gpcustomguitars Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 Well, this is kinda long story, but here goes: I've got a friend who's got a friend living close by to both of us, and he was building a house. To make some space for the house, he had to cut down 6 old walnuts, approx 40cm ( ~16') diameters, 2m+ long logs, and didn't know what to do with them. My friend called, we went for a visit and I bought a whole log, shipping & cutting at the mill included for 80 EUR. On the spot, I saw that he had to dig out the stumps to be able to dig in the fundament, and so I asked abut the price of the stumps, and he was like, well you bought the good wood , so if you want, take these for free - I'll even drive them wherever you want them I took 3. I got a guy with a chainsaw, and we made some blanks out of those stumps, and it's been drying for quite a while now. Anyhow, recently I took one out to thickness it and see what texture is hidden under the mess that the chainsaw made, and when planed flat, I just went and hand drawn a bass shape on it, liked it and decided to cut it out. I liked that even better, so I decided to sand it, and realised then that I'm actually making a bass Oh well, just a quick one so it's gonna be a fretless. 32' bolt on probably some exotic that looks & behaves like very yellow maple for neck a piece of veneer from the body blank for the matching headstock Well, that's it for now, some more pics soon! Time spent so far - about 3 hours total. Comments please! http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2904 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2905 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2941 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2942 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2943 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2944 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2945 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=2946 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 Hi, how many guitars have you built, and do you make them for other people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted September 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 Hi, I've made some 12-13 so far, some of them were posted here, an LP most recently. I've started selling last year, and I'm still doing the friend circuit orders, so no problems so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 Ive deleted the links in your signature then. Go read the rules about signatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted September 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 OK, sorry and thanks, I haven't changed anything for at least a year i think, my bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 That's some seriously nice wood! I really like how you weren't afraid to incorporate the natural edge of the wood. This thing probably has some hidden figure in it that'll really pop when you finish it. May I suggest tung oil, or a similar oil-based finish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted September 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 I'm wondering about the finish myself, nitro or tung? I think covering those natural cavities would be easyer with nitro. Tung seems nice too, but then, I want neck with nitro because of the light coloured wood, cause oiled maple necks tend to get dirty and darken with use. Dunno, but there's still time to think it over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 well, you can always nitro the neck, and oil the body... i like the natural character of the wood, and the stuff down the bottom adds something to the bass to make it look really natural... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggatu Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 Yeah I've got the same question about what finnish to use on walnut. I got a good bit of black walnut in a similar way that you got yours. I think I've decided to go with a french polish though because it supposed to allow the best sound. Here's some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted September 29, 2005 Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 (edited) Honestly, I don't buy into this 'X finish sounds best'. Finish thickness is key here, and French Polish is easy to put on nice and thin, easily retouched, but also fairly fragile. Popular finish on classicals, fairly popular on steelstring acoustics, and I use it on the necks of all the gloss spray finished bodies I do (oil being the other neck finish of choice). If you oil anything, oil the neck. Laquer has got to be among my least favourite finishes ever for a neck. I also think that while finish choice is a real issue for acoustics, it's at best a marginal issue for electrics, if it's an issue at all. Polyurethane, polyesther, nitro, shellac, waterbased finishes, whatever. Put them on nice and thin (but thick enough!) and quite worrying about magical tonal properties. Especially if you play your EMG-loaded guitar through 2 Marshall stacks at 11. Edited September 29, 2005 by mattia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted October 1, 2005 Report Share Posted October 1, 2005 I just did the finish on my recent project, it had a walnut top similar to the one that mugattu posted, but a bit more boring - I used KTM-9 - but what I really liked was the way the System 3 epoxy clear coat grain filler stuff brought out the wood - very nice. It darkens it more than you'd expect, and adds contrast. made it "pop" quite a bit. someday I'll get a camera and pictures . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted October 1, 2005 Report Share Posted October 1, 2005 All tonal voodoo aside, tung oil seems to make walnut really glow-- it brings out the reddish tones and makes the wood look rich and warm. Here's a pic of my first bass, which was black walnut with a tung oil finish. http://photobucket.com/albums/v79/skibum55...nt=PIC00010.jpg I finished other pieces of walnut scrap from that same blank with Nitro, linseed oil, and even Carnauba wax, but the tung looked by far the best. The others really don't make it glow like the Tung does. That said, don't expect anything vaguely reminiscent of durability from tung oil. Walnut is a pretty hard wood, but my bass has suffered some unfortunate nasty cracks about the body, and the finish didn't do anything but make the subsequent dents look really rich and warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted October 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 OK, next batch of pics: http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=3010 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=3011 http://www.spimagehost.com/pic.php?u=226d5FMj&i=3012 I've routed out the neck pocket and the electronics cavity, and also recessed the bridge and the areas for the knobs. I've always had this feeling that the metallic knobs stick out a lot more on those flat bodies, so I decided to sink'em half way. It still misses the pup cavity, maybe today, but Bill Wyman & The RK are in town, so, not likely... Started the neck too, no pics for now tho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 Lookin' good! I've just completed the finishing on a bass with walnut, and I used Tru Oil (not the same as tung oil). I've never tried tung oil, but this Tru Oil is really great. It is made by Birchwood Casey and is formulated for finishing gun stocks (which are mostly walnut), you can get it just about any place that sells rifles. You have to put it on as thinly as you possibly can (or it will cure up gummy), so it can take awhile to build up the finish, but man I love the stuff. It cured hard enough to pass the fingernail test, I could level sand it with 600 grit paper, then applied a last few coats cut 50/50 with naptha (scuffed with 1000 grit in between coats), the last coat goes on just like glass. If you want a natural finish with the pores showing, which I think would be great with this bass with the natural edge and all, you'd only need maybe 5 coats + one last 50/50 finish coat. There are several topics on it if you do a search on Tru Oil and Tru-Oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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