Great work. Very nice colour combination.
Great work. Very nice colour combination.
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator), FH-5V (Acoustic), DMS-1 (Mustang).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
Great work! Looks amazing.
I like also how you kept updating the first post on this journal , with a summary of the steps and products used, great idea.
@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.
A great result, very eye-catching.
The next one will need to be really good to improve upon it
@Simon Barden: Thanks for your kind words, and all your advice during this project. I'm already thinking ahead to the next one!
@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!
I'm going to take 'Purple Thunder' into a local bass store to confirm the setup and tell me anything they've adjusted. I think I have it close...
- The neck relief is .012" (from the 8th fret and fretted at the 17th)
- strings are set at the saddle to between 2.4mm and 2mm at the last fret
- nut height is 0.0030″ at the first fret and fretted at the third
- intonation is good
But, saddles are almost as low as they go, and clearance to the pickups is only just 2mm with not much adjustment left.
I think a $90 service fee will be worth it for my piece of mind, to confirm everything is OK. I'll post results and feedback.
Last edited by Mathew; 14-09-2022 at 02:11 AM.
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
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