The BlazerRay... Now finished!

[TheGreek]

I like the difference...a job well done I would say.

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

I like the difference...a job well done I would say.

Me too

[Jimothey]

17 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I like the difference...a job well done I would say.

 

15 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Me too

Me Three 😀

[Norris]

Veneering a curved Fender-style headstock is tricky. When I did my telecaster guitar I put the veneer in a vegetable steamer for half an hour beforehand. I also prepared a shaped clamping cawl to match the curve. To make it even more tricky for myself I bound it with celluloid too

(Sorry, the in-progress shots are no longer on my phone)

[BassTool]

On 20/02/2019 at 22:13, TheGreek said:

I like the difference...a job well done I would say.

 

On 21/02/2019 at 00:11, Andyjr1515 said:

Me too

 

On 21/02/2019 at 16:10, Jimothey said:

 

Me Three 😀

Thanks for the positive feedback chaps 😁 I'm loving this Truoil stuff 😎

[BassTool]

20 hours ago, Norris said:

Veneering a curved Fender-style headstock is tricky. When I did my telecaster guitar I put the veneer in a vegetable steamer for half an hour beforehand. I also prepared a shaped clamping cawl to match the curve. To make it even more tricky for myself I bound it with celluloid too

(Sorry, the in-progress shots are no longer on my phone)

That is awesome Norris, a proper job 😍

I like the vegetable steamer idea. With hindsight I was just a bit too keen to get my veneer in place, if there's ever a next time I'll make sure I'm better informed ☺️

I take it you still had the nut to fit to that guitar?! 😆

[Norris]

1 minute ago, BassTool said:

That is awesome Norris, a proper job 😍

I like the vegetable steamer idea. With hindsight I was just a bit too keen to get my veneer in place, if there's ever a next time I'll make sure I'm better informed ☺️

I take it you still had the nut to fit to that guitar?! 😆

The nut is just out of shot. The length of fretboard after the nut was a slight miscalculation, but had to be that length to cover the truss rod. It took some careful fettling to get the string run clear to the tuners. 

[BassTool]

The final shaping of the veneer ended up like this..

 

  

When I held it to the light, I was able to put a pencil dot in the centre of the tuner holes in preparation for drilling them out..

 

I took this shot for an idea of how I drilled out, but I actually had the headstock supported whilst I put the holes in. Drilled at fast speed for a quick breakthrough with a sharpened wood bit - bit of a steady nerve as well as hand drill for this. A pillar drill is going on the shopping list as some point as my lads like to tinker with cars and stuff so it would always come in useful.

 

 

PHEW!! Safely through with no split veneer, I could then ease out the holes with a file and sandpaper..

 

Now I can crack on with the Truoil treatment to the headstock, I'm thinking of a glossier finish to the face than the neck, and I've also got something up my sleeve as a final touch

[BassTool]

Meanwhile back at the body, I'd inadvertently covered up the pickup wire hole with my infill wood!

So it was out with an extra long wood bit to put a new hole in position.

 

[BassTool]

And flipping the body over, time to put in a battery compartment.

I had to work out more or less exactly where it would sit, to make sure I wasn't cutting through to the cavity, then marked out a rectangle bigger then a PP3 battery with a bit of space for 'wriggle room' - any slack can easily be taken up with foam/packing etc. I'm sticking with going 9V with the East pre, I've had the opportunity to try both 9V and 18V set ups over the years and IMO, the difference is absolutely negligible.

IMO why use two batteries when one does nigh on the same job? Maybe a thread that's already been covered, but I'll leave it to better informed folks to argue the pros and cons of using 18V over 9V systems.

I started with an ordinary drill in the four corners, then worked into the box area with the same technique...

 

Then roughed out with a chisel....

 

 

Eventually ending at this point, time for the router to come back out, but this time........

 

I had a plan.....🙄

 

Purists, luthiers, woodworkers, experts etc, might be time to look away now 🤐

 

[BassTool]

One edge of my new router has a straight edge.

I decided - if I could measure accurately enough -  using a straight edge to run the router against, parallel to the edge I was cutting, I should be able to rout out a matchbox sized battery compartment.

 

Like this....

 

 

 

[BassTool]

Then, after levelling off the base, going slightly larger and rout the inset edge for the flush fit cover..

 

[BassTool]

I had the option to go the whole hog and buy a cheap copy of the MM bridge, but really, why would I want to lose the quality of the original solid lump of brass that Ibanez installed on the Blazer? It was part of the inherent sound after all, and this bass is still always going to be a revamped Blazer body and neck at the end of the day.

I have another Blazer which I fitted a different neck to (which I defretted back when I was 22). I refurbed the bridge on that bass back in the day, so I knew what could be achieved.

The current bridge, although really well made, was looking a bit tired..

 

 

 

 

I stripped it down first..

 

 

[BassTool]

I put all the screws and springs into a small container of petrol, and after leaving them to soak, scrubbed the crud out of them with a small stiff nylon brush.

I finished them off by rolling them in a light grease so they were all coated and would stay reasonably water proof for the forseeable future.

 

[BassTool]

The main body and saddles needed any lacquer removing, so I soaked them in some boiling water with vinegar. And agitated with an old toothbrush - you can see the lacquer starting to come away.

 

 

 

[BassTool]

Once the old lacquer was removed, time to refurb the brass with some wet and dry.

 

 

 

[BassTool]

And then a final polish with some Solvol Autosol

 

 

[BassTool]

To keep the brass sealed I'll use a spray lacquer, this is the final result.

 

 

These are a great functional bridge IMO, and I'm more than happy to keep this on the bass as I'm also replacing the nut with a chunkier brass version.

[BassTool]

The headstock Truoil was coming along quite well, so in the meantime I cracked on making a new nut.

I removed the original with a small punch

 

 

It's a typical mass produced, not much care, functional bit of plastic. I've made a nut once before, again for my fretless bass to marry up with it's own brass Blazer bridge as it happens, so this was not particularly daunting.

Once removed , I could use it as a basic template for my new one, although I'm using a slightly deeper piece of brass so the slot will need enlarging slightly.

 

 

 

[BassTool]

I had some brass knocking about, can't remember where it came from but I remember thinking at the time, that'll come in useful one day..

 

 

I cut it down then ground it to a rough shape, both edges had a 45' angle so these had to come down to a flat profile.

 

[BassTool]

Then into the vice for a bit of grinding with a dremel, followed by some filing to get the radius somewhere close.

 

 

[BassTool]

I'll finish off the radius of the nut with a final filing whilst the nut is fixed to the neck (I epoxy it in - it won't punch out again!)

 

 I'll then then cut the string slots once the bass is all put together for the final set up. Again I can use the old nut as a guide, but to give you an idea of the difference between new and old I put them side by side.

 

 

I meant to say earlier in the thread, I bought my two black ribbed mats to work on from Lidl for 90p each! They are classed as doormats but I doubt they'd last very long underfoot.

Under bass however, they are perfect! 

And I can just shake them outside when they are covered in bits.

[Pea Turgh]

This is one of the most satisfying threads to read - bloody loving it! 👍

[SpondonBassed]

Brass is about the most satisfying and rewarding of metals to work with a file.  I'm enjoying the project too.

[cheddatom]

ace thread so far, thanks!