Marcovis

I use the stew Mac colortone liquid dyes and mix them with rubbing alcohol.

Pretty much. That is a really tight tidy edge burst on the PRS. Masterful.

Definitely!

did you scrape/router that edge clean? I find it hard to get a clean edge with dyes.

I seal the faux binding area before staining.

I've heard the PBR thing before. I know people that blame hipsters for the rise in price of PBR at bars.

So is anything mustache related considered hipster? I'm confused....

No,but that "type" of barbershop mustache is a throwback,therefore Hipster...

I have always associated the term "hipster" with big fake plastic glasses, extremely deep cut v-neck t-shirts, wearing scarves in the summer, and dancy indie rock music. Like I said in the first post, my bands name is Handlebar and this bass is for my friend/our bass player. This is our logo, but there is nothing "hipster" about us, go listen for yourself. Our rhythm guitar player also owns a barber shop.

That looks great. I am interested in why the space between the stings on the nut has been carved out. Also, is the nut as thick as it looks in the picture?

It's a scalloped nut. I don't believe there is any advantage/disadvantage to doing it, I just think it's one of those small details that makes a difference in the overall look of an instrument. The nut is 3/16" thick. I'm not a fan of the thin slot fender look, so on the two basses I have done, I did them this way.

So is anything mustache related considered hipster? I'm confused....

I wouldn't bleach it if you don't have to. I would search for the whitest maple top you can find. The top on the charcoal guitar I did was 100% heartwood which is why it has a more golden tan undertone to it.

It's pretty simple, you pretty much nailed it with option #2.

Step 1-stain black and let it sit for a few hours to be really dry or leave it overnight.

Step 2- sand the whole top back as far as you like. The more you sand, the lighter the charcoal color becomes.(the more the "white" maple shows through)

Step 3--seal the guitar and spray a few coats of clear. Come back the next day and sand the finish flat.

Step 4-Spray the black burst edge with a touch up/color gun and clearcoat over.

*You can also spray the burst with stain before any finish is applied, it's personal preferance.

Here is a charcoal guitar I did without a burst edge. I stained it black, then sanded it back the next day until I was happy with the color.

Here's a couple pics of the fiber optic side dots.

Here's a few pics of it all together.

Sealed and first top coats sprayed

White base coat

4 coats of gold metal flake (.004) over white. 50/50 lacquer/thinner Looking good as is!

Purple candy sprayed over white base/gold flake

Cutting 12th fret inlay

Fretting neck

Gluing neck to body

Neck joint smoothed out, ready to route for battery box

Arm contour carved

Well it's been a long time(too long) since I have been on the forum here, but just finished a project up and wanted to share.

This bass was comissioned by the bass player in my band Handlebar. He has always played standard fender p-bass' and wanted something along those lines, but different. The body design is based off a bass I did a few years ago, but I widend it out for better balance. He is also a fan of MM bases so he requested a center style pickguard.

Specs:

Body-alder

Neck-maple set neck w/ 2 way LMI rod and carbon fiber reinforcement

Fingerboard- Indian rosewood 34" scale 22 frets

Inlay-gold MOP big blocks with handlebar mustache cut out of 12th fret

Side dots- brass 1/8" tube with fiber optic wire and UV LED light source

Bone nut

Hardware-gold

Bridge-Full Contact

Tuners-Gotoh vintage spec28:1 gear ratio reverse wind

Pickups-Bartolini p/j set

Preamp-Aguilar OBP3 vol(active/passive), blend, mid(400hz/800hz), treble/bass stack, mini switch turns on/off fiber optic side dots. Dual battery box, 1 for side dots, 1 for preamp

Finish- Purple candy over gold metal flake/white base using Seagrave nitro lacquer. Color matched headstock masked off logo.

Here are some pics start to finish.

Body cut out

Truss rod and carbon rods

Gluing fingerboard

Body routed for pickups and electronics

Neck carved

Neck pocket routed

I'm pretty sure all PRS does is stain the top blue, let it dry completely(at least over night), and then sand it back with a fine grit sandpaper.

I use the analine dyes from stewmac. Just mix the blue and the red until you get to the color you like.

I use gouges and sandpaper.

I route around the edge of the guitar to give me a carve to line, then I go at it with different gouges and a random orbit sander until I like how it looks. Might have to try a grinder on the next one.

Nice birdseye! I saw that set on the Gilmer site and drooled a little bit. I've bought from Marc at Gilmer a lot and have never had any of the issues you guys have experienced. I've noticed that if the board comes in a little warped it will flatten out after acclimating to my shop. One this I also do is try to buy pieces that are slightly thicker than I really need. That way I will get what I want out of it no matter what.

I'd like to go, but Iowa is a long way from Vegas or LA. Have fun!

I doubt the guitar is finished in nitro, but if it is you could always put some nitro lacquer in a glass jar and set the jar outside for a few weeks/months. The sunlight will age the lacquer to a nice vintage amber. This is a trick I learned from Frank FordFRETS.com. Frank is maybe the best/most respected repair guy on the West coast. I witnessed him reset and refret a 70's Martin 12 string in just over 2 hours while he gave a lecture at The Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. I think nitro is the only finish that would age like this though.

You will have a hard if not impossible time finding those in the states. They are trademarked. Your best bet if you want exact PRS style birds is to cut them yourself or watch ebay. Sets show up from time to time.

Here's mine.

Here's a bass I built last year. It was it for a guy up in Minneapolis that wanted custom 4 string with a classic vibe to it. This is the first bass from my shop and was a fun project. His only requirements were a 35" scale length, 24 frets, and the Canadian maple leaf inlay(he's Canadian) This is what I came up with for him.

Body Close up

Specs:

Body-Alder

Neck-Flame Maple set neck (2 way truss rod+carbon rods)

Fingerboard-Madagascar Ebony- 35" scale length, 24 frets, figured pearl maple leaf inlay

Electronics-Bartolini p/j setup with Barolini 3 band eq running 18 volts

Controls-Volume (with Active/Passive push-pull), Blend, Mid (push pull freq selector), Treble/Bass Stack.

Here's a shot I took over the weekend of the bass in action

This is awesome!

Looking good! One thing to watch is your neck joint. I noticed that the neck you bought is cut straight with the end of the fingerboard. A PRS/LP jr neck joint has a tounge that extends under the neck pickup which gives you a lot more gluing surface. Here's a picture of what I'm talking about. See how the neck extends through the pickup cavity. You could always push the neck further into the body to get a more gluing surface, but then you will lose high fret access.