# My 6 string bass adventure!



## TimSE (Apr 28, 2014)

Greetings

You can either be a total douche and just check out the pics or you can read on, and join me on a journey that will almost certainly lead directly into... The danger zone!

So the other week I got a 6 string bass from our good friends at Rondo Music. 
This was the (at the time) discontinued Defiant 6 string model that the Intrepid 8 strings were designed from and on this very forum (A bit o' SS.org history for you right there). After being so popular, the bass returned. 
I even had one of the standard models and I think was the first to put a neck pickup in it, along with other unnecessary electronics that I honestly dont remember what did what:







Ever since, I have wanted one as a bass. So I got one a couple weeks ago.















This beast is actually rather good, even as stock! And from Rondo Music too. I know there are not Rondo haters here but I have had a few of them and I've actually always been impressed and really liked them. Anyways...

Mods will be posted up in here as they come and to start us off, Lets unfinish that neck!










1 hour in and this finish is rock solid! 






After another hour most of it has been scraped away.










After 4 hours or so:














It's not 100% finished yet as my Tung Oil has yet to arrive and I will be going over the whole body (not the neck obviously) with fresh gloss lacquer after the body staining to seal up these ends.

*Electronics!*

EMG BQC HZ system! Active EMG preamp which works with my stock passive pickups. They sound over 9000 times better.














So after a little drilling, bit of soldering, then a lot of soldering while troubleshooting a dodgy blend pot, getting a replacement blend pot, I now have this.

Top left = Master volume
Bottom left = Blend 
Top right = stacked mid controls: bottom half is freq selector and top is cut/boost.
Bottom right = stacked bass/treble

I also had a few extras arrive:





Buffing compound for when glossing up the body after restaining and tung oil for the back of the neck 



After snapping a very dead D string I decided now was a good a time as any to crack on with the *Sexification!*

This section is brought to you by Nitromors paint stripper, a basic scrapper and 7 long hours of scrapping at lacquer so strong it could probably stop a bullet...


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## TimSE (Apr 28, 2014)

3hours in. 3rd coat of Nitromors and scrapping scrapping scrapping! 














About 7 hours later:





I ended up having to get the drill sander out as the old lacquer had left a layer I just could not get through so I wont have a super smooth face now. But hay ho.

*It rubs the lotion...*

So I messed around with a few diff shades of green and the lighter ones didnt really do it for me. So I went darker so it will match the back a bit better plus I love deep dark green finishes. 

Few coats of green to get it nice and deep like so...






The lighter edges are were the lacquer was left because I didn't want to go into the veneer too much and it'l be cover by the black burst. So I got lazy basically.

Now that it is looking sweet I went ahead with the black burst. Again, sorry for the shitty phone pics but it is all I have at the mo.






For the beck, I simply sprayed the black over the existing lacquer and will lacquer over it to seal it all in.






The finish was left on the headstock and looked really out of place against the new dark green body so I decided I would rather have a black headstock than mismatch colours. 
I will, however be veneering it with the same green finish on a future mod I have planned. So this headstock is only temporary 

I didnt like the brice logo so perfect chance to do something of my own. After watch Batman Forever with Jim Carrey as The Riddler I decided I like that name so had a YOLO moment and did this:






The stencil was a bit unreliable and I dont want the paint to run so I sprayed the cutout "?" and painted it with some paints I had around. 
I sprayed silver first as it has metallic shards in it and will make the green layer on top exactly the colour it should be. RC Car body painting tip right there 

So I 'll be taking my Riddler logo and sealing spray sealing it and glueing it onto the headstock and lacquering over it. Again this is a temporary thing so it will be changed/improved on later. But it will do nicely for now. Plus I like the idea of people looking to see what it is and not getting an answer  

I'll post a pic of this on my next update.

Now this bass is 35" scale and is a full arm reach to tune so I took the Warwick angled tuning head idea so make it a bit easier/sexier 
(Sorry its a bit out of focus)
Measured 4mm inwards from the current screw holes and redrilled. I also like the idea of having the option to put it back so I didnt fill the old holes. Options ftw






This is how I have sealed the paint as it meets the natural neck. A few mm's of gloss then the neck will be tung oiled. 






