May Guitar of the Month

[deekay]

10 days from delivery to playing on my Hofner style Violin Bass. A few little hiccups along the way but nothing too difficult to solve or work around. Finish is truoil and I was not chasing a glass finish so some grain has been left. This is intentional and light very fine wire wool was used after cut and polish, The finish is exactly as I wanted. I found truoil a fantastic product and wet sanding achieved miracles. Sound is lovely, playability is great, heaps of sustain and lots of punch now I have the pups at the correct height. The control panel was purposely installed upside down so I could see it in the playing position. I used Fender Jazz Bass specs for the set up of action and buzz free, nice and low. All in all a good project and not too hard to achieve an acceptable result.

[blinddrew]

The control panel was purposely installed upside down so I could see it in the playing position.

Actually that's how they're installed in the originals. Lovely looking piece

[neverwas]

Haven't entered the comp for quite a while, so what the hell, why not.
FS-1 kit with some minor mods.
Attachment 30982
Kit came with a rosewood fretboard, yes it's that old, and that probably influenced the colour choice. All hardware has been changed,
Frankentone filtertron style pickups with dress rings made by pablopepper (haven't noticed him on the forum for a while)
Full size 500k CTS pots, 0.022 Orange drop caps and treble bleed mod, Epi 3 way switch and Switchcraft jack
Gotoh TOM bridge and stop tailpiece (instead of the trapeze that came with the kit)
Grover locking tuners, PBG bone nut and Kluson string tree, also strap locks
Headstock has flame maple veneer added and routed the lower level to include a MoP inlay
Stains are a colortone mix over black base and then acrylic lacquer clear.
Had some stain bleed into the binding and painted those areas (it's in the build diary if you're interested)

The pics
Attachment 30983


Seeing as this thread started later than usual and if deekay and I are the only entries before it closes, I'm quite happy to roll over to next month if that's agreeable.

Grant

[neverwas]

The two attachments that don't want to show


Grant

[Brendan]

Comp closed - new comp up soon!

[I’ll give it a go]

This guitar looks so awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Brendan]

OK to the judges comments:

Deekay's HB-4S:
a nice traditional build, looks great. These spalted H basses always seem to come up well, this is no exception. Nice work - be proud and put your name on it!

Nice example of a spalted HB. Clean, natural and really appealing overall look. Would have loved some more photos of it to see it in all its glory. Very nice bass.

Well done to get the build completed so quickly and with a great finish. Classic look and a classic bass. Would like to have seen more photos and a close up of the headstock. Great example of what can be achieved with this kit.

Turned out pretty good in the short amount of time taken. Tru oil finish looks great and probably most sensible choice given the climate conditions where you are situated in Darwin. Commendable effort in this 2 horse race.

Made the most of a gorgeous spalt. Would have liked to have seen a truss rod cover upgrade. Lost a point because it didn’t have all the required photos.

Neverwas' FS-1:
these are an exceptional looking kit and you’ve done an amazing job with this one, the finish and details are great. Look the headstock treatment. I really like the one tone strain without a burst, very nice, congrats, great build

This is a striking finish. I can't imagine what you'd do differently with the timbers in this instrument. Absolutely nailed it. Good choice of modifications too. I'm a solid body fan but if I saw this guitar in a shop I'd be drawn to try it and buy it. Beautiful, all class!

I've never been a fan of this shape of body or headstock... but this thing is absolutely gorgeous. The deep almost liquid clear over the beautiful browns and blacks works so well and suits this perfectly. Nice hardware and upgrades and that headstock, wow! Love everything about it. Damn it, now I want one.

This is absolutely stunning. Was not a fan of this shape but you have won me over on this build. Worthy of GOTY status.

Gorgeous, glossy beast. Love the headstock. Great job.

[Brendan]

And the winner!

Congratulations to Neverwas! Your FS-1 is amazing and one of the judges GOTY comment I think was on the button!


Which means the runner up was Deekay - great spalted goodness in a bass - couple of photos may have improved the outcome!

[DarkMark]

A couple of great guitars, well done fellas! It would be hard not to pick Neverwas’ guitar regardless as to how many entries were in the monthly competition. I kind of want an FS-1 now.

[neverwas]

Thanks for the kind reviews everyone.
Well done Deekay, that bass looks great and done in so short of a time, wish I could work that fast.
Was expecting a roll over to next month but that's ok. Seems like I may have swayed some of the judges to try one of these kits
Thanks again

Grant