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51 Precision Semi Partscaster - The Bass Fender Forgot to Make


Bridgehouse

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The Danish Oil is drying super quick in this heat!! So I decided to do a wet and dry slurry sand. For the uninitiated, you use wet and dry paper with the oil rather than water. This is after some 600 and then 1200 grit paper.. you can really see the sheen developing now..

 

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Gave it a good few hours to dry out - and I’ve now done a wet and dry pass (1200 grit) with water. Body and neck are both silky smooth, and so I will leave it overnight and give it another pass over tomorrow.

It’s looking pretty much how I wanted it to now:

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It’s had a good dry last night and so I cracked on with the final stage.

Raided Mrs B’s furniture restoring drawer and stole some of her posh finishing wax.

Two coats applied - sparing but not too mean. Work it in, let it dry (15 mins) - then buff with a clean lint free cloth.

It’s taken on a lovely lustrous deep satin shine and it has made the grain pop a bit more. Really pleased. It’s onto the build up next.

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7 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Very nice too!  There's a special satisfaction in doing one-off things you can really call your own.  A short-scale version would be a good addition to my small collection.  What do you reckon the final cost will be?

Just under £500 I would say. Give or take a bit. 

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1 hour ago, scrumpymike said:

Thanks - that's quite a bargain for just exactly what you want.

 

38 minutes ago, ezbass said:

A nice result all round. That’ll be a great looking bass for not a huge amount of money.

Agreed. I’ve done quite a few partscasters and they have all had an element of “not available in the mainstream” about them. 

For this one, I tried long and hard to find what I was after - and when it clearly didn’t exist, I decided to do my own. 

I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be wavering - it’s not hard and the results always feel like more than you’ve actually spent. I’d have happily paid £800+ for a MiM version of what I’m building - but in the main it’s made in the U.K.!

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The trials and tribulations of a partscaster builder. Lol.

After finishing work I decided to do a few small “minor jobs”

Job one was to fit these:

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They are cheapo “licenced by” ones - but they look ok:

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What they don’t tell you is that the screws are made of licenced cheese...

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It wasn’t even like I was tightening them too much - just snapped clean off, leaving me with a bugger of a job to remove it and make good. Doh. Oh, and I had to find another matching screw...

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They are lightweight. And they seem to be as good as the regular full price ones (screws excepting).

Job two is probably the one I dislike the most - fitting strap buttons. The idea of drilling into a nicely finished body is not my favourite at all.

However, I have a routine. Masking tape - mark up the position with a sharpie. Use a good drill bit and don’t go too deep. When screwing in, I apply some soap. In fact, I have a bar of dove in my drawer for such occasions. Rub the screw in the soap and don’t be sparing! It goes in so much easier - less chance of splitting the wood too. 

And here’s the result:

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They are Dunlop straplocks - I use them as for gigging I like the straplocks on my mono strap and they are dual purpose just in case.

Edited by Bridgehouse
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2 hours ago, Norris said:

A wax candle is good for lubricating screw threads too. It certainly helps with those fragile tuner screws

It's also more stable.  Remember that the moisture content of seasoned hardwood is approximately 12%.  Wax is not affected by this.

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15 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said:

I always end up burning myself when using a wax candle to lube my screws..

Hahahahaha!

You could be worse.  Your spell checker might have accidentally waxed your pubes and screwed your chance of nomination for the best display of short and curlies this year.

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This bass is looking absolutely amazing! Great job Bridgehouse :)
I'll be interested to see what the final weight is, and even more interested to hear it being played (unplugged too - wondering how loud it will be)

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