Andyjr1515 Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 That is one heck of a shape for a bass....the black really emphasises the lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2017 I was going for a "are you experienced" album cover type of photo, but- eh- the bald head in the photo sort of killed that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 You got a nice shine on that..... SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Is that like an Alsacorp Killer Chrome or similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 1 hour ago, Prostheta said: Is that like an Alsacorp Killer Chrome or similar? trust me I wished I had paid them- I hate finishing. especially since I hand rub these out- it takes me a couple days as I have to give my forearms a break in between compound grits. here is a better pic of the black on the control cavity cover. I cant get a good pic inside., Would help if it was a bit cloudy out. This is after medium buffing compound. not bad but still some fine scratches and obviously tons of lint/dust- this laquer is like a magnet for dust after buffing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 11, 2017 Report Share Posted April 11, 2017 Yeah, that's always the way it happens. Everything else in the vicinity is clean. Surgically so. Except for the instrument which seems to have kept its own stash of dust to spread around itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 kept the off cuts from the fingerboard- glad I did- I need a truss rod cover. might as well match the fingerboard truss rod cover roughed out. Free nut blank courtesy of Home depot- just go to the counter top section where corian is sold- open the drawers- there are samples galore. I didnt want a white bone nut here, nor brass- and I have used corian saddle blanks before (they are great for undersaddle pickups.)- anywho- this color is "deep night sky" and tomorrow morning it will become a nut. Thanks Home Depot! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 22, 2017 Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 This is exactly how I made the nuts for my first builds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 think its time to throw out the shielding paint. Man- how long has it been since I last used this? on a positive note I had a back up can and all I have left to do now is slap some strings on it and do final set up. I got the final coats of poly on the fingerboard Friday night and just want it to sit a little bit longer as it has been rainy here. I first did 4 very wet wipe downs with acetone on the fingerboard over the course of a day, let it sit overnight, Did another wipe down with acetone the next morning, dried half a day and then I coated it with a poly/oil blend for 20 min, wiped off, let it sit for a couple hours to see if any weeped from the wood, Did another poly/oil wipe down, dry overnight, then 8 coats of wipe on satin poly, one per day over 8 days I basically wiped it off almost completely each coat- just trying to build up ever so slightly. I just want to toughen up the board a bit as I am stringing this up with round wounds. (I know I know- but- for whatever reason- I just had to. I have always wanted to do that but have always feared ruining a fingerboard. There is enough meat on this board for a sanding/re-radiusing or two. So round wounds it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Did you consider using an epoxy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 8 hours ago, Prostheta said: Did you consider using an epoxy? originally I was going to go with Polyester- but that stuff is a pain- and I didnt want a shine on the fingerboard. I sort of feel the same about epoxy- (I feel) its a bit messy, then sanding you never really know how its going to look once you sand -and I really wanted the wood to be highlighted here. I think I know where you were going with the question- but I have used wipe on poly before and I like the results and I love the feel after the last coat is burnished/steel wooled. I will post a pic later of a fingerboard with it (after 8 years of almost daily playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Did you test that paint can for continuity? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Pros- here is a pic of my rob allen mb-1 copy I built 8 years ago- that fingerboard has been played on weekly- and most times daily for the last eight years. I had nylons on it for the first 4 years- then flats on it for about 3 years and last year I changed back to the nylons. That ebony was done in gloss. here is the ritter in satin- as you can see there is enough fingerboard thickness for a resanding or two.I placed the sidemarkers against the neck vs middle of board thickness in anticipation of doing a sanding/re-radiusing- its very open grain IRW- I have it sanded to 400. The poly hasnt filled in the grain completely but it is much tougher now-I cannot dent with my fingernail for instance. I was fearful of having shiny spots with epoxy or polyester in that grain-that poly is all but invisible. when I burnish it tomorrow it will be smooth as a baby's ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 11 minutes ago, ScottR said: Did you test that paint can for continuity? SR lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StratsRdivine Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Will you show us the freakin guitar already - the anticipation is killing me . The color is awesome on the fingerboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 22 hours ago, StratsRdivine said: Will you show us the freakin guitar already - the anticipation is killing me . The color is awesome on the fingerboard. I was wanting to wait until the strings arrived in the mail- but- here are a couple of crappy pics- she's naked and isn't shined up- I will try to get better pics outside if possible- its near impossible to get a decent shot at night with flash-I suck at photography. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Crikey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StratsRdivine Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Wow. So if Jens Ritter had not broken the barrier and pushed the envelope of body design, and some no name guy showed you these plans and said, "here, build this" what would you have said? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Wow! That turned out pretty damn sexy! I presume the side markers on indicate the actual fret location...I mean if there were frets? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 6 hours ago, Prostheta said: Crikey. um- translation for this yank that doesn't know what that means. In Finish please Carl. 5 hours ago, StratsRdivine said: Wow. So if Jens Ritter had not broken the barrier and pushed the envelope of body design, and some no name guy showed you these plans and said, "here, build this" what would you have said? not sure. It wasn't until I actually played one of these that the idea to build one hit me. that is- trying to figure out how to build it grabbed me quick. It started with Carl Thompson basses for me- figuring out the ball/scroll was the first build challenge that really grabbed me- this was sort of in that vein. So- I think looking at plans might not have hit me as much as actually playing one and saying to myself- I gotta build one of these. I like the challenge of figuring things out. 3 hours ago, ScottR said: I presume the side markers on indicate the actual fret location...I mean if there were frets? yep- so- I didn't want to ruin the fingerboard with fret lines- but I am lost without them. Since I rely on fret lines so much- I have markers for every fret line. I picked up some colored plastic rod at a guitar show many moons ago- and finally used it- I have grey in all fret positions that are not typically marked on a fretted instrument. So- 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc I then have red in the first octave marked positions (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th) then I have a single blue dot in the octave 12th fret- then back to grey and then green in the second octave (15th, 17th, etc) I know that sounds crazy- but visually it works for me- I know exactly where I am- and I think using two different colors for the octaves marked frets makes it easier to know exactly where I am especially since I used a single dot for 12th. Now- having said that- we will see how it goes. I am a four string kind of guy. so this thing is a monster to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 That looks gorgeous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 a little less naked 9 hours ago, Norris said: That looks gorgeous! thanks man. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 wow that's incredible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 Damn, I think that even Jens might be impressed with what you've managed there. Stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 That is a whole bunch of strings. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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