Bass Update #3

Bass Update#3

Haven't really done much on the bass body. I've sanded it down to a reasonable level, but I'm still not satisfied with some of the curves, and I'm too afraid to make a drastic decision right now. I still need to round it out some more.

I did end up defretting the neck (but forgot to take pictures). Defretting can be difficult business. Tearing out the fret wire can chew up the neck, and cause lots of wood pullout. Standard procedure for a defret is to heat up the fret with a soldering iron and gently wedge the end of a knife or some pliers under the wire itself. I used a soldering iron for the first few frets, but found that they weren't entirely snug in their slots to begin with. I slipped the edge of the blade under the wire and carefully wiggled them free. I had a few chips from pullout, but I quickly super glued them down. I was finished in about half an hour because the frets came out really easy.

Normally you would then clean out and fill the empty fret slots with thin wood veneer, gluing them in place. I opted for the quicker wood filler method. You have to fill the slots with a filler that won't shrink or expand in heat or humidity. It isn't as clean as the other method, but I didn't really care anyway. After the wood filler dried overnight, I sanded everything flush with different grades of sandpaper. I wanted to match the color of the Maple, but when it dried it looked a slight shade lighter. The lines look good. The next step is to coat the fingerboard with clear epoxy to prevent string wear and provide a hardened surface. I don't know when I'll get around to that step.

It was easy.