Upgrade Day! Anyone Else Upgrading?

[terb]

@howard

I don’t like Ernie Ball rounds very much, D’Addario are much better

totally agree.

funny enough, 20 years ago I only wanted Ernie Ball strings on my guitar, and then I decided to try a few different brands (including GHS, Dean Markley, Gibson, Fender …), and then I changed to D’Addario, and I never went back. now I use D’Addario (round nickel wounds) on my guitars and basses. the only exceptions are acoustic guitars (Elixir and Martin strings depending on the guitar).

in my opinion, D’Addario strings feel way smoother than Ernie Ball strings, and also D’Addario strings last much longer.

[JT]

I’ve used D’Addario for a long time on various instruments. I remember putting them on my violin 25 years ago… They are good value for money. But strings are another thing that is subjective. Luckily, they have lots of different types of strings too.

[Stando]

Oh my that really does look great!

My best bet would be to hand the project over to my resident artist,my daughter and then if she enjoys doing it I could…wait this idea sounds suspiciously too close to child labour…but…if I get the pickguards from china,as per your idea, and if she does the work…can’t see anything wrong with this!

Funnily enough after I’ve given up yesterday, I still poked old google about and this time I put “uk” after the custom pickguards search and found a couple of pages with ok designs and prices.

I’m very surprised about yours from WD - they made it sounds sooo good on their site!
And they aren’t cheap!

Thanks for looking that up , I might just give it a bash and you never know, I might unlock some hidden artistic fold in my old noggin

[T_dub]

watch the video, it is as simple as putting a few colors in a coup, and pouring it on, and letting it drip off the sides, and walking away and coming back hours later when it is dry.
It is that simple.

Now the laminating Resin coating, the protective coating, make it like a surfboard shell. Great stuff, I have worked with tons of that stuff as a kid, fixing everybody’s boards in my garage in the HS surfing days.

It is a horrid mess, you can only get it off your skin with something like Acetone (if you can find it) denatured alcohol, some sort of solvent.
Or just let it grow off. We are not working with fiberglass, so there is no itching involved. but it really looks simple.
Like I said, it takes the artistic talent out of it, it is just spill a cup of paint and walk away. And don’t cry over spilt paint.

Before the Resin coat, you could easily thin the paing off and then wash and dry and re-sand the pick guard and throw other colors in and change it just like that. But after the resin, that is that, the pick guard is the strongest pick guard out there then.

I am gonna do it to the two I have herre that I don’t like, and see what I can come up with.

I will need at least a week to gather everything and make a good spot to work in, but I am going to do the test run, before I do something stupid like order 15 of them, paint them and try to sell them on Reverb.
If it is as easy as it looks, to start, clean up, finish, be done with it and start back up when ready, if all of that is really easy, yeah, there is no point in not buying more pick guards to use the rest of the pain on.
If anything else, I can make one for each day and night of the week for me to swap on my basses, playing musical pick guard. LOL
Ok, I am out o hear, gotta sleep some damn time, so they say.

[Stando]

I really like the way it looks! Especially the presence it creates with the added thickness.

I think I’ll give it a go too, I’m trying to figure out a “mutant” colour scheme- either in the cartoon palette or hazardous/radioactive sort of thing.

I even looked up mutantray…to see if there is precedence and unfortunately the only cartoon character is sort of cuddly,rather than edgy😀

[T_dub]

Cool, we can compare notes, but I am the tortoise ok.
Or wait, I am the Hair!

No, I am the tortoise,
No I am the hair.

tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair
tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair
tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair
tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair, no tortoise, no hair

Sorry guys, the voices in my head are having an argument. I think I am gonna have to be the deciding factor in this voting process, and make an executive decision,

Ok, tortoise, you old so and so, come and sit right here, pull up a chair, and hair, come here you big galute, grab a seat would ya.
Ok guys, we are gonna vote, but we all know voting doesn’t work, nobody has been able to get it to work since the 1800’s, (ohhhhh, bad political smear, but it was pretty universal to all politics, so it can slide by)
And, since you are gonna say hair, every time we vote, and you are going to say tortoise every time we vote, you guys cancel each other out and I get the pick.
Ok, Ok, I got this guys, go back to whatever it was you were doing, Hair, go back to watching porn, tortoise back to youtube, get out of here you big goof’s.

Alright, I am back from that little meeting in my head, and I am here to tell you the decision is, we are going to be, wait for it, here it comes, wait for it,
We will be the camera guy.

Who will you be in this race?

haha, all jokes aside, please share anything with me and I will with you.
Actually we should probably go back to that thread that it was in, and start recording this process there.

And I am going to be the tortoise by the way. I can’t run, cuz My knees don’t work and I live in my shell, but I have a good positive can do attitude, so there is that.

Other thread Here

Unless you want to create a new thread entirely, I am good with that as well, you decide, my brain hurts after fighting in my head all night.

[Stando]

glad you sorted that out!

Back in the original thred me thinks,you never know others might join.

Supplies are next on the list

[T_dub]

Ok, so I got that awesome chinese Black Pearl pickguard on my boring White Stingray SLO Special, and it is much better then that hideous tortoise pickguard it came with. But I am glad to have it, I can use it as a test for this paint pouring idea coming up. I have two pick guards to start with.

