1991 SGC Nanyo Bass Save

[Andyjr1515]

Hi All

Just a quick photo summary, for anyone who is interested, of a smallish project I just finished for Mick - one of my regular contacts.  He had a variety of major components of an early '90's SGC Nanyo 4 string bass and asked me if I could help turn them back into a playable bass.

In terms of the components:

He had a butchered-bodied but nevertheless fairly complete set of bits to act as a donor:

 

He also had an only-slightly-butchered spare body. Basically complete but with the lower horn missing 3/16"...in the middle!   :

 

And he also had a roll of veneer :

 

OK - this was going to be interesting!

 

[Bizman62]

6 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

OK - this was going to be interesting!

You really do know how to keep a fool interested!

[Andyjr1515]

The first thing to do was to get the almost-complete body sanded down to clean wood:

There'd been some repairs done to splits and cracks at some stage but - apart from the lower horn - it looked pretty sound.

The plan was to restore back to the original Nanyo shape and therefore the missing bit of the lower horn was a bit of an issue - especially as the back and sides were intended to be left natural.

So I had a close look at the grain of the stub.

And I had a close look at the butchered donor body:

Then got the bandsaw cranked up and cut this piece out of the donor:

Well, it was going to look like it's stuck on - but maybe not too obvious?  That natural diagonal line on the right would prove useful...

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

I know a Titebond joint is reputed to be as strong as the wood itself, but I felt the need of a dowel:

 Then, with mating faces flat and clean, the block was glued on:

Then a bit of bandsaw, a bit of chiselling and a LOT of sanding, we had a new Nanyo-dimensioned lower horn:

 

See what I mean about those dark grain marks being useful as a distraction to your eye? 

The actual join is here:

 

[mistermikev]

wow, nicely done.  I was drawn right to the dark spots and thought the grain match was outstanding... but apparently it was even better than that! 

not familiar with that guitar... looks a lot like an ibanez soundgear... one of my favs.  I take it that is ash?

you da man.

[ScottR]

Typical Andy wizardry.

Can't wait to see what else he had up his sleeves!

SR

[Andyjr1515]

Thanks, folks  

Not entirely sure what wood it is, @mistermikev, but probably a variation of ash or alder.  The grain looks like ash but the workability and weight feels more like alder.  I'm sure when folks around here see it - particularly once some finish is on it - someone will be able to pin it down definitively.

It's been a while since I've done a veneer job, so it was nice to be asked to do this one.  It has also reminded me that I have an incomplete draft tutorial waiting to be finished...from YEARS ago!  I shall try to find time to finish it 

For this quick photo update, I won't go through all the detail but - as a number of you will already know - I basically iron it on.

This is my basic kit:

I actually use an old heatshrink iron for the job, rather than risking MrsAndyjr1515's wrath of PVA stains all over our respective shirts and blouses, but it serves the same purpose.

First critical job - because you'll never find some of them once the veneer is on - is making a simple paper impression of any chambers, fixing holes, etc before they are covered over:

 

Then I use the mini sponge decorator's roller to apply an even but complete coat of PVA to both the body and the veneer:

 

I repeat it to ensure full coverage and then leave 20 minutes or so for each to dry:

 

Note the PVA is wrapped round the initial curved edges of the body - this is quite important. 

Because both faces are dry, you can spend as much time as you like (days, if you want!) lining everything up.

Then, I just iron it on!

 

The heat melts and merges the PVA and as soon as it cools (10 secs or so) is fully bonded.  And it's repeatable.  And you can stop halfway through and come back to it.

Then, to see better where the edges are, I rough cut some of the excess off with scissors:

I keep the offcuts - I will use those later.  Then with the iron, I start working to bond the veneer around the edges, using repeated firm pressure to mould it round the initial curve of the body edge.

Once I am certain that the edges are bonded, I trim with a scalpel or similar, using the body itself as a 45 degree blade guide:

 

Then carefully scalpel out the chambers, etc:

 

And finally run a sanding block along the line of the join to smooth the veneer-to-body transition and (important) remove any residual PVA from the joint and the body wood:

 

Start to finish, all of the above took me about 45 minutes.

[curtisa]

2 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Start to finish, all of the above took me about 45 minutes.

Showoff

 

[Andyjr1515]

2 minutes ago, curtisa said:

Showoff

 

You know what they say, Andrew...if you've got it, then sell flaunt it 

 

[curtisa]

Bugger me! That reaction was quick!

Stalker  

 

 

 

[curtisa]

Ooo. Behave, Mrs Slocombe.

