Sydney lockdown - JB Bass My 1st build!

[Simon Barden]

I'd disagree here and I'd sand a bit now as you know you'll probably need to do some sanding later. You want the finish on the body to just go over the edge into the pocket (just by 1-2mm) to help stop the finish chipping off the top of the body. If you have to sand back the pocket so much that you remove all the finish from the edges of the pocket, then the finish will be more prone to chipping around the edges of the pocket when taking the neck off and putting it back on again. It may not chip, but having the finish stop on the edge of the pocket does make chipping more likely.

[Learjet]

I'd disagree here and I'd sand a bit now as you know you'll probably need to do some sanding later. You want the finish on the body to just go over the edge into the pocket (just by 1-2mm) to help stop the finish chipping off the top of the body. If you have to sand back the pocket so much that you remove all the finish from the edges of the pocket, then the finish will be more prone to chipping around the edges of the pocket when taking the neck off and putting it back on again. It may not chip, but having the finish stop on the edge of the pocket does make chipping more likely.

Thanks Simon. I see your point. I’ll sand just a little bit more so the finish from the body can go a little bit into the neck pocket without being scraped off.


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[Simon Barden]

Yes, I’m not talking about a huge gap here, a small fraction of a mm.

[Learjet]

Done the outline for the headstock. My mate has a band saw so he’s going to cut it for me. Then I’ll sand to get it smooth and nice flowing curves.


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[Learjet]

Bass is coming along nicely! Got the headstock shape cut, all the tuning pegs in, the bridge in. Next step is assembling the pickups, control knobs and the scratch plate.


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[Learjet]

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[Learjet]

Nice job on the head stock.
Have you put any finish on it? The fretboard will need coating to stop it getting dirty.
I have coated my maple necks with tru oil or Scandinavian oil. Both give a smooth protective finish.

Thanks Colin! Haven’t put any finish on neck or body yet as I am still assembling all the components first. I’ve been very slow as I have two small children so I have limited pockets of time to build it in! Also being a first timer I’m being super careful and trying to soak in everything as I go. But man, I just wanna play my bass!

Once I’m happy with the placements of the pickups, plate, control knobs and drilled all my holes I’ll take the neck off and be sure to give it a good clean before sanding and putting the finish on.


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[Learjet]

Ok so I’m up to the sanding and staining stage! I’m excited as I’ve been wanting to see what the Dingotone Karijini Red looks like on this beautiful ash body.

So far I’ve done sanding, starting with 180 grit, then 220 grit, then 240 grit (as per the Dingotone instructions). I cleaned off the body with a damp but not heaps wet clean rag, and noticed that the fibres were all sticking out of the wood. So I gave it another sand with 240 grit. Wiped it off with a dry rag this time and I can still feel fibres sticking out as I run my hand over it.

My question is how many times do I have to repeat this process before I can put the stain on? What should the wood feel like? I haven’t sanded finer than 240 grit so I’m guessing it won’t be completely smooth.




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[McCreed]

It should still be pretty smooth to the touch even with P240, it's not really a very coarse a paper. I would give it some more sanding with the P240, but don't wipe it down with water. It's an unsealed timber and the grain is just going to continue raising when it gets wet (damp). You'll just be chasing your tail.

If you feel the need to clean the dust off beyond a dry rag, try:
1) dampening the rag with metho (again, not saturated).
2) get a tack cloth (personally I don't like them, but heaps of people use them).
3) if you have a compressor, blow it off with an air gun.

The metho evaporates very quickly and doesn't soak into the wood. It may raise the grain a bit, but nothing near what water does.
If you need to re-sand after the metho, just go very lightly so you're literally just knocking off those microscopic fibres. I would do it without a sanding block, just with the paper in my hand.

edit:
I take it you're not grain filling?

[Learjet]

Thanks McCreed. I wasn’t sure if wet sanding was required at this stage so I’m glad you prevented me from chasing my tail!

I’m going to go for a light sand and just try and get those fibre strands off without creating too much dust to wipe off.


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