Sunday, 18 August 2013


The lacquer is cured nicely on the neck but the body is a tad soft still but not too soft to mount the hardware.
Backside burst was intentionally faded to mimic wear and age along with wear spots as the guitar is 33 years old and should look its age somewhat vs new.
Got some chipping on the 1st 3 tuner holes pushing the bushing in...dammit but meh...its supposed to be worn and played, right? 


Sunday, 4 August 2013

Greco MM-600 refinish

Reburst done.... Lacquer waiting to cure then a full all over lacquer coat will be added and done!

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Black grained, sanded smooth, and P90 route filled.
2 coats of clear lacquer were added after this.
Once cured I will sand smooth and then add the trans Daphne/Seafoam Green finish. :D


Friday, 7 June 2013

Nav Telespo is going through a redux...
Logo made and 2 coats of aged lacquer applied & dried.



Logo applied and a coat over top



Lacquer being stripped



Stripped ready for a respray...once I decide on a colour but I am thinking tung oil 3 coats then a light amber with a mellow tea burst  :mrgreen:
That is AFTER I fill that P90 route and put her back to 60's glory.  :thumb:


Saturday, 25 May 2013

Updated with a new home made pickguard made from a pine template I created and proper tail that now aligns with the P90 pole pieces :D
MUCH better IMO!


Sunday, 19 May 2013


DONE!
4 coats of tung oil, dried for a week or until the oil's smell has weakened, & 3 coats of lacquer.
Shaped and set the nut, dressed the frets (some were a tad sharp) wired it 50's style and added the tail, tuners, and bits and pieces.

I am now wondering if this model was one of those early 80's Navigator/ESP build your own kits that some guy just didn't finish but it did have a sanding sealer on it followed by what seems to be the original TV Yellow and later a bright green WTF?

Need to make a pickguard for it, get a proper 1 ply jack plate (or make one), and get a proper old school bridge as these compensated tails do not work well on the old sharp angled bridge holes.
Strings and pole pieces do not line up but still sound amazing through the 1960's Gibson P90



Thursday, 9 May 2013

I was originally only going to tung oil the ESP Jr but decided to do the same on the Bacchus.
Got so excited I stripped the ESP too and I am now tung oiling them both :D
Notice the difference between the ESP's Honduran Mahogany vs the Bacchus's African Mahogany?
Both are damn fine but I prefer the deep red Honduran myself.
I have more coats on now and it looks much more red.

This was them on May 7th

And now today May 9th

Monday, 6 May 2013

So...the Bacchus Jr...yeah.
This was waiting for hotter weather and our summer hit on Friday with a vengeance!
So damn hot for May in Victoria!
Anyway, so I sanded it but not 100 since I was going to put a solid TV finish on it to cover the holes left by a Bigsby.
So I did a Sonic Blue and while I liked it it just didn't do it for me.
Soooo spent the whole day yesterday stripping it and really prepping it for tung oil because tung oil is the shit man! :D

Here it is with the sonic blue:


Here it is yesterday after 1 coat of tung oil:


Project 51
2 light coats of blonde applied, looking good


Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Project 51
I wanted a bass for recording etc so I decided to make one.
The 1951 P Basses are my fave basses of all time so I have to make one. :D
1 piece swamp ash body blank, stained and sanded for grain pronunciation and 2 light coats of clear to seal it a little.
Next is a nice creamy slightly aged blonde translucent finish.
Warmoth custom made neck ordered and parts incoming.
Shitty cell pics for now



All done, my buddy has it as of last night and was ecstatic with the work and playability.
Whew!


Thursday, 25 April 2013

Neck all done and polished... Logo looks legit and tops. Body is almost done!


Body sanded with 600, then 1500, and finally 2500.
Finished with a rottenstone polish and beeswax.
Glossy but not too glossy since it is a 33 year old bass

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

FOR SALE
Bacchus BLS-59
Finally got an additional pickup in her, strung up with 13-56's and left to sit to see if there were any issues with the finish crack in the neck and as I suspected, nothing.
Has a few scrapes and bruises but plays perfectly, sounds very articulate and resonant and fun to play!
1 piece back, solid figured top, and tone for days



Headstock stripped and done with an aged lacquer.
Waterslide logo applied and waiting to dry for 24 hours before I can apply the final coats of sealer lacquer.
Shitty cell phone pic below.


Monday, 22 April 2013

Sun is shining so time to kick it into full swing.
Project #1 for this year is my friend's 1980 Tokai Jazz Bass JB45 refinish.
Originally all black poly (neck, headstock, and body) I stripped all of it and aged the neck with amber lacquer and the body in an aged faded Daphne Blue lacquer.

Should be done this week hopefully.


Wednesday, 27 March 2013

FOR SALE $750 shipped within North America
1978 Tokai ST-50 but this is the 1st ST-50 I have seen with a 2 piece center seamed body.
Nice slab of Sen Ash and VERY well played via worn aged pickup covers, guard, screws, fretboard, etc but frets are still over 50%.
Sounds woody and old...I think this was meant to be an ST-60 or 80 but Tokai was too into its infancy to get their model designation correct.




Friday, 22 March 2013

FOR SALE $875 shipped within North America
1990 Mint Collection Greco cherry Jr arrived too.
HUGE wide neck, beautiful board, light weight, and in overall great lightly played condition.
This will be going up for sale soon...I have a few Jr's but really wanted to see how the Greco's faired and they fair damn well!!