DustinTMoney

Clearcoat it like anything else but you need to be VERY careful of smudges.

If you use oil paints you have to let it dry for several months before clearcoating or putting anything over it. Oils may look dry but in reality it is still drying and expanding over a period of several months maybe longer depending on humidity and if you paint over it it will crack the clearcoat or whatever is covering it. I suggest using acrylic paints but be careful as they are easy to peel off until you coat them with a protective finish.

Didn't even think of that. Will have to find a nearby butcher.

Well the ribs were mostly marrow so I am working on a scrap piece of laminate alder that I think just meets the slots for the strings. If that doesn't work I may try looking in some pets stores for a hambone to use other than that I got some logs outside I think are oak I mak try to get a piece out of if all else fails though I think this alder feels more durable than the plastic.

ok, so i haven't used wet or dry sandpaper for other than just dry, and read something about wet working better on sandpaper that is designated wet or dry, but better at what, sanding down or buffing smooth? I've got 500 grit wet dry, and 2000 grit (was randomly given to me by my dad haha, seems a bit overkill lol) just wondering if i can get a smoother surface using it wet or using it dry? also, do you just basically dip it in a bucket of water then sand, or will it work sanding on something that the paint is still a little wet? (i know this last one seems dumb to me as i assume in any condition messing around with wet paint and sand paper will be a clumpy mess unless you have that kind thats got that special soap stuff in it that breaks down build up.) anyways, thanks for hearing out my n00b question

Well I got a few coats of primer on the body and neck, minus the face of the headstock which i'm doing tomorrow. I'm gonna sand the body smooth tomorrow and put another coat of primer, and sand it smooth as well, then start spraying the color on. Same deal once the neck is completely primed. I started spraying the color on at first without primer and the grain was showing through way too much and didn't look good at all so i had to sand it back down and start with the primer, so the color you see in the neck pocket on the masking tape is the color i'm using. I meant to get a grey color but i accidently got a metallic silver color, but i think it will end up looking good either way. I sprayed the fretboard black the other day, put vasoline on the inlays so the paint didnt stick to them and it worked pretty well, just had to wipe off the vasoline and it came clean perfectly! gonna wash the neck with a damp rag with soap on it to remove the oil from the vasoline and then I'm gonna coat it in 2 part 2 ton epoxy to protect the wood and the paint. Here's some picks of the body and neck primed (forgot to take pics of the fretboard after i sprayed it and it's masked off at the moment so will post those as soon as i get done spraying the neck, but by then may be re assembling heres a few pics tho: Also, here's what i've cut out of the scrap laminate alder to use as the nut that was broke on the bass. Figure it's better than the plastic thats on there, and if it breaks i'm not out any cash, just gotta go try and make another out of some harder wood or just buy one if all else fails. was alot of fine cutting with the dremel, a little rasping, A LOT of filing, and a little evening it out on my random orbital sander flipped upside down between my legs lol, its about the right size, isn't perfect in shape, but i think it will work, just gotta measure out using the old nut for the spacings. Besides, i hear that using a wood nut gives a fretless that mwah tone on open notes anyways so i figured it was worth a shot to try and make one anyways, any questions, comments, or concerns are welcome, this is my first real project so it's a learning expierience so all critisisms are welcome!

well, i cleaned off some pork rib bones, letting them dry after boiling them now, but i cut into one this morning to see that most of the bone is marrow, just wondering if the marrow will stay put to the bone, or will it just come off, and also if it will be strong enough for a nut? if not, i'm gonna find a dried oak branch to try and whittle into a nut.

Well, yeah, the shape hadn't turned out 100% what i wanted but it's growing on me, was going for a mix between a spector and a warwick. i mean, the tools from harbor freight I'm getting are things like sanders and dremels, i plan on getting a porter cable router and a decent belt sander sometime soon, so i'm not too terrified of these tools breaking as later on i will get better tools if i continue with this (expensive) hobby. i didnt' get a new piece of wood because i didnt have access to a router and plus this is my first time really messing with a guitar like this, and also been a long time since i've used any power tools, so this was just to get my feet wet before i buy some wood and start from scratch, which was my intention all along. I'm refinishing a squier strat, and i really just hated this bass so thats why i modded its body. and it's laminate alder, so yes, it's a polished turd. Buit i'd rather eff up a turd first to learn my way around than spend more money on wood that i'm gonna screw up on my first time. It has definately been a learning expierience and it's not over yet, I'm sure I'll have a few more issues i'll learn from. And i got a spokeshave from harbor freight and with that thing i really do see the bad quality on some products, but the sander has fared me well with a beating put on it already. the spokeshave is dull as hell, and does nightmares to the wood when it does decide to cut into it. maybe i can just sharpen the blade or something though.... but anyways, we had some ribs today and i saved the bones, was wondering if anyone thought it would be a good idea to file the ribs down and make a nut out of them (i'm sure im gonna use up several ribs before i get it right anyways). only problem i'm seeing is the ribs are curved, but i may be able to get a good straight length out of them somehow.

