NRBD!!!
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 12:46 pm
New Relic Bass Day!!!
So I've been meaning to get a bass for recording at home for a while now just for demos and such, so I thought why not get a cheap decent squier and beat the bajeezus out of it.
Some might think what's the point if it's just for home use, well a bit of fun really, plus wearing down the neck makes it nice and smooth.
So it started life as one of these
http://www.squier.com.au/squier-bass-gu ... ape&bcid=0
A Squier Vintage Mod 70's Jazz bass in natural
I've sold a few of these basses in the past and know they are excellent value and quality, never played a bad one. I believe it was Brent from Hangman who got me onto this model.
so I took it apart and stripped the paint.
This was the hardest part, many curses, burns in the wood from the heatgun, and burns on my arms from flakes of hot poly.
I swear I've never called something a quim as hard as I did when I was doing the edges and around the neck heel access.
Just the sides to go:
Staining and wearing the neck in
That dark stain on the body and neck is an old furniture restoring trick, dark tea applied to the area, and then steel wool dissolved in vinegar brings out the tannins and darkens it up nicely, if it's too dark you just sand back. I believe Fender C/Shop use amber dye in naphtha with some other shit to basically do the same thing. The best part is it doesn't affect poly so you just take the paint off the area you want darkened. Also chips and cracks can be darkened this way too.
Headstock wear
getting some of that dark stain in the dings in the headstock
hardware was aged in vinegar to slightly dull the shine, then steel wooled and darkened/sanded with various liquids to get an aged look
doesn't really show up in the photos but the hardware wore through to a coppery colour which looks really cool
painting + wiring it up
start of the wear process
this was done with a combination of just banging it into shit, wacking it with keys, a razor blade to remove large chunks of paint, and sandpaper.
I looked at actual old basses to figure out where to wear it/where the paint will flake off etc, as I don't play proper bass I have only guesswork to go on.
From my WWE heavyweight champion belt
Next to it's fellow relic'd guitar
Had to do a setup when i put it back together cause the neck pocket was super tight, alignment got a bit weird so had to do a bit of sanding in the pocket and raise the bridge.
Plays great, sounds like a bass, success.
All up the bass cost me $370, I spent $50 at buntings on a heat gun and some sandpaper, and it took me about 12 hours total.
Some of you are going to think this is stupid or looks shit or whatever, not really interested in tbh, but have at it lads!!!
So I've been meaning to get a bass for recording at home for a while now just for demos and such, so I thought why not get a cheap decent squier and beat the bajeezus out of it.
Some might think what's the point if it's just for home use, well a bit of fun really, plus wearing down the neck makes it nice and smooth.
So it started life as one of these
http://www.squier.com.au/squier-bass-gu ... ape&bcid=0
A Squier Vintage Mod 70's Jazz bass in natural
I've sold a few of these basses in the past and know they are excellent value and quality, never played a bad one. I believe it was Brent from Hangman who got me onto this model.
so I took it apart and stripped the paint.
This was the hardest part, many curses, burns in the wood from the heatgun, and burns on my arms from flakes of hot poly.
I swear I've never called something a quim as hard as I did when I was doing the edges and around the neck heel access.
Just the sides to go:
Staining and wearing the neck in
That dark stain on the body and neck is an old furniture restoring trick, dark tea applied to the area, and then steel wool dissolved in vinegar brings out the tannins and darkens it up nicely, if it's too dark you just sand back. I believe Fender C/Shop use amber dye in naphtha with some other shit to basically do the same thing. The best part is it doesn't affect poly so you just take the paint off the area you want darkened. Also chips and cracks can be darkened this way too.
Headstock wear
getting some of that dark stain in the dings in the headstock
hardware was aged in vinegar to slightly dull the shine, then steel wooled and darkened/sanded with various liquids to get an aged look
doesn't really show up in the photos but the hardware wore through to a coppery colour which looks really cool
painting + wiring it up
start of the wear process
this was done with a combination of just banging it into shit, wacking it with keys, a razor blade to remove large chunks of paint, and sandpaper.
I looked at actual old basses to figure out where to wear it/where the paint will flake off etc, as I don't play proper bass I have only guesswork to go on.
From my WWE heavyweight champion belt
Next to it's fellow relic'd guitar
Had to do a setup when i put it back together cause the neck pocket was super tight, alignment got a bit weird so had to do a bit of sanding in the pocket and raise the bridge.
Plays great, sounds like a bass, success.
All up the bass cost me $370, I spent $50 at buntings on a heat gun and some sandpaper, and it took me about 12 hours total.
Some of you are going to think this is stupid or looks shit or whatever, not really interested in tbh, but have at it lads!!!
