Nice work, Leo- it takes guts to put a video out of you doing something you don’t know much about for 3.5M people to critique you on. You did a great job!
Brings me bad to when I worked for Modulus Guitars. Thanks! We used to seal the body and neck with polyester, sand it down and then add color and a polyurethane top coat. For a smoother neck, use steel wool on it like sand paper. It gives it a satin finish.
EMGs are very sensitive to string height. Raising them just a little will probably help. You probably already know this but. Make sure your battery is fully charged. As the battery weakens over time, the output level will reduce and become more distorted. When you hear that happening, it’s time to change the battery. Always use alkaline or lithium batteries for best results. And of course check all connections. Could even be a bad cable. Nice bass by the way.
I do finishing for a living. You stumbled in to the right way kinda. You have to seal the bare wood which will cause the grain to raise. (Primer) THEN you'd sand it and prime again....rinse repeat till no grain raises and shows.. Then final sand last coat of primer with 600 grit paper making sure not to break through the primer. WIpe with tack rag and then do your color coat. Tack rag between coats. (which means it has to flash enough to wipe between coats). For guitar I'd do 6 coats to achieve the thickness a good factory guitar would have.
They are easy fixes. The volume controls are wired backward. If you can reverse the hot and wiper leads on them, that will make it so the controls work independently as they should. Also, some foam under the pickups will raise them so they are closer to the strings. That should give you more volume. As to the fret problem, there's a high fret. It just needs to have the frets leveled. Nice work!
leo pull those pickups back out and put a small spring under each screw or a piece of foam that the pickups were shipped in . then reinstall them and they should be around one eighth inch from the string when fretted at the last fret . the springs will keep them at the right height .
Usually, it's like both volume knob "send the signal" to tone knob. If you did something like vol knob1 send to vol knob2 send to jack, that's why you turn off the whole volume when you turn off vol knob2.
I just started learning to play the bass about 4 months ago and more so in the last month. Thank you for making this video in particular for a novice bass player. You've helped me learn the instrument as well as having entertained me as a subscriber and fan for a few years now.
If I might humbly offer some suggestions... I believe the stuff you don't know the English word for is stain. It doesn't work if you use primer first. It has to go on bare wood. Also, they make matte finish clear coats. Much easier than using a high gloss one and then sanding it off again. Finally, if you're only getting buzz on one note, you probably have a fret that needs to be filed down.
I built a jazz bass from a Carvin kit. I wet sanded with tung oil finish. Gave beautiful sheen and sealed the maple neck and solid mahogany body. Then I used lemon oil and 4-X steel wool. Baby smooth. Your bass looks cool.
As regards finishing that maybe some kind of lacquer spary finish on the neck,spray sand with very fine paper then repeat until ur happy with the finish
Great Job Leo ,I would add a piece of foam under the pickups to get them closer to the strings . thy look like they are adjusted really low ,that is what is causing the low volume .
For the buzz some minor fret work could fix that but in the mean time use a fret rocker to find the fret that causes it and give it a few taps with a hammer.
If you want a higher output volume level, the PickUps (Tonabnehmer) have to be closer near the strings. Less space between PickUps and strings means more volume.
Great video dude! The issue you had with the grain showing is that you needed to put the grain filler on the raw wood before the primer and then sand it flat. Once that's done and you have the clear coat on, you won't have the grain showing. Try a high grit sandpaper on the neck too and that will make it more of a satin finish and less "sticky" on your hands 😁
Still not a bad job. It's kinda like the faded series of Gibson. Looks awesome. Love the orange strings. The looks just scream Frogleap EMG's have to be super close to the strings. WHen I did mine I went ahead and did the 18V set up for more headroom. You might have followed wrong emg diagram reason why they don't work like you thought. Seems like it's set up for 1 tone 1 vol. If all you have is one fret buzz that's a super simple fix. Look up a video on leveling frets. With it having sat around you're lucky it had no warps or bows in fret board. 1 little buzz on a do-it-your self guitar is outstanding!! Very nice job man. RoCk ON!!
