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Manton Customs

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  1. Manton Customs
    Great to see the finished bass! Hope you have plenty of fun with it
  2. Manton Customs
    You’ve got two options- 1 - Strip the dye again, this time use a water based dye to reapply. This shouldn’t have the same problem as the base of the dye is different to the base of your oil top coat. 2 - Develop your spray skills and get a few cans of clear nitrocellulose. This would also work fine if you mist on the first couple of coats. It’s easier than it seems, especially if you go for a satin or matte. Obviously wear a mask if you do this. Option one may be tricky as the wood has been previously oiled, which can sink in to the pores a bit. This will give a blotchy result if you don’t remove it all throughly. With either option it’s important to test your finishing procedure (all steps) first on a piece of scrap. It is always worth doing this and will save a lot of time in the long run.
  3. Manton Customs
    Unless you have dedicated spray room and equipment, you probably won’t find a suitable Poly. This would be done with a 2k clear with tint added to it. You should be able to spray Nitro over the top of the existing finish, but it depends what type of Poly it was sprayed with in the first place. People use the word for a lot of different finishes. If it was a catalysed 2k finish as is used on mass produced guitars then you should be fine. You can spray tinted nitro over it after first sanding it with 600 grit to give the finish a key. Also make sure you throughly wipe down and degrease the surface first. Then once your tint is sprayed, follow up with clear nitro to protect the tint. You’ll need enough clear to be able to completely level sand and buff afterwards without breaking through into your tinted coats… So it’s not a 5 minute job! Nitro over the type of Poly(ester) you usually find on bodies works well and is what the majority of the new Fender nitro finishes are. If you do go ahead…spraying a tinted finish takes practice to get it even. So maybe do some practice goes on card first.
  4. Manton Customs
    That looks a lot like Utera basses logo. Guessing Hipshot made them some with their logo on perhaps?
  5. Manton Customs
    I’d try lifting it out first which often works. Using a scalpel I would score around any areas of the nut which may have finish joining (edges and headstock side). Also pay special attention to scoring the edge where the repair was. Typically rosewood fender necks have the nut installed after finish, so should be reasonably safe, but you can’t be too careful! Then I would get some pincers/fret pullers on it. Grip it from above and try to wiggle it towards the headstock and back (towards fretboard). Usually there isn’t much glue holding them in place and it isn’t very resistant to flexing/movement. If that doesn’t work you’ll need to collapse the nut as mentioned above and remove it in pieces using whatever tools you’re comfortable with…obviously don’t tap or put pressure towards either bass or treble direction or you’ll pop the binding off. Here’s one of my videos (around 2:00) where I did something similar on a neck without binding. As you have binding at the edges you won’t be able to extend the slot used to collapse the nut all the way down, but it should still be enough. Obviously fitting the new nut is a little more challenging too, as you’ll want it to drop in from above and fit nice and tightly.
  6. Manton Customs
    Glad it’s going well…good luck with the rest of the project 😃
  7. Manton Customs
    Thank you @Buddster. It was great to see you and you’re family. I’m so pleased the bass has got a lovely home. Hope you have fun with it 😃
  8. Manton Customs
    You’re welcome, glad you enjoyed it 😃
  9. Manton Customs
    If anyone is in the Bristol area this weekend and would like to try this bass out, I’m bringing it to my stand at the Bristol Guitar Show which is at Ashton Gate Stadium tomorrow (Sunday)
  10. Manton Customs
    I’ve done quite a few oak necks now, it’s a great choice if you use a suitable board to start with (the same as any wood). If you wanted either a high gloss finish, or for it to feel exactly like a Maple neck then you might want to grain fill. However I prefer a more natural feel without grainfiller. But it’s not too noticeable either way. The grain is less pronounced than wenge which is frequently used with minimal finish. I built the bass below a few years back and it is a bit of a celebration of Oak…it is all English Oak - burr oak wings, 1/4/ sawn 3 piece neck, bog oak fretboard. Weight was a approx 6lb.
  11. Manton Customs
    Thank you! Yep it’s nice and original
  12. Manton Customs
    Exactly…The ultimate 70s jazz! Thank you 😃
  13. Manton Customs
    Still available currently.