Now onto a few more days of lacquer spraying to get it as thick as possible then buffing to a shinny finish. 
Then tung oil the neck
Then rebuild
Then slap the shit out of it 

This is pretty accurate to the color irl





Also My logo came out pretty awesome. Again this is only a temporary headstock finish thing. Few months or something until the next set o' mods. But anyway, notice the "blushing" around the tuning pegs. I think some weather got in it. Oh well. 






Oh well. Nothing to do about it now. We will see how it looks all finished up. 

I also have another YOLO moment happening inspired by a daemoness guitar I saw. More on that to come as this stage is where you join me. 

That last picture was taken just now so do return to see the exciting conclusion NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z!


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## crg123 (Apr 28, 2014)

Nice. I've never seen paint stripped off of a neck like that before. Seemed to work really well.


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## Fretless (Apr 28, 2014)

I pretty much held my breath the while time I read this. Woke up four hours later after passing out(not really), and I have to say nice work so far! Stripping paint always makes me super nervous. I've only done it once before, and it barely turned out right. HNBD though!


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## TolerancEJ (Apr 28, 2014)

Great job. Modding and learning/adapting to 6+ strings aside, I always felt the biggest issue with ERBs are the verbal/written baggage associated with it (i.e. putting up with the "why didn't you get a guitar instead" and/or "Jaco only needed 4" people.)


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## Chokey Chicken (Apr 28, 2014)

I came really close to buying one of the tribal blue Brice's on Saturday. I ended up passing on it and getting an AEL207. This isn't helping with the gas at all. I really like the new darker green compared to the stock finish. The riddler "?" is actually a pretty nice touch and goes along with the color scheme quite nicely. I'm curious to see what else you have in mind for it.


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## TimSE (Apr 29, 2014)

TolerancEJ said:


> Great job. Modding and learning/adapting to 6+ strings aside, I always felt the biggest issue with ERBs are the verbal/written baggage associated with it (i.e. putting up with the "why didn't you get a guitar instead" and/or "Jaco only needed 4" people.)



Oh man I completely agree  I actually tell people now that I play more strings because the more you play, the better you are. That and "Speed = Emotion!" to troll them 



Chokey Chicken said:


> I came really close to buying one of the tribal blue Brice's on Saturday. I ended up passing on it and getting an AEL207. This isn't helping with the gas at all. I really like the new darker green compared to the stock finish. The riddler "?" is actually a pretty nice touch and goes along with the color scheme quite nicely. I'm curious to see what else you have in mind for it.



Thanks man. Yeah i had another idea last night so even im interested to see how it will turn out. Its very fun just going with ideas as they come (assuming they dont suck)


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## TimSE (Apr 29, 2014)

Oh shiiiiiiiiiiit 






And a little sprinkle of fabulous! Green, blue and purple


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 29, 2014)

Yes...


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## cjms1997 (Apr 29, 2014)

This is beautiful. I cringed seeing the lacquer come off though. Looked like jelly. 

HNBD


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## Chokey Chicken (Apr 29, 2014)

I approve of everything that is happening to this bass.


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## TimSE (Apr 29, 2014)

cjms1997 said:


> This is beautiful. I cringed seeing the lacquer come off though. Looked like jelly.
> 
> HNBD



Ahh yeah thats the nitromors. It basically is jelly. Slop it on and scrap it off with a layer of lacquer. A lot of layers in this basses case

Great stuff though if you dont want to spend a lifetime sanding or are working with a veneer like I am


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 29, 2014)

I've used a few gel type strippers. I freakin' love them. A lof of ppl say that it could damage the wood, but I'm not seeing how. I've even stopped paying attention maybe a little longer than I should have and saw no damage to any of the bodies I've ever stripped.

Hell... Usually there's a layer of sealer that even after scraping everything off, I still end up having to sand through so any notions that it might seap into the wood and ruin it probably aren't as urgent as one might lead you to think.

You're supposed to rinse it off with water afterwards anyway I thought...


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## TimSE (Apr 29, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> I've used a few gel type strippers. I freakin' love them. A lof of ppl say that it could damage the wood, but I'm not seeing how. I've even stopped paying attention maybe a little longer than I should have and saw no damage to any of the bodies I've ever stripped.
> 
> Hell... Usually there's a layer of sealer that even after scraping everything off, I still end up having to sand through so any notions that it might seap into the wood and ruin it probably aren't as urgent as one might lead you to think.
> 
> You're supposed to rinse it off with water afterwards anyway I thought...



