Peelings. Wo-oh-oh-ooo peelings... (BaCH NR and a stripper)

[chromium]

I used a hacksaw and a wide, flat head screwdriver. I did a vertical cut at each of the four corners of the pup, then pried the plastic off with the screwdriver. I wouldn't use a belt sander because once you get the plastic off, the remaining epoxy block is perfectly proportioned for a nice tight fit in the NOS 70s chrome cover. You might end up distorting the size/shape with the sander.

Thanks Mark and Tom for those tips.  I'll try that approach - didn't realize (remember) that the outer skin would peel away that easily, and to my eyes the TB+ look wayyy bigger - like I'd need to grind the epoxy down too.  I'm not good at measuring with my eyes, so I'm glad you mentioned the perfect fit.  Did you leave the top plastic intact?

Also (trying to remember from your thread, Mark) - is it safe to carefully drill the outer mounting holes for the 70s covers?  (roughly designated with the red dots in this pic... obviously trying to avoid the visible edges of the coils)

Thats what I did, and you want it ass smooth, like a mirror so I ended up going through the amber. I had to sand it (tint) all off & start over!
One speck of dust or run, you're screwed with a tint. With a solid you dont have that problem. You better have a perfect dust & humidity free place (you are in AZ right, so that should be good)

You guys have talked me down from that ledge - I'm not going to mess with amber tint on it.  Its already close enough to the hue I would have hoped to get from an pelham blue + amber tint combo.... and Lightyear's right- it'll yellow even more on its own (EDIT:  not to mention sound awesome, what with the eradication of that tone-sucking, resonance deadening eeeevillll poly finish   )

Is 25% relative humidity ok?  That's about what it is here now (and yeah- I'm in the outskirts of Phoenix, AZ).  At what point do you risk getting a "cloudiness" in the finish?  I should be okay on the wind.  Dust is a b1tc4 here, but if the wind is calm I think I'll be okay.



Lol @  Beaker  

[TBird1958]

Joe, those locations look about right! I dummied the middle screw by drilling in just enough to mount one in without damaging the coils.

Here are mine, note two different phases of pick up production!

[gearHed289]

I took all the plastic off, including the tops. It was WAY easier than anticipated.

What Mark said about the screws.

[Dave W]

Mark, that lower one looks like a split coil (P-type) setup. Is that an earlier version?

[godofthunder]

What a great thread. That's gonna be beautiful when it's done!

I've been playing mine all week. It feels so comfortable and sounds great. Best $400 each I ever spent!

George I could not agree more. Regardless of the construction These basses feel like a real NR, and even with the stock pup they sound surprisingly close to the real deal. I like the Art tech pup all the mids and treble of a  60's tbird pup, has a clearer more focused sound, no blur, at least that's the way I describe it. On stage the bass just feels right (having spent years chasing the head stock of a NR around the stage). I run the bass through my Seymour Duncan pup booster pedal on the humbucking 1 setting. Sounds fantastic. Best $377 I ever spent. On the feel subject NR necks varied greatly, Some thin as pencils, my '69 like a baseball bat. The Bach falls somewhere in the middle, very comfortable yet substantial. Have I gone on enough ? I bet in 10 years time people will be faLling all over themselves for a Bach NR

[TBird1958]

Mark, that lower one looks like a split coil (P-type) setup. Is that an earlier version?

Yes it is Dave - it's the original pup from my '89 as you can see it's very different from the contemporary stock dual coil one. Interestingly my Nikki Sixx Mk.II has yet another variation of this design!

[Nocturnal]

Mark, do you have any pics of the NS II pickups? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

[Barklessdog]

Is 25% relative humidity ok?  That's about what it is here now (and yeah- I'm in the outskirts of Phoenix, AZ).  At what point do you risk getting a "cloudiness" in the finish?  I should be okay on the wind.  Dust is a b1tc4 here, but if the wind is calm I think I'll be okay.

Cloadiness is called "Blushing" it has a matt white finish/fog when it happens, but is not a big deal with a solid color nitro. Stew Mac sells spray blush remover, or you can lightly sand it out. You will know when it happens. 25% humidity should be fine.

If you get a spec of dust dirt or hair, stop immediately let it dry for sever hours and try to lightly sand it off and not pushing it into the paint. Same with bubbles. They look like tiny white specks in the pant. Usually is a sign of moisture. You have to sand the bubbles completely out.

With solid color nitro you can make tons of mistakes, sand them out & re-apply color as it melts in with the old. Very forgiving paint. The downside is it takes a long time (waiting for drying between coats). Reranch preaches the coats in 3s. lightly dust your first coat, then spay the next coats wet in three coats per application. Wait several hours between and do three more for a total of three applications a day.

