Chambered Black Korina/solid Bubinga project

[Malta]

All my parts came in (except the battery box, I knew I was forgetting something!), so I decided to do a mock up to see how it all looks together and I gotta say I cannot wait to get this thing built! But alas, I must finish the body first and I'm looking for some suggestions. I can't decide between clear grain fill/Tru-Oil,  black grain fill/amber Transtint in clear shellac/satin Deft, or brown grain fill/light tobacco Transtint in clear shellac/satin Deft...or maybe there's something else really cool that I don't know about...HELP!!!

 

[bassfrancesco]

There are some good examples on this site of Korina with white or black grain filler with tung/tru oil.  Good choice on the bass, very nice.  Should turn out very nice with the finish plans you have.   ccasion14:  keep the pics coming.  

 

[The Dealer]

That's gonna be a nice one. I bet that chambered body will will really lighten the guitar up.

 

[tubby.twins]

Nice!  I recommend a clear satin finish, no stain.

 

[baskruit]

Nice!  I recommend a clear satin finish, no stain.

I agree. BK looks good as it is.

 

[hannaugh]

Any of those finishes would look great if you ask me.  If it were mine though, I'd probably go with a light amber or tobacco tint. 

Show us closeups of that neck, it looks real nice from here!

 

[whyachi]

This is going to be like a Stingray Warwick Fender mashup. Kick ass. High end German pickups with MM-style pole pieces plus a naked exotic neck and classic body shape, what's not to love?

 

[kdownes]

+1 to no stain -- black korina looks so great just with a finish, you don't need one.  This may not appeal to you since it would involve waiting for a while longer, but for my korina VIP build I bought a korina board from ebay, cut it into a bunch of small pieces, and tested out a few different finish combos on it to see what would look best.  It wasn't that expensive but definitely added a few weeks to an already lengthy finishing process.  To get a finish you'll really love, though, it might be worth it.

 

[Malta]

This is going to be like a Stingray Warwick Fender mashup. Kick ass. High end German pickups with MM-style pole pieces plus a naked exotic neck and classic body shape, what's not to love?

You sir, are right on the money! That's exactly what I had in mind as this project came to be.

Stopped by my local Woodcraft looking for black grain filler, but all they had was Behlen water based in brown. The guy working the counter recommended mixing in some black Mixol universal dye to get the black I want. Has anyone here tried this? I'm going to mix up a test batch this week as soon as my korina test pieces come in but wanted to post it up here too in case anybody thinks it a bad idea?

Also, I'll be setting this up either BEAD or Drop C, any 5 string players have a favorite preamp? I was searching online for reviews on the Audere and the Aguilar trying to decide which way to go and found a little burp on the Nordy pre, but alas I can't find any feedback. anybody have any experience with the Nordstrand?

 

[JaySwear]

wow! i love it! always thought jazz's just looked a little off without a pickguard, but this one might convince me otherwise

 

[whyachi]

This is going to be like a Stingray Warwick Fender mashup. Kick ass. High end German pickups with MM-style pole pieces plus a naked exotic neck and classic body shape, what's not to love?

You sir, are right on the money! That's exactly what I had in mind as this project came to be.

Stopped by my local Woodcraft looking for black grain filler, but all they had was Behlen water based in brown. The guy working the counter recommended mixing in some black Mixol universal dye to get the black I want. Has anyone here tried this? I'm going to mix up a test batch this week as soon as my korina test pieces come in but wanted to post it up here too in case anybody thinks it a bad idea?

Also, I'll be setting this up either BEAD or Drop C, any 5 string players have a favorite preamp? I was searching online for reviews on the Audere and the Aguilar trying to decide which way to go and found a little burp on the Nordy pre, but alas I can't find any feedback. anybody have any experience with the Nordstrand?

I can't vouch for their preamp but Nordstrand has some of the best customer service I've encountered. Personally, I'd stick a MEC preamp in it. Warwicks are known for fantastic B strings, and I can personally vouch for them.

 

[Wyliee]

Also, I'll be setting this up either BEAD or Drop C, any 5 string players have a favorite preamp? I was searching online for reviews on the Audere and the Aguilar trying to decide which way to go and found a little burp on the Nordy pre, but alas I can't find any feedback. anybody have any experience with the Nordstrand?

Nordstrand makes great pickups.  I've not tried the preamp yet.  I've used the Aguilar OBP-2 in several builds and like it.  Dave @ Audere is a great guy and builds a killer preamp.  His design is quite flexible and sounds good in anything I've tried.

 

[tubby.twins]

I can't vouch for their preamp but Nordstrand has some of the best customer service I've encountered. Personally, I'd stick a MEC preamp in it. Warwicks are known for fantastic B strings, and I can personally vouch for them.

Warwick's great B strings are probably mostly due to the very stiff woods (Wenge, Ovangkol, etc.) used for the necks.  The pre-amp may make less of a difference.

I've tried an Audere pre-amp (model 3ZB) in one 5-string bass, but it's currently strung with a "high C" (EADGC) so I can't comment on how the low B sounds.  But the Audere pre-amp is very nice indeed.  The Aguilar OBP-3 pre-amp is nice as well.

Most of my other basses are completely passive, and they have no problems with the low B.  You may want to try running all-passive at first, and see if that meets your needs.

 

[whyachi]

Those Delanos are built especially for drop tuning, so tubby.twins might be right. I think you could get by without a preamp.

 

[Nando Vallart]

It looks amazing!

 

[Malta]

Most of my other basses are completely passive, and they have no problems with the low B.  You may want to try running all-passive at first, and see if that meets your needs.

Those Delanos are built especially for drop tuning, so tubby.twins might be right. I think you could get by without a preamp.

Exactly why I've been GASing for Delanos for the past year or so Knucklehead G! The low C on my Spector lost much of its muddyness and really came to life after I popped a Delano Sonar 3 pre in it, but EMGs and Delanos are really 2 entirely different animals, so Tubby.Twins is probably right that I should give it a shot passive first.

 

[Malta]

Snapped up a lightly used Nordstrand 3 band preamp off Ebay for $120 shipped. It was just too good a deal to pass up. If it doesn't make it into this bass it will likely end up in another or maybe I can build it into an outboard preamp.

Now i'm thinking amber on the body paired up with the bubinga neck might be too orange-y... Test peices of korina should be here beginning of next week, so I'll find out then.

 

[Malta]

Haven't had as much free time as I'd like to work on this thing. I loved the natural look and waxy feel of the korina, so I didn't want change it much. After seeing Silent_K's korina VIP, I knew TruOil was the way to go. I filled the grain with clear  ColorTone water based grain filler following the instructions. 3 coats of filler, sanding to 320 between each coat. Not sure if this stuff build slowly or if I was just applying it thinly, but it probably could of used twice as many coats of filler to get a flat glass like finish. I loved the feel the korina had after 3 so I stopped there.

I just put the first coat of tru-oil on this morning, it really added alot of warmth to the korina. I can't wait to hear how this thing sounds!

 

[DangerousR6]

I'd say go for the black grain fill, this is Billy Bo I'm building right now. Black korina looks awesome with black grain fill... :icon_thumright:
before..

after..

 

[mgaut051]

I'd say go for the black grain fill, (...)

+1.

Sweet looking pickups - BOOM!
Nice bass, wish I had one like that!