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NBD Yamaha BEX4


Maude

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  • 4 weeks later...
2 hours ago, andy67 said:

Update? :D

 

'Fraid not! 

 

Nothing has happened, bleedin' life's been getting in the way. 

It's ready for some colour, but every weekend that's had suitable weather I've been too busy with other stuff. 

Today would be perfect but I've got a wedding to go to in a bit. 

Tomorrow will be OK, but I'll have been to a wedding yesterday and might not feel up to it, if you know what I mean. 😉

As it's essentially four different paint stages now it's not a five minute job, well not at home anyway. 

There's the pink front to do, then the dyed back plus clear, then the flake coats, then clearcoat the whole body, each being thoroughly air dried in between or the masking will mark it. 

 

I have got these waterslide decals though so at least something has happened. 

 

I'll keep you all posted as and when there's progress. 🙂👍

 

qU7TPTN.jpeg

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Well it turns out that, "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready?", can't be heard over the noise of a compressor! 😂

 

I got the Shell Pink on yesterday before we went to the wedding. 

The rear of the bass will (hopefully) be a similar colour to the wood of the deckchair, with a slight burst to hide the edges. 

 

150n5rc.jpeg

 

Part of the reason for the delay was that I was experimenting a bit. 

Traditionally, in the hotrod/custom world, metalflake is applied over a black basecoat. Even what looks like a full flake job is usually about 95% coverage so the black base makes the flake 'pop' as the 'mericans like to say. 

Or you use a very similar coloured metallic base and dust a coat of flake on top to get that medium sparkle look. 

There's no rules but sometimes things just don't look right. 

Shell Pink isn't metallic and the rose gold flake I'm using doesn't match, why make life easy. 😁

I wanted a pink base to soften the look but wasn't sure if it would look like right, but I'm happy (ish) that it'll work. 

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23 minutes ago, Maude said:

Well it turns out that, "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready?", can't be heard over the noise of a compressor! 😂

 

I got the Shell Pink on yesterday before we went to the wedding. 

The rear of the bass will (hopefully) be a similar colour to the wood of the deckchair, with a slight burst to hide the edges. 

 

150n5rc.jpeg

 

Part of the reason for the delay was that I was experimenting a bit. 

Traditionally, in the hotrod/custom world, metalflake is applied over a black basecoat. Even what looks like a full flake job is usually about 95% coverage so the black base makes the flake 'pop' as the 'mericans like to say. 

Or you use a very similar coloured metallic base and dust a coat of flake on top to get that medium sparkle look. 

There's no rules but sometimes things just don't look right. 

Shell Pink isn't metallic and the rose gold flake I'm using doesn't match, why make life easy. 😁

I wanted a pink base to soften the look but wasn't sure if it would look like right, but I'm happy (ish) that it'll work. 


The Fender Steve Harris is flake over LPB so it should really work as it’s the same principle- you have to stare at it like a magic eye photo…

 

”oh look a schooner!”

”ha it’s a sailboat…”

”a schooner is a sailboat…”

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1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:


The Fender Steve Harris is flake over LPB so it should really work as it’s the same principle- you have to stare at it like a magic eye photo…

 

”oh look a schooner!”

”ha it’s a sailboat…”

”a schooner is a sailboat…”

Isn't a schooner a sort of Beer Glass?

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It's less pink when not in full sun. As with all sparkle finishes, you really can't appreciate the effect in a photo. It's really sparkly in real life. 

 

03auU6N.jpeg

 

The back and sides were going to be dark wood but looking at this photo I think it would look good in vintage white, plus headstock. 

Would sparkle headstock be too much? 

A chrome bridge would suit white back and sides better than the dark wood one, so it may have to be dark wood. Hmm decisions decisions. 

 

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42 minutes ago, Maude said:

It's less pink when not in full sun. As with all sparkle finishes, you really can't appreciate the effect in a photo. It's really sparkly in real life. 

 

03auU6N.jpeg

 

The back and sides were going to be dark wood but looking at this photo I think it would look good in vintage white, plus headstock. 

Would sparkle headstock be too much? 

A chrome bridge would suit white back and sides better than the dark wood one, so it may have to be dark wood. Hmm decisions decisions. 

