Refurbish 2010: a thumb odyssey

I think it looks great,I like the idea of the tru oil finish.ebmm uses that on there necks and it seem to hold up pretty good.
 
ok, this is feeling pretty good.
rounded the upper horn a bit and evened out the fretboard/ body
joint:


cleaned the fretboard, treated it and the ebony cap on the headstock with lemon oil. the headstock face drank it, the fretboard too.
i took steel wool and cleaned deep, there was a ton of green crud and wax but it came right out and the frets are in great shape:

sanding with the light gages tomorrow, then steel wool on wed.
hopefully the first stage of finishing can begin on wed.
going to read up a bit more on tru oil...
 
I should really go at my frets with some steel wool lol
 
Yo DARK.The headstock cap is a material called composite fibre ;)
 
really? had no idea... never really looked that close.
is it dyed black?
or natural?
 
still sanding!
been playing on the upright mostly on top of that, my hands are hamburger..
but in a good way.
i really can't recommend micro fiber cloth enough....
really gets the dust right out of the pores. been wiping down the bass more frequently as i get on toward polishing.
been trying to find tru oil in my area, looks like i'd probably have to order it,
but i'm still leaning toward factory oil/wax...
spoke to a cabinet maker/ wood worker who had some bubinga boxes he had made- looked like a nice hard gloss finish, but all he had done was use a buffing wheel. makes me want to try buffing with power tools.
was hoping to gig the bass in 5 days... probably not gonna happen.
oh well, i don't intend on doing this again, might as well be patient and get it right...
 
aaah, so lemon oil on the headstock will bring back the shine ?

excellent tip...my fortress has a very dull finish up at the top end...


the thumb's looking lovely btw
 
ahpook said:
aaah, so lemon oil on the headstock will bring back the shine ?

excellent tip...my fortress has a very dull finish up at the top end...


the thumb's looking lovely btw
Click to expand...

It will clean it up & improve it's appearance,but it wont bring it back to brand new.I dont think there's alot you can do with faded headstocks without doing anything drastic.It's kinda hard to say,coz it's a veneer of composite fibre,so it's hard to predict the affect will be.Maybe some sort of polishing compound might bring back it's shine.Like a cutting compound that's used for auto paint.
*Proceed with caution.;)
 
ahpook said:
aaah, so lemon oil on the headstock will bring back the shine ?

excellent tip...my fortress has a very dull finish up at the top end...


the thumb's looking lovely btw
Click to expand...

thanks!
unfortunately, like greg said lemon oil won't retain or reintroduce shine, but if used with wax will darken the wood.
it looked great freshly wiped down, so there must be a way to get it there....
mine has slight discoloration, but i don't have any plans other than cleaning and waxing.
i'm willing to bet you could carefully rub an ebony stain on it in an extreme case, but i'd ask the experts first of course...
took a couple days off for playing, have had some last minute gigs but have gotten the the bass to 400 grit (will do 600 then steel wool, 0000... maybe 000 in between. don't have any 800)
it's been a pain with the lower cutaway because there is a very dense vein in the wood and it doesn't want to sand evenly...
revisited it 3 times. i've removed an 1/8" at lest...
taking a long time but it's almost defeated.
had a spot like that on top, but not as bad, it got worked out... with patience.
the neck is feeling great, i'm hoping
1 more days work and it'll be ready to finish.
 
Dude,I dont think wax will have any affect at all.It just cant absorb it,coz it's sealed.
The ebony dye sounds interesting though.That's probably the best bet I reckon.
 
keep em coming. I watch with great interest. I use dr ducks axewax on the headcaps, seems to work well.

Rusty
 
ok....
the last few months saw more performances of my own music than i've played in the previous couple of years combined...
but it's finally warmed up and i've been able to devote some time to getting this bass up and running for a specific recording project scheduled for next month...
so, i took it the rest of the body all the way down to 0000 steel wool, and melted some wax:


using my fingers, i worked the hot wax into the body and neck. love how dark it got...
i also decided to work the wax into the pup routes and bridge routes... sooo much exposed surface area...
a pic before removing the excess (5am finishing time):
wax1.jpg

a pic 2 days later, excess removed... not a great pic, but you can see how the grain is popping in the light:
wax23.jpg

this hasn't been buffed of course, i'm just waiting 1 more day for the wax to harden... then it's a light sanding/steel wool,
lemon oil, more wax and the final buffing.
still haven't decided on a new pre or not, but i'm leaning toward new...
 
jester said:
Won't lemon oil remove the wax?
Click to expand...

according to the info from warwick on this forum, that's how it is done at the factory.
i suppose the initial wax is meant to penetrate deeply, then lightly removed (not completely)...
the oil is applied, then sealed in with more wax.
this is how i understand it to be, anyway...
perhaps this keeps the oil closer to the surface, the outcome being more depth and contrast in the grain?
we shall see...
 
It's amazing how the wax has an effect on the grain's looks.
 
i'd love to be able to keep the deep red color that the fresh, hot wax produced...
that is actually my ideal.
unfortunately, it lightens up a bit when drying...
was wondering if tru oil had that effect...
as it is supposed to be darker.
 
oh, hey jester, you are from athens...
club apollo still there? played there a few times a few years back...
took the ferry over from italy.
good times....
 
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