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Finished! It's a bass, Jim...


Andyjr1515

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12 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

Obviously I have reported this knee/drill potential injuryfest to H&S who will be in contact forthwith.

:lol: 

Agreed - it doesn't look good.  Happily, it is fake (well, if the US President can run a country on that basis for 4 years...).  I can only take a one handed photo on the SLR with my right hand, which unfortunately is the hand I drill with.  So this is held in the left hand and is not drilling.

"And that, m'lud, is the reason we are not paying the insurance for the totally forseeable accident."

:D

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Just now, Andyjr1515 said:

:lol: 

Agreed - it doesn't look good.  Happily, it is fake (well, if the US President can run a country on that basis for 4 years...).  I can only take a one handed photo on the SLR with my right hand, which unfortunately is the hand I drill with.  So this is held in the left hand and is not drilling.

"And that, m'lud, is the reason we are not paying the insurance for the totally forseeable accident."

:D

See, I knew it would be a set up for demonstration purposes, you are a supremely sensible man.

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16 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

:lol: 

Agreed - it doesn't look good.  Happily, it is fake (well, if the US President can run a country on that basis for 4 years...).  I can only take a one handed photo on the SLR with my right hand, which unfortunately is the hand I drill with.  So this is held in the left hand and is not drilling.

"And that, m'lud, is the reason we are not paying the insurance for the totally forseeable accident."

:D

I must admit it looked like the opening sequence for an episode of Casualty...

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Whenever I come to these threads I think "Come on Andy, stop working on  the bass and post something.."

Whenever the owner of the bass comes to the thread they're thinking "Come on Andy stop posting and get working on the bass..."

As they say, "you can't please everybody.."

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2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Whenever the owner of the bass comes to the thread they're thinking "Come on Andy stop posting and get working on the bass..."

The customer, as they say, is king.

So a bit more progress.  Hatch cut.

Again most builders have their own ways, but I cut a paper template from the recess already cut:

ehDq16Xl.jpg

 

I cut the blank out on the bandsaw a mm or so oversize and then use the real high-tech stuff:

dYlPqTil.jpg

 

I start with the straight run at the top and just follow the overlapped edge round with the sanding block a cm at a time. Until:

Pe3VK7Gl.jpg

..it fits :D            (private thought...PHEW!)

 

With a quick sealing coat, I'm pleased that the grain is broadly in the same direction :).  Once it is all fully finished, it will the the same shade too.

6XqpWkxl.jpg

So, two more jobs to do, hopefully this afternoon: final sanding of the body cutouts and edges and the profile tweaks of the neck...and then it's the start of the finishing processes.

With this part of the build process being a bit like watching paint tru-oil dry, I won't do a blow by blow - I'll do a summary of the method and show you the results when it's done :)

Watch this space :)

 

 

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The finish prep has gone well.  It's a bit like decorating where all the preparation takes for ever and then the final painting goes pretty quickly.

Anyway, the first of the final finish coats is on.  I'll do a couple more before I take a shot or two to show how it's starting to turn out.  So maybe a couple of photos tomorrow but certainly by Sunday.  :)

 

For the finished finish look, I need to double check with @Jus Lukin  to what he prefers (eg degree of satin or gloss) but, the way I go about it, these latter stages I'm doing at the moment are common to all of my natural wood finishes.

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Take 100 guitar and bass builders and there will be 100 different ways of finishing - so, as normal, all I can do is outline how I personally do it. 

And for both stained and natural woods, and whether I will eventually leave it satin or go for full polyurethane gloss, I usually start at the same place - the trusted old 'Tru-Oil slurry and buff' method.

What I find is that - even if I'm going to apply a different finish in the end - it is a great way of grain filling, sealing and finish sanding all in one process.

The method is well covered in a number of builds or gun-stock finishing videos (which is what Tru-oil was originally designed for) but essentially it is:

- using wet and dry sandpaper where the 'wet' is actually tru-oil and creating a slurry with the sanding dust that fills grain and small aberations with a wood-coloured filler

- then wipe off across the grain while still wet, leaving the residue in the troughs of the grain

- then, once dry, repeat (usually 2-3 times) but this time with finer paper and not only wipe off while still wet, but buff up (by hand) to a satin finish

9mTYuIBl.jpg

 

And this, below, is after just after 2 coats, the first slurry and wipe coat with 320 grit paper yesterday and then, this morning, a slurry and buff coat with 400 grit:

kJfjR8zl.jpg

TaJJ5szl.jpg

92YWXmCl.jpg

RNeNbnMl.jpg

 

And, just for @SpondonBassed - a pseudo volute:

37WjaYDl.jpg

 

To the touch, this is all silky smooth already :)

 

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Joking aside, this is rapidly becoming one of my favourites among your builds.  The only thing extra I think I might have asked for would be a bend well, KingBass stylee, as I think the club shaped end would lend itself to one but that's neither here nor there.

Nice work as always.  Respect to @Jus Lukin for commissioning it.  I reckon from now on you will be doing much more than just looking.  There's going to be a fair bit of noodling too.

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