BassTool

I'll try and sort pics @Pea Turgh but I started with the bass in bits and am gutted I never took a full on shot of the Blazer before starting - and I don't know what I'm going to do next if anything! This truly was a first for me, a big undertaking and I've learned a lot from it. I took a punt on the gluing thing first and it just snowballed from there! After following build diaries for so long and finally doing my own I've got to say I've loved almost every minute 😆

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you.... The BlazerRay 😊

Well the rest of the job was connecting up wires and installing the control plate and jack socket, no pics necessary really. After two months, my project was finally finished.

I'd used the copper tape everyone advocates using in both the pickup cavity as well as the control cavity. It's quite therapeutic putting this stuff in and smoothing it down! You can see where I built up the areas for the control plate screw holes, as well as a glimpse of the final colour 😎

Then onto the string guide - I deliberated briefly over where to put this, some early Rays are between the G and D, I've just gone middle for diddle.

The nut needed finishing off in situ so I masked off the neck and headstock and it was then out with the big file and some needle files..

Just taken the shine off 😎

Incredible the way the wood grain mirrors the pickup, what an amazing coincidence they match (as well as great placement!) 😎

....and came back looking quite differently to when it went away After reading all the horror stories and failed attempts at rattle can finishes on here I thought, 'nyeh bollocks', hang the expense, I'm dropping this off with Rigga, my mate the car paint expert 😎 I've invested too much time and effort in this bad boy to mess up at the final hurdle, and... at the end of my efforts in transforming this guitar, I wanted it to look the real deal...

Time to start putting stuff back together...

I knew I'd seen this somewhere, this guy absolutely nails it, lovely playing IMO

Cheers Rikki, brass is great stuff because it can almost always be saved in the same way this bridge has been 👍 I meant to say, there's been a huge amount of elbow grease involved in this whole revamp, I really did not imagine I would sand stuff down - not just wood - as much as I have over the last two months 😆 It's all coming together rather nicely now though

I finished the fretboard off with a coat of Lord Sheraton Caretaker Beeswax formula. I've used it for years on my Warwick Thumb body and it gives a lovely finish to wood.

Then stripped off the protection mmmm shiny 😃 Much happier now 😎

I used a combination of Mrs BT's nail file/polisher and wet and dry on the frets.. Followed by some polish

Although I was happy with the back of the neck, the front was bugging the life out of me with it's OTT laquered fingerboard. I bit the bullet and rubbed it down with 2000 grit wet and dry to make it more usable and dull the finish down. I'd seen this brilliant vid on youtube and after checking the frets with a straightedge, it confirmed that the frets were all perfectly level, but I still wanted to clean off any remaining lacquer that remained up the sides and give them a final polish. This is part two, the frets on this Fender were really bad from the factory, and these two videos cover pretty much everything you need to know about checking your frets. It gave me the confidence to simply clean mine up using the taped up fretboard method this guy does. First though, after covering the back of the neck with masking tape up to the edge of the fretboard, I rubbed the board down. Then taped up using electricians tape - it's timetaking but necessary..