Stack knob Jazz build

[cameltoe]

Hello all,

I'm embarking on a stack knob Jazz build and thought i'd document it here!

The inspiration? Gas. And that I had a Jazz neck lying around.

So far I've collected a Basswood body, and stack knob control plates and knobs from obbm.

Annoyingly, the neck holes in the basswood body will need to be filled and redrilled, as they are way out of line. The body is actually quite good, with a very tight fitting neck pocket, but the contours are more chunky and modern than I'd like, so with a bit of hand sanding I'm hoping to take these back to vintage spec deep contours. Why basswood? Well I've always liked the way basswood bodies tend to sound (if you buy into that), the expense, and that they come in fairly light. Alder can vary massively and I wanted this bass to come in at a good weight.

So, my shopping list for the next few months looks like this:

Bridge (either vintage, or maybe a more modern string-thru? haven't decided yet.)
Vintagey sounding pickups
Decent tuners
Pickguard
'F' logo bridge cover
KiOgon stack knob wiring loom, with earth strap
Strap pins

I need to decide on a colour (see my other thread here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/270939-post-your-favourite-stack-knob-jazz-colours/"]http://basschat.co.u...b-jazz-colours/[/url]) but I'm leaning in the direction of a 60's blue, aged white (banana), capri orange, or perhaps an original colour scheme- I'm digging the Fiat colour Tech House grey.

This is the body, with wonky holes


[url="https://flic.kr/p/znY6af"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/znY6af"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr



[url="https://flic.kr/p/znWGXo"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/znWGXo"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr



This is the neck. It is a 2010 Jazz neck from a 60's reissue 'Classic Series' MIM. A decent neck. I've had it lying around for a bit, and have worked on it to make it look a bit more roadworn. I stripped the heavy poly finish and rubbed the back down with danish oil, which feels lovely and also makes it look a bit worn. I've heavily rolled the fingerboard edges and taken the fret edges in bit, to make it feel well played.


[url="https://flic.kr/p/znYcGJ"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/znYcGJ"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr



[url="https://flic.kr/p/znWPX5"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/znWPX5"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr



[url="https://flic.kr/p/zFsJoi"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/zFsJoi"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr


So that's it for now. I'll document my plugging and redrilling of the neck holes when I can find a pillar drill to use!

[kevin_lindsay]

Stack knob - love it. That's the control format I used on my own white Jazz Bass build. I'm looking forward to seeing the instrument take shape mate.

[cameltoe]

Sourced myself a pillar drill, so the next job will be plugging the body.

Have a trade pending on a set of pickups too.

In my Colours thread I mentioned a solid grey, military-like colour. Wondering how this would look as I've not seen a solid grey on a fender before and I think it could work. I have seen a Fiat colour, there is also an Audi colour called Nimbus Grey which I quite like;

[IMG]http://thumbsnap.com/i/BQ0pl5H2.jpg[/IMG]

Edited October 13, 2015 by cameltoe

[umcoo]

I think Fender Japan did a 'Gunmetal' Jazz bass...google it. Might give you some idea of a grey(ish) colour on a bass.

Cool build!

[kevin_lindsay]

Grey guitars always make me think of Midge Ure's grey Ibanez guitar (with the matching grey fingerboard / neck)

[URL=http://s7.photobucket.com/user/kevin_lindsay/media/currie_34.jpg.html][IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/kevin_lindsay/currie_34.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s7.photobucket.com/user/kevin_lindsay/media/midge-ure_1.jpg.html][IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/kevin_lindsay/midge-ure_1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[cameltoe]

Ah, you see, now it's ruined!

Daphne it is then

😊

[cameltoe]

Plugged the holes tonight with some hard-wood dowel, and got to work on the contours. The contours were a bit 'modern' for me. Having played enough vintage repro basses over the years I do love deep contours, so this was a must. Arm contour is now looking good, but a bit more meat to take off the belly contour yet. Managed to have the vice slip on me as well so it will need a bit of a filler skim in a couple of areas.

Thinking more about the colour, and I'm leaning toward a lighter colour with a cream scratch plate, Perhaps sonic blue or something similar. I have also thought about a blue/grey colour, something a bit farrow & ball ish, like this pumpkin:




Wonder how I'd get a custom rattle can of nitro made up though?

A bridge will be the next purchase at the end of the month, so I can line up before painting.

[Old Horse Murphy]

Andy McCluskey from OMD plays a grey Jazz bass. I think it must be a refinish but not as dull as Midge's guitars!

[cameltoe]

Yeah now I've seen a couple, I don't think it looks as good as I'd imagined.

Sonic blue, or mint green, it is.

