NBD: Ibanez Roadster RS-924

[Grahambythesea]

That definitely needs a gloss finish, then it will look reasonable period correct. That graining is excellent but it needs a really smooth finish to complement it.

When I had a lower model Roadstar fretless which originally came black gloss,I stripped it and finished it in a natural using boiled linseed it looked great even though it was only a sort of plywood body.

[NancyJohnson]

As it's getting too cold to spray clear coat, I've gone with Crimson lacquer.  Never used it before.  

[NancyJohnson]

After being laid low by the plague, felt well enough to spend an hour in the garage.

 

Applied a first coat of the lacquer.  Small amount of stain lifted, but all ok.  It's weird stuff, slow moving, like treacle.  Applied with a paper towel, which was an option and fine. 

 

Body just sucked it up; going to give it 20 minutes and apply a second coat with a brush, then leave it for a couple of days.

[NancyJohnson]

Second coat way better.  More later.

[NancyJohnson]

It's had five coats of Crimson Lacquer.  Just using a brush and allowing it to fully harden.  I've not buffed it yet, consensus seems to be to get it to at least eight coats before breaking out the wet and dry.

 

Irritatingly, there's a couple of areas where the body has little splits in the grain that seem to suck up the lacquer, so these areas have been over lacquered.

 

Photo below...the lacquer goes on with a slight white finish that fades as it dries.

 

[Hutton]

Great project you've got going on there. Here's my RS840BK Fretless.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Hutton

[Bassassin]

Looking forward to seeing how the Crimson lacquer turns out - I have a few projects needing refins & that's on the list, I've had good success with Danish Oil but it never cures to a completely hard finish.

 

Anyway - look what I found at the back of a cupboard!

 

[Bridgehouse]

8 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

Looking forward to seeing how the Crimson lacquer turns out - I have a few projects needing refins & that's on the list, I've had good success with Danish Oil but it never cures to a completely hard finish.

 

Anyway - look what I found at the back of a cupboard!

 

Why don’t I have any cupboards like yours?

[LukeFRC]

@Bassassin- I love you loads,and sometimes dislike you! I bet if someone asked there will be a “oh I found it on a car boot sale for £30” story too

[LukeFRC]

As he then files it into his Fujigen Gakki wardrobe …

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

@Bassassin- I love you loads,and sometimes dislike you! I bet if someone asked there will be a “oh I found it on a car boot sale for £30” story too

 

Not quite £30 but I didn't exactly pay top whack...

 

Had this one for 12 or 13 years - picked it up from Gumtree back when I was buying & selling to earn a crust. The guy was from Aus & basically selling up before he went back - oddly it turned out he was a friend & former bandmate of my band's guitarist. The pics hadn't shown much so I had no expectations of the bass, expected it to be a bit beat-up & was amazed to find it in near-new condition in its original case. It had been gigged, there are some tiny marks here & there on the body, but clearly really well looked-after.

 

It ended up being one of those basses I bought to wipe down & sell on, but ended up falling in love with. Used it plenty for gigs & recording, the only downside being it's a hefty sod. And it genuinely was at the back of a cupboard, where it (and one or two others) got stashed when we moved, seven years ago.

[NancyJohnson]

First rub down.  800 grit we and dry.

 

I bit grr...I had small run and was a bit too aggressive I suppose, so I've got a small patch that's gone back to bare wood.  I've reapplied the black stain and I'll start relacquering that area.

 

derrière.

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

It's odd, I've rubbed it back to 1200 grit; the body is smooth but not super-shiny and I actually like it as it is now.  Conflicted as to whether to keep going up the grits.  I think I was too aggressive with the 800 grit.

 

There is, again, a couple of spots on the edges where the lacquer has rubbed through when I've knocked it back, but I know I can fix these easily enough, so this is the plan...restain those spots, reapply the lacquer, be gentler with the wet and dry.

 

No rush, enjoying the process. 

[Grahambythesea]

How’s it going?

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

How’s it going?

Slowish!  I'm just about to do a 2000 grit rub down. 