Yeah thats pretty much exactly how iv done it with this. sanding the sealer sucked but its the only way to get the stain into the wood. I'v done 3 guitars/basses with stripper and its not done anything bad to any of them.


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## TimSE (Apr 30, 2014)

The blushing on the headstock annoyed me so I stripped it all off and redid it. 






Also a bird or something flew into my window... 






Also its impossible to get a good picture of the glittery goodness, so this pic will have to do. 
















More coming soon


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## Primitive Guitarist (Apr 30, 2014)

More, please more


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## Nmaster (May 1, 2014)

Dude! This is coming along nicely. And it looks sick. Nicely done, stoked for more updates!


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## Konfyouzd (May 1, 2014)

TimSE said:


> Yeah thats pretty much exactly how iv done it with this. sanding the sealer sucked but its the only way to get the stain into the wood. I'v done 3 guitars/basses with stripper and its not done anything bad to any of them.



NOT sanding the sealer has royally screwed me in the past and I ended up having to improvise... 

(I'm sure someone remembers my burnt 7321 which taught me what I ACTUALLY had to do for my burnt 7620 )

That question mark is dope too. I think f-holes that shape would look sick...


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## TimSE (May 1, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> That question mark is dope too. I think f-holes that shape would look sick...



I did think about doing the Logo as an F hole but then I remembered I hate F holes so binned that idea 

Still, could be awesome... Maybe by the next set of mods, il have come around to the idea


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## TimSE (May 1, 2014)

Experiment time! 

This is hard to get a picture of until its glossed up but I have wet sanded and sprayed the burst again over the first layer of glitter. I don't know if it will but i'm hoping it will give it a more deep, universey kinda look. So we will see how that goes  
I'm itching to get this thing finished so much! Must not rush. 






We will see! Got something nice lined up for the back of the headstock


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## ihunda (May 1, 2014)

Subbed, this is amazing!


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## TimSE (May 1, 2014)

So I have decided to name this finish "Galaxy burst" because it is. So in my basses case, It's Green Galaxy Burst finish. 

I should patent it. Sell it for billions


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## TimSE (May 3, 2014)

Coming along nicely! Still got 1 more can of lacquer to go then onto the buffing

Really hard to get a picture of though, at least until its buffed


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## Chokey Chicken (May 3, 2014)

It's coming along very nicely I think. I'm very interested in seeing the whole thing finished up. That headstock is just one of the coolest I've seen.


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## TimSE (May 3, 2014)

Chokey Chicken said:


> It's coming along very nicely I think. I'm very interested in seeing the whole thing finished up. That headstock is just one of the coolest I've seen.



That's the bit I want to see finished the most. Angled the tuning pegs


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## georg_f (May 3, 2014)

that's awesome so far


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## TimSE (May 3, 2014)

Back of the headstock got a bit of glittery love. I was going to do a DNA thing but it would be under the tuning pegs too much so did a yin yang and it looks way better. 





















Then lacquer the absolute balls out of it! Super thick ya'dig?











My girlfriend who helped me get this bass in the first place did the purple for me. Love her.

Nearly done...


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## cjms1997 (May 3, 2014)

Needs more glitter. 

Seriously can't wait to here this beauty play though.


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## 77zark77 (May 4, 2014)

Nice job ! 

subbed


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## bvdrummer (May 5, 2014)

Awesome job so far! Can't wait to see it finished


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## TimSE (May 9, 2014)

Bad news y'all. This finish is insisting on ....ing up it would seem...






Massive cluster of bubbles in this 1 spot for some unknown reason. Tried 5 times applying the lacquer 5 different ways and it bubbles up everytime. 
Giving up and accepting it (as il be getting this completely redone at some point - probably sooner than later now)
I have an idea to cover it up though so watch this space.

Then my last can of lacquer decided to be constantly airbubbled as well. So the black burst comes out ....ing grey/silver. 






Any help on this ....ing spray bubbles shit would be greatly appreciated!


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## TimSE (May 9, 2014)

Saveable  

Wet sand between coats. Plus the layers are thick enough to not sand the glitter colours off which is lucky. otherwise you'd be sharpie'ing the colours back on silver ones that are really noticeable and looks a bit shitty. Ya dig?


