Thunderbird arrived...

[mayfly]

So....

any news on the t-bird?  Do ya like the pickups?  Hows' the neck?  Does it hang balanced?

... Looking for information to fulfill my Evil Plan...

 

[ByteFrenzy]

OK, finally got round to doing some work on this one. With 24 hours in a day you'd think that at least SOME time would remain but nooo...

At least I managed to put a steel brush to the body and, working with the grain, remove some depth from the softer layers of the grain. When there was some nice profile across the grain I put on a layer of ebony color stain and discovered that the swapm ash is absorbing a lot less color than the test pieces I experimented on. With just one application of stain those were immediately pitch black, so much that I had to sand like crazy to get some figuring back. Here I just put on a second coat of ebony color stain and this is what the body now looks like:

I expect another one or two applications of stain, then I'm going to start shooting the matte clear coat. I expect that will still make the color a touch darker.

 

[Nando Vallart]

WOW! It's getting sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nice! Let it at it issssssssssssssssssss! and no pickguard!
[godly deep voice on] I comand your soul, leave this finish as it is and build the guitar NOW [godly deep voice off]  :laughing7:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Hehe... Look at the pics on page one, NTele... See the pickguard? Now depending on the number of sunny days between now and mid-october, the position of the sun, the flight of the birds, my general disposition including how many glasses of Drambuie I have too much, that pickguard may go on just as it is, it may not go on at all, or it may be transformed into a super G33k L33t übercool p1XGu4rd before I install it. I have about 60% firm ideas of where I want to go, 20% ideas that indicate a general idea but no clear way to reach it, 10% just a vague notion of what I'm looking for, and 10% where I really have no clue. Compare that with my Thinline Tele Bass where I knew 100% what I was going for and how I was going to do it.
One thing I do know is that the body still has to be quite a bit darker. It has to at least match the color of the neck.

 

[mayfly]

I must agree with NTele - that looks great!  However, I'd shoot the clear over it - and run the risk of god striking me down... (ZAP!!!)

 

[Nando Vallart]

Yes I saw the pics and the pickguard and that is exactly why I said to leave it as it is now  :icon_biggrin:
Ok, will keep fine matching the headstock color... that's amazing, man!!!

 

[ByteFrenzy]

NonsenseTele, I think you'll be happy. No pickguard - for now, at least.

I'm really happy with how the finish on the body matches the Wenge neck.
It's not the look I was aiming for, though. My plan was 'InfraBlack'. I'll have to do that on a future build.
My son would like me to build something warlockish, and it would definitely be black. Dead Black.
His mom still needs convincing though, and I'm afraid his results in school are not really helping...

 

[Nando Vallart]

Byte, that's one the nicest bass here (I know there was few, but only nice and your is top 3)

You've made a great job, as you said, the color of the body is matching the wenge perfectly!
Congrats!  ccasion14:
:glasses9:

 

[bpmorton777]

nice one dude! ccasion14:

Looks like a Dove bar. :toothy10:

Brian

 

[GoDrex]

The answer is none more brown. :laughing7:

Seriously looks cool :icon_thumright:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Hey René, wanna sell?  :laughing7:

My son would like me to build something warlockish, I'm afraid his results in school are not really helping...

How about the ol' game: "get there fine and you'll have it, get there bad and you'll lost it"  :icon_thumright:

 

[mayfly]

That's a really really nice bass - it turned out very well.

I hope that my t-bird turns out half that good!

 

[mayfly]

I forgot to ask - how's the strap balance?

 

[ByteFrenzy]

I forgot to ask - how's the strap balance?

Haven't had it on a strap yet, gonna take it to a rehearsal this evening. I expect it to be neck heavy, could hardly be different with that body shape, but I hope it will be better than my Thinline Tele. The Warmoth headstock is a lot smaller than the Fender shape and the tuners are a lot lighter too.

 

[DangerousR6]

Wow...Rene.. , that is probably "The" most badass Bird I've seen. I think Niki Sixx would be proud of you....Give us a close up of the headstock, is that a custom neck or a Warmoth?

fantastic job..... :icon_thumright:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

I forgot to ask - how's the strap balance?

Not too bad really, the neck does want to go down but with a rough backed strap it stays level. My Thinline definitely does not do that, if I let go of the neck it dives.

Wow...Rene.. , that is probably "The" most badass Bird I've seen. I think Niki Sixx would be proud of you....Give us a close up of the headstock, is that a custom neck or a Warmoth?

fantastic job..... :icon_thumright:

Thanks Doug. It's a standard Warmoth headstock. There's already a pic of it on page 1, I didn't change anything about it except adding my company logo.

 

[RockStarNick]

AWESOME. Dude, you matched the neck to body perfectly. Great job!!! 

 

[SlingBass]

That came out different than *I* expected (or was lead to believe) - My compliments......VERY nice, indeed  :glasses10:

 

[guitarjunky]

wow that looks  killer  are the wormth bass necks good ? i love wormoth bodys but never relay dug their guitar necks

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Pic of the bass in action. I'm also adding a poll because it shouldn't be called a Thunderbird. So what IS it, a Warbird or a Thundermoth ?