But yeah, black pearl pick guard, very nice quality pick guard. Brand was “Musically” that sells on Amazon and E-bay. They come from China, so it is best to find US Sellers so you can get it quickly instead of having to wait for 30. days for an untracked package. I am happy to report that the plain white ones are plentiful from us sellers so it should not be hard to get more.

I am gonna post some pictures of the quality difference in the next post.
This one is the Bass upgrade (sort of)

Remember the bass with the old pick guard.

and the bass with the new pick guard (much better, Way worth the $10)

And even tho I have that nice $7 Orange strap that says California Mens corrections, sort of. It is prison orange and just says Corrections Department. I love the color, I am not a felon and never did any time, so it is not representative to me that way (not that it is a crime to have been a felon, wait, yes it was a crime, but I won’t hold it against anybody who has done a stretch or two)
But yeah, great pick guard (best I could find for $10 and get it fast. I would have liked some of those $65 ones, but that is crazy for a pickguard, especially after having now seen the quality they are from that company) and nice Orange strap, but still too boring. it still looks like Flavor Flave on wedding day, White tux, black shoes and hat, Orange cumber bun.
So, I need some more life in this thing, what can I do, what can I do.
I know, STRINGS.
so, now this thing just sizzles ALIVE, not boredom anymore.

I like it much better. It is no longer a new bass, it is now MINE

[T_dub]

And about those pick guards. here is the difference from the ones you can get between $6 and $12 or so, imported from china which is GOOD quality and the expensive custom ones you get for between $45 and $65 on Reverb and E-bay mostly, or their own WD website, but they are even more expensive there and have paid for options like a bigger beveled edge for $5 and better chamfered holes for another $5,

So $10 got me this edge (coating still on)

And $45 to $65 or more gets you this edge (crappy protective film fell off, it was not even stuck on.
You can see the holes are not really chamfered ,and were so small that it was a tighe, with no wiggle room to get the thing bolted down. Fortunately I was able to use the existing holes
Also notice how sloppy a fit you get around the pick up when you pay the big bucks, and cuz there is not much wiggle room, you kind of are stuck with the lopsidedness of it
Here is the other side

Here is the other side of the pick up hole. Regardless, this thing needs a razor blade or xacto to deburr / deflash the plastic and clean it up a bit

And when you just pay the measly $10 and really cheap out on your pick guard you get this pick up fit, and there is wiggle room with the open holes so you can set it a little to this way or that way.
It is not perfect, and the pocket on this one could use a slight deburr / de flash, but it is not as noticeable and for $10 or less, what do you expect

So remember folks, paying big money for a pickguard goes a long way (to taking the seller out to a nice dinner). If you want nice smooth beveled edge, with a scratch film that will protect it during shipping, then please remember to close the piggy bank, lock down the bank account and cheap out as much as you can, cuz you will end up with nice smooth edges and a decent quality guard, with nice open holes that are chamfered, and you won’t have to stick something thru every hole to get the crap out of it before you can screw it down.

But I guess you are paying for all that extra fun, and satisfaction that you did more work then the manufacturer did.

I sure am glad I only paid $21 for it. I would have been quite pissed if I didn’t find this one and ended up paying $65 for the other one I wanted.

To be completely honest, I would buy this Faux Diamond Plate one again for $21, but if it were $40 or above (the package came with a $38.99 price tag on it) I would probably pass and make my own.

[Jazzbass19]

@T_dub

I like it much better. It is no longer a new bass, it is now MINE

That looks really good, Toby @T_dub ! . . .

Nice work . . .

Cheers
Joe

[Wombat-metal]

I hear that train a comin, it’s rollin round the bend.
And I ain’t seen the sun shine, since I don’t know when…

Nice setup.

[T_dub]

@Wombat-metal

I hear that train a comin, it’s rollin round the bend.
And I ain’t seen the sun shine, since I don’t know when…

But I shot a man in Reno Just to watch him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin, i hang my head and cry.

[lee_editorial]

Finally got my little Jag short scale back from the paint shop. Wanted a bright color and went with a satin finish.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5NBiBD1RwCQ

[howard]

That looks utterly fantastic. Love the satin finish.

[T_dub]

I am in love. You better watch that lady at partys mister, I may just schmooze her right away from you. LOL
Absolutely brilliant baby, its quite shagadelic!

[T_dub]

I saw a guy that had one similar for sale here locally, I was tempted to buy it, but no, was not in position to spend the very good price he was asking.
I think I still have pictures.
He added orange dials to the controls, add it looked SICK

[T_dub]

Jazz, not a Jag, but still, looks very nice as well.

I think it is a nice finishing touch and really like it, but your bass, you may hate that, and obviously would not be a good mod for you if you hate it.

[T_dub]

not sure it would go as well with your color either. it might, you would have to spend the $12 or so and try it, but just the different shade of orange might make a big difference, big diff good, or big diff bad. Or just the same, IDK.

[Ben]

@lee_editorial love that finish wow

[terb]

great color scheme @lee_editorial , I really love it !