Matsumoku + EMG's + natural wood = yum

[hamfist]

Well, I'll been working on this little beauty for a few days and finally got her finished.
And what a result. I am thrilled, both with the looks and the tones !

She's a Westone Thunder 1A with twin EMG P pickups (a standard P4 and a 30P4), plus the 3 band EMG BQC control pre-amp.
I have stripped the finish and re-finned with natural Danish oil and lastly with wax.

I've learned two new skills here. It's my first routing job (done with a Dremel 3000, the Dremel 565 and a 6mm Routing bit). I'm pretty happy with the result. I'll do it even better next time, but it's not really difficult once you have 50 quids worth of the right kit. I'd thoroughly recommend doing this rather than paying even more for a luthier to do a rout for you. They'll probably charge you £100. Get the kit yourself, practice on an old offcut, and you've then got the skills and the kit for life.
I did it by first pencilling out the outline of the rout, then hand-drilling out with a large wood bit (with my normal big drill) down to a controlled depth of around 2cm, to get the bulk of the wood out.
THen out comes the Dremel with it's router attachments and with care you can just hand rout it right up to about 0.5mm of the pencil line, down to your required depth (2cm for me). THen finish the edges with a big straight file, to get a nice straight line. THe corners I did with a 3mm router bit, again simply carefully by hand.

Also new for me is an oil finish. Again I'm very happy with it. It's not the most wonderful bit of wood in the world, but then again, it's not too shabby either. And it's a dead easy way to get a nice pro finish. Much less effort than painting that's for sure. It certainly won't be as durable as paint but is so easy to touch up. I'll see how it goes anyway. It won't be that much effort to refinish it again if need be.

As for the tones and playability. She's an absolute delight. Very flexible. Tons of juicy mids to cut through. I am very happy with it. And the sense of achievement at having done this myself really adds to the pleasure of playing.

Lastly, does anyone have any tips for cleaning up the brass bridge ?

OK, now the important bits, ...... pics.


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Edited December 24, 2013 by hamfist

[Clarky]

Good work! I just cleaned up years of tarnish and gunk off the brass bridge on my recently acquired Alembic with Flitz paste (its what Alembic recommend for cleaning brass components) Link here, £7 http://www.transtools.co.uk/accessories/polishing-and-buffing/flitz-paste-polish-for-metal-plastic-and-fiberglass-50g

[FlatEric]

Ooooooooooooo!

Nice!

Very Nice!

[HowieBass]

Apparently you can use Coca Cola to clean brass, it's the phosphoric acid in it that does the work... I believe similar results are achievable with vinegar or brown sauce (both slightly acidic). So, remove the bridge and dip the whole thing in cola overnight... then when cleaned and dry apply a clear laquer to maintain the finish.

[gary mac]

Good work, that looks very pleasing

[bengreen49]

That's a lovely looking bass. The wood is just right for a natural/oil finish I think - not too flashy.

Is that a Corkwring wrasse in your avatar?

[ead]

Great job there, looks the business.

[simon1964]

Fantastic work!

[hamfist]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1387879363' post='2316667']
Good work! I just cleaned up years of tarnish and gunk off the brass bridge on my recently acquired Alembic with Flitz paste (its what Alembic recommend for cleaning brass components) Link here, £7 http://www.transtools.co.uk/accessories/polishing-and-buffing/flitz-paste-polish-for-metal-plastic-and-fiberglass-50g
[/quote]

Ooo, I like that, polishes and then protects. Might get some.

[hamfist]

[quote name='bengreen49' timestamp='1387884871' post='2316767']
Is that a Corkwring wrasse in your avatar?
[/quote]

It's actually a particularly amazingly coloured severum I used to have.

Oh, and thanks to all for all your kind words about the bass chaps.

[Clarky]

Here's a before and after shot, showing what the Flitz did for the brass on my bass

[attachment=150928:$T2eC16ZHJIcFHOrnFz+iBSfdk6Be,!~~60_57.JPG][attachment=150929:post-2944-0-02113900-1386600229.jpg]

[hamfist]

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1387897719' post='2317022']
Here's a before and after shot, showing what the Flitz did for the brass on my bass

[attachment=150928:$T2eC16ZHJIcFHOrnFz+iBSfdk6Be,!~~60_57.JPG][attachment=150929:post-2944-0-02113900-1386600229.jpg]
[/quote]

It's clearly good stuff !

