Warmoth Sale Bass Build

[ByteFrenzy]

Couldn't resist getting this:

and this:

along with one of these:

and assorted hardware in chrome.
The idea I have right now is to do a distressed finish.
You may recall my statements about relicing in the past, it won't look like it was towed behind a truck and used to fend off sword-wielding fans - it should look like it was really cared for but also used a lot, and all wear and tear was accidental and not the result of gross negligence.
Now I have to think up a neckplate design that looks like my company could have used fifty years ago.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

That's gonna turn out nice.  :icon_thumright:

Suggestion for the neckplate, instead of a company logo, in some real fancy, old loopy style script you could have 'Byte Me'. :laughing7:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Will be badass!!

You're a little TOO away, don't you Rene?

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Just got texted by my wife - the packages have arrived. Still have to wait five more hours before I can get my hands on them - the drawbacks of having to work for a living, I guess. I'll try to post some pictures.

Yes, I have been pretty quiet lately. I'm still around but not posting all that much. Things have been pretty busy both at work and privately.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

OK, time to show the progress-o-meter.
Of course all my good intentions of posting the unwrapping pics were in vain, just didn't get around to it.
I haven't touched the body yet, but I did do some work on the hardware and the neck.
Except the control plate, which I ordered off the evil bay and which didn't ship yet. Seller seems to be on holiday until the 12th.

(Hardware and neck.)

(Tuners.)

(Knobs, bridge, neck. Since the neck was unfinished, I still have to finish it.
Here I just did some light staining on the fingerboard and the back of the neck to simulate some wear.
I'm going to use my favourite Tru-Oil finish over linseed oil, but this time I'm going to add a tint to approach vintage color.)

(Headstock, untouched. That will change...)

(For the meteorologically inclined, view from my shack and environment inside...)

(Neck with one application of linseed oil, and some wear to the edges of the headstock.)

(Detail of the headstock.)

(Neck and headstock.)

(Detail of neck.)

 

[dmraco]

that neck is rock'n.  I like the linseed oil and wear.  Is the heardware old or did you antique it?

 

[ByteFrenzy]

I disassembled the hardware, put aside the springs and finer screws, then went at the chrome with 600 sandpaper and a stainless steel brush in a dremel, 'using small circular motions' to avoid a clear tooling pattern.Then I dumped everything in a plastic box (one we bought potato salad in originally) and gave it a number of good shakes. Then I put everything (in small batches) in a bath of 23% Hydrochloric acid, for a couple of hours each, except the bridge which I left in it overnight. After that a good rinse in clean water, dryng and a coating of WD40, then reassembly. The Hydrochloric acid was the tricky bit. A lot of 'how to relic a guitar' articles refer to it, but they seldom mention the concentration. Very often they tell you to put the parts in a separate container inside a tupperware box with some Hydrochloric acid, so that just the fumes will work on the parts. That may work with concentrated HCl (38%) but it certainly won't with the strength I was able to get.

And yes, the neck is really sweet. I feel kinda perverted taking brand new parts and damaging them on purpose, but that is part of the total build concept. It's going to be even worse with the body. The neck was unfinished so I'm more or less free to finish it how I want, but somebody at W put work into getting a perfect finish on that body and now I'm going to ruin it.

 

[SlingBass]

I'm not into the whole relic thing (*I* believe distress should be earned) - but hey, you're not making it for me  :laughing7:

I can, however, appreciate your methods...and you certainly have some fine pieces/parts as a foundation  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Nando Vallart]

That's cold!!!!!

I think this bass will be awesome!

 

[ByteFrenzy]

That's cold!!!!!

Had to take the neck into my home because the linseed oil wouldn't cure.. an hour later it was dry to the touch...

In the shack I have an electric heater running at 500 watt and it doesn't get the temperatures far over 10°C right now. It's OK to keep the glue, paint and other assorted liquids from getting ruined, but if I want to do finishing I'll either have to wait for warmer weather or turn the heater up to 1000 watt.

 

[back2thefutre]

:icon_thumright:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Soooo.... time for an update I guess. The neck is sitting on top of a closet in the hallway, patiently drying. The Tru-Oil coats are all on, now its just some patience waiting for it to cure so I can move on to final finishing: ligh sanding, then go throght the different grades of Micro Mesh to get a nice gloss, finally use some 0000 steel wool selectively on the back of the neck and the fingerboard to bring it back to a satin where it's 'worn'. The body and the pickguard have also gone through the first part of the aging, the rest has to wait until the pickguard is on the body, which in turn has to wait until the neck and the control plate are on.

