Bass VI project

[tylereot]

Putting the first paint coats down.  My local auto paint supplier put some stuff in rattle cans for me.  Needs a lot of coats.

Watching paint dry....

Funny, in this direct light, it seems to have a little iridescence to it...

By the way, this stuff is awesome....much better than the stuff Stewmac sells.  Very fine grained, and smooth...

 

[tylereot]

Crap.  It slipped.  Dammit, more filler/sand/paint.  :sad1:

 

[Cagey]

It happens. Another member here had a freshly finished body hung in the garage and the hook released from the ceiling overnight. Didn't do it any good.

 

[bagman67]

It happens. Another member here had a freshly finished body hung in the garage and the hook released from the ceiling overnight. Didn't do it any good.

That'd be me.


Rats.

 

[Cagey]

I remembered, but didn't want to say <grin>

 

[bagman67]

Well, the neck that was intended for that aborted project wound up on Bête Noire, so ... silver lining, yes?

 

[Cagey]

Si. I mean, oui.

 

[tylereot]

Well, we got beyond the ding.  It filled, sanded, filled, painted nicely.  LOADS of learning curve trying to spray pearl with a rattle can....

But it turned out ok... starting to look like deep water.  This is before the first clear.  Note: you CAN spray nitro over acrylic lacquer.  Just do a couple of very light coats first, so the toluene doesn't attack the underlying layer.

The neck came back from USACG, finish sanded and fretted.  Gotta give those guys kudos for the extra level of service here.
I spent a couple of hours with some 1200 grit glued to the end of a wine cork, and some butcher block oil to polish the sanding lines out of the pearl, and get some oil into the dry rosewood.  Wiped that all down and finished with micropolishing pads.

 

[tylereot]

While I keep layering up clear ACRYLIC lacquer on the body, this time....
...started some work on the neck.  Tru-oil on the back of neck and headstock, 4-5 coats, just enough to seal it and give it a shine for now.
Then set up for another round of inlay!

 

[tylereot]

Note to self (and anyone else who cares...) Don't clean up excess epoxy from the inlay with alcohol over the lacquer.  :doh:
I'm learning way too much, yet way too little about solvents.

 

[tylereot]

I think I finally got the headstock at least close to where I want it.  Starting to layer up the clear lacquer.  In indirect light, it's black.  This is the full sun shot!

 

[TroubledTreble]

Whoa! Sweet! Not what I was expecting. I love it!

 

[Cagey]

I know I'm impressed! That's a beautiful job!

 

[tylereot]

Well, Ken, it wasn't quite what I expected either.  But when life hands you blueberries.... um.. well, you know.  Thanks guys, that's about two coats of clear.  Many more to come.

The Staytrem arrived from Old Blighty.  The handle is a couple thousandths bigger around than the original, so I had to drill out (very very carefully!) the pearl acrylic tip I made.  Carving acrylic is fun, too!  It polishes up just beautifully with nothing but fine abrasives.  Would have been a lot easier with a lathe, but you work with what you've got...

 

[Cagey]

Wow. That's nice. Kinda looks like some sorta alien sex toy.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...​

 

[tylereot]

Wow. That's nice. Kinda looks like some sorta alien sex toy.

It is.  In the right hands...

 

[tylereot]

After considering a number of opinions from better builders than myself, I decided to just what-the-fudge go ahead and freehand cut the pickguard.  I mean, the worst thing that could happen is I screw up a piece of plastic that I have to re-order and wait for. 
A laminate cutter on my trusty B&D rotary tool should do the trick....

Followed by grinding the beveled edges with a drum sander on the same tool....
Ken's beautiful Roadhouse pickups fit perfectly....

 

[Cagey]

Nice job! I'm glad that worked out for you.

I've tried freehand cutting a few pickguards over the years and have always been sorry. Drills, Dremels, jigsaws, routers/templates have all driven me to the conclusion I'd never recommend it even to someone I didn't like. If nothing else, the mess is just hateful. I'll always pay somebody else to do it.

It's like muffler/shock work. There really isn't that much to it, but if you aren't set up for it, let the pros do it. It's always so much easier it almost doesn't matter what they charge.

 

[tylereot]

I lined up all the bits: Body, neck, control plates and pickguard.  If you're going to cut your own pickguard from your own sketch, this is where the rubber meets the road.
First little problem: the neck didn't fit the neck pocket by what looked like a mile.
Weird.  Before the paint work it fit like a glove, snug enough to stay in by itself.  Somehow, in finishing the body and wiping on a couple of coats of tru-oil to the neck, things tightened up.
So, B&D rotary tool to the rescue again.  Did I mention that this was probably the best $50 I ever spent?  Used a little sanding drum to open up the pocket a nanometer at a time.
Once that came together, I got going on the neck curve of the pickguard. 
You don't realize going into this how tight the tolerances are here!  If you're off by a millimeter in a couple of key places, the whole thing is going to be sloppy.
Luckily, with patience and nibbling a little off the pickguard at a time, it all lined up. 
Sure hope it does when I put strings on it...
whew.....  ccasion14:

 

[tylereot]

Starting the polishing.  Now you see where you made every mistake....  Paint is hard.