Looked like he did not put springs and/or foam under the pickups to make them adjustable. They/re just screwed to the bottom. Also looks like the Tone was skipped and that may be causing issues with how the volume pots are working. I'm not sure with the EMG active system.
@@travatron4000 The solderless system from EMG is literally like playing with Lego. You can do anything with it, and it's really hard to screw up. But it's most likely the picks that are too low. I've had one of the EMG solderless boards that was BOA, but that's one out of dozens.
Didn't see a bridge/string ground wire either. Rumor is that it's not necessary with active pickups? I'd need that explained but, can't hurt to run it.
I just did a build with some parts and ran into the same issue with the neck being too long. I routed out a longer neck pocket and carved the heel back. Made it so the pickups were still in the sweet spots.
Use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the neck to smooth it out (it's basically 1000 grit sandpaper), then use a little paste wax or bees wax to buff the neck and it will feel like glass.
Somewhere in your control board, there is a short. That's what's causing each knob to effect both pickups. It's, likely, also why your output volume is reduced.
It's really cool that you've made it all by yourself! And I think you don't need any help with this bass (of course, it's only my humble opinion!) 'cause YOU have already made it with no help and this little problems will just remind you the work you've done while making it!
Реально крутая гитара получилась! Талантливый человек талантлив во всём! Мало того, что ты превосходный музыкант, так у тебя ещё и руки ростут из правильного места!
That bass looks absolutely gorgeous, man, I love the tone of it and that colour looks just beautiful. Making a guitar or bass seems like a really fun little project, I’d love to try it out sometime for myself
You may try raising the pickups up just a hair. They are very picky about the distance from the strings. Even 1mm can make a huge difference in the output.
Sand always goes first (big grain first, small grain and finnally wet sand with very small grain), prime and wet sand, paint and wet sand and finally clearcoat. If you want a mate finish use a matte varnish.
Leo a helpful trick. the reason your glasses fogged with dust mask is because you didn't properly put the dust mask on. you have to bend that metal bar around your nose to seal the dust mask this prevent your breath from coming up around the creases of your nose. Good luck stay safe and keep playing great music.
My guess with the pickups and the volume knobs, is that they are wired in series instead of parallel. I imagine you ran the red wires together and the white wires together?
On your next build project try and find some wood grain filler and sealer and put that first then sand , the paint should then be smooth . I actually like the green , it's different .
Pinch the metal piece around your nose on the mask lol. Might work then 🤣. Side edit. I don’t mean to be rude but that reciparoter doesn’t not much good either. You have a beard like me. Use the 3m dust mask and pinch to nose to fit.
hey Leo with all this Bass stuff you should look into doing covers of these new 2 piece bands just Bass and Drums like Royal Blood, Blue Stones(I think that's their name) and I think there are a couple more now but Royal Blood did it first to my recollection, please don't hate if I am wrong lol
as a luthier I have ssooooo many things to say XD but well for someone who's not the job it's pretty cool seeing you testing things (also I'd like to make you a guitar some time, but as a french I'm a bit far away ^^)
if the fretbuzz is only on a single fret/note you may simple got a high or low fret in that spot. coz if the Neck would be off it would be on more than a single fret usually. than it would be more like a "area of frets" that creates fretbuzz
@leo we going to get to go fishing at some point soon man????????........make this happen!! Would love to see what you could do with john the fisherman or Wynona Big Brown Beaver? PRIMUS ROCKS!!!
You needed to move the neck further into the body with it having 24 frets then you could have kept the bridge at the original position. having the the neck so far out of the body with probably give you some balance issues.
Oof. Watching this video has made me realize I'm stupid. I bought the EMG Het Set for my Truckster literally years ago. Plugged the pickups in, saw the pots in the package and thought “Oh I'm gonna have to solder those in so I will just ignore them and use the old ones. I cant solder. Turnes out you apparently have to only plug those in too. Lol
Leo, every guitar that you make you will get better. But it might help of you did a short course in how to set up a guitar properly, it can only help. 👍
Great build but I could see the intonation issue as soon as I saw the neck and body, it looks like a regular jazz body which is designed to take a 21 fret neck, this is a 24 fret neck so is too long, the way round that would be to make the rout for the neck pocket longer to set the neck further into the body, the volume issue is probably because the pickups are too far into the body, some foam under them will help, I actually love the grain showing through the finish, quite fancy a black Ash bass painted like that.