And that's the bit that's causing grief this time. I purchased a control plate over the evil bay from a company in the U.K. (purchase from an E.U country means no customs hassle). I placed my order on December 14th and got a positive evaluation almost immediately, but come New Year still no plate and Ebay still didn't show the status as shipped. I sent an inquiry to the seller and got a message he was away until January 12th. OK, everybody's entitled to have a holiday, so I waited patiently for their shipping to resume, but still no plate. When I next contacted him, he told me the plate actually had shipped (despite the status saying it hadn't), certainly before Christmas, and he had proof from Royal Mail. Well, I certainly didn't receive it so he has filed a claim with Royal Mail and will send me a new plate - when they arrive, because he now has Chrome backordered...

In the meantime, I ordered a second plate and another bridge from a company in the USA. It's no big deal if I get two plates, it'll give me some choice which one works better with relicing. The bridge is thought as an alternative to the Gotoh 201 which I bought along with the body. The Gotoh doesn't really fit with the general concept of the bass and it didn't age all that convincingly. The new one is a vintage bridge with brass saddles; I think that one is going to work a lot better. For this order I got a shipping notice from USPS so that should be arriving in a while.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Hope you get the freaking plate and a new heater I'm about to a AC, it's at least 30°C with feels of hellish temperatures :sad:

 

[bbl4ck]

I am not typically into distressed geetars; however, I really like your approach to beating up on an axe.  :headbang1:
Can't wait to see her finished...

By the way, where are you at?  Damn, that is cold.  The high here today is supposed to be 57 degrees and I am whining.
:kewlpics: :rock-on:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

OK, moving on slowly. Still waiting for the control plate and bridge. The first guy refunded my purchase, he'll let me know when the plate is back in stock. The second order is still on its way, it has been a bit over a week now. I guess that's not unusual for USPS but I think I'm going to ask for confimation it has actually been sent. The tracking just states that USPS has received notification of a shipment, but not that it's actually been handed over to them. From previous USPS shipments I think I remember having seen that kind of thing before so I'm not panicking yet.

Right now I'm working with the parts I do have. It's forcing me to adjust my build sequence a bit but that should still work out OK in the end.

 

[Nando Vallart]

VERY classy!!!!! I'm liking this design more and more

 

[ByteFrenzy]

And the winner is...  ccasion14: Guitar Parts from NL  ccasion14: .

I guess I owe an explanation... I ordered a Tele Bass control plate from some company in the UK, waited a bit, waited some more, asked for a status, was told it must be lost. Got a refund, and will be contacted when the chrome plates are back in stock.

Ordered a similar plate from some outfit in the US, along with a vintage bridge. USPS tracking showed 'shipping info received' and just stuck there. Waited some, asked for an update, was told this was too long and they would ship the parts again. Then got a message saying they had received the envelope back all torn up and with the contents gone. They would ship again but the bridge was out of stock so they were refunding the purchase price pkus the shipping cost. Magically, the same USPS tracking number now says the package has been handed over to USPS. Impossible to prove, but my gut feeling say it never shipped in the first place.

In the mean time, I also ordered the control plate, the bridge, an oil/paper cap and a thumbrest from Guitar Parts in NL. The bridge and plate were backordered and I had to wait for two weeks (they immediately informed me of that), but yesterday the status of the order changed to 'complete' and today my package was delivered.

Right now the control plate, the bridge base and saddles are having a refreshing bath in hydrochloric acid. Should be able to get the plate and the bridge installed this week. Next week I'll look at installing the electronics. It's simple passive circuitry but I want to pay extra attention to installing the pup, and I don't want to use cable ties to be 'period correct'. I think I'll use plain string and a couple of well placed knots instead. Then it's mainly putting some more time in detailing the wear and tear.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Salt, water, sand, and hardware in a Mason Jar along with several shakes and rolls across the floor can dull a hardware finish too.

 

[ByteFrenzy]

So, after disassembling the new bridge and leaving the base plate, the saddles and the mounting screws overnight sweating it out in the acid dip together with the control plate, I now have a bridge that looks like this:

and a control plate that looks like this with the pots mounted and the knobs on:

Next, it's time for a festive moment: opening the box with the pickup.

Opening the box reveals a neat fabric bag with the Antiquity logo, and  cardboard label that tells the story of the Antiquity pickups.

Inside the fabric bag, a neat paper package:

And finally, inside the package, the pickup is revealed.

Tomorrow, I'll try to get the bridge and the control plate installed. The control plate might be a challenge because the cavity seems pretty tight for the CTS pots.

 

[whyachi]

I'm normally only a fan of natural relics, but yours has the somewhat unusual quality of not looking like it was purchased new and dragged behind a truck down a dirt road. I like it.

 :kewlpics: