Rich Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 (edited) Hey all Not a proper build thread this, more of a refinish and upgrade. I've had this bass (or rather one a bit like it) hanging around for ever, and finally decided to do something with it while the bands are on enforced hiatus. Imagine this as a Jazz rathen than a P and you've got it. Red body, black hardware/PG. Anyway... as you may have seen in my status updates, I wanted to refinish it but couldn't decide on a colour so I asked the audience. When @TheGreek suggested white, a big lightbulb glowed into life. Black hardware... white bass... 2 tone... I'm in a ska band. Perfick. So, after a strip-down, the preparation. Sanding, filling, sanding, more sanding, priming, sanding, priming, yah de yah. That's where I am at the moment. Oh, and I've never liked the headstock shape much, so I've subtly reshaped the end. More details and pics as we go along. It'll be a rattlecan finish so it won't be perfect, but I will be doing my best I've never done a proper re-fin before so it's a voyage of discovery! Edited December 15, 2021 by Rich Turns out it doesn't have a plain fingerboard after all 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Sounds good rich, I’ve done a few re finishes with spray cans and they can come out really nice, I look forward to following this☝️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 I have a couple of decorative ideas too, but I'm going to make sure the thing works before I start tarting about with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 The neck and headstock are fully sanded, the headstock primed and the first topcoats applied. More flatting and more topcoat awaits. Here's a teaser pic showing my re-shaped headstock end. Rather than lacquer the rest of the neck, I'm thinking of something else. Tung oil maybe? What do people think? Open to ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 (edited) I found these pickups in my spares box. They appear to have come from two different basses, god know which ones I thought the plain covers would work well with the black & white vibe. The neck measures at 7k ohms, the bridge at a hair under 10k. Again, we'll see if they work when they're plumbed in. I can always source something else. Edited September 8, 2020 by Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba_the_gut Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Nice! How about a black and white checked scratch plate or black scratch plate and white cover for the neck pickup.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 8 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said: How about a black and white checked scratch plate Oi, stop spoiling my surprise Seriously though, my actual plan is to use the original black plate (for reasons of cost) and apply some B/W check tape to it. Either covering the whole thing, or just a couple of stripes. I've found some hi-vis stuff that could be really effective under lights. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 I saw this one a while back, it looks pretty good 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 22 hours ago, Reggaebass said: I saw this one a while back, it looks pretty good Looks good. I like the idea of the check being on the skew rather than straight and level. I might do a similar thing. A couple more pics: Primer and more primer! The complete headstock. I might do a bit more flatting etc, but it looks pretty good in the flesh. Wood. Whatever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 17 minutes ago, Rich said: I like the idea of the check being on the skew rather than straight and level Yeah I noticed that, it looks like they’ve run it parallel to the long edges, thats looking great already rich 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 (edited) When I sprayed one of my headstocks black I had a bit of trouble fitting the Ferrule, so I gently sanded the inside of the hole so it wasn’t so tight . Edited September 9, 2020 by Reggaebass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Yes, I'm going to approach that bit with care. I've tried not to get too much overspray inside the tuner holes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Two minor disasters at lunchtime. I'd just done a bit of flatting on the body ready for the next primer coat, and as I was dusting it off it slipped out of my hands. I managed to arrest its fall with my foot before it hit the concrete floor, but unfortunately it grazed against the bench on its way down and has knocked a small dent in the body. I'm not going to lose sleep, it's not like it's an expensive instrument and I've never been too precious about them anyway -- if I was that worried, they'd never leave the house -- but I still muttered a phrase that would have made a docker blush. I've blown another couple of primer coats and luckily I don't think the dent is going to be too visible once it's finished. Between coats, I was going through the hardware and have come up short of a tuner ferrule. Four black tuners, three black ferrules. It will annoy the manure out of me if I have to spoil the 2 tone vibe by fitting a chrome one. Wanted ad duly posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 @Rich I'm sure I've got some black ferrules I don't need. PM your address and I'll pop them in the post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invertigo Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 Bit of 2-part white wood filler will do the job of hiding the dent. I missed one on my own build recently and honestly the colour and clearcoats made it more obvious, not less. Seeing I follwed my polishing by banging up the body intentionally, I wasn't too bothered mind 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 I did consider filling, but in the end I thought "ah sod it, it's gonna get banged up anyway" and left it. It's all mojo, right? OK, the final primer coat has been flatted with flourpaper and the body's top coats have started! I'm edging towards tung oil to finish the neck, so I'll get some of that and once it's on the neck will hang up in the corner and stay there for a couple of weeks so the finishes can harden off fully. I'm planning a special headstock decal for it based on this template, but I'm going to hold my fire on that until it's all back together and I know it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 13, 2020 Author Share Posted September 13, 2020 Top coat(s) on the body are all done now it's going to hang for a couple of weeks to really cure properly before the bolting together starts. Must resist the temptation to rush headlong into it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 On 10/09/2020 at 12:13, Rich said: I'm planning a special headstock decal for it based on this template, but I'm going to hold my fire on that until it's all back together and I know it works. I couldn't resist the temptation, and ordered it anyway... it's on and it looks absolutely brilliant. No pics of it until the bass is finished, soz I would heartily recommend Rothko & Frost's service to anyone. Dead easy to arrange, fast delivery and a really superb product. First time I've used them, but won't be the last. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 I too would recommend Rothko, they did a gold fender decal for me that would show up on a black headstock like this, because the normal ones tend to go transparent, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 Tinkering with electronics today. I'm shoehorning an EMG 2-band eq under the control plate, I've offered it all up and it fits snug as a bug together with the battery. For the moment I'm going to go with just a blend 'pan pot' and no master volume control. At some point, if I can make it fit I might try a stack knob V/V instead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 So while I'm waiting for the two week paint-hardening period to end (this coming Sunday) so I can get busy with the wet/dry, I thought I'd take the opportunity to mock it together and get an idea of what it will look like... pleased is an understatement. God, I hope it works. The EMG eq is squeezed in place under the control plate and just about fits with the PP3 into the titchy cavity. That's the original black pickguard, with some 50mm reflective checker tape applied. The reflective white bits are very reflective indeed, so I'm hoping it will look pretty good under stage lights. Also: just how good is tung oil?? I cannot believe I've never tried it before. I am never going to lacquer a piece of wood again. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 23 minutes ago, Rich said: That’s looking so good rich, the pickguard has come out great, what about fitting some D’addario black tapes, to keep the colour scheme 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invertigo Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 1 minute ago, Reggaebass said: That’s looking so good rich, the pickguard has come out great, what about fitting some D’addario black tapes, to keep the colour scheme 🙂 Or DR Black Beauties if you want the roundwound tone 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 Looks great. Bit concerned with the fairly high output pickups with the active eq, won't they be too hot and spike your amps eq? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 22, 2020 Author Share Posted September 22, 2020 The proof of the pudding is in the eating I guess 😉 it's all very modular so changing the pickups or the guts will be easy enough. Having said that, all my basses are pretty hot actives including my current go-to gig bass Sire V7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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