you may feel it's going further, you are still applying the same amount onto the surface. But thinning a little as you go along is a good idea, because the solvent does start evaporating once the bottle is opened, so it does get thicker (in my limited experience anyway) and a drop of turps does help get it back to the original consistency.

And for it to go properly hard, it takes about a month. I'd sand it back flat before then (as when it's fully hard it takes a lot of sanding), but waiting longer to polish will give a better shine.

[blinddrew]

Thanks for the correction Simon - I always get them confused.

[Simon Barden]

I'm not sure what meths/metho would do to it, probably evaporate too quickly to be much use as a thinning solvent, but turps is what everyone on here (including myself) has said they use to thin it.

Gum turpentine is the nicest to use, the sort you can get from art stores.

[lunaticds]

I'm not sure what meths/metho would do to it, probably evaporate too quickly to be much use as a thinning solvent, but turps is what everyone on here (including myself) has said they use to thin it.

Gum turpentine is the nicest to use, the sort you can get from art stores.

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind when I do the next full coats as I certainly don't see a need to be laying down a lot more beyond covering the sanding marks. The thicker it is the more I seem to need to sand back off anyway.

Flattening out the decals yesterday seems to be making a noticeable difference now - I'm starting to feel like I might get somewhere trying to bury them yet. I'll keep adding layers over them every couple of hours and every few coats I'll gently sand over the decal itself until the edges vanish. I should have enough Tru-oil left to do a stack of coats over the decals and 2 or 3 more full body coats if I cut it with turps.

My last full body coat was only in the past day or so, so hopefully if I keep up regular coats over the decals I'll get it close in the next day or two. If not, I might knock the top off with 1200 wet before it gets too hard then leave it until I'm happy with the decals.

[lunaticds]

Progress. I put the neck on today.. mostly because I want my hanger back.
The decals are nearly gone under the TO. Hopefully another day or two and they'll be gone. I put the copper tape in the control cavity so that's now all finished. Really just waiting to get these decals buried then I'll do a 1200 grit rub down, add a fresh n' thin coat and let her sit on the wall for a few weeks.