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So I was thinking about replacing the pickguard on my SBV-500 and it struck me:
Let's turn this hassle into a major pain in the ass!

Mine's currently metallic blue, just like this:

But blue's kinda...meh. Also I have this weird thing where I don't feel "connected" to a guitar until I personalize it.
What I'm considering doing is stripping that jawn and totally copping the stain and oil finish of the SS/AA Telemaster, also with a black guard...maybe a painted black headstock too.

Plus I'd like to throw another pickup in there 'n stuff. Maybe a P like on the -550 model, although the standard neck pickup on these is hands-down the BEST J EVER and surprisingly mid-heavy, not a big step away from a P-like sound.
Maybe something else, something I've never tried before. Dunno yet. I could do without the bridge pickup too.
Anyway, what concerns me is whether or not this finish will look out of place on this bass. It's already a goofy shape that kinda lends itself to brighter colors, so I dunno...
But there is a sunburst one (not in that pic) and it doesn't look half-bad, so I also think the stain could work.
I don't really wanna go through with all this, take a step back and go, "wow, that looks like shit."
WHAT DO

YES PLEASE YES PLEASE YES PLEASE

DO IIIIIT! I think that would look awesome, but you'd have to get rid of the white pickup covers (or pickups)

HmmmmmmmmmmmmMAYBE I WILL, it's sounding like a better idea already.
Yeah, if I keep the neck pickup I'm gonna paint the cover black. Maybe just one pickup too, but then I'd have to do something about the bridge rout. Prolly just leave it as is 'cause I'm not filling and trying to match that jawn with the rest of the body. I love the neck pickup in this one so much it'd almost be a shame to leave it out...actually I think I'm gonna put it in the Jag Bass now...

I LOVE mudbuckers but 2 out of 3 basses are already equipped with 'em, and this one's gonna keep the flatwounds which would totally kill any remaining definition if I used one. Need a deep-sounding pickup but it also has to have some articulation to it and a midrange emphasis; I can't stand it sounding scooped. Something different from the usual MM/J/P styles too, but also something that doesn't cost more than the bass

I think it's gonna happen once I get some more income.

That dark natural stain with a black pick guard would looks killer, me thinks. Although I tempted to say leave the pickup covers white.
& if you love the neck pick-up so much, why not just leave it

I can't imagine this looking anything short of stunning with that type of finish.

Looks great, very original. I dig the scratch plate too

Unless the wood underneath is awful you should be golden. But even my The Paul which is like a harlequin quilt of mismatched chunks of wood looks awesome in a natural finish with a black guard. That combo almost never looks bad in my opinion.

IT IS DECIDED.

Neck: Rio Grande's Muy Grande '51 P


Bridge: Ric hi-gain


Just gonna keep the simple 3 knob layout but change it to volume/blend/t0an.

Old neck pickup (same size and resistance as the bridge one, really) is gonna replace the Jag Bass's Model J.
I'll keep the old bridge pickup to bust out 30 years from now so I can get my old man on and be all "shit yeah...they sure don't make 'em like they used to".
Then one of the leads will crumble off and I'll drink myself comatose after weeping and throwing it across the room.

this is going to be COOL!

Ric bridge pickup

Awesome!!

SCRAPER. HEAT GUN. MOSQUITO SPRAY. LET'S DO THIS.

Before:

Shiny.
Also, got dumb and impatient trying to eyeball a rout last year; I'm not to be trusted with routers...I do way better with chisels.

After:


The headstock is pretty much..."wood".
Nothing too special about it, so I dunno if I should stain it to match the body or paint it to match the pickguard. Either way it'll end up having the ILF emblem on there.
The body looks like it's one piece all the way up untiiiiiiiiil Chen decided that the scalloped part needed to be made from his coffee table
Made in Japan Jaguar Bass: five pieces of alder.
Made in Taiwan SBV: one piece + SUDDENLY, PATCHWORK.
The wood on the outside edges of the body is combined stuff too, just like the Jag Bass.
I think it'll look pretty good though. These pics don't show what the wood really looks like because it's still covered in that stupid sealer.

It took me a little while to remember the scraping technique but it wasn't too bad overall, although the paint never came off in sheets like last time. The front and headstock were really easy to scrape; the sides were very tedious and the area around the neck pocket SUCKED. Oh well. I only gouged the wood a few times, but sanding will take care of that anyway.
I find it works best if you can brace the guitar against yr body and pull the scraper toward yourself while keeping the heat on it...but that's not always possible. I accidentally burned my arm like five times with the red-hot scraper edge while reaching up with my shoulder to wipe the sweat off of my head

The hell of sanding begins on Monday, yaaayyy...

Started sanding away the sealer which had absorbed into the wood to become a gigantic pain in the ass.

It wasn't as excruciating as the last time around and I got it done in a day instead of a week. Four hours of sanding with 100-grit. It seemed to be going nowhere until I mastered the delicate technique of "30 passes in each sander-sized area with each hand while pressing as hard as possible". I'll smooooove it out after the rest of the body is done; aiming for the front on one day and the curves/sides on another.
I have a rotary sander but I don't feel comfortable going against the grain. It was actually kinda nice busting my ass and then spacing out every 10 minutes to the ping-pong stereo drone of the cicadas.

Sooooo it kinda wasn't one piece after all. Not the prettiest body ever, but at least the lines mostly flow in the same...general direction
The Jag Bass was like this and turned out alright, so I'm not worried. Skully used an ebony stain but I was too scurr'd to venture outside the Transtint powder I'm more comfortable with, and the closest thing to ebony they offer is "black", so I went with "extra dark walnut". It should be (or I'll apply it repeatedly so it will be) dark enough to blend the pieces of the body together into a whole and look superfine, though not just like his finish.
I'm so looking forward to not having to deal with spray cans and shit. Tru-oil seems pretty cool.