Yamaha BB350F to BB1999 (or something)

[such]

I was watching some clips of Jim Stinnett (RIP) of Real Bass Lessons on Youtube yesterday, and he had this beautiful Sherwood green P bass in one of them, I nearly changed the order I've placed 😬

[AndyTravis]

[LukeFRC]

On 10/05/2021 at 18:16, walshy said:

Nice work, he’s about to get my ‘66 P for a new paint job. I’ll keep an eye out for gold hardware dude

  wow what colour?! Please don't say white. 

On 15/05/2021 at 14:46, AndyTravis said:

Are you swithering on the purple? 
Green would look nicer with chrome hardware which could save you some money. But a bit of a different statement whipping out a purple bass compared to a green one. 

[AndyTravis]

@LukeFRC no, think purple is where it’s at for this particular bass.

[LukeFRC]

8 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

@LukeFRC no, think purple is where it’s at for this particular bass.

be strong, and don't be swayed by other colours, or colour flip paint  👊

[walshy]

6 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

  wow what colour?! Please don't say white. 

Are you swithering on the purple? 
Green would look nicer with chrome hardware which could save you some money. But a bit of a different statement whipping out a purple bass compared to a green one. 

It will be like this, the one I should never have sold 🤦‍♂️ P Bass of doom!

Unless Dave Wilson has another idea.

[Andyjr1515]

On 10/05/2021 at 17:43, AndyTravis said:

and the neck has gone to our very own @Andyjr1515 to receive some frets

This is one of those ideal small jobs for 'in between the bigger stuff' jobs.  Well, mainly

I say 'mainly' because I ended up spending most of this morning getting the finish off the fretboard!! 

 

Yes, you live and learn!  Most builders will tell you that stripping finish off a modern bass body can be a nightmare - but necks and fretboards are straightforward.

That's because, on a body, many modern makers put a viciously hard undercoat under their poly finishes and you would go mad if you tried to sand it off.  Generally industrial-grade heat guns are the only way!

On the other hand, necks are always lightly finished and hand sanding is a breeze.  And even more so for fretboards where generally they are not finished in the first place.  

Or so I thought before today...

 

Because Yamaha clearly don't play to the same rules.  This fretboard had the viciously hard undercoat - and you can't risk dig-ins and burns on a fretboard from the fairly brutal heatgun and decorators scraper approach, so it has to be basically sanded.

One hour in:

 

One and a half hours in, realised it was going to need some help with the help of a razor used like a scraper:

 

Two hours in...there's some wood showing!      (but only at the edges so far)      :

 

Two and three quarter hours later - we're down to wood :

 

And a quick damp cloth check to make sure that there's no residual in there:

 

So that's the easy bit done, then 

[TheGreek]

Timber on the neck looks good....

[AndyTravis]

Just now, TheGreek said:

Timber on the neck looks good....

Yeah, we’d talked about darkening it, but it looks great as it is.

[TheGreek]

I agree....you'd probably lose the figuring if you darken it.

[such]

I had never noticed it was finished! 

[AndyTravis]

20 minutes ago, such said:

I had never noticed it was finished! 

Never crossed my mind with my previous bb350f 

[Andyjr1515]

28 minutes ago, such said:

I had never noticed it was finished! 

Yes - pretty unusual too.  With the exception of the Fender varnished maple (and even that is a pretty light coat), most fretboards I've come across are just oiled

[Andyjr1515]

Now this is definitely something not to be rushed, whether fitted in between other stuff or not.  Cutting the fret slots.

I am using a radius block as my positioning guide and to keep the saw blade completely vertical:

 

I use a spatula marked with the tang depth to ensure that the slot is deep enough across its whole length:

 

6 done and 15 to go.  I'll do a few more tomorrow if I get a spare half hour:

 

 

 

[AndyTravis]

Wahoo!

[AndyTravis]

Are they maple veneers they’ve used @Andyjr1515?

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

Are they maple veneers they’ve used @Andyjr1515?

I think so.  

[Andyjr1515]

I found the half-hour or so to finish the slotting and they are all done:

 

From the absence of white lines, there's half a chance they're in the right place too 

As it's easier to put down the main finish before fretting and then a quick re-finish after, I've done a sealing slurry and buff of Tru-oil.  Brings out the colour nicely and will be silky smooth to the touch as well as being sweat and muck resistant:

Got some domestic duties over the next few days and then a burst of progress early next week on @Matt P 's single cut (that is pretty close now to moving on to starting the finishing processes) so it will be mid next week before the frets go in .  And we're going for EVO Golds that will match @AndyTravis 's dastardly plans on hardware for the bass itself

 

 

[such]

It will be great. Even as a fretless, this bass had a very piano-like "ping" when strung with fresh rounds. 

[AndyTravis]

2 minutes ago, such said:

It will be great. Even as a fretless, this bass had a very piano-like "ping" when strung with fresh rounds. 

Ah good. I shall play it just like I play piano…with heavy hands, little or no skill…and zero timing.

[BassTool]

On 23/05/2021 at 19:30, Andyjr1515 said:

Yes - pretty unusual too.  With the exception of the Fender varnished maple (and even that is a pretty light coat), most fretboards I've come across are just oiled

Oh God Andy, don't mention oiled fretboards 🤭

[LukeFRC]

the next question is what is Andy going to wear while playing it? https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2007/nov/07/princefashion 

 

[AndyTravis]

Factual rendering 

[Andyjr1515]

Each time I go down into the cellar today I am fitting an extra fret in.  We are going for EVO Golds and the first 5 are already in.  

After detanging them at the sides, I pop a small amount of wood glue on the tangs, hammer them in and then clamp the radius block to keep them fully seated while the glue grabs.  I'll take some extra shots of the earlier steps as I go along, but this is the final step of the above method (which was when I remembered to take the photo)   :

 

[Andyjr1515]

There are many ways of fitting frets but, for what it's worth, this is the way I do it.

First I detang the ends using the nipper and cut to length:

 

I then run a small bead of Titebond along the tangs and press the tang into the slot to position it.

Then smack it with a hammer on the bass side, the treble side and the middle (and then liberally anywhere that takes my fancy  ).  The fretwire is curved at a tighter radius than the board and the tang barbs face down into the slot.  The first two whacks either side get the barbs through and under the surface, leaving the middle humped.  Then whacking it in the middle spreads the wire outwards with the barbs locking themselves into the wood under the surface.  The glue squeeze-out tells me the fret is seated and is wiped off with a damp cloth:

 

And then I clamp with the radius block, as posted above, before moving to the next one:

 

7 done, 14 to go