Finally completion!

Well I finally received the headstock decal in the mail and got it applied. These are easy to apply, you just get a bowl of warm water, let it soak for a few minutes, and then slide it off. Gently rub the air bubbles out and let it dry. If you want it to be more durable, shoot clearcoat over it like I did. Here's the neck clearcoated, sanded up to 2000 grit and buffed out.



Once the whole buffing process is complete it's time to install the bushings. These fit perfectly before painting the neck but it's a little tight now. You can either sand them open again or gently push them in and they'll push the extra finish out the bottom and it can be removed from there. Here's the bushings installed:



The bushings on these tuners (or any really) keep the tuning pegs in place so they don't wobble in slightly imperfect holes. They also look nicer than they would with just a peg. The screw holes line up nicely still, and the bit of paint in them makes sure they're snug (not too tight though). These tiny screws are easy to strip so take your time when installing and removing these. Rounding them off is bad news. The tuning machines I used are SX brand. Some people find them cheap but once they're properly adjusted and lubricated they're just as good as anything else and hold tune perfectly for long periods of time. If tuners stay in tune I never find a need to replace them unless I need lighter ones to solve neck dive issues. The chrome looks nice on the purple! Here's the front and back with the tuners completely installed:



So with the tuners installed there's only one thing left to install on the neck and that's the nut. Since this is something I don't have a lot of experience with and don't have the proper files for making one from scratch, I got one ready-made. It comes with the slots already in it and is made the proper width for this neck. All that has to be done is to take some 220 grit sandpaper and LIGHTLY sand the long side until it fits snugly in the slot. What you're looking for is a tight press fit so that it won't fall out but not tight enough to where it splits the wood by hammering it in. If you make it slightly too small you can use a dab if glue to hold it in. I managed to not screw this one up so it's a good press fit. The pictures of the nut installed are blurry. I lack a camera good enough for close-ups at present so I apologize for that.

Nut sitting on top of the 220 used to make it fit:


Nut installed (blurry, but you can see it)


Looks good! Now the neck is ready to be installed on the body and a setup done. The neck is nice and smooth and with the test neck I had on this completed body before it sounded fantastic! I'm happy with the way this project turned out. It was a great learning experience with several concepts and the end product is better than I expected it to be.

Complete bass:

The Waiting Game

Well I've got the neck sanded up to 2000 grit just sitting here now while I wait for the headstock decal to come. I got one off a guy I've used before from eBay, the text will be in silver metallic ink on a waterslide decal which will then be clearcoated so it will never get damaged or wear off. The couple weeks in between the color coats and the clear going on is also plenty of (way more than necessary) time for the color to cure, so any potential mismatch in finish types between the color and clear shouldn't be a problem with that long in between. The key to using different types of finish over each other is usually time. It seems like most finish types will accept most others over top of it as long as it's had enough time to dry. I think I'm going to plan some nitro lacquer finish for my next project. It is easier to work with and there's no need to do as much intermediate sanding as there was with this one. I've actually acquired several other projects lately which I'll eventually have up here. I've been logging the details but don't want to go back and forth between posts, so I'll follow each project from beginning to end in order on these posts.

Painting Neck

The past 2 days have been color coating the neck. The back of the neck was done in the same color as the body, and the headstock face is black. After the colors have had sufficient days to cure, the whole thing will be clear coated and then buffed out to a nice deep gloss the same way as the body. Necks take more effort since there’s a lot more taping to do.

Neck back painted purple:


Front of the neck, headstock face painted black. I hate the way the flash makes the purple appear, it’s a much deeper color than it looks here. The clear coat will help with that somewhat, though.

Neck Prep Work

I started work on the neck now. It’s been sanded and sealed and then dry sanded with 220 grit sandpaper for a smooth satin look and feel. Once that is done, it is ready for the primer. I decided to drill the small holes for the tuner mounting screws before I do the primer though. I need to make sure that standard tuners will fit this headstock since it’s slightly smaller than a typical one.