 

Looks cool - matching headstock would be nice too - does it have binding? Dark wood would look good with a white binding line. Actually dark wood would look good full stop 

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17 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Looks cool - matching headstock would be nice too - does it have binding? Dark wood would look good with a white binding line. Actually dark wood would look good full stop 

 

It has a white binding but it's now very thin in a couple of areas due to the amount of sanding required to completely remove the blue stain. I'll be reinstating the binding. 

The original plan, well the one I'd ended up with after a few things didn't go to plan stripping it, was sparkle top, white and bronze binding and a dark stained wood back and sides. 

The construction is a two piece centre block with two 'wings', so viewed from the bottom there are four different end grains visible. 

I'd have to do the same as Yamaha which is to paint the sides in a solid colour that sunbursts into the matching transparent colour on the rear. 

I'd planned on using calligraphy ink for the sides and rear as it's easy to apply to the needed colour and doesn't react to poly lacquer. The problem with this is the ink will never hide the four end grains, I'll need to mix a matching solid colour and try to fade it into the ink. 

If I went with solid colour vintage white back and sides then it's just a case of whacking it on, it'll obviously cover the end grains. 

Just thinking out loud really. I'll mull it over and probably come up with something totally different. 😁

I've kind of got an idea brewing but it might be a step too far. 

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Like that a lot!

Definitely keep the headstock and sides white. Use chrome hardware if you have it, but if not then whatever you have -  the hardware is easier to change later.. It looks like a 50's Cadilac and there's nowt wrong with that. Awesome bass for a party band. 

Edited by Richard R
Edited to correct autocorrect 🙄
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  • 3 months later...

Finally, a bit of of bleedin' progress 😁

 

After shamefully ignoring this for a while, persistent quizzing by @andy67has guilt tripped me into making a bit of more of an effort. This was all your fault to start with anyway. 😂 I'm joking of course, but thanks for the nudge, I need it sometimes.

 

Well the issue was that the contrasting end grain woods in the body sides would look terrible if the back and sides were just stained. It would be far easier to just go for a solid colour for the back and sides, but I wanted the wood grain on the back to be visible. 

Lots of scenarios to run through, not least was I going light or dark wood. 

Although I liked the light colour in the previous pictures my original plan was dark wood. I'm sticking with dark because the pink sparkle is a lot darker in real life and the darker wood goes better with it I feel. The sparkle is rose gold and has more gold/brown tones to it than silver, which would work better with a light coloured back. 

If you imagine bright silvery pink with white and chrome, compared to darker coppery pink with brown and gold. 

 

I masked the back with foam about 5-10mm in from the the edge to allow me to prime the sides and slightly onto the back to cover the different grains on the sides and the edge of the back piece. The foam tape gives a softer edge to the primer so as not to get a step. I used black primer as that should work best with what I have decided to do. 

I'll stain the back wood to a colour I like and then spray a sunburst effect with a paint that matches the stain, then lacquer it all in.

 

Foam masking and primer. 

Y7QZskd.jpeg

 

Once demasked I gently sprayed a slight sunburst with the primer to further soften the primer edge. 

RtbQ4XG.jpeg

 

The easiest thing to do now would be just black ink to stain the back and lacquer it but the black is a bit harsh for what I want. A dark brown just works better.

 

Primer flatted and ready for stain. I'm using calligraphy ink, @Andyjr1515's recommendation which I really like using as you can re-wet them and work and blend them, even remove them to a degree. 

This had a wipe of sepia ink a while ago but it was very brown with no gold tones to it, so was wiped off with a wet cloth, which has left it slightly darkened. 

gX73mLF.jpeg

 

Below is around a 50/50 mix of sepia and yellow ochre. The wierd patch is a mix sunlight and the ink drying. 

ecIPNvf.jpeg

 

Then a wipe over with just the sepia. It has a more golden hue in the flesh. 

e6eGdWc.jpeg

 

I did toy with the idea of rather than trying to paint the sides to match the back, doing them a different colour like bronze but I think it would start to look tacky if there's too much going on. 

 

Next step, match the sides. 

🙂👍

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