What are the spacings and measurements of making a p bass nut? Also what is an affordable material to use for the nut on a fretless? I hear wood gives more of that mwah tone and I'm wondering if I could use some scrap laminate alder? Or if I should file down some metal off an screwdriver and use it? Also wondering if I can use like bone from pork ribs or from a steak and file them down?

What about using a hand planer to fix it if your afraid the router will eff it up more?

Almost finished just gotta tweak up some curves and replace the stupid plastic nut that broke. Would the scrap laminate alder be strong enough to turn Into a nut? Or maybe cut an file down a screwdriver to use a metal nut? If wood is usable I'd rather do that as it seem easier and I'd think it would still be stronger than the plastic one that came with it stock. Anyways here's the pic

Ok well maybe this simpler question can be answered here Can I use a decently bigger magnet from an old speaker as the pole for the pickup and will the stronger magnet allow me to coil less wire and be able to have the bass string farther away from the pickup?

well, if they last me through my mod and through my first build from scratch so that i know that i can do this whole guitar making thing, then i will buy the more expensive stuff, but as of now its a beginning hobby and i'm just trying to be minimalist on budget and the tools i'm using, so just getting the basics, and the router i may just go ahead and get the porter cable straight away if possible

well i went to the local harbor freight and got the random orbital sander for 20 bucks, it seems to work good, but bogs down sometimes, but i think thats my fault for trying to rush it and use it as my main tool to eat away wood on the bass i am modding. oh well, if it breaks its only 20 bucks, but its withstood my beating for a few days at least. once i get the money I'll go for a porter cable. but until i move out of beginner status of guitar building i think most my purchases for tools will be at harbor freight as i'm not too set back if i don't succeed. Actually, I may start a thread for all of the tools i get there to review them for anyone else who wants to know about their tools after i use the tool for a while just to see how it works, should come in handy for anyone else on a tight budget like i am. Next 2 things i'm planning on getting at Harbor freight are a rotary tool (dremel) for $25, the 250 piece accesory kit for it thats $20, and a plunge router that is $60. Also gonna grab a spoke shave and another rasp, i got one last time, but it was a bit too small for me after i tried using it, but hey, 2 bucks for it and i can still use it for tight to get to spots or small areas. speaking of spoke shave, i think they had two kinds, a flat and a roundpiece, which one should i get and what are the specialties of each as i may just get both to use in any situation.

ok, I've looked around and can't find any good in depth tutorials on building from scratch a bass pickup. I'm looking specifically for a p bass style pickup. my project isnt exactly what it seems though. I want to build a pickup that is ONLY for one bass string. I plan on making two of these and making a kind of electric washtub bass, which will basically be a neck with 2 strings spaced widely apart, a bridge, and below the bridge i will have a hinge. I'm gonna fix it up somehow, but don't know my specifics yet, to limit the range of the hinge so it won't fold in half or pull too far back., and then have this whole set up on a base stand with a small flat peice of wood to rest your foot on to keep the bass from lifting off the ground when playing and moving the hinge. Oh, and it's gonna be played with a drum stick

New Pics! got some of the awkwardness out so it isn't as fugly, used my new random orbital sander to shape it up and contour the body as well as to eat off some of the excess wood after i finally decided to plan out the shape this time before i started messing lol theres still some contouring to do bringing down the dip on the upper horn, and bringing in the curve on the upper side of the body a little, then just smoothing everything over let me know what you think oh and just wondering, is it safe for the random orbital sander if i put enough pressure to where it stops spinning and just vibrates, or will that tear up the motor? i had started bearing down pretty hard to get it to eat away alot of wood as quick as possible and i had it with it not spinning and just vibrating.

well good news! I'm going to harbor freight tomorrow hopefully or at least ordering from the website, so project will be back on in the next few days! woo hoo will be getting a random orbit sander, probably a dremel, and a rasp and file set too if i have enough cash!

I have a budget of $80 and i was wondering what random orbital sander and a jigsaw that would be in my range, and also what would be the things i should look for and check if i were to get a used one from somewhere like craigslist, or if its even worth getting a used one. Also if you could give a rough estimate of the lifespan on the tools in hours or whatever is easiest measurement that i can ask a seller if i do buy used. also, what would you guys reccomend for a set of hand rasps and files and a roundabout cost of them? edit: also are there any concerns with manufacturer refurbished equipment?

