Livernois Bass build by Pete Halliday

[Pete Halliday]

Here's my latest, something a little different than I normally do. For one, it's two strings short and for two, it's not the subtle twist on traditional to make it a bit more modern with pretty grain showing that i normally go for.

The specs:

Semi-hollow mahogany body built with what I think we're calling the clam shell style
Automotive chrome strip around body joint
Birdseye maple set neck with prettier birdseye maple fingerboard and peghead overlay
Spanish vee peghead attachment (impractical I know, but I really like the joint when it comes out well)
Aluminum logo half inlayed
Pinned aluminum tailpiece with birdseye overlay (same board as fingerboard and peghead veneer)
Curt Novak Dark Star reproduction pickups wound RWRP (really sounds good)
Master volume and tone with three-way switch
Finished with TruOil over AutoAirColor iridescent purple

[David King]

A very cool bass. Any construction shots would be welcome. I'm happy to hear that Curt is making Dark Stars available again.

[Dan Hehnke]

Looks awesome. I'm very interested in how you did that Tru-Oil finish over the purple...

[Jason Rodgers]

Woa, that's cool! The nod to a classic car fin really does come across! And the chrome strip seals the deal. I'm trying to think how it could have been two-tone, candy-apple red and white!

Yes, some more pics, please. I especially like what's going on around the tailpiece: both the shape as it matches the body, and the attachment method.

BTW- Holy crap, I just googled Auto Air Colors: water-based automotive paint?! I was not aware of such a product! And you just used Tru-Oil over the top? Tell us more about your finish schedule!

[Art Davila]

I am a big fan of the G6199 Billy-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird, So when saw your take I nearly fell of the chair. I love it.

[Pete Halliday]

Thanks for the nice comments.

David, I don't have many construction shots of this one, but the body construction is the same as in the picture of a couple guitars below. One thing I do differently than Chad with his Equator guitars is to route the binding channel before the halves are glued up rather than using a slot cutter afterwards. Partly because I started doing it that way and partly because I haven't found the right combination of bearings and cutter.

Dan and Jason, I was very happy with the AAC paints and the TruOil over the top went very well. The finishing schedule I would recommend* after this experience is as follows:

[Pete Halliday]

1. Sand body to 220 grit
2. Apply a thin coat of full thickness Z-Poxy finishing resin and and flat
3. Repeat step 2 if all pores are not filled
4. Apply wash coat of Z-Poxy thinned 50/50 with DA to cover any sand-throughs and prevent AAC from raising grain
5. Spray 2 coats of AAC dark base roughly 10 minutes apart
6. Spray 2-3 coats of AAC color coat 30 min after last base coat maybe 10 minutes apart
7. Let sit 5-7 days
8. Apply thin coats of TruOil by wiping on using basket coffee filter, no more than four a day spaced out by several hours
9. Every fourth coat level with 600-800 grit wet-dry paper
10. After 12th coat let sit for 5-7 days
11. Level sand with 1500+ wet-dry paper (should be very flat already at this point)
12. Polish by hand with Meguiars M2, M9, and M7

* The finishing schedule on this project also included:

7.1 Spray KTM Spar Varnish and be disgusted with amount of orange peel
7.2 Spray more hoping to fill in betwen lumps
7.3 Attempt to sand flat and go through purple layer in a couple spots
7.4 Drop-fill purple with somewhat acceptable results
7.5 Spray more KTM with what seems on test pieces like improved thinning, flow, etc.
7.6 Get disgusted by amount of orange peel
7.7 Attempt to sand flat and go through purple layer in more spots
7.8 Attempt to touch up sand-throughs with airbrush getting hideously bad results
7.9 Let sit 24 days
7.10 Sand off KTM to get severely distressed finish with purple, black, and wood
7.11 Consider leaving as is, cancelling order with customer, and joining punk band
7.12 Have self-realization that punk is not my thing and bass is a necessity only for home recordings
7.13 return to step 5 as indicated above and proceed with out sub-ticks for step 7

[Pete Halliday]

Jason, the tailpiece is machined aluminum covered with curly maple that is held in place with a "pin" that threads into a 3/8-16 threaded brass insert that has a ground wire soldered to it.

[Pete Halliday]

And that construction photo...

[Jason Rodgers]

Thank you! I'm glad you didn't decide to join a punk band, too.

I appreciate you describing your spray/level process with AAC. If others are interested, their website has suggestions for spray gun use: tip aperture, PSI, etc. for several gun types. http://www.autoaircolors.com/index.html

[Pete Halliday]

I was very impressed with how easily the AAC sprayed and lay down flat following their instructions. I did use their thinner as recommended. If only the water-based lacquer sprayed so easily...

[Jason Rodgers]

What spray rig do you use? I have thus far had no desire to tool up for spraying, but this might convince me.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Nice bass! I like a lot of the features you've incorporated into this guitar.
The "59 Caddy" tailfin shape is wonderful. Such a classic line, nicely accentuated by the chrome strip.
The curly maple fretboard is a nice touch also.
I really like the color. I've done solid colors, and can tell everyone that while it initially seems like the easiest to do, it is not.
The tail piece is really nice.
I've never heard of those pickups before. Can you give us some info on those?
How is the balance with the semi-hollow body?

I also appreciate your honest candor about the finishing frustrations.
Been there! Done that! Almost joined the same punk band.

As to the spray finishing with water based finishes. I find that they work best when everything is warm. I either wait for warm weather, or bite the bullet on the heating bill, and turn the heat up to 23 C, or about 75 F. When it is -30 that gets a bit expensive.
I also use a heated spray gun that lays the finish on really nice.
It is an air hog though, so I've had to upgrade my compressor to a 60 gallon, 3.5 HP / 90CFM.

[Pete Halliday]

I have used two different spray set-ups, a Fuji turbine system and an Asturo mini stainless steel HVLP conversion gun. Both work great for everything but the WB lacquer. I will have to try elevating the temperature and see if that helps if I have another go with that stuff. However, the TruOil is so freaking easy, quiet, and the little that gets on your fingers cleans up pretty well with soap and water. The first couple times I used it were decent, but after searching for some improved technique ( look up Tom Pettingill) I've been very happy with the results and have a pretty good gloss finish.

The pickups were on old Hagstrom and Guild basses apparently, and have quite high output. Curt wound these at 13k and 11k for bridge and neck respectively. His limits are usually 5k to 15k if I remember correctly. I liked the sound and they had a lot of options with the two positions and a tone control. They definitely can thump.

The balance is actually quite good and I think was helped by putting the strap button off center, part way up the tail fin. There was really no neck dive at all with it hanging on a strap and hands completely off.

[Dan Hehnke]

Thanks for the info Pete. I looked up the AAC as well. It seems weird that they don't also make a clear top coat?? I wonder why.

[Bob Francis]

Really a cool bass

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

Totally most excellent.