[Andyjr1515]

Mick wanted the finished article to look more like a well-cared for original rather than a modern makeover if that was going to be possible.  The old Tru-oil slurry and buff finish approach is ideal for this look.

For the body, it didn't need any stain.  Just the tru-oil alone darkened the wood considerably.  This was after just a couple of coats:

By the way - again, the dark line on the top of the main bout isn't an old and dirty joint line....there is no joint here.  It's a natural feature.  Again, helpful when you are trying to reduce the visual impact of actual joint lines.

 

The maple neck, unlike the body, was going to need some stain.  But first, I took some of the veneer offcut, stippled some PVA onto the headstock, let it dry and ironed it on

 

I experimented with a few stains and ended up using one of the Chestnut (a UK supplier) Spirit Stains, gently thinned with methylated spirits.  This particular one was their Yew version.

Clearly patchy at this stage but I was happy this was going to be a decent depth of colour to look reasonable against the body tones:

 

It was soon going to be time to transfer the electrics and hardware from the donor

 

[mistermikev]

looks great.  must'v been some work to get smooth lines/transition on the laminate.

[Andyjr1515]

10 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

looks great.  must'v been some work to get smooth lines/transition on the laminate.

Thanks!   But it's actually very, very easy.  Which is why I need to finish that tutorial I've neglected for so long

 

Forget that the veneer is there and suppose that it was just 0.6mm of extra thickness on an otherwise finish sanded body.  If you took your sanding block and followed round the profile with the grain in a finish sanding process - as we all do - then your sanding is going to follow the curve of the existing carve.  

And that's all you are doing.  You are sanding the veneer edge into the existing curve of the body.  The veneer edge cannot do anything but follow the existing smooth curve.  The key is to be ALWAYS sanding along the edge and NEVER across it.

I've got some photos somewhere of what I'm taking about.  I'll try to find them

 

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

I'd already checked the electrics on the donor worked OK (and the truss rod too!)  The donor was an active circuit (that is, an active EQ with passive pickups):

 

First step before the transfer was to copper line the restored body chamber:

 

Ah...but I had made an assumption that the control chamber cover size would be the same.  Best laid plans and all that:

While I had a think about that I transferred the electrics and made sure it all worked OK:

 

So where was I going to be able to find some matching wood to make a cover?

And what was I going to do with the now empty and further hacked-about donor body?:

 

 

Where, oh where was I going to find some wood for that hatch?....

 

 

 

 

(In true pantomime style, all shout together, 'It's BEHIND YOU!' )   

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

So, feeling a little bit foolish that it hadn't occurred to me immediately, I found a suitably large area of the donor body and attacked it with my modest (but surprisingly accurate) bandsaw:

 

And, there we have it:

This:

 

To this:

 

I've enjoyed all of the builds and mods I've done for Mick, but there's something a little bit extra special about giving an old guitar or bass a new lease of life

 

As always. thanks for watching

 

 

 

[mistermikev]

looks amazing.

[ScottR]

Very nicely done Andy!

You could name that Lazarus.

After seeing the body wood with Tru-oil on it, I'm inclined to call it Alder.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, ScottR said:

Very nicely done Andy!

You could name that Lazarus.

After seeing the body wood with Tru-oil on it, I'm inclined to call it Alder.

SR

Thanks, Scott.  Cool name

Hmm - yes.  I think you're right about the wood.

[Bizman62]

Holy Mackerel! The horn join is invisible! And the cover of the electrickery cavity looks like an offcut of the same body blank! I'm in awe!

10 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

the mini sponge decorator's roller

Oh, that's what it's called. My neighbour who's been doing all sorts of painting jobs among other things calls them "dick rollers". My mother in law uses one for applying lotion on her back and shoulders, a nice trick to remember when old age symptoms have got the best flexibility.

[curtisa]

2 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Holy Mackerel! The horn join is invisible! And the cover of the electrickery cavity looks like an offcut of the same body blank! I'm in awe!

I concur. How did he do it?

Nanyo business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*ahem*

[Bizman62]

11 hours ago, curtisa said:

Nanyo business

I c what u did there...

[mistermikev]

13 hours ago, curtisa said:

I concur. How did he do it?

Nanyo business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*ahem*

we got a young jim carrey over here folks!

[komodo]

On 6/21/2019 at 5:46 AM, curtisa said:

Ooo. Behave, Mrs Slocombe.

To this day, we address our cat as Mrs. Slocombe would in front of our teen boys to make them cringe.

[curtisa]

True story: we've named our cat Mr Stevens, so that when someone asks why we called our Cat Stevens, they'd already have the answer.