The first step is to test the bushings which fit into the neck and house the tuning peg. Fortunately, these bushings are a perfect fit into this neck. The fit will be a little tight once some finish gets in the holes, but it won’t be a problem. The big thing is that I don’t have to drill them out wider, because that’s a pain to do. I got lucky in this regard!

After the bushings are fit in place I put all 4 tuners on to make sure they all have enough space between each other. It looks pretty good, so I’m ready to mark where the small holes for the screws need to be drilled. There are 4 screws per tuner which means 16 total holes to be drilled using a drill press for a nice straight hole.

Mounting screw holes marked for where they need to go:



All 16 holes drilled, they’re hard to see in the picture:

Test mounting the tuners to the new holes: They fit!

With those holes drilled, it’s time to prime the neck. Primer is the messiest part of a refinish job, as it’s very dusty in both application as well as the dry sanding that occurs after it dries. It’s sanded down using sandpaper of grit 220 in order to get a smooth surface for the color coat to go on top of. White primer is also used because if the wood grain is not completely opaque, it can show through the color. Sometimes this is desired if you’re using figured woods, but since the body on this bass is not semi transparent, the neck isn’t going to be either.

Neck primed and sanded:

Headstock close-up:

I’ll give it another very light sanding and then wipe it down with a tack cloth to remove and residual dust before spraying the color. The back of the neck is going to be the same purple as the body, and the headstock face will be painted black and a custom waterslide decal will be applied to give it a true custom look. The same type of acrylic lacquer I used for the body will be used on the neck. Having everything the same is a good thing.

Wiring, etc

Some more progress made today. I soldered up all the wiring for this bass. I made a tracing of the pickguard on a cardboard box and mounted the pieces to it. This made is very easy to get everything in the proper place. With everything soldered up, the pickup wires and the bridge ground are ready to be attached. The bridge ground is usually just a wire with some exposed strands that sits under the bridge. I soldered the wire to a piece of copper shielding tape because I like a nice solid contact point for the bridge, just in case the bridge is not perfectly level on the bottom. All connections are then soldered to the control pots and the output jack.

Control assembly completed:


Pickups attached:




I also got the idea to paint some flat washers body color and put them under the knobs. I think it’s a neat look for it. Pictures below of everything mounted:

And I have a bit of a problem. I attached a test neck to the body and put strings on it, and it all looks good. Except there is no output at all from the neck pickup! Most of the time this happens because of a short somewhere. This can happen easily when you have wires crammed together in a small space like the control cavity.

After checking it all out, nothing looks wrong with it. I pulled the pickup out and the voltmeter confirms that the pickup is dead. I pulled the covers off and indeed the copper windings inside are broken. Time to get a new one! I should have the new one later this week, and then the whole body will be completed. The wiring is done and mounted, the pickguard is finished, the bridge is on, and the strap buttons are also mounted with rubber washers. It’s coming along nicely! Time to get to work on the neck next!

Enexpected adjustments

Well, I ran into some unexpected issues. After fitting the pickguard to the body, I put the electronics onto it and tried to fit it. Wasn’t going to happen! This pickguard sits just a little bit differently than the other one, and so everything was off by just a little bit. This means the new electronics would not fit in the cavity space. There were 2 options here. Adjust the pickguard some more and risk messing it up, or to route out the body cavity to the correct size.

I went with option #2, since this will make sure that no matter what pickguard is used later on, that the large size electronics will fit, and will have sufficient room to not short out by touching the cavity shielding foil as is often an issue in tight quarters. So I ripped out the shielding foil on the affected section and got out the air grinder and got a nice route so it all fits inside easily. This is much nicer now. I also had the issue of now that I had to burn through the cavity wall, the layers of paint and primer which kept it sealed were no longer there and it’s just bare wood. To remedy this I got out the brush on polyurethane wood sealer and gave it a decent coat. This should keep it sealed and will give the foil something nice to stick to. Now the electronics fit, the cavities are re-shielded, and the pickguard fits nicely on the body! It looks great. I will drill the mounting holes for the pickguard when everything is complete. Little adjustments like this can drive you nuts, but getting it right is definitely worth the effort!

