Shuker Bass building course - Feb '19

[Owen]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

I’d like to do an @Jabba_the_gut build course!

I would be lying if I said it had not crossed my mind. 

[Unknown_User]

On 05/04/2019 at 13:02, GarethFlatlands said:

Day 4

The front of the neck was done, so Jon took the body away for a couple of layers of clear coat so that the staining could be done, and I got to work on the back of the neck. The heel and the headstock ends were done first, then I worked in to the middle using a flat file, a rounded file/rasp and a saw rasp, checking regularly until I felt like it was a shape I liked. Then lots of sanding and crossed fingers that no major re-working needed doing. There wasn't! Lots of detail sanding was done too. The holes for the tuners were marked out and drilled out on the drill press using a forstner bit.

 

 

The body was stanined black with some stain diluted with acetone, being careful not to rub it in too aggressively and take any clear coat off. Once done, Jon's assistant rubbed this off until just the grain was black. Then more clear coat.

 

The lion's share of the work done, Friday would be about installing the hardware and setup. I'd been travelling from Sheffield on the train all week but my fiancee and I decided to make a trip of it and stay at the Old Hall Hotel down the road on the evening of day 4 for a pub dinner and a sleep in a 4 poster bed.

Great thread!  The finished bass looks great too.

Can I ask about the finish on the body there?  How and why was it clear coated before you put the stain on?  It looks really effective with the very dark grain.

[HazBeen]

Souds like an excellent time and 900 quid is not far from what you would pay for a similar bass of similar quality. I trained myself (not very well I must add :)...) by doing increasingly complex mods and then some full builds. A course like this would be such fun!

Hats of you and mr Shuker.

[Jabba_the_gut]

14 minutes ago, Unknown_User said:

Great thread!  The finished bass looks great too.

Can I ask about the finish on the body there?  How and why was it clear coated before you put the stain on?  It looks really effective with the very dark grain.

I believe the clear coat is put on to seal the body then the stain applied so it sits in the sunken parts of the grain but does not penetrate the raised parts of the wood (if that makes sense). You then rub the finish back to remove any stain that doesn’t sit in the grain and you’re left with that lovely contrast.

Please correct me if I’m wrong!!

Edited April 9, 2019 by Jabba_the_gut

[Cuzzie]

Start of your course buddy!

[GarethFlatlands]

On 09/04/2019 at 11:15, Jabba_the_gut said:

I believe the clear coat is put on to seal the body then the stain applied so it sits in the sunken parts of the grain but does not penetrate the raised parts of the wood (if that makes sense). You then rub the finish back to remove any stain that doesn’t sit in the grain and you’re left with that lovely contrast.

Please correct me if I’m wrong!!

That sounds right to me! Jon took the guitar away to a spray booth in a separate part of the workshop so I don't know the specifics of how it was sprayed or what was used. I assume the initial clear coat was to stop the stain getting too deep into the bits I didn't want staining but Jabba's explanation seems like it makes sense.

[CameronJ]

Been toying with doing the Shuker course myself of late - this thread has done little to extinguish my desire! @GarethFlatlands The finished bass looks great. 

[yorks5stringer]

I did a 1-2-1 course back in 2008 and the price has not really gone up since then. My diary has long been deleted. here's the finished article, wish I knew then what I know now, I'd have done something less conventional.

 

[GarethFlatlands]

On 14/04/2019 at 22:29, yorks5stringer said:

I did a 1-2-1 course back in 2008 and the price has not really gone up since then. My diary has long been deleted. here's the finished article, wish I knew then what I know now, I'd have done something less conventional.

 

 

That's a great looking instrument, lovely colour and grain on the body. I assume it's stained rather than painted? Jon said that a decent, solid colour paint job adds a lot of time to builds and isn't really an option for the course as a result.