Al Heeley

I use those nylon scotchbrite pads, green or grey ones, they look like a pan cleaner but give a really smooth gentle sanding action that does not leave micro-scratches like wire wool can. Only a minutes work to get the top lacquer surface off and the stickiness is replaced by a silky smooth neck that feels great to play.

I think the final cost of the wood and hardware was somewhere around [edit - recosted] £400, but there were a few extra tools i needed to get the job done, the consumables, etc. and the paint and lacquer, sticking plasters, beer and time taken getting the scratches out of the kitchen work surface before the wife noticed.

Rustins is good once you've had the practice. It goes off quick in the warm and can leave brush marks, but for a good gloss build with no spray equipment there are few more effective alternatives. You have to test it over any paint or stain first as its a bit moody, and if it cures wrong or orange peels its a horrible mess to get off and restart. As it is fast-curing, you can build up a lot of thin coats over a weekend and then its so damned hard it will be like a polyester finish. Allow to really harden for a couple of weeks before wet-sanding/finishing, then buff up with beeswax. Some of the experienced guys on project guitar forum get an absolutely superb finish with Rustins PC - I'm talking PRS-level finish. I would not use it for a neck - I prefer Tru-Oil, and would not use for a bass fingerboard lacquer either, as the bass strings will dent it. You really need epoxy to do that properly, IMO.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='365401' date='Dec 29 2008, 12:15 PM']How long did it take you? The initial readthrough gave me the impression you'd knocked it up over Christmas - although clearly that's not what happened! Did you leave the back/neck natural & just go for a black top?[/quote]Thanks Jon! The whole build took about 6 weeks, and a lot of that was struggling to source the hardware which is hens teeth in the UK. The back, sides and neck were left natural, with a few coats of Rustins Plastic Coating then buffed to a silk low-gloss finish. A lot of things I'd do different (better) now, just itching to raise enough money to have a go at version#2.

Blimey, hardly a guitar repair job that, just find someone who canb solder and loosen a nut without denting the wood.

Great work on the restoration, you got it back to really nice condition. After all that work it must be worth a go getting the string height lowered. The body and neck as well as the bridge and pup surround came up really nice.

You may find the jack socket just needs taking apart, cleaning with emery paper, then refitting, tightening again, saves hunting for a new one. When you take it off you will see if there is any obvious problem like loose wire or dirty/bent contacts.

Milking The Lemon - pop/rock/blues/dance stuff Wyld Stallyns - classic punk - ramones, ruts, Stranglers, Pistols plus Green Day, Kaiser chiefs, Fratellis stuff

oh my, he has surpassed himself with these exquisite pieces! Looking forward to seeing this one come together!

Hello from another Yorkshire resident and relative newcomer here, I'm near Holmfirth/Huddersfield, currently playing in 2 local covers bands.

Thx guys!

Any recommendations where to shop (pref. online) for good quality Speakon-speakon cables for bass amps - cabs without paying daft money? Cheers! Al

Very kind of you Wizbat, click on my siggy thingy to view my homemade effort, the Lemonbacker.

I came across a mains lead from NordOst - high end audiophile stuff, that retails around £1920, yes that is over nineteen humdred GB pounds for a mains lead. [url="http://www.nordost.com/productdetail.asp?ProdID=35"]http://www.nordost.com/productdetail.asp?ProdID=35[/url] Looks cool though with it's carbon fibre-like textured plug and transmits electricity at 86% the speed of light which obviously give you far better tonal response. I am told you can get similar sound improvement by cleaning your plug legs with brasso once a year.

You're right Mikey - I already have a Warmoth 5-string with a low B, wanted to have a High C 5-string to play, hence kept the scale length more conservative.

[b]Marshall's new MB series[/b] [i]MB150 combo, MB4210 combo, MB4410, combo, MB450 head[/i] I guess these came out earlier this year but does anyone have any experience of these? They seem pretty well specced for the price (however Indian-made, Marshall will be careful to protect their good name I'm sure) Are they a serious contender for reasonable quality tone at low price for small to medium sized gigs? I'm particularly interested in the 4210 combo running into the 115 cab. Thats a good spec for under £420 for a value and solid state blendable pre-amp and 450W of power. I know Marshall are not a fashoinable name to boot about in a bass forum, but does anyone have opinions or experience of these?

Hartke LH500 valve head seems to come very highly recommended - that is a 500w valve head without fancy eq, just simple bass/treble/parametric and is a snip at £224. I saw one on Amazon dot com for £184 + P&P, thats a lot of amp for the money.

Hi Mikey, I fashioned a couple of thin shims to raise the height a couple of mm and tighten the pocket. A snugger fit has helped improve action and resonance from neck to body. The whole bridge thing was a major pain on this bass, I wanted slightly closer spacings to go in line with the neck profile. Add that one to the learning curve.

Thx guys, I've made about 5 basses and 4 lead guitars to date, currently working on a mahogany flying V for a band member. I have the urge to build another bass, a custom Jazz with active pups, and another fanned fret 5 and another ricky, only my job, wife and kids, sleep and mealtimes get in the way. Trouble is, on every build there's things not done right and you learn from them, so want to go back and do another, better. It's quite addictive. If anyone's interested in buying one of my builds, please drop me a line. In particular: Bubinga P-bass Zebrawood neck-thu with JB type pickups:

Thanks to everyone for taking such an interest in this thread and for all the great feedback. Here's a final shot; Nut lowered, far better action now, headstock painted black, she looks a lot better and plays a lot better.

Nearly there... Not happy about the finish but I think it's the best I'm going to get within the limitatins of my equipment, ability and patience.

Been loading on the Rustins Plastic Coating. Body about 80% finished now. Neck pup cavity routed. Here's a quick progress shot.