I also got a good coat of sand and sealer on the neck. I will let that set up for a day or so and then sand it smooth. Then it will be ready for primer and eventual finish. I have to be careful to not sand through it when I level it out, since I don’t have anymore!

Updates

After a few days off while waiting for parts to arrive, I got everything in the mail all at once! I love those days. It’s like Christmas morning with all those packages of good stuff. The black pickguard is here. I think this one will look nicer. I also received the new neck which will be my permanent choice, as well as the graphite nut which will give it a nice clean look.

New Parts:

The neck has no finish on it, and a pretty weak coat of sand and sealer. This means I’ll be doing some more sand and sealing to it, it’s a very good idea in Florida! I think the whole neck might end up being black. I thought about matching the headstock to the body color, but I think all black is going to be the way to go at this point. It just looks good and will match my own basses.

The key is to not mess up the pickup route on the new pickguard. My last attempt on the old one was not very good. This one was a failure:

So, the key is to instead of using the air powered dremel tool again, I’m going to do it by hand. It will take longer, but it will be a lot more precise. Patience is the key! Here’s what it takes:

I have the actual pickup in order to tell when the cutout is the correct size. Doing a little and then test fitting often is the best idea. The flat file will be used for the edges and the rat tail file will be used for the ears on the sides.

Conveniently enough, both these files are almost the perfect sizes to do the job on this!

About an hour of filing, test fitting, filing, and more test fitting and I have a result I’m happy with. Now the pickups fit in the opening and it looks clean!

Finished:

Very nice! The plastic on the top is to protect it from any scratches until it is finished.

The next thing to do is to mount the pickup in the body, and see if everything lines up right!

Let's try:

Lines up great! The neck route is slightly smaller than the one on the body and slightly smaller than the actual neck as well. Once the neck is finished I’ll file that down as well for a nice clean fit around it. Since the pickup cavities are already shielded and the paint work on the body is also finished, the pickups can be mounted. Mounting foam is used since I like it much better than the spring or surgical tubing that can be used around the screws for the same purpose. The foam keeps it much more secure and keeps the pickup in exactly the same place I put it. The other types can move around a little.

I think that’s all I’m going to get to today. Tomorrow I might get to work on the sanding and sealing of the neck. It’s starting to look like a bass now! The electronics still need to be put together and mounted also, but here’s how it looks after today’s work:

I’m starting to like the finish on this thing. I wasn’t too hot on it at first, but it definitely came out pretty nice. I’m still not sure if I’m going to any special decorating on it. I think it looks good by itself, so I can’t make a decision on that.

Finished body

Well the color coats are complete, as are the clear coats and final buffing. I am still a little torn about this paint type, but it actually came out pretty well. It took some work but it was worth it for the final luster of the finish. This part of the process drives me crazy because of being a perfectionist. I’m not sure I’d use this color again though; I’d rather get one that comes in regular nitro lacquer. However, it is done and it looks pretty good, so it is possible! After finishing the buffing and everything I also applied the copper shielding foil to the pickup cavities and the control cavities. This shielding is necessary to reduce interference that causes hum when the bass is near the amp or other devices. The body before the shielding job:

And after the shielding:




Looks beautiful! I changed my mind on the pickguard color. Instead of using white I’m going to go with black. I think it will look nicer overall with this color. The hardware will be chrome and the headstock will most likely be painted the same color as the body for a nice look. I finally have decided on a neck to use as well. It’s an SX neck but in different dimensions than they usually are. Slightly wider at the nut than a typical Jazz style neck, but it is slimmer front to back which should make it easier to play for someone with small hands. My favorite luthier also is doing the work on the fret ends to make sure they aren’t sharp. The fret leveling and nut installation will be up to me though, as will be the sanding, sealing, and finishing of the neck since it comes coated with nothing.