You should contact the folks at Crimson Custom Guitars in the UK, they have luthier courses. you could go to their shop and build a complete custom guitar or bass there. Check out their youtube page and the "What's On The Bench" play list where they take the camera into the student shop and interview students and show their custom guitars they are making, some amazing stuff going on there. I hope to go there myself someday and build myself a custom bass.
![[DRAGON BALL LEGENDS REVEALS ＆ STUFF] LEGENDS FESTIVAL 2024 Special Edition Part 2](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/af0phKxitX8/mqdefault.jpg)
Watch me do stuff that I really don´t know much about:) But hey, learn as you go!
I would definitely love to paint a guitar for you sometime...
Nice work, Leo- it takes guts to put a video out of you doing something you don’t know much about for 3.5M people to critique you on. You did a great job!
What grit did you sand it to? And how big Mikela has grown! Santa should bring her a mini bass. 🎅
Frog Leap Studios Great looking bass. Sticker adds to it. What mistake did you make when measuring for the bridge placement?
Awesome, and hilarious!
EPICO!
SLAPP LIKE NOW!
And SUBSCRIBE NOW
LAUGH REVEAL AT 5MILLION SUBS...
SUBSCRIBE NOW.
Slapp*
WISE WORDS
*SLAPP-A
What? Illegal!
Brings me bad to when I worked for Modulus Guitars. Thanks!
We used to seal the body and neck with polyester, sand it down and then add color and a polyurethane top coat. For a smoother neck, use steel wool on it like sand paper. It gives it a satin finish.
EMGs are very sensitive to string height.
Raising them just a little will probably help.
You probably already know this but.
Make sure your battery is fully charged. As the battery weakens over time, the output level will reduce and become more distorted. When you hear that happening, it’s time to change the battery.
Always use alkaline or lithium batteries for best results.
And of course check all connections.
Could even be a bad cable.
Nice bass by the way.
I do finishing for a living. You stumbled in to the right way kinda.
You have to seal the bare wood which will cause the grain to raise. (Primer) THEN you'd sand it and prime again....rinse repeat till no grain raises and shows.. Then final sand last coat of primer with 600 grit paper making sure not to break through the primer. WIpe with tack rag and then do your color coat. Tack rag between coats. (which means it has to flash enough to wipe between coats).
For guitar I'd do 6 coats to achieve the thickness a good factory guitar would have.
They are easy fixes. The volume controls are wired backward. If you can reverse the hot and wiper leads on them, that will make it so the controls work independently as they should. Also, some foam under the pickups will raise them so they are closer to the strings. That should give you more volume. As to the fret problem, there's a high fret. It just needs to have the frets leveled. Nice work!
leo pull those pickups back out and put a small spring under each screw or a piece of foam that the pickups were shipped in . then reinstall them and they should be around one eighth inch from the string when fretted at the last fret . the springs will keep them at the right height .
Usually, it's like both volume knob "send the signal" to tone knob. If you did something like vol knob1 send to vol knob2 send to jack, that's why you turn off the whole volume when you turn off vol knob2.
I actually liked the grain through the paint
The sticker on the body to hide the screw holes was brilliant!
As soon as he said "it's the coolest bassline I know" it couldn't be anything else but Hysteria.
I just started learning to play the bass about 4 months ago and more so in the last month. Thank you for making this video in particular for a novice bass player. You've helped me learn the instrument as well as having entertained me as a subscriber and fan for a few years now.
HELLO SLAPPERS
A guy making his own BASS
APPROVED 👍✅
@The Gooey Boi Did you like my comment? 🔪
Oh hi
E P I C
E P I C O
You need to finish the frets. You have buz because they are not all flat relative to each other. They make kits for finishing frets.