Has anyone got any tips on cutting and reshaping a pickguard? I think it will be pretty easy to do with dremel tool or even possible a pair of scissors if sanded afterwards but I just thought I'd ask so I don't assume it wil work and end up busting it. Wondering if I get a nail file if I could put back the beveled edge after I cut it. Any and all tips on this or anything else about this project are welcome and so are any criticisms as this is a learning expierience for me.

Well I found one clamp and it didn't hold too well so I had to help hold it with my elbow of my left arm and the blade on this jigsaw was pretty dull so I had to saw it in chunk. It's a bit lopsided looking but I think I can fix the look by sanding and rounding it out and there's a few places I see looking at it I may be able to take a few small chunks out to make it look a little better. As of right now the project has come to a halt due to sander being broken and I've ran out of the dremel tool sanding attachments as well. Hopefully I can start soon I'm trying to sell my vintage 1970 framus Texan acoustic to get this thing started back up and to pay a few bills too lol. But I think if I take and slightly angle it a little on the bottem left it could make it more aesthetically pleasing and if worse comes to worse I can just glue some wood to it and fix it that way since I'm painting it opaque anyways. Next time I'm definitely gonna spend more time planning before I cut. Anyways here's a pic of it now:

Well went digging in my father in laws garage and found a jigsaw but I can't find any clamps big enough to hold down the guitar to saw it. Does anyone have an alterative way to rig this up to work? Thought about duct taping it still but I may just wait to go get sone vice grips

oh and i know the filler on the frets ran into the cracks on the fretboard and i'm looking into doing the fretboard into an opaque black, but just gotta figure out what will be protected from the strings, need something anyways so the strings won't dig into the fretboard, plus I play slap bass, so that could be disasterous hehe EDIT: Would laquer be a good strong and durable finish to put on the fretboard after i paint it?

This was a cheap Kramer Focus 420S Fretted 4 String Bass P-Bass style, bought for a $100 off a guy back when i was in highschool. Over the years I drew on it with sharpies, lost the screws out of the pickguard, and let someone borrow it and they broke the nut on the neck where the E string lays. So no anxiety really over messing this up as my first mod. I'm limited on tools so i expect some flaws in the final product, but i am trying to make it as perfect as possible. All I'm using on this project are 60, 100, 150 grit sand paper, Electric Sander (which died after sanding the body...uh oh), Putty Knife, Screwdriver, Dremel Tools. Heres what the bass looked like before any work was done: And here it is Disassembled: Notice the Duct Tape Replacing the Screws, hehe.... Then i decided to do something right away that could make or break the project, which is removing the frets on the neck! I Took a Putty knife and wedged it under the frets on the side of the neck and pulled them up enough to slide the putty knife under and just bassically push the rest of the fret out. It did flake the fretboard a bit, but not really noticable after sanding it down with 100 grit. So, then I ran to walmart to find something to fill in the slots where the frets were, and considering i don't want to do what my friend did and almost cut off a finger by cutting these little bitty slices of wood to fit down in there, and also not being able to find a pickguard to cut up and sacrifice to filling it it, i decided on simple wood filler paste to put in there. Packed it in good, Caked it up high, let it dry, then sanded it by hand to remove the excess, then used the electric sander with 150 grit to smooth everything out even more. Heres the neck before filling in the slots but after frets removed: Here's a couple of it after being filled: But anyways, after disassembling the rest of it, took the electric sander and grinded through that thick layer paint (which the manufacturer left paint in the slot where the neck bolts on...shows how cheap this bass is...) and killed the sander, so theres probably gonna be problems if i try and do this by hand later on.... here's it sanded! The pink areas are where the manufactuer put filler or something to smooth it out and the powdered paint from sanding stuck to this, unfortunately i have no electric sander to mend this aesthetic flaw at the moment, so i went on to whip out the dremel and start some drastic changes! So I start really just basically winging it, attempting to reshape the horns like I'm a guitar scupltor lol, then i decided after starting to at least draw some kind of rough marker of where i want it to end up. heres some photos of whats done of that so far:(edit: well ran out of room for photos so will just put the latest) And you can kinda see what I'm going for in that last pic with the guideline i drew, mainly taking a Spector NS body style in mind, but I'm not referencing a photo, just with the idea in mind. Gonna have to reshape the pickguard to fit now, i think that will be pretty easy though, can just use the dremel tool to cut that a piece of cake. And I'm gonna round out the sides of the guitar instead of having that bulky square edge, but since the electronics knobs are so close on that one side I'm gonna round it mostly from the back, and on the other side I'm gonna round it back on the front, just hope it doesn't make it feel awkward... but thats all i have so far, can't wait to work on it some more!