By quality auto sand paper and I soaked mine overnight is a mixture of water & soft soap (removes grease, finger prints when sanding)


I use hard white styrofoam blocks to sand with as they will not dig into the paint, like a wood block will. Also sand in a cross patern so you level the surface and do not end up sanding ridges. Every mistake will be revealed with the final buffing, so get everything right before the paint. Sanding around the set neck sucks as you can't really do the cross pattern.

[Barklessdog]

I got this from a guy on Reranch and works really well for the final finishing-

This is the same one I wet sanded with low odor mineral spirits last month, and the color of the sandpaper seeped into the topcoat. I couldn't get it out; I had to shoot another 2 coats


Anyhow, after sanding to 2000 grit I buffed with 3M Finesse-it II Finishing Material Machine Polish, part #39003, with a buffer. Looked decent, but kind rough.

After that, I rubbed Perfect-it II Rubbing Compound, part #39002, by hand. This seemed to have a bit more abrasive that the machine polish, but it knocked down the small lines left from the buffing wheel nicely. The directions state to use with a buffer, but it worked well by hand. It also smoothed out the rough area on the edges that I never feel comfortable smoothing with sandpaper.

The finishing touch was 3M Professional Formula Imperial Hand Glaze, part #39007, which left a deep shine, and polished out any roughness. This stuff is GREAT! It says, "show car finish" on it, and contains no wax or silicones, so it's perfect for nitrocellulose.



Though both Maguire's and 3M make products that will do a good job, my new favorite is Evercoat medium cut. This stuff works GREAT on lacquer finishes and costs 1/2 as much as the other products. Sometimes the grime is "in" the lacquer and you will take off a lot of finish getting it "out". The trick is in knowing when to stop, in this case. 0000 steel wool can be helpful in conjunction with polishing compound when the finish is really dirty. Follow that with a medium cut polish on a rag and then a finer polish and a glaze or detail polish like Mist and Shine.
Michael

[Barklessdog]

I find it best to paint you bass vertically hanging, less surface for dust to land on it.



White primer coat



The paint dries to touch pretty quick, so over night I stored mine in my laundry room (paint is noxious), by cutting a block of wood that fits in the pickup cavity, then support the neck with whatever.


Be sure not to remove the grounding wire.

[Lightyear]

/quote]

Man, what a a great idea - I use a small block of cherry, that I carefully shaped and a pink erarser.  The last nitro job I did I sanded with mineral oil - worked great but a bit on the messy side.

[chromium]

... sand paper and I soaked mine overnight is a mixture of water & soft soap (removes grease, finger prints when sanding)

I use hard white styrofoam blocks to sand

I agree.. some great tips in there.  Thanks, John.  They say to lay it flat for metallics so the little aluminum particles will "stand up" and reflect light properly, but I was wondering if I should hang it vertical for the clear.  I think you answered my question re: less surface for dust to settle.

I bought some cheap sandpaper (black wet/dry) at harbor freight once,  and it stained the wood I was working on.  No more of that!  The good stuff is expensive, but rework is more expensive!

I'll check out that finishing glaze too.  I have some in the garage for auto stuff, but forget what kind it is.

The last nitro job I did I sanded with mineral oil - worked great but a bit on the messy side.

What does that do - soften the finish and reduce effort and risk of sand thru?  This sounds like a good idea.  Do you just substitute the mineral oil for water?

[Lightyear]

No, it just stays wet longer, avoiding the dried out sandpaper dilema.  If your paper dries out you wind up cutting into your finish so the mineral oil averts that problem.

I've tried mineral spirits as well but that evaporates much too quickly.  Regardless, rinse your sandpaper often to clear it of debris.

You can do a search at ReRanch on mineral oil sanding - I think it's been discusses quite a lot.

Also, in effort to avoid sand throughs on my edges I always shoot intermediate coats on the edges in between full coats - meaning, dust coats>wet full coat>edges>wet full coat>edges etc..  I've had better look with edge sandthroughs with this method - this compensates for my heavy handed sanding technique

[TBird1958]

Mark, do you have any pics of the NS II pickups? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

Give me a day or two Andy, I'll get you some shots.

[Barklessdog]

[quote author=Barklessdog link=topic=2773.msg39714#msg39714 date=125154650


I use hard white styrofoam blocks to sand with...........


Man, what a a great idea - I use a small block of cherry, that I carefully shaped and a pink eraser.  The last nitro job I did I sanded with mineral oil - worked great but a bit on the messy side.

I learned that from Kevbo . It works great. Any overly aggressive pressure deforms the block not your bass, also its great around horns when you accidentally bump the neck or other areas.