Custom Explorer Bass Makeover | Part Four

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

This is the fourth instalment of an ongoing series concerning a makeover on a custom Explorer-style five-string bass. After final-sanding the body with 220-grit sandpaper, Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler tinted with StewMac Red Mahogany ColorTone Liquid Stain (#5032) was applied liberally and left to dry overnight.

After sanding off the Red Mahogany grain filler, a second round of filler was applied, this time tinted with Dark Walnut (#5104). This was once again sanded off after overnight drying. As the grain still was not as dark as I wanted it to be, the wood was stained with Sumi black ink. After sanding off the ink, the grain was about as dark as it would ever be.

So now it finally time to stain the body with Cherry Red (#5038). Yes, I was rather pleased with the results. However, I noticed that the headstock face was a couple shades lighter than the body. This being the case, I had no choice but sand off the Tru-Oil applied earlier and restain the headstock face.

Having taken care of the grain-filling and staining, I could now apply conductive shielding paint to the pickup and control cavities. The next step should be applying a clear matte finish to the the body and headstock face. Thank you for dropping by. Do stay tuned for future updates on this Custom Explorer Bass Makeover. Stay home, stay safe; and I'll see you real soon :)

Custom Neck-Through Tele Rehab: Part One

Quick Links:    Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

This is a Tele-style guitar, no doubt. It was custom built for the owner, who then handed it over to an individual or number of individuals for further "upgrades." And now it's come to me for some serious rehabilitation. Gnarly finish, no pickups or electronics; and no control cavity cover. 

A very attractive guitar all the same. Intricate abalone inlays, neck-through construction, five-piece maple neck, strings-through-body; never mind that the holes for the string ferrules are seriously out of alignment.

The first stage of rehab involved a partial refinish. Partial as in I did not sand down right to bare wood as it was stained and I did not want to have to do a lot of restaining. Turns out I did burn through the finish along the edges and center of the body, and had to restain the affected parts with StewMac ColorTone Liquid Stains. 

Vintage Amber (#5030) was used to restain the maple center, and for the edges; a mixture of Medium Brown (#5033) and Red Mahogany (#5032). Next, I filled the grain with StewMac ColorTone Clear Grain Filler so as to provide a relatively even base for the Tru-Oil that would be applied.

Then I remembered that I had not fashioned a control cavity cover yet. So I put the refinish on hold, and got right down to cutting and shaping one out of black pickguard material. I made two at one go, the other one being for the Explorer-style bass I'm also working on.

As I write this, the Tru-Oil refinish is complete and I'm moving on to the pickups and electronics. Two humbucker-sized P90 clones have arrived, and the neck pickup won't fit in its cavity. There's going to be a bit of chiseling and Cremeling to do, no doubt. Do stay tuned for the next installment. Till then, stay home, stay safe; and keep on rocking the free world :)

Takamine D Series Acoustic Guitar - Headstock Repair

The headstock of this Takamine D Series Acoustic Guitar "snapped right off while it was still in its gig bag," so said the distraught owner. I suspect that he'd been using way too heavy strings, and the poor guitar couldn't handle the tension. As luck would have it, the headstock had sheared off at an angle from the neck. This was good, as I had a wide surface area for gluing.

At this juncture, I regret to inform you that I clean forgot to take a picture of the broken headstock before repairs were carried out ... bummer! Anyhow, after gluing back the headstock to the neck, I used a nyatoh backstrap to reinforce the repair. Note that the backstrap blank had to be pre-softened before bending it to conform to the curve of the back of the headstock/neck.

This pre-softening was carried out using a kitchen steamer, much like what one would use for steaming dumplings (pau). Without this pre-softening, the backstrap blank would have cracked when I force-clamped it to the back of the headstock.

I'd wanted to cover the splits and cracks on the headstock face with teak veneer, but the owner was not willing to lose the "Takamine" logo. As such, I had to settle for a super glue job. Finally, the back of the headstock and neck were stained with StewMac's ColorTone Liquid Stain diluted with ethanol, and refinished with Tru-Oil.