[madshadows]

Lovely Bass

[barkin]

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1387879105' post='2316660']
Lastly, does anyone have any tips for cleaning up the brass bridge ?
[/quote]

Recently did just that on my old Thunder 1, although it was much worse than yours to start with.

I took it off (string saddles as well) and soaked them in coca cola for a couple of days. Then a good rinse, and polished first with T-cut. Used a stiff toothbrush to get into the nooks & crannies and knurling on the control knobs.
Then finished with a car polish - Auto Glym something or other.

Worked a treat and looks good, although it's starting to dull a bit so I guess it'll need re-doing from time to time.

Yours looks great, BTW.

[danbowskill]

that looks wonderful :-)
I have my first westone thunder1 ( passive ) inbound, which has certainly seen some use. could do with a makeover. I'm seeing some lovely work around.
I had some quarter pounders in my pbass and I see you had them in a thunder hamfist...... is there a big difference compared with the stock?

liking the idea of your oil finish :-)

[hamfist]

[quote name='danbowskill' timestamp='1388168767' post='2319104']
I had some quarter pounders in my pbass and I see you had them in a thunder hamfist...... is there a big difference compared with the stock?
[/quote]

I like the SPB-3 very much in a Thunder 1 (my favourite passive P pickup in fact). It's a big improvement on the original pickup IMO. I'm not a big fan of the original pickups (or preamps in the active versions) in the Thunders. Everything else about them is awesome though ! I'm amazed you don't see more of them around with aftermarket pickups and pre-amps. Virtually all of them that I see around are bog standard.

[LukeFRC]

looks great!
Wee thing I found... obv. warwicks use oil finish which you then wax... well I used to use beeswax.... really sticky after a while... bought a tin of briwax a few months back.... works great and a harder surface too. There are other blended waxes about that would probably be as good/better.


Oh and interesting fact... Diet Coke is better for cleaning metal than normal coke.

[hamfist]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1388182601' post='2319319']
looks great!
Wee thing I found... obv. warwicks use oil finish which you then wax... well I used to use beeswax.... really sticky after a while... bought a tin of briwax a few months back.... works great and a harder surface too. There are other blended waxes about that would probably be as good/better.


Oh and interesting fact... Diet Coke is better for cleaning metal than normal coke.
[/quote]

THanks, that's useful to know about the Briwax. Currently I've just used some Colron liquid wax polish I got from B&Q.

I've had a go at the bridge and I DID use diet cola ! It's turned out pretty good actually !

[allighatt0r]

I'm tempted to do the same on my Thunder Jet. No way of knowing what the wood beneath is like, but the finish on the bass is a weird turquoise colour, definitely not original. Could you give me a brief step by step on what you did please?

[hamfist]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1388224073' post='2319566']
I'm tempted to do the same on my Thunder Jet. No way of knowing what the wood beneath is like, but the finish on the bass is a weird turquoise colour, definitely not original. Could you give me a brief step by step on what you did please?
[/quote]

Theoretically, your Thunder Jet should have an Alder body .....

http://www.westone.info/thunderjetbass.html

The key thing with getting a great finish is all in the preparation. And that means sanding, and then more sanding ... and then more sanding. You're getting the idea !

I started off with a clear lacquered finish, so is a little less work to remove than a coloured finish, but you should be able to do it no problem.

I have a range of sandpaper. From 80 to 1000 grit for this.

First take all your paint finish off with the heaviest grade paper you have. ALWAYS use a flat sanding block for flat surfaces ... this is the only way to keep the flat surfaces properly flat.

Then once your paint is all gone and you're down to bare wood and have sanded out all the imperfections/dings that you want, You need to work your way through to the finer grades of paper to smooth out the surface. I finish off with 1000 grit. And remember to surface wet the wood, and then let it dry between your last couple of sands. THis wetting/drying raises the grain and you will get a much smoother finish.

Once finished sanding I used Colron Danish oil (from B&Q). 4 coats (12 hours between coats, last two coats applied in a wet fashion with 1000 grit wet/dry paper). This wet sanding with the oil supposedly creates a wood/Danish oil slurry which fills the grain well. 24 hours later wax with whatever you want, with however many coats you want (I did about 3 I think). I'm going to get some Briwax I think, to finish this one off. It seems to be very well thought of almost everywhere.

That's the basic procedure anyway. All the best.

Edited December 28, 2013 by hamfist