More will come soon once the pickguard gets here. I also ordered all the electronics to wire it up. I opted for higher quality components than the ones I have on hand. No sense in going cheap on those! Only the best will do.

Painting...

I started the color coat applications on the body. So far it seems to be going well, though every little imperfection drives me crazy. Working in the garage under fluorescent lights gives me a detailed view of everything which is not actually visible most of the time. That, along with the fact that half of this body will be covered by the pickguard and hardware, and it’s probably not as necessary obsess over it. But I will! It’s going to be as perfectly smooth as I can possibly make it before I start with the clear coat. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing correctly! I think the color looks good. I’m still trying to decide on a color scheme for the whole bass though. There are a couple directions I could take. I have time to figure that out though. For now I’m going to focus on getting the body finished as well as possible, and then it becomes assembly. The neck is something I keep going back and forth about, but I still have time on that as well.

Paint choices

I did some research trying to figure out which type of paint to use for the body. My first choice is usually nitrocellulose based lacquer, which I’ve used with good results several times before. However, the color I need is not available from my source in that color. I haven’t had much luck getting it from somewhere else either, so an alternative will have to be used. The best choice seems to be Krylon acrylic lacquer. I haven’t used this for a guitar project before (mostly just sheet metal applications) but it should be an adventure.

Priming

I spent a lot of time the past couple days prepping this body for a finish. This included a LOT of primer, sanding, spraying more primer, more sanding. The goal was to get the surfaces perfectly leveled out and the edges smoothed over so that the edges are rounded and as nice looking as possible. 2 cans of primer later I’m finally happy with how it’s looking, so it’s almost ready to be colored! I know what color I’m going to go with now, but I don’t have a finish type or brand picked out yet. I’m still weighing those options at the moment. The body looks good with the primer finished. Since I spent a good amount of time with the prep work, the color should go on fairly easily and should look great. The key is all in the amount of time you spend on prep work! The sealers and primers are where the leveling has to be done. Color won’t fill much at all, so if you don’t have the surface correct at the primer level, you’ll fight the color finish forever trying to get it right! I’m looking to avoid that, so extra care was taken to get it as close to perfect as I could in primer. I’m a perfectionist so this took quite some time!

Bridge alignment

Taking a break from exam studying! I did some fit up work on where the bridge is going to be mounted. Yesterday I figured out where it needs to sit from side to side so that the strings line up between the poles. Then today I had to figure out how far forward or back it needs to sit. I did some measuring of my other basses to get an idea of where they sit. On this measurement it is possible to be slightly off and still be fine since it can be adjusted on the individual saddles when you set the intonation anyways. Since I didn’t want to lose my measurements from yesterday, I taped along the sides of the bridge to make a “slot” where I can move it forward or backward for measurements, and taped it down to check and make sure everything is still good. As soon as one of the new necks arrives, I’ll make sure none of my measurements need to be adjusted, and then I can drill the pickguard and bridge holes. Once I do that, the body will then be ready to be primed. I don’t want to do that until I have all the holes drilled, and I don’t want to drill the holes until I have all the pieces fit up to make sure I only have to do it once. Here the holes are marked for drilling out the bridge holes.

Some exciting stuff today. I got the pickup set that I’m going to use. Interestingly enough the bridge pickup doesn’t fit! That’s ok though, since I have one of those that fits perfectly and is same type. The other pickup is fine, though and that’s the one I really needed. I screwed them into the existing mounting holes in the body to do a check fit of the pickguard. The pickups are a very tight fit in the guard, and it needs to be enlarged for it to work right. There’s also another problem, with the pickups mounted and the guard sitting in the correct way over them, there is a gap at the neck pocket. That’s not going to fly for me! I have two options here. One is to come up with something to fill that gap. The other is to relocate the pickup so that the pickguard fits flush with the neck where it should.