 

Bit disappointed with the lacquer, it's been well applied but a few spots have rubbed back to bare wood (in the scheme of things, not too bad as they're in spits where you'd expect the finish to thin in regular wear and tear.

[Grahambythesea]

Well if it’s a little thin in the right spots I guess it will look slightly road worn consistent with its real age. Keep at it I’m sure it will be worth it in the long run.

[NancyJohnson]

I've applied a couple of coats of spray lacquer and to be honest the results are way better than the Crimson stuff.  I was patient, but man alive, the results were unimpressive.

 

I'll give it a day to go off, flatten it, apply a couple of coats, repeat.

[Bassassin]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've applied a couple of coats of spray lacquer and to be honest the results are way better than the Crimson stuff.  I was patient, but man alive, the results were unimpressive.

 

I'll give it a day to go off, flatten it, apply a couple of coats, repeat.

Good to know. On that basis, I'll give it a swerve for my future projects.

[NancyJohnson]

Brief pre-Chrimbo update.  It's not bolted together or anything, but this is where I'm at 

 

It's had several coats of spray clear coat, there's been an odd reaction in a couple of spots; just above the neck pickup the clear has just gone pitted, no idea why.  I need to work out a cheapish way of polishing/buffing it up a bit.

 

Right now, while I'm not exactly losing the will to live with it, I just want to get it put back together, but I'm a patient man.  I honestly feel I can live with it as is.  

 

Concerning electrics, dunno.  For the moment I'm going with Warman pickups - the J-unit I got from Josi was DOA, so he's sorting that.  For now, pickups>toggle switch>volume control> output.  That'll just get it working.

 

[LukeFRC]

@Bassassin would this be a good thread to show off what the wiring on one these looks like? 

[Bassassin]

1 minute ago, LukeFRC said:

@Bassassin would this be a good thread to show off what the wiring on one these looks like? 

With @NancyJohnson's permission I don't see why not. Could maybe become a RS924/824/940 etc general thread if he's cool with that.

 

I'll go grab a screwdriver & camera while it's still daylight!

[NancyJohnson]

Just now, Bassassin said:

With @NancyJohnson's permission I don't see why not. Could maybe become a RS924/824/940 etc general thread if he's cool with that.

 

I'll go grab a screwdriver & camera while it's still daylight!

 

Happy with that.

 

I was thinking about putting a John East unit in this, but my wife would pull my nut sack over my head if I spent 200 British phands on one at this juncture.

 

I'm not a big fan of passive tone controls (I tend to play with everything open and for a while used a P-bass with the pickup just wired through a volume control into the jack output).

[Bassassin]

Couple of guts pics. PCB on mine is inside the grey foam (which isn't coming off without being ripped) & everything else a lot more tidy. Looks like a lot less going on here, so inclined to think @LukeFRC's isn't original, which (if it works) isn't necessarily a bad thing. Would need to compare them properly though.

 

 

Edit: Had a squint at my PCB & now inclined to think it might be original, looks like the same components as Luke's.

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Bassassin

[LukeFRC]

2 hours ago, Bassassin said:

Couple of guts pics. PCB on mine is inside the grey foam (which isn't coming off without being ripped) & everything else a lot more tidy. Looks like a lot less going on here, so inclined to think @LukeFRC's isn't original, which (if it works) isn't necessarily a bad thing. Would need to compare them properly though.

 

 

Edit: Had a squint at my PCB & now inclined to think it might be original, looks like the same components as Luke's.

 

same pream I think my on mine - but mounted in. Also check the weird plastic bits around the pots - no idea what they are - mines a 1981

[Bassassin]

Yeah, definitely the same pre. Mine has the holes on the pcb that have been used to mount yours, & I think the plastic on the pots is probably additional insulation that's been added by whoever did the work, although I'm not really sure what for. I'm assuming what looks like extra taped-together wires are additional/unused wiring from the EMGs - but I'm right out of my expertise/comfort zone with this sort of thing!

 

Really interesting that it turned out to be a re-fretted RS940 - I should probably have twigged that from the single dot at the 24th fret. Is it a pro/decent fret job?