Camera PV 2007 » Digital Camera » Kit building fun.
Kit building fun.
Question:
> Nice to hear that the 600 Grit worked out okay. Send some pictures wouls > you I would love to see it "wet" as the korina looked really nice "dry".
Some day I am going to have to get a digital camera, but there’s always another bass-related item that’s more pressing. The wood got real dark compared to its dry state and stayed that way. I liked it better dry. It looked more "raw." It’s a little too dark. I wanted more contrast between the wenge neck and the body. > Are you going to seal the body after oiling or leave it raw and maintain > the oil to it?
The Velvit Oil instructions said to sand wet with 400 and let the sawdust and oil slurry fill the pores, but I was worried the sawdust would look funny in both the dark and light areas of the wood. Looking at it now, maybe I should have done it that way. It would have looked OK plus the surface would have been harder. And the 400 would have made it look more like raw lumber. But yes, all I did was de-fuzz the body with 600 and soak it in Velvit Oil. Very easy to touch up. It is supposed to be cured in 24 hours but with all the humidity in the air here, I will probably not hear the real sound of the body until December. > By the way I was cruising the site again today looking for the next > project. Saw a very nice 5 string in Wenge
I really like 4-string Fender-style parts best. Eventually I hope to have a library of bodies, necks, and pickups that I can interchange at whim. The dinky J body fits my build best. I think I want a passive J. Maybe I’ll buy a JJ routed light hard ash body next and specify the bridge pickup centerline at 2 1/8". I am seriously thinking about a three-pickup J with the third pickup up by the neck. Maybe I’ll find out where the Guild Starfire neck pickup centerline was placed and re-proportion to long scale. Nobody makes a pickup with that spacing, but blade magnets will keep spacing simple. I played it on "Ants Marching" last night outdoors; the passive Squier P with flats just mumbled way too much on that tune. The Alembic electronics on the new bass were super crisp (and zero hiss; Mica told me on the phone just to totally shield the cavity and I’d be OK and it’s dead quiet). I hate changing basses between tunes (don’t have a mixer, so I’m changing axes, changing EQ, changing levels, hoping not to forget to plug something in). Maybe I will put SIT Power Flats on the new bass and play it all night tonight. I have one set that’s almost broken in. Usually I dig in too much outdoors. I wore two yellow foamy earplugs at sound check and found myself playing with a light touch (where I play my best), but lost a little too much detail. I wore the drummer-side plug for the concert and it was perfect. Today I’ll bring my Westones and try them out (have never used them). > and thought that the Vesters time might just be up.
What’s the Vester? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I wondered how the wife was going to feel about losing the > dining room table again for a few weeks? It’s a bad place…..
Response:
> Get good enough at it and you may be able to do just that. There are > more than a few out there who assemble parts and sell the finished > product. People like the "Burger King" thing, have it your way.
I’d have reservations. Paid assembly strikes me as risky as building full customs, even if I have the buyers bring me the wood themselves. People can change their minds, then back out. Or endlessly pick nits that don’t exist. Most builders offer only a limited menu of options. Many sell through dealers, figuring the loss of profit an acceptable cost of not having to deal with customers. Some charge exorbitant prices for the smallest variations. Some make the deposit high enough that risk disappears. There’s only one full-custom outfit that I can think of that’s absolutely thriving, and that’s Alembic, and I’d guess their "other existence" as pipe rack and semi-custom builders is much bigger and enables them to survive in the full-custom market.
Response:
> P. S. – Wgere did you get the "Velvet Oil". I am not sure I have heard of > this.
Off the Web. I like it a lot. www.velvitoil.com Got the bass together. Loud as hell. I’d paid Warmoth an extra 40 fish to pick out a nice light body. Big wow. Love the sound. Still needs the extra preamp installed, some kind of string retainer (haven’t decided which yet), and general setup.
