new build - VRB-MM5 Fretless lefty

[bhunt1]

so I have done one of two things this afternoon:

- successfully applied the epoxy finish to the Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard

- managed to ruin a beautiful (and disguctingly expensive) AAA Birdseye / Brazilian Rosewood 5-string fretless neck

I am rooting for the first one
You have gone to amazing lengths to get this right, I am sure it will be great.

[Rodent]

so far so good



there's one small bubble that came from nowhere while I stepped out about 30 minutes ago time to break out the torch!

all the best,

R

[Matt R.]

Nice

[Rodent]

dratted bubble! it popped but left a hole in its place

looks like I'll be applying that second application (which I was hoping to avoid) tomorrow after I level and scuff this pouring. no sweat, as I'm used to utilizing three pours of build-up on a Maple fingerboard


still holding my breath that everything adheres tightly to the Rosewood. this I'll know about later tomorrow

all the best,

R

[Rodent]

those bubble areas were small enough that the s-l-o-w setting epoxy self-leveled to fill the holes - yea!! unless I sand thru the epoxy when I level the fingerboard, all is well to go

the epoxy also appears to have adheared with a nice, tight bond three more cure days at 70 deg F and then (up to) another couple weeks at room temp in my office before the epoxy will be cured to the placed where I can detail level for flatness, then buff and polish

all the best,

R

[bhunt1]

Yeah

[Rodent]

the epoxy fingerboard finish has fully cured and hardened to where I can now level it and begin the polishing process



that bright spot on the upper edge really threw me when I first saw this image, and my heart sank until I rechecked the neck and discovered that the spot is merely a reflection from the window pane and not a defect in the fingerboard finish. whew!!


the most difficult part of this build is now completed, and once the fingerboard is polished completion and set-up of this bass should be rather quick to accomplish

all the best,

R

[bhunt1]

That board is beautiful

[Basshappi]

Yep, it turned out great! Once it's leveled and polished it will look like a sheet of glass.

[Rodent]

I have the epoxy leveled and am working my way towards buffing this out to a high gloss ...

1st step was to use a leveling bar with 200 grit to remove all the high spots in the cured epoxy



this got a lot of it, so I continued onward with 320 and then 400 grit sanded dry



I then switched to 400 grit wet



and continued my way thru 1500 grit wet



I now have to work thru 4000 grit wet before starting the buffing process. here's a close-up on how things are looking after the 1500 grit. you can see that the Rosewood figuring is starting to really come to life. this is going to be gorgeous when it's all glossy



all the best,

R

[bhunt1]

That is beautiful

[Basshappi]

See, what'd I tell ya!

[Rodent]

OK ... time to let this dry for a couple days to ensure I didn't sand thru the epoxy anywhere. once I know all is a-OK it's time to break out the buffing compound and rotary buffer

here's what that fingerboard looks like after all of the sandpaper grits



all the best,

R

[Rodent]

the first round of buffing is completed on this. I give it another round but my arm is about to fall off

ladies and gents, I introduce you to my first Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard epoxy job



and how about a close-up so you can see just how incredible this Brazilian Rosewood is looking all dolled up



epoxying a Rosewood board is about 10x the work for 'something easy' like Maple ... but I like the look enough I'm going to give consideration for offering this as an upgrade option. with all the hours extra it takes, this won't be an inexpensive option ... but like blocks & binding on a neck, sometimes the added cost is just worth it

I should be mounting this neck for final assembly this coming weekend

all thebest,

R

[Rodent]

so I'll admit it ... I did work on this more last night and in the process finished buffing out the fingerboard. this afternoon I custom cut the mounting screw lengths for each screw to accommodate the neck ferrules, and then attached the neck to the body



(yep, that's the siding on my shop and yours truly seen crouching in the reflection on the fingerboard )

on my postal scale this is weighing just under 6-3/4 pounds loaded as seen. add the alum core bridge, 5ea ultralight tuners, strings, and strap locks ... and this build is hovering between 7-1/2 and 8 pounds ... sweet!

all the best,

R

[bhunt1]

Wow it is beautiful! The combo of body and fingerboard is great, and that board is just amazing. And 8 pounds It's the complete package, couldn't be happier. Thanks for all of your efforts it is definitely paying off. Can't want to hear it!

[Basshappi]

Hubba-hubba!!
Under 8lbs?!......You da man!
Is the body going to have a colored finish or stay natural?

[Rodent]

the body is already finished with a clear gloss. what you see here is the final look for this project. I love that it's sans pickguard

all the best,

R

[Basshappi]

Awesome, love the look it has a nice grain pattern. Would love to hear some soundclips when it's all done.

Chees!

[Rodent]

the passive tone controls are now wired-up and ready to install



for refreshers, this is a L-1000 influenced Vol + passive (stacked) Bass/Treble tone control with a Series/Single/Parallel coil toggle. the Vol is a lefty 250AT, and the passive Bass/Treble is a custom ordered 250K/500K lefty stack. I looked the globe for someone who could make me a 250K/1M stacked pot, but 500K was the best that could be done anywhere for a single custom pot sized order. there will be a very subtle amount to high treble attenuation with the 500K vs. 1M pot difference, but nothing so significant you'd ever detect in in the mix

that's a lot of electronic components on aTele P style control plate ... soldering everything up to fit inside the cramped control cavity was a challenging bit-o-fun

all the best,

R