New project bass finished!

[Composer of Requiems]

New project bass finished! Refinish in purple glitter, upgrade electronics.

My two month old project is finally done!

It started off as an SX jazz that my friend wasn't using and sold to me.

Took it apart.

After sanding and applying the initial finish... it sparkles!

 

[Composer of Requiems]

And took up a lot of lacquer and polishing and sanding and more lacquer and more polishing and more sanding and more lacquer and more polishing and sanding...... glitter finishes are highly uneven and need a lot of work to clear the "orange peel".

The back has a simple spraypaint finish, because honestly, I don't see the point adding so much effort and weight on something that no-one will see anyway.

While that was going on, I started work on the neck.

Defretted!

Then, to fill up the gaps in the wood I used wood filler.

 

[Composer of Requiems]

The neck was introduced to the joys of sanding and more sanding and more sanding.

Just after I finished work on the body, my Nordstrands arrived! Ordered from Cherns @ RDM.

Shielded the cavities; they're all connected by little copper foil tubes in the tunnels between the cavities.

Shielded the wires and held them together with aluminium foil, I think it oughta work...

 

[Composer of Requiems]

Neck and bridge in; installed the ground under the bridge. The cavities will also be connected to the ground later.

Stringing up the nice new TI Jazz Flats, from RDM too. Cherns is awesome.

A temporary connection with blue tape with the original electronics while waiting for my Audere. Actually, it already works quite well...

And installed in so that I can set it up, adjust action, intonate, and generally play around with it first!

 

[Composer of Requiems]

Finally, the Audere arrived a week later from RDM, and I installed it.

At first I had problems with strange buzzing noises and a weird rattling resonance on E notes. I got frustrated and put it away in the gigbag... and the next day when I took it out all the problems magically disappeared.

It was already pretty nice sounding with the Nords and stock electronics; this preamp just gives me much more choices of sound!

I guess maybe I'm biased since I spent so long working on it, but it plays and feels and sounds better than my Yamaha BB2004 that I was using previously. For now it's my primary bass. Pretty heavy, though, and for some reason it doesn't fit into my hardcase. The body seems fatter and bigger than usual.

A lot of thanks goes out to Cherns from RDM (http://rdmgear.com/) for the help with ordering the parts! Also, to a member from Pearldrummersforum, where I learned how to apply a glitter finish (http://www.pearldrummersforum.com/showthread.php?t=196050)

 

[KeDraiv]

NICE!

how much did u spend on this project ah?
haha

 

[b33r]

the Audere probably costs more than the bass itself already.

also, since when did SX basses come with 21 fret necks?

 

[Vile]

Cool Bass

All your hard work isn't for nothing hahas.

Grats!

 

[rottenramone]

purple and sparkle! 2 of my faves! congrats

 

[Hickey_]

Awesome. totally.

 

[aloychow]

purple and sparkle! 2 of my faves! congrats

Hahaha.. I'm also into Purple and Sparkle.. hahaha... good taste...

 

[exin]

yo man!

Great job! I know how much effort it takes to re-finish your bass. I did that to one of my basses really long ago and it was like ... gosh ... alot of work. Seriously.

But the finish looks awesome! Post some clips of the bass dude! We wanna hear how it sounds like!

 

[Composer of Requiems]

NICE!

how much did u spend on this project ah?
haha

Haha lots. Seriously lots.

the Audere probably costs more than the bass itself already.

also, since when did SX basses come with 21 fret necks?

Yup it costs more... well, I bought it second hand so it definitely costs more. Probably costs more first hand too.

I heard SX basses bought alone have less frets than those that were bought in a package with amp, gigbag, etc. I have no idea why.

 

[vickomaniac]

Fantastic job, Composer of Requiems!
I've always liked what you did with your DIY sessions

 

[Jugman]

you sir, are a genius!

 

[ashchong]

now i was wondering.. how would u remedy a crack in a nitrocellulose lacquer finish?..

anybody know how or whether to get nitrocellulose to finish over it and sand ?

 

[Composer of Requiems]

now i was wondering.. how would u remedy a crack in a nitrocellulose lacquer finish?..

anybody know how or whether to get nitrocellulose to finish over it and sand ?

I heard somewhere that the raw material for nitro finishes are illegal in Singapore. Not sure how true that is.

yo man!

Great job! I know how much effort it takes to re-finish your bass. I did that to one of my basses really long ago and it was like ... gosh ... alot of work. Seriously.

But the finish looks awesome! Post some clips of the bass dude! We wanna hear how it sounds like!

How do I go about doing that? I'm guessing the preamp brings it to line level already, so can I just plug directly into my computer?

 

[b33r]

yeah, the ingredients for nitro finish are supposedly illegal here.

as for the recording, just get another cable to connect from your amps line out (if there is) to your computer's line in. you'll need the proper adaptor though. then you can open up audacity or garageband or whatever recording software you have. poor man's way of recording without an audio interface.

 

[kerplunk182]

B33r: That's how i record on a budget. Teehee. Well, it works : )

 

[j_m_s]

sweet job dude!