Response:
Hello Kurt, Nice to hear that the 600 Grit worked out okay. Send some pictures wouls you I would love to see it "wet" as the korina looked really nice "dry". Are you going to seal the body after oiling or leave it raw and maintain the oil to it? By the way I was cruising the site again today looking for the next project. Saw a very nice 5 string in Wenge and thought that the Vesters time might just be up. I wondered how the wife was going to feel about losing the dining room table again for a few weeks? It’s a bad place….. Blaine
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Assembling bass parts today (got the neck Thursday and the body Friday). The > J neck is wenge with wenge fretboard and stainless frets and will stay raw. > I installed the Ultralight cloverleaf tuners and nut but will slot the nut > later. I had fun finding the right positions for the controls and drilling > all the holes (lots of holes). I liked the black korina dinky J body’s raw > plank look and did only enough sanding with 600 grit to de-fuzz it. I > slathered it with Velvit Oil and let it soak in for 30 min, then it started > raining so I brought it in and wiped it down with a terry hand towel. The > rain stopped and I slathered it again and let it sit 30 min, then wiped it > dry. It’s fairly dark now with a nice dull finish, but I expect it to > lighten up a tad as the solvents evaporate. It got dropped and dented on the > front edge near the rear strap button while I was out getting my Chinese > take-out (love roast pork with black bean sauce) but in contrast with paint, > this is a super low-maintenance finish. A little sanding and a little more > Velvit Oil and it was good as new. I’m shielding the control cavity now. > It’s an interesting problem due to the irregular shape of the cavity (there > are bosses protruding into the hollow to provide strong surroundings for the > cover screws). Have to find a small piece of aluminum angle tomorrow to ma ke > a bracket for the EMG PA-2 preamp that will go on the J bridge pickup only > to balance output with the P pickup. Only awaiting two shipments, an updated > chip for the filter (haven’t heard back from Mica yet) and a set of repro > old J knobs bought on eBay (the two large volume and small tone set). This > is too much fun. Wish I had the bucks to build a different bass every week > or two!
Response:
Assembling bass parts today (got the neck Thursday and the body Friday). The J neck is wenge with wenge fretboard and stainless frets and will stay raw. I installed the Ultralight cloverleaf tuners and nut but will slot the nut later. I had fun finding the right positions for the controls and drilling all the holes (lots of holes). I liked the black korina dinky J body’s raw plank look and did only enough sanding with 600 grit to de-fuzz it. I slathered it with Velvit Oil and let it soak in for 30 min, then it started raining so I brought it in and wiped it down with a terry hand towel. The rain stopped and I slathered it again and let it sit 30 min, then wiped it dry. It’s fairly dark now with a nice dull finish, but I expect it to lighten up a tad as the solvents evaporate. It got dropped and dented on the front edge near the rear strap button while I was out getting my Chinese take-out (love roast pork with black bean sauce) but in contrast with paint, this is a super low-maintenance finish. A little sanding and a little more Velvit Oil and it was good as new. I’m shielding the control cavity now. It’s an interesting problem due to the irregular shape of the cavity (there are bosses protruding into the hollow to provide strong surroundings for the cover screws). Have to find a small piece of aluminum angle tomorrow to make a bracket for the EMG PA-2 preamp that will go on the J bridge pickup only to balance output with the P pickup. Only awaiting two shipments, an updated chip for the filter (haven’t heard back from Mica yet) and a set of repro old J knobs bought on eBay (the two large volume and small tone set). This is too much fun. Wish I had the bucks to build a different bass every week or two!
Response:
Get good enough at it and you may be able to do just that. There are more than a few out there who assemble parts and sell the finished product. People like the "Burger King" thing, have it your way. Kirk P. S. – Wgere did you get the "Velvet Oil". I am not sure I have heard of this.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Assembling bass parts today (got the neck Thursday and the body Friday). The > J neck is wenge with wenge fretboard and stainless frets and will stay raw. > I installed the Ultralight cloverleaf tuners and nut but will slot the nut > later. I had fun finding the right positions for the controls and drilling > all the holes (lots of holes). I liked the black korina dinky J body’s raw > plank look and did only enough sanding with 600 grit to de-fuzz it. I > slathered it with Velvit Oil and let it soak in for 30 min, then it started > raining so I brought it in and wiped it down with a terry hand towel. The > rain stopped and I slathered it again and let it sit 30 min, then wiped it > dry. It’s fairly dark now with a nice dull finish, but I expect it to > lighten up a tad as the solvents evaporate. It got dropped and dented on the > front edge near the rear strap button while I was out getting my Chinese > take-out (love roast pork with black bean sauce) but in contrast with paint, > this is a super low-maintenance finish. A little sanding and a little more > Velvit Oil and it was good as new. I’m shielding the control cavity now. > It’s an interesting problem due to the irregular shape of the cavity (there > are bosses protruding into the hollow to provide strong surroundings for the > cover screws). Have to find a small piece of aluminum angle tomorrow to make > a bracket for the EMG PA-2 preamp that will go on the J bridge pickup only > to balance output with the P pickup. Only awaiting two shipments, an updated > chip for the filter (haven’t heard back from Mica yet) and a set of repro > old J knobs bought on eBay (the two large volume and small tone set). This > is too much fun. Wish I had the bucks to build a different bass every week > or two!