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## TimSE (May 12, 2014)

OK guys. The repair of that 1 spot that ....ed up looks wank and on top of that, thanks to a defective can of spray, the whole thing is cover it tiny metal shards making it look silver... Sigh. 
The last can of spray lacquer is plagued with tiny metal shards that make it look VERY silver a few layers. Didnt notice at first 

Meaning I gotta strip the lacquer and start over. This is a massive bummer for me because I am very impatient 

So I have strung it up and am playing it until my next payday where I will buy a different type of spray and do it all over again in about a month or so when I can afford it. 
Will get this first attempt off with nitromors like the first lots. It's not nearly as tough so shouldnt be too hard to get off. 
I can do the glittering an black burst a bit tidier as well. 

So slight hold while I lacquer it all over again. il post up the 2nd attempt later on FLM 

I am nothing more than an amature hobbyist having a go and sometimes I guess it doesnt go completely to play. 
Why that 1 small coin sized spot decided to Out Gas for me I do not know but hopefully take 2 will yeld better results. 
To be continued!


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## cjms1997 (May 13, 2014)

And now we play the waiting game...


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## TimSE (May 13, 2014)

cjms1997 said:


> And now we play the waiting game...



Indeed. 
I'll be getting my replacement lacquers in the next couple days and will relacquer the damned thing in a week or 2. I dont want to ditch my £40 worth of new strings just yet  Plus I want to plan ahead just to make sure I get it all right this time


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## TimSE (May 13, 2014)

Replacement brass nut ordered


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## Chokey Chicken (May 14, 2014)

Came back to this thread after being away from it for a while. That was the quickest happiness to bummed out roller coaster I've ever been on. Is the neck at least keep able, or is that botched too? 

I'm looking forward to more progress anyway.


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## TimSE (May 14, 2014)

Chokey Chicken said:


> Came back to this thread after being away from it for a while. That was the quickest happiness to bummed out roller coaster I've ever been on. Is the neck at least keep able, or is that botched too?
> 
> I'm looking forward to more progress anyway.



 The neck is all good. It's strung up and playing like a beast at the moment. Only the lacquer went a bit shitty. It's purely cosmetic and completely fixable. Just means redoing about 3 weeks worth of layering and sanding and layering and sanding and layering and sanding.... 

It'l be totally fine when I redo it  

But yeah it ....ing sucked! Was only a couple of layers away from being done. Oh well!


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## Primitive Guitarist (May 20, 2014)

TimSE said:


> The neck is all good. It's strung up and playing like a beast at the moment. Only the lacquer went a bit shitty. It's purely cosmetic and completely fixable. Just means redoing about 3 weeks worth of layering and sanding and layering and sanding and layering and sanding....
> 
> It'l be totally fine when I redo it
> 
> But yeah it ....ing sucked! Was only a couple of layers away from being done. Oh well!



Hows it sound?
Might get getting a bit overly tone douchey, But I'm kinda wondering how different it sounds with all those layers of finish on it


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## TimSE (May 21, 2014)

Primitive Guitarist said:


> Hows it sound?
> Might get getting a bit overly tone douchey, But I'm kinda wondering how different it sounds with all those layers of finish on it



It sounds awesome! I don't mind a bit of EMG love and it beefs up the stock pups really nicely. EQ on it is great too. 

Got a new compressor pedal arriving in a few days as well which is never a bad thing  Just playing Dirty Loops songs


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## DreamError (May 23, 2014)

Nice job, sucks about the lacquer hosing you, though. Can't wait to see it after you get all that sorted out. The colors of the glitter remind me of the metallic sparkle of my black Civic Si


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## TimSE (May 25, 2014)

DreamError said:


> Nice job, sucks about the lacquer hosing you, though. Can't wait to see it after you get all that sorted out. The colors of the glitter remind me of the metallic sparkle of my black Civic Si



Yeah il be starting the relacquering in a few days probably. Got a few body contours to add to the list of things now too so it will all work out even better than planned by the times its done


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## TimSE (Jul 23, 2014)

Just FYI: I have everything to redo this finish but I'm moving house in a week so I will have to move in first, then I can finish this beast  The good news I get a big garage to work in! Finally have the space I need so yeah. Soon.


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