OMG! You are not only awesome musician and singer, you are also can work with your hands. Leo, you are the best!
If I might humbly offer some suggestions... I believe the stuff you don't know the English word for is stain. It doesn't work if you use primer first. It has to go on bare wood. Also, they make matte finish clear coats. Much easier than using a high gloss one and then sanding it off again. Finally, if you're only getting buzz on one note, you probably have a fret that needs to be filed down.
I built a jazz bass from a Carvin kit. I wet sanded with tung oil finish. Gave beautiful sheen and sealed the maple neck and solid mahogany body. Then I used lemon oil and 4-X steel wool. Baby smooth. Your bass looks cool.
As regards finishing that maybe some kind of lacquer spary finish on the neck,spray sand with very fine paper then repeat until ur happy with the finish
High build sanding primer is also useful for hiding grain/pores in wood. Automotive supply stores usually sell it.
Great Job Leo ,I would add a piece of foam under the pickups to get them closer to the strings . thy look like they are adjusted really low ,that is what is causing the low volume .
Thanks for sharing the build, mistakes and all. Looks great, and encouraging that there are ways to work around imperfections.
Leo, check the plugs on the back of the pickups. If one is backwards, it'll throw off the output.
Sand fill before primer would give that smoothness for the slide. Very nice aesthetically!
3 piece neck and matching top wood on the head... Paints solid color.... You do you man...
For the buzz some minor fret work could fix that but in the mean time use a fret rocker to find the fret that causes it and give it a few taps with a hammer.
If you want a higher output volume level, the PickUps (Tonabnehmer) have to be closer near the strings. Less space between PickUps and strings means more volume.
Great video dude! The issue you had with the grain showing is that you needed to put the grain filler on the raw wood before the primer and then sand it flat. Once that's done and you have the clear coat on, you won't have the grain showing. Try a high grit sandpaper on the neck too and that will make it more of a satin finish and less "sticky" on your hands 😁
Very nice to see you just doing it!
1. Awesome riff, Muse
Leo playing Hysteria...Dreams do come true !
Something to add to the live show for sure.
@@TheBigburcie Yeah indeed, planning to go to their live performance on the 31st of March in Amsterdam. If anyone plans on going aswell hit me up :)
Still not a bad job. It's kinda like the faded series of Gibson. Looks awesome. Love the orange strings. The looks just scream Frogleap
EMG's have to be super close to the strings. WHen I did mine I went ahead and did the 18V set up for more headroom. You might have followed wrong emg diagram reason why they don't work like you thought. Seems like it's set up for 1 tone 1 vol.
If all you have is one fret buzz that's a super simple fix. Look up a video on leveling frets. With it having sat around you're lucky it had no warps or bows in fret board. 1 little buzz on a do-it-your self guitar is outstanding!! Very nice job man. RoCk ON!!
Your output is low because your pickups are too low. Saw that coming. But nice build.
Looked like he did not put springs and/or foam under the pickups to make them adjustable. They/re just screwed to the bottom. Also looks like the Tone was skipped and that may be causing issues with how the volume pots are working. I'm not sure with the EMG active system.
@@travatron4000 The solderless system from EMG is literally like playing with Lego. You can do anything with it, and it's really hard to screw up.
But it's most likely the picks that are too low.
I've had one of the EMG solderless boards that was BOA, but that's one out of dozens.
Didn't see a bridge/string ground wire either. Rumor is that it's not necessary with active pickups? I'd need that explained but, can't hurt to run it.
You have to use a wood sealer/primer to fill the grain if you didn't want to see the grain.
Loved the background track while you were sanding. I wouldn’t know a good bass from a bad one but I enjoyed the video.
I just did a build with some parts and ran into the same issue with the neck being too long. I routed out a longer neck pocket and carved the heel back. Made it so the pickups were still in the sweet spots.
Nice 1st effort dude! That kinda stuff is a serious undertaking that Ive always feared!