I’m going with option 2, as it will look nicer, and because this pickguard comes from a U.S.A. built Fender, which means the pickup location this guard has built in is in the place Leo Fender intended. Now, will 1/8 of an inch really make a sound difference? Doubtful! But I’m a perfectionist, remember? After all, having a pickguard that fits like this is not going to work for me. Moving the pickup forward an eighth of an inch is pretty trivial. All I need to do is plug the old holes, line up the pickguard in the proper place, and then mark where new holes need to go. What do you plug the holes with? I found that some simple wooden toothpicks work quite well, coupled with a little wood glue they work perfectly for this task. All it took was 1 toothpick, too. I put a little glue in the hole, shoved the toothpick in, and broke it off to where the plug is flush with the cavity bottom. Nobody will ever see them, so I don’t need to worry about coloring them at all. The pickup cavities will be completely shielded with copper foil as well. The pickup is now mounted right where it needs to be, although I mauled the pickguard while trimming it. If I can’t clean it up nice enough I’ll just buy a new one eventually. At least all my measurements are now correct! However, since pickguards vary greatly from one to the next with the screw holes, I’ll wait until I decide for sure if I’m going to use this one before I drill the holes. In the meantime I can just tape it to the body for anything I need.

The next task is to figure out how the bridge mounting is going to go. I now have the pickups. What I did for this was to put the pickups in place, and then tape an old string up by the nut on the neck, so that I can see where the string will go in relation to the pickup pole pieces while holding the string over the bridge saddle. This is one thing that can make a guitar or bass look cheap and sloppy is if the strings do not go close to center between the two pole pieces on the pickups. Whether it makes a sound difference or not is debated, but I want it to look nice! I also taped the bridge in place of where I think it should be mounted, and then made sure the strings go between the poles. It looks like they are going to go almost dead center on each string, as can be seen in the above picture. Very nice! I just have to measure now and make sure the bridge is forward or back far enough so that the scale length (34” from the nut to bridge) is correct, but it shouldn’t be far off. I am having second thoughts on using this neck, though. I don’t like it all that much and I’ve managed to acquire a couple other necks which I had been previously unable to find, which were my first choice originally for the one I wanted to use.. They should be here this week, and hopefully at least one of them fits without much work. Then I’ll be in really good shape! For now I need to double check some measurements, and also try and fix the deformed pickguard. I need to improve my skill with the dremel tool before trying that again!

I spent some more time with the wood filler today; since I’m just that much of a perfectionist and the really small nuances in the feel of the plugged holes weren’t good enough for me. Such imperfections would easily be solved once the primer is applied, but I like the idea of it being as perfect as I can get it and have things leveled out with wood rather than primer. It’s just another one of my obsessions with perfection. The electronics should be here in a couple days, and then I can assemble everything and see how it looks. I’m still torn on color choices though.

The Fender P bass pickguard has arrived in the mail, and it looks like a perfect fit! This looks like it will work very well for this project. I’m just waiting on the pickup set to arrive now and I will have all the pieces I need. I could probably mark and drill the holes for the screws on the body now that I have a correct pickguard, but I want to mount the pickups to the body before doing that to make sure I get the adjustment exactly right so something isn’t a little off after the holes are drilled. Another interesting thing is the bridge pickup is closer to the neck than is typical on this configuration. It sits only 1.5” from the bottom of the neck pickup, as opposed to the 2” or so that my other basses have. The main questions are still color choices, but I’ll get to that eventually. I could route the body for the larger pots, but I would need to also drill a hole in the side of the body for a side jack mount. I might also just add a hole to the pickguard since the body is already routed up there, which would allow for the pots and the input jack to all remain top mounted. The pieces are starting to come together…