BK Bass VI

[Pelagaard]

Continued from here.

Time and weather have finally come together to let me start applying the finish to the body.  Once the second coat dries and gets sanded, I'll try to upload some pics from my phone.  The grain just jumps out now, and some of the areas have that sweet orange tint BK sometimes shows.

Went with a semigloss rattle can from Cabot, but I might switch to a brush on once the two cans run out as it seems to bubble a little too much for my liking.

 

[Patriot54]

Nice looking axe! Also, the Bass6's look like they'll be fun to play.

I noticed you started a thread in May about converting a guitar to a baritone - did you ever do that project?

As someone who has always played both guitar and bass, I'm dying to build a baritone or Bass6.

 

[Pelagaard]

I ended up scrapping the baritone idea in favour of doing a Bass VI, it just made more sense in the longterm.

 

[Pelagaard]

A few things I've noticed:

1) Its really easy to lose track of time while level sanding...

2) The pores in BK are deeeeeep... 

3) Remembering to take pictures is hard...

4) The currently drying coat (no. 5) will be the last one I spray on.  I got a small can of the same Cabot semi-gloss that I'll be brushing/wiping on for the final coats.

There will be pictures soon.  If I've timed it right, I'll be ready to buff right around the samee time the pups and hardware arrive.

 

[slashin_velvet]

Agreed the pores in BK are deep....but i like it that way. with steel wool you can really get an oil finish to smooth out - without being like glass.

 

[Pelagaard]

The weather decided to stop playing nice, so its taking forever to the last coat to dry.  Here are a few pics:

Front:


Back:


Ignore the wonderful background, once storms started passing through, I had no better place to let it dry with adequate ventilation.  Here's a link to the full album with before and after shots.

I think one more light level sanding, and a final coat of lacquer, and I'll be good to cure for a few weeks.

 

[Pelagaard]

So, after leaving this to cure at my mom's place for a few weeks, I get there today only to find it clouded up on me... 

I tried doing a light sand to salvage it, but it was a no go.  I just finished sanding it bare and doing a coat of Deft sanding sealer, with the plan being to start the process all over again tomorrow. 

 

[tylereot]

I'm new to the whole Bass VI concept, so forgive that I'm having trouble getting my head around it.
Can you use a standard Jazzmaster tremolo with a Bass VI?  String tension/ spring tension balance is a whole 'nuther engineering feat, no?
Strings?

:icon_scratch:

Beautiful lumber, by the way!  Good luck with the weather cooperating.

 

[JazzX]

I'm new to the whole Bass VI concept, so forgive that I'm having trouble getting my head around it.
Can you use a standard Jazzmaster tremolo with a Bass VI?  String tension/ spring tension balance is a whole 'nuther engineering feat, no?
Strings?

:icon_scratch:

I was wondering that also.

 

[Pelagaard]

The originals did and I plan to as well, however, I plan to bolt/epoxy it into a solid unit.

 

[Cagey]

So, after leaving this to cure at my mom's place for a few weeks, I get there today only to find it clouded up on me... 

I tried doing a light sand to salvage it, but it was a no go.  I just finished sanding it bare and doing a coat of Deft sanding sealer, with the plan being to start the process all over again tomorrow.

If it was lacquer, it was too humid when you shot/wiped/brushed it, so you got "blush". It's pretty common. You have to follow the "Rule of 65" at least, and that's pushing it. It says "Not under 65°F, AND not over 65% relative humidity. I don't like to be anywhere near those numbers, but if you're good with the retarder, you can get close.

For future reference, what you need is something like this...

That one may be fancier than you need, but what's handy about them is you can put the base unit shown above in the house somewhere, where it'll tell you the temp/humidity of that room, and you can link in up to 3 more transmitters via RF to it to tell you the same thing in other areas, such as the garage, basement, sun deck, etc. The transmitters also have displays on them that you can look at...

​

...so you don't even have to get up to know whether you should go out and do something constructive. It's all wireless, so no installation worries. Very handy little devices. I've got that system here, and it works like a champ.

For what it's worth, you can actually fix the blush problem with another finish coat that's been properly mixed, but it's tougher to do once the finish has really set up well as yours did.
​

 

[JazzX]

like this...

​

I love how that thermometer has a smiley face!  :laughing7: :toothy12:​

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! Yeah, what it's displaying would actually be a perfect painting day.

 

[Pelagaard]

The weather finally cooperated yesterday, and I was able to get 3coats (one can) of Deft semi-gloss aerosal lacquer (allowing 30min between coats per the directions on the can) on the VI.  I must say, this is already looking significantly better than what I did before.  I'm hoping to get a few more coats on over the weekend.

 

[Pelagaard]

Finally some progress. 

Went with GFS Mean 90s for neck and bridge, with the 7K brass bottom Singlecoil in the middle. 

Cagey is currently working his magic on the neck.

Looking like I might finally get this all put together in the next 2 weeks or so.

 

[alterbridgefan]

Would you use thicker guitar strings, like beefy slinkys, or bass strings?

 

[Pelagaard]

These are what I'll be using.

 

[alterbridgefan]

Oh. that makes sense. :doh:

 

[Cagey]

These are what I'll be using.

DId you get some assurance somewhere that the tuners you bought will accept a .084 string? I put a caliper on one as close as I could, and it looks iffy. I can't find a drawing that calls out that hole size. Even the slot in the peg only measures .082", so it's unlikely the hole is bigger than that.

 

[Pelagaard]

I know the tuners will require some dremel lovin', and the nut will need a bit of tweeking, but when I asked about having the nut done by Warmoth I was told no.