Anyone have a vintage BBOT (threaded saddles) bridge kicking about?

[cameltoe]

Been working away on the contours, to get them nice and deep.

Nearly there! Far better than the chunky curves it came with. One of the first things I look for on a Fender bass. My JV series and Roadworn both have great, vintage spec curves. My silver series P not so much.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/zfm4ja][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/zfm4ja]image[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr

You can see the plugged neck holes in this one. Arm contour getting there too. That vice has caused me a few issues, but nothing a hot iron and wet towel hasn't rectified so far.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/zUChqY][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/zUChqY]image[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr

[Andyjr1515]

Coming on nicely.....I like the shaping you've done very much. Looks very classy

[cameltoe]

Well, that didn't work out as planned. Drilled the new holes for the neck, very foolishly let my uncle attack it with his bench drill. Completely lashed it up. So, holes plugged up again, we're back to square one!

Plan of attack again, is to do further shaping as it's still not quite vintage-slim, and to get these holes lined up right and drilled!

I did get a vintage bridge arrive in the post the other day, so once the neck is fixed, the next plan is to line up the bridge and drill. I'm thinking the best course of action there is to drill only 1 or 2 holes, affix the bridge, and string it up to check it's straight. Less to have to cover up if I need to make minor adjustments.

[cameltoe]

Progress. Pics soon!

Edited December 6, 2015 by cameltoe

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1449431971' post='2923496']
Progress. Pics soon!
[/quote]
...and still waiting!

[cameltoe]

Flickr! Can't get my head around it....

[cameltoe]

OK!

So, the neck holes were re-plugged and re-drilled after my uncle lashed them up. I got it 90% right the second time, and just had to open the holes up to 6mm (from 5mm) to allow a bit of wiggle room. The neck now fits very well.

Bridge has been fitted, and got this right second time also. It was very, very close the first time, but just appeared a touch wonky to my eye. Precision measuring showed it was just shy of 1mm off it's centre line, so the top of the bridge was a touch closer to the bridge pickup.

Anyway, with that all done, I fitted the scratch plate and control plate, then disassembled the whole lot ready for spraying!

The contours have been properly finished and are now super-deep vintage curves…. I took inspiration from my JV and Roadworn P for this. The body was finally sanded with 400 grit ready for the primer.

Right now the body is hung up having had a tack coat and 2 wet coats of white primer applied.

This is how she looked earlier today, ready for the first coat.

[url="https://flic.kr/p/Bsm54A"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/Bsm54A"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr


And with all 3 coats of primer applied!


[url="https://flic.kr/p/BMrFnt"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/BMrFnt"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr




This photo shows just how curvy she is now. I copied the belly curve by eye from my JV P, which has a very deep belly curve, and the arm contour from my Roadworn P, which has a much deeper arm contour than the JV, but a wider belly curve.

[url="https://flic.kr/p/Bm73FD"][/url][url="https://flic.kr/p/Bm73FD"]image[/url] by [url="https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/"]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr

Should be super-comfy!

I've also had a Fender 'f' bridge cover arrive, which I will slightly relic to give the whole bass an old vibe.

I will leave it 24 hours to harden off, then there are just a couple of small runs I need to sand out, that were mostly a result of the can nozzle splattering paint than any overspraying.

After that, the sonic blue will go on!


Watch this space!

Edited December 6, 2015 by cameltoe

[Andyjr1515]

That's looking very nice, cameltoe

Andy

[cameltoe]

Progress….


The painting has gone well, the solid coat and lacquer have been applied!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/BuSy9A][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/BuSy9A]image[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/]William Chesterfield[/url], on Flickr


I've left it a week before doing any flattening. Managed to get the minor runs out, but the paint still seemed a bit soft to be fully flattened. Worked up to 1200 grit, but still putting too many scratches in for my liking. I will wait another week, before having another try with 1200, and working up to 1500 and 2000. Finish is looking fairly good though! Have had one small burn-through, on an area I was planning to relic anyway so didn't feel the need to recoat. I'm going to go for a lightly relic'ed look, I'm keen to get some quality lacquer checking or crazing going on, but only minor wear.

Here's a pic of the body mocked up, as she will look:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/C5wQ7Z][/url]

I think it looks quite tasty!

Next step is to finish flattening and polishing, then a good dose of in-and-out the freezer to let the lacquer check, and then some artistic low-key relic'ing. A stack-knob wiring loom from Kiogon at the end of January and she'll be ready to bolt together!

Edited February 7, 2016 by cameltoe

[JapanAxe]

Loving the Sonic Blue!