If you want to build a guitar from scratch, why not do s guitar building course at Crimson in the UK? I did one last year and it was great fun!
Use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the neck to smooth it out (it's basically 1000 grit sandpaper), then use a little paste wax or bees wax to buff the neck and it will feel like glass.
Somewhere in your control board, there is a short. That's what's causing each knob to effect both pickups. It's, likely, also why your output volume is reduced.
output is bc pickups are too low in the body
It's really cool that you've made it all by yourself! And I think you don't need any help with this bass (of course, it's only my humble opinion!) 'cause YOU have already made it with no help and this little problems will just remind you the work you've done while making it!
Реально крутая гитара получилась! Талантливый человек талантлив во всём! Мало того, что ты превосходный музыкант, так у тебя ещё и руки ростут из правильного места!
6:22 Barry white sings: “hiding the defects” 🤣
I feel so dirty now hearing that. 🤣🤣🤣
And now you’re taking off the tape~ revealing the stuff underneath~
That bass looks absolutely gorgeous, man, I love the tone of it and that colour looks just beautiful. Making a guitar or bass seems like a really fun little project, I’d love to try it out sometime for myself
loving the "Gumby green" paint job Leo
Those J pickups are usually mounted on springs under the screws so that you can adjust the height. This might improve the volume.
Cool bass Leo. Raise the pickups up some. EMG pickups are designed to be as close to the strings as possible.
Nice job man it makes you appreciate how much work goes into the high end stuff. And cool to hear the muse! :P
Bonus points for the Primus riff!
Primus suck
Primus sucks!
@@TheHumanEwok
Pfft..you ain't fit to lick the cheese from betwixt Les Claypool's toes..
:-)
@@TheZodiacdragons
Line forms behind Mr. Williams for wannabe toe-cheese lickers..
Doug Gyver
Dude... you’re obviously not a Primus fan.
Primus Sucks is a term of endearment.
You may try raising the pickups up just a hair. They are very picky about the distance from the strings. Even 1mm can make a huge difference in the output.
Sand always goes first (big grain first, small grain and finnally wet sand with very small grain), prime and wet sand, paint and wet sand and finally clearcoat. If you want a mate finish use a matte varnish.
Very cool that you show your mistakes and inexperience.Love how it turned out.
Love how you keep it real. Hiding defects...
Leo a helpful trick. the reason your glasses fogged with dust mask is because you didn't properly put the dust mask on. you have to bend that metal bar around your nose to seal the dust mask this prevent your breath from coming up around the creases of your nose. Good luck stay safe and keep playing great music.
Just saw this. Had no idea you built that but have seen it (and loved it) in your more recent videos! Everything about this bass is sexy. Good work!
I love the bass riff!
My guess with the pickups and the volume knobs, is that they are wired in series instead of parallel. I imagine you ran the red wires together and the white wires together?
That bass is the boss! It sounds amazing! Great Job!
bro, you're such a normal dude... I love watching your stuff... i do this shit but you make it soo cool!... love it!!!
On your next build project try and find some wood grain filler and sealer and put that first then sand , the paint should then be smooth . I actually like the green , it's different .
Love the aggressive tone
Cool base build! Design idea for next guitar build - try water dip painting! It would be crazy fun!
Looking good. I had a set of EMGs. I personally didn’t care for them for my guitars. I am either a Seymour Duncan or a Gibson stock pups
It really surprised me how much i enjoyed and how interesting the building videos are! :D
best way to get rid of the glossy finish? use matt clear coat as final layer. at least, that is what i did when i painted stuff.
I think the white with the grain showing looked amazing!
Pinch the metal piece around your nose on the mask lol. Might work then 🤣. Side edit. I don’t mean to be rude but that reciparoter doesn’t not much good either. You have a beard like me. Use the 3m dust mask and pinch to nose to fit.
Brandon Huisman true :)
You can get flat or semi gloss clear. The more sanding you do between coats, the better the outcome will be.
Leo you can't use stain over primed/painted wood; stain is for bare wood... Just FYI for the next project :)
I love these kinda videos. Always so satisfying to watch.
