Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts [finished p.3]

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epizootics
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Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts [finished p.3]

Post by epizootics » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:02 am

It has been a while since I started a thread about the stuff I'm working on, partly because things were slow last year build-wise (due to cool projects in the pipes) and partly because I don't want to bore you good people of OSG. Yet those threads actually help me remember dates and processes down the line - it seems that all the guitars I worked on fuse into one big blob once they're done. So here goes.

Here's the corny Photoshop simulation:

Image

So, yeah. Guaytone LG 50-shaped body, Silvertone coke bottle headstock, Wandre candle smoke finish. 34" scale, Gotoh bridge. Guitar tuners. Plus a bit of stainless steel and phenolic sheet for good measure. I didn't get to use either of those in the last bass I built and thought I really wanted a P-type bass with an extra pickup. Said pickup will be a P90 for bass I have been thinking of doing for a while. I want to use thicker wire (AWG 41) and good ol' alnico 5 for this one. We'll see how it pans out.

I got started last week. The body is poplar (first time using that - that thing is soft!), neck is walnut with a wenge fretboard, complete with humble white plastic dots.

Peggy Lee disapproves:

Image

Some refinement is still needed for the control plate:

Image

More soon :)
Last edited by epizootics on Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by HNB » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:06 am

Looks cool!
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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:44 am

Ooh, I like that design a lot!!!
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http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by pacemaker » Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:50 am

Well this looks cool as hell. I love how you've combined the design elements from the vintage inspirations...

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by antisymmetric » Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:20 am

Your cat is wrong.
Watching the corners turn corners

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by Telliot » Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:26 am

This is fantastic, although the designer in me wants to turn that control plate around and fit it into the notch in the pickguard. But that's just me. :-*
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by ludobag1 » Fri Jan 14, 2022 12:53 pm

do you think she still desapprove when you will cut where she is sit ! :D
i see you are in good way to finish soon (for poplar put long screws cause it is prone to not screws resistant ,poplar is what match are made )

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by epizootics » Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:07 pm

Cheers y'all :)
My cat disapproves of everything that doesn't imply my making her play with her favorite string or filling up her bowl with biscuits. But she secretly loves how busy my workshop keeps me ("plenty of ME time, human")

Got started on the neck pickup today.

Made a template, rough cut two pieces of forbon:

Image

Trim flush, drill:

Image

Add extra holes for height adjustment crews in the cover...And get rid of those six silly holes...

Image

Double tape bits of MDF to the inside. 8mm at the sides, 6mm in the middle:

Image

Zzzzzzzzzzip:

Image

Sand / polish the opening...Voilà:

Image



Nothing super special going on with this build, but I am very much looking forward to doing that candle smoke finish. I didn't really find any information about it on the internet but I am aiming for something like that: https://retrofret.com/product.asp?ProductID=8046 , with a pale blue base rather than white. My main concern is how flammable cured nitrocellulose paint actually is. It wouldn't spend a lot of time above the candle...but still :)

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by ludobag1 » Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:02 am

Are you sure it is dons with a flame?
I see lot of wandre done with painting on ,i think a airbruch work will be less risky (more over wandre body are made in plastic then heat with plastic seems a bad idea

Other case it is with black fume ,but is black fume can be recovered by varnish ? You have to try on a scrap piece first ( maybe outdoor with an extinctor near)

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by Zork » Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:36 am

There is a guy over at ilovefuzz.com who did spectacular candle finishes recently. Maybe hit him up? Username is repoman.

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by August » Sat Jan 15, 2022 2:10 pm

I'm loving the way it looks sans finish, as it is in the disapproving cat pic. Very nice looking project (and skills)!

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by epizootics » Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:06 am

Zork wrote:
Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:36 am
There is a guy over at ilovefuzz.com who did spectacular candle finishes recently. Maybe hit him up? Username is repoman.
Thanks! I just checked his builds out, this guy has serious dedication. I'll give him a shout, he seems to know what he is doing.
ludobag1 wrote:
Sat Jan 15, 2022 1:02 am
Are you sure it is dons with a flame?
I see lot of wandre done with painting on ,i think a airbruch work will be less risky (more over wandre body are made in plastic then heat with plastic seems a bad idea

Other case it is with black fume ,but is black fume can be recovered by varnish ? You have to try on a scrap piece first ( maybe outdoor with an extinctor near)
I am pretty sure it is soot of some sorts - . I just spent three days installing a terrace in somebody's backyard down South but I got the time to experiment on thin white cardboard in the evenings, figuring that if I didn't burn through the cardboard I'd have a reasonable chance not to set my finish on fire.
I tried a regular candle and a beeswax candle and while they do cover a lot of surface in one go, I found no way to control the fumes well enough to get those thin wisps at the end. The best results I got were from using...a dumb old lighter. Easier to hold, easier to control, and I could get those thin tapered ends. But practicing on a scrap piece with the actual materials will be the only way to tell. I'm thinking of going primer -> color -> a few coats of clear so that I have something to sand in case I have to redo some areas. That soot rubs out easily but is hard to get rid of completely.

In any case, the weather forecast tells me it will be weeks until I can go outside and spray anything onto anything :(

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by Maker » Sun Jan 23, 2022 4:02 pm

epizootics wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:06 am
Zork wrote:
Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:36 am
I'm thinking of going primer -> color -> a few coats of clear so that I have something to sand in case I have to redo some areas.
Good Call!

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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by antisymmetric » Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:02 pm

Here's the results of a quick & nasty experiment I've just done- I'd really wanted to do a smoke effect on the pickguard of my Dano From Hell project, but all I tried was candles, and the results were pretty dismal (maybe my technique). These pics are the result of messing around with an acetylene torch today, on a scratched old Formica table top, done in a hurry outside in the wind, then with some dirty shellac sprayed over to see if it would seal (seems to). Very much just proof of concept, but there's potential. Practise with moving the torch around, play with the pressure a bit, do it inside with a fan maybe if you want to get some air movement(? :wacko: )
Image
Image
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Re: Guyatone, Wandre, Silvertone - a bass of sorts

Post by Maker » Wed Jan 26, 2022 8:19 am

I think you pretty much have it from a technical perspective! Now it seems to be a matter of practice to adjust distance, speed, angle of attack, gas levels, etc. so that you get your personally desired artistic effect.

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