[cameltoe]

Update:

Well, that didn't go to plan! I left the lacquered body for two weeks, then flattened and polished. It was looking great! I decided to try and induce some weather checking, however this is where it went wrong. I left the body outside for a couple hours in a bin bag, then brought it straight inside and put it in the Rayburn for 5 mins to try and heat it through. What I wasn't expecting, was just how much the body would expand when warm, so much so, that it got stuck in the damn Rayburn and I literally had to rip it out. Gouged two huge scrapes in the body and one smaller one, plus a paint blister at the back of the body!

Luckily, one was on the arm contour, and one on the lower cutaway, so with a bit of careful blending I think I can make it look ok, although the relic look is now going to have to be more heavy than I'd planned. A wet towel and an iron has already re-expanded the wood completely, which was scraped about 5-6mm deep! Didn't think it would work that well but it did, now just the paint to worry about....

Will post pics as soon as I can.

[Chienmortbb]

Nice to see some love for linden/lime. Basswood is the US name for it and it is pronounced like the fish not the instrument.

It is good to hear of your experience especially getting the dings out. Keep up the good work.

[Andyjr1515]

Chienmortbb's post has reminded me...any further pics, cameltoe?

[cameltoe]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1453801415' post='2962783'] Chienmortbb's post has reminded me...any further pics, cameltoe? [/quote]

Yes!

Well, it's been a busy old time at Cameltoe HQ.

Last update was the bass getting stuck in the rayburn after I tried to induce some lacquer checking. Well, i managed to get the worst creases out, and have been able to cover up the worst of the damage with some pinpointed relicing. The only downside, is I was hoping to go for a light relic finish, and now I'm having to go down the heavy relic route. Ah well. Some areas have had to be slightly overdone to make it all tie together, which isn't ideal, but I'm fairly happy with the result.

So, here is the body, post relic'ing.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DRLMp5][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/DRLMp5][/url] [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DU6yuX][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/DU6yuX][/url] [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DrYKrm][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/DrYKrm][/url][url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/CWGbhV][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/CWGbhV][/url][url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/CWGw8r][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/CWGw8r][/url] [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

In the meantime, this turned up from KiOgon:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DLsvf2][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/DLsvf2][/url][url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

I can't speak highly enough of John's work. This is the 4th or 5th loom I've bought from John, and they are consistently excellent.

Now, another problem reared it's ugly head. I don't know who was in charge when they routed this thing, but along with the wonky neck holes, they also routed the bridge pickup all to c*ck. A standard J bridge pickup cover won't fit in there, as the 'ears' are too wide for the routing hole. After much deliberation, and a 'can't be assed to fill and re-route' attitude, I figured the easiest way round this was to cut off the 'ears', and glue them back in a slightly narrower position to allow fitment to the body. I also heated up the plastic with a soldering iron to melt the joint a bit, to make it look a tad neater. Well, it's worked. I just need to remember to keep the cover if I decide to swap pickups in the future!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Ds1zbN][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/Ds1zbN][/url][url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]


I've relic'ed my own hardware, using the one night in vinegar, one night in salt method. The bridge (everything aside from the saddle screws, that is) I relic'ed using the 9v battery method. Turned it all a nice black hue.

The bridge cover gained a slight pink hue around the edges, and has actually been eaten away a little bit by the acid just by the F logo.

Relic'ed the mint guard by baking in a tray of coffee for 20 mins (it goes floppy and shrinks!) and attacking with a bit of sandpaper to take the shine off the front.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DkCQQx][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/DkCQQx][/url][url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/CWGVmv][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/CWGVmv][/url][url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/124725063@N07/][/url]


Couldn't resist a mock-up!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/DU5Lti][/url]

The neck now needs all the tuner holes filling and re-drilling, as they are well out of line for the tuners I'm planning to use. I think it originally had a set of the big-plate 50's and early 60's style tuners, the hexagonal shaped ones. I did try and acquire some from the marketplace but on reflection I think I'll redrill and fit the spare ones I have from an old 1984 MIJ P bass, which are the later 60's style with the big back plate.

I'm also going it continue to try and get some lacquer checking going on! I've left the body overnight in the freezer, then put it right by the fireplace, then back in the freezer. Still nothing! I'm going to resort to the air duster method. Watch this space!

Edited February 7, 2016 by cameltoe

[JapanAxe]

^^^ Pics? I can't see 'em!

[cameltoe]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1454880275' post='2973914']
^^^ Pics? I can't see 'em!
[/quote]
Internet has been dropping out all day, bloody storm! Should be up now. Also-Flickr, least friendly upload site ever, apart from photobucket. Why don't they make this stuff user friendly?