neepheid

I've made a small mistake. There should be a gap in the top of the 'p' where the musical 'note' descends. That was silly. I'm in two minds here - should I just accept the mistake for what it is, or should I try to put a tiny sliver of black on what I've built up to this point then try to hide it in the final coats of lacquer - as illustrated in this quick mockup? It's so nitpicky, and fraught with risk at this late stage, I dunno why I'm even considering it. How risky is it, do you think?

A bit of wet sanding then 6 more layers of lacquer. Getting flatter, but I was a bit cautious with the sanding. More tomorrow.

The headstock will be doing a lot of heavy lifting in the distraction game. Private joke sounds good - this certainly hasn't been a "piece of cake", lol

I hope so!

Finally finished the design on the headstock today - kept seeing bits which displeased me, and of course the masking tape took the occasional wee chunk out of the edge so spent a lot of time with a tiny brush sorting that out, then seeing other wrong bits, resetting the clock to an hour again every time I put new paint down. Finally think I got it all and got to work on lacquering. Done 6 or 8 coats this evening - want a nice, thick layer before I start flattening it because I would hate to sand through to my paint underneath. Gonna let it harden for 24 hours or so before trying to flatten it back. 86_2007 project headstock lacquer preflattened.mp4

So you exclusively playing fretless nowadays, after you erase all your frets?

Today I got stuck heavily into the cosmetics. Headstock: Still some wobbly bits to sort out (the white neep logo was NOT fun to paint - very fiddly) Also made a start on the French polish - this is the first layer - I guess I just build it up until it more or less matches the surroundings... Not all good news though - there is an area of damage and discolouration on the bottom of the body. Turns out this must have been where the bass was sitting on the shed "floor" (ie. the ground) and i think moisture has gotten in there - thankfully having to fight gravity as the bass was upright. Unfortunately, this area is basically Swiss cheese - the little holes are me being able to push a cocktail stick in with minimal force... It's not structural, but I'll have to decide what to do about it. The obvious answer would seem to be cut it out back to good wood then glue in a patch, but I have no idea what wood this body is made of...

Well, if they've been clean for the entire year up to now, I don't see why not. But you can't come in now having already bought gear in 2025 and claim to be abstinent...

Not all Toneriders have that, it's an option when you order them. Got one (a Duke) with raised A/D poles in reverse P config in my "Ratlet", it just requires a bit of careful navigating around the sprung foam blocks - nice of them to include those, innit? I was genuinely blown away at how "fancy" it all felt from a packaging point of view for such an inexpensive pickup. Sounds great too! Did you get the regular P or the Duke (overwound)?

First coat of black on the headstock... that took over an hour... Also made a start on the French polish - testing it out in an inconspicuous area first - the neck ferrule holes...

Loving every minute that I play that Greco bass I bought which knocked me out of proceedings this year?

This is just my take on bass life, I'm not telling you what to do. Nostalgia is expensive. I have one rule - if it's not getting played, it's getting sold. I've sold my first bass. I've sold my "year of birth" bass. It's just stuff. They're just things. There's no mojo, there's no magic, it's just my brain being its usual soft and squidgy self. If it doesn't bring joy, get rid. Basses sitting around idle is a sin - get 'em sold to someone who'll hopefully play it to death. Or keep it. I'm shrugging now.

Bloody hell, could this thread not be a review of The Inevitable Teaspoons album instead? Got my hopes up there

Small update - frets have been levelled and recrowned. I think the neck did need it, the fret material didn't come off universally so I hope i made an improvement. Also, French polish arrived from @kodiakblair - legend, cheers!

I have no idea if what I'm doing is correct, but I have mine after things which need to detect notes/work on dynamics (tuner, detuner, pitch shifter, synth/envelope) but before my OD/EQ. Works for me, your mileage may vary.

Eat cake in a controlled manner? That's not like you, you trying some new approach?

Nah, no mockery needed, gonna go with the original plan of black, dark grey and white.

Design transferred and traced onto the headstock... Not starting painting tonight though - that was hard work, plus I only have black paint at the moment - need white and dark grey. The plan is to hand paint it with model paints and tiny brushes, flatten it a tad with very fine sandpaper, then lacquer over the top to protect it.

Been toying with some ideas for the headstock in Inkscape...

Legend, mate - cheers!

I am, yes. If you're having difficulty finding a suitable receptacle then as a whisky lover I can safely say I can get my hands on something suitable - happy to send it down to you.

That's very kind of you, thanks! I don't need a lot - just refinishing the area you see above, some in the neck pocket and some in the holes for the neck screw ferrules. 50ml maybe? 75? I'm not very good at gauging it.

Bugger. No-one seems to have Colron French Polish in stock. I have no idea if a different brand (Rustins, Liberon) is going to look the same or not. Don't suppose anyone has a half used tin of Colron French Polish they could spare? Sorry to say but two house moves since 2007 have put paid to me ever finding my old can of it

As it turns out, me. Decided to put my big boy pants on and get the tedious stuff started at least. So now, the area around the neck pocket looks a bit less like someone attacked it with a router and ran away. There's still quite a sharp transition into the new shape, but I've got it about as good as I can be bothered with. All done the old fashioned way, with sandpaper round various diameters of dowel etc. - I must be mad, but I'm in a real anti power tool mood today, just can't be bothered with the noise, I think!

Well, that's the simplest of the jobs off the to-do list - fit the control cavity cover. Had some old screw holes to fill, and one to avoid because it has a broken, rusted out screw in it. Very pleasant hour or so spent pottering with a Stanley knife/blade, mallet, some wood glue, a bradawl and hand drill. Found my nice countersink bit in the shed also, so that was a bit of a bonus! This cover might end up serving simply as a template and might get replaced with something 3D printed, but for now, the gubbins have a functional cover. Totally not putting off the other jobs which involve taking the neck off...