Andreas Demetriou Bass resurection...

[nofi]

"if it don't go, chrome it". american hot rodder lingo from the fifties.

[Lightyear]

I did some serious sanding today and all I was left with was a pile of dust...

Seriously though, the ash is just not coming up well for the original idea, the wood just looks "dirty" post sanding or the grain is not soaking the dye in deep enough, so dyed black again and gonna do a black fin... sand and seal next...

Pffftt!  Seal the body with shellac, grain fill it, sanding seal, then finish it off, ala The Fraulien, purple   It is a crazy ass 80's bass and so it deserves a wild color

All joking aside, the grain may still be impacted by whatever sealer, filler, wood prep that was used in manufacture and it may be impossible to pull off a perfect stained type finish.  Just my $ 0.02 worth.

[dadagoboi]

Properly done, an ash body that is NOT grain filled and painted black can be a very nice and subtle thing.  Much of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's furniture was mostly unfilled black painted ash.  Fly the flag, Kenny!

[Lightyear]

Properly done, an ash body that is NOT grain filled and painted black can be a very nice and subtle thing.  Much of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's furniture was mostly unfilled black painted ash.  Fly the flag, Kenny!

You mean the tie dye flag!  Kenny's got that one already flying! 

The open the open grain thing would work well with paint but I thought Kenny wanted the dyed black, sanded back, translucent color thing?

[dadagoboi]

You mean the tie dye flag!  Kenny's got that one already flying! 

The open the open grain thing would work well with paint but I thought Kenny wanted the dyed black, sanded back, translucent color thing?

I thought since he's having a lot of problems he might want to take a cue from a fellow Scot's simplicity.

[Highlander]

I have a few books on Mr Mackintosh so appreciate the nod, Carlo... Not surprising that you'ld think of his furniture... most folks tend to think of him as patterns and not the rest of the stuff, even up to buildings...

[manic grin] ... and Buzz, I'm planning on doing something truly garish on my Hohner Jack once the AD and RD are up to spec... something to remember the ol' Tequilabird by... [/manic grin]

Interesting thought re the chrome, Nofi...

[dadagoboi]

Glad you knew his work, Kenny, fantastic stuff!  Around '85 a designer in L.A commissioned me to do an ash console table. He sent me to a showroom in the Pacific Design Center to look at a Mackintosh furniture range for the finish, ebonised ash.  It was a real learning experience to get the paint to the proper sheen and smoothness without filling in the grain, one of those things where experience is key.  I never got it quite right on that piece but finally did down the line.

[neepheid]

I've also posted this in other-brands re replacement machine-heads...

I offered up one of the RD's machines as an example of what I'm looking for... The holes in the head are exactly 17mm - very marginally smaller than 11/16"... I could fit this style of machine but they would be offset...



With the lug-points and no screw fixings I believe they are an old Gibson style (?) - is there a easily available replacement out there...?

Apologies if this has already been answered and I missed it but Schaller M4S tuners ought to fit directly in there - they have the two locating pins instead of screws to prevent rotation at the back.  Techy drawing here: http://bass-machine-heads.com/hp135297/Artikel-Liste.htm?ITServ=CY339047d7X12e2ae39946X1cea#tz

My Gibson Victory Artist has Gibson branded M4S tuners and the holes looked like this:


Fitted, they look like this:



An alternative could be the Grover Titan, but it uses 2 screws approximately where those holes are.  Slightly destructive, but a lot less than Schaller BM like in the picture you posted.

Hope that helps

[Highlander]

Ahh, you never did come back and let me know if you were a sasenach or a teuchter... 

iirc it was Rob (Basvarken) that pointed me in the direction of the former you mentioned but thanks for dropping by - the one shown is from my RD (also presently lurking in my shed stripped to the wood and waiting for a good, clear weekend to start the respray) purely to show scale - I'm watching out for some...

You should post the pics on your Victory refin...

[neepheid]

Ahh, you never did come back and let me know if you were a sasenach or a teuchter... 

iirc it was Rob (Basvarken) that pointed me in the direction of the former you mentioned but thanks for dropping by - the one shown is from my RD (also presently lurking in my shed stripped to the wood and waiting for a good, clear weekend to start the respray) purely to show scale - I'm watching out for some...

You should post the pics on your Victory refin...

Teuchter, min.  Aberdeenshire

I could put up a copy of the potted history of the refin here, I just wonder if I'm boring people because it's on several fora in various degrees of detail...

[Lightyear]

Teuchter, min.  Aberdeenshire

I could put up a copy of the potted history of the refin here, I just wonder if I'm boring people because it's on several fora in various degrees of detail...

Post it - we're easy to please here abouts....

[Highlander]

Mine are all left-coast (Lewis) - my dad barely considered himself Scottish, unless the English were involved...

Post away...

[Highlander]

This is running up to my usual speed when it comes to refins (look at it this way, the RD took nearly two decades to get a new set of strings - this is a newbie...!)

First off, I didn't post a pic of the "dirty" body once the sanding was done, hence my going back to black...


Anyway, something arrived from the good ol' USofA... (cheers Brad) - Ovation branded... perfect fit...


So, on with some advice that is required...

Carlo mentioned leaving the grain raw, but there is a distinct "ridging" to the wood, presumably with the "rings" being tougher... not going to be one of Carlo's "mirrors" - more like the "house of mirrors"

If I grain-fill, anything recommended for ash...?  

[drbassman]

Bartley is my favorite.  They make a neutral that would probably be good on ash.  I use the dark for mahogany.  Lots of folks at the Reranch forum use epoxy for filler too.  Check it out there..............

[dadagoboi]

I bought paste filler a few months ago thinking I might need it.  Haven't used it and haven't had a problem filling grain in mahogany, ash, poplar or basswood without it.  2 coats sealer with block sanding before and after, 2 coats lacquer on 2 successive days with sanding, wait 4-6 days and color sand and buff.  Always use a block of some kind otherwise you'll be turning mountains into hills and valleys.