  14. Manton Customs
    😆 thank you
  15. Manton Customs
    Yes, if you want a consistent professional look then the frets have to come out first so that the fretboard can be properly stripped and sanded. Then refret and respray. As much as I love an oil finish (and I really do!), I wouldn’t use one for this. It wouldn’t be the right look and lacquer/poly would be more durable to keep the fretboard looking good long term. I lacquer the maple boards of my builds and restorations even if they’re getting oil on the back of the neck.
  16. Manton Customs
    Yep, it does that sound very well too!
  17. Manton Customs
    Yes
  18. Manton Customs
    Approx 5 kg/ 11lb
  19. Manton Customs
    Up for sale is here is this 1976 Fender jazz bass. Ash body, Maple fretboard with blocks and binding...ultimate 70s! The bass is in good all original condition and comes with a (non-original) tweed Fender hard case. The bass plays very nicely having recently received a full setup. It also sounds excellent, with a biting aggressive tone just like a 70’s jazz should have! I have given the bass a full check over - I'm a fulltime luthier of over 15 years and any potential buyers can rest assured there are no issues with the bass. As mentioned all the hardware is original and all the dates read as they should for a 76. The only missing bits are the bridge and pickup covers. As for provenance - the bass was bought approximately 5 years ago from the The Bass Gallery in London I’ve done my best to picture pretty much all of the marks to the finish on the bass, which really isn’t too much considering it’s age. I’d say it’s in better condition than a lot of 70s Fenders which come up for sale. The frets are near perfect too and have a great deal of life left in them. Truss rod works as it should also, so no work required and ready to gig! Any questions feel free to ask and more pics are available on request. Cash and collection from Shropshire (near Shrewsbury) only please.
  20. Manton Customs
    Thanks @jebroad and everyone else who helped make it happen. Was a great day of bass chatting!
  21. Manton Customs
    Thanks for the mention. Feel free to send me a PM @jazzyvee if you’re still looking.
  22. Manton Customs
    It’s a reasonably common issue with the design of the Babicz. As you raise the saddle/cam it also moves the witness point backward and lowering it will have the opposite effect. So when you’re adjusting the action, you’re also altering the intonation to a fairly substantial degree also. If you were to raise the action on the E it would move the witness point backwards and increase your range of intonation adjustment. Give that a go (raise action on the E) and see if it does the trick. If it does, you can then shim the shim the neck to the point where your action is how you like it and your saddle is higher than it is currently.
  23. Manton Customs
    It’s the board shrinking, Rosewood and Ebony will do it more than (finished) Maple. Wood gains and loses moisture and the frets obviously do not, so it leaves sharp fret tangs and corners sticking out the side as the wood shrinks away from the frets. It can happen to basses of any price range and it’s just wood being wood. The chances of it happening can be minimised by making sure it never gets too dry in the room the basses are kept in, you want 40-50% humidity. Oiling the fretboard every 6-12 months or so can help as it acts as a barrier to stop the board sucking in moisture too fast or releasing it too quickly. But oil won’t actually add any moisture. As for the fix, sometimes as the board takes on moisture again it can swell and the fret sprout will be gone. However it might not swell to the exact same level, so might still leave a bit of sharpeness. Also if you get it sorted now, it shouldn’t happen again, as the board is probably already at 0% moisture content (too dry).
  24. Manton Customs
    If it's poly it's possible the finish is de-laminating and moisture is getting under the area the finish is not adhered properly to. If it's Nitro or Shellac, yes cloudiness can appear later on, but it usually looks a bit different to bloom when spraying. It can be caused by the finish itself absorbing moisture (not the wood) as Nitro never cures like Poly does. Cloudiness could also be caused by Silicone or Alcohol damage if you've been cleaning the guitar with anything.
  25. Manton Customs
    Loctite is a brand rather than a product - I presume you meant something like their epoxy metal putty? Regardless, that plan probably wouldn’t work very well. Gluing it straight and correctly wouldn’t be easy with such limited access. And to create access would make a mess. Even if you did manage to get it to bond successfully, I’d be concerned about it holding up long term. As it’s a double action rod, the only real guaranteed option is fretboard removal. Which really isn’t that big of a deal for someone with experience. Whip off fretboard, replace truss rod, glue back up and bam! But it would cost at least as much as the bass. Theres a slim possibility the truss rod could be pulled out through the access at the headstock. But it’d depend on the type of rod they used. You could try that first though.
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