I love the green and orange mix it's different! I wanna get those strings!
Preparing for that cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" I see ;)
You need to spray conductive paint inside all the cavities. The frets probably need dressing also.
I actually really like the rift and the sound..and the green and orange strings...i just liked it man
The Muse riff was a great pick. Good work on the build, Leo!
What song from Muse is this?
@@FelixPY Hysteria on their Absolution album.
Ordered the Bunny t-shirt and the FrogLeap t-shirt a few days ago.. Can't wait to get them 🤘🐰
I'm so glad you used the protective gear this time around.
Texas Toast Guitars on RUclips have some great videos on finishes for guitars. Nice looking bass, I like 2x2 headstock
Kickass video!!! Btw, 13:25 should be the new song for the Doom game!!!
Oljebets , is called wood stain in English. If you replace the neck dont paint it .. just finish it , it will be much smoother and faster . 🤘😜
hey Leo with all this Bass stuff you should look into doing covers of these new 2 piece bands just Bass and Drums like Royal Blood, Blue Stones(I think that's their name) and I think there are a couple more now but Royal Blood did it first to my recollection, please don't hate if I am wrong lol
very good idea Leo.. Well done ...
The music at like 6.30 made me up spit out my coffee. Good work
It rocks. Really cool!!
That's the coolest bass riff EVER!
Davie504 be like: "Wise choice. Very Epico. Approved!"
SIKE! He played the bass with a pic, very illegal
🅱️ in the chat for the original bridge position.
as a luthier I have ssooooo many things to say XD but well for someone who's not the job it's pretty cool seeing you testing things (also I'd like to make you a guitar some time, but as a french I'm a bit far away ^^)
Hysteriaaaa!!!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
if the fretbuzz is only on a single fret/note you may simple got a high or low fret in that spot. coz if the Neck would be off it would be on more than a single fret usually. than it would be more like a "area of frets" that creates fretbuzz
HYSTERIA OF MUSE. MY FAVORITE BAND. DUDE I LOVE YOU
@leo we going to get to go fishing at some point soon man????????........make this happen!! Would love to see what you could do with john the fisherman or Wynona Big Brown Beaver? PRIMUS ROCKS!!!
You needed to move the neck further into the body with it having 24 frets then you could have kept the bridge at the original position. having the the neck so far out of the body with probably give you some balance issues.
Aww yeah muse 💚💚💚💚
Wood doesn't need to be "primed". No springs or foam under the pickups to raise and lower them.
The green is much cooler than the white would have been, Leo. I dig it. If you don't like the way it plays, put it up for auction. I'd bid.
*It's beautiful, hope you enjoy!!
Oof. Watching this video has made me realize I'm stupid. I bought the EMG Het Set for my Truckster literally years ago. Plugged the pickups in, saw the pots in the package and thought “Oh I'm gonna have to solder those in so I will just ignore them and use the old ones. I cant solder. Turnes out you apparently have to only plug those in too. Lol
Love watching you make your own gear, def improved from the Mr. Frog....
Lean, Mean and Green. Looks cool. Build videos are great. I reckon a matching guitar is needed 😀
Leo, every guitar that you make you will get better.
But it might help of you did a short course in how to set up a guitar properly, it can only help. 👍
Great build but I could see the intonation issue as soon as I saw the neck and body, it looks like a regular jazz body which is designed to take a 21 fret neck, this is a 24 fret neck so is too long, the way round that would be to make the rout for the neck pocket longer to set the neck further into the body, the volume issue is probably because the pickups are too far into the body, some foam under them will help, I actually love the grain showing through the finish, quite fancy a black Ash bass painted like that.
You should contact the folks at Crimson Custom Guitars in the UK, they have luthier courses. you could go to their shop and build a complete custom guitar or bass there. Check out their youtube page and the "What's On The Bench" play list where they take the camera into the student shop and interview students and show their custom guitars they are making, some amazing stuff going on there. I hope to go there myself someday and build myself a custom bass.