A YEARS' WORTH OF CHALLENGE...

[jingle_jangle]

Part, time, of course. Getting the parts together, repairing, prepping, fitting, painting, wiring, buffing--you know the drill.

But I've been dreaming of this kind of black bass machine monster even since I saw my first Shadow.

Now, I know that the fretless and horseshoe may be thought by some to be at cross purposes, but, it's a kind of fantasy combination for me, and the nice tones seem to come just ahead of the HS anyway. Heaven...smooth slides and real string vibrato. Not for poppin' and slappin'.

Kinda reminds me of those Sportsters with the matte black trim and plated fasteners.

[berth]

Oeh, that is nice! I need more pictures though.

[edit] the idea of converting my 4003 MID/BT/FL into a kind of darkblueStar is still growing on me.

[scotty]

Fisheyedlenstastic

Have to say the finish looks a bit cloudy there Paulie

[cjj]

Pure beauty! How did you do the black on the horseshoe?

[aceonbass]

Darth Vader....your bass awaits you

[libratune]

Very nice, Paul. Thanks for sharing. That's a slick looking machine! Nary a fingerprint in sight!

I sometimes wonder when I see the "all black" treatment whether there are black screws/screwheads available to achieve the total "none more black" look. I suppose that has to do with powdercoating and the probability that the black powder won't withstand being worked on by a screwdriver. But there's probably a better explanation.

[jingle_jangle]

Pure beauty! How did you do the black on the horseshoe?

Cut the new chrome with Scotchbrite to give a little tooth. Spray with Bulldog adhesion promoter. Spray with black urethane basecoat. Finish off with a couple of coats of PPG "Flexed 'n' Flat".

All of the hardware was originally matte black powdercoated, '86 vintage. I redid it as above for consistency and a "newly-minted" look.

The SS fasteners are like that on purpose. Sort of like punctuation, or raindrops on a puddle. I'm sure that Scotty can get some good flowery metaphors going, given a chance and more than a few pints...and it is Friday, ya know!

Result: same effect as matte black powder coating, at only 3X the price!

[cjj]

I've always thought the metal parts would look great with a black chrome finish instead of a matte black.

Of course, that would add even more cost, not to mention even more potential for fingerprints...

[scotty]

Like the sun dancing in the morning jew?

[jingle_jangle]

I've always thought the metal parts would look great with a black chrome finish instead of a matte black.

Of course, that would add even more cost, not to mention even more potential for fingerprints...

If I did black chrome, I'd do a matte black body. I like the contrast of sheen.

You get another chance, Scotty...bottoms up!

[scotty]

like the stellar snowdrops of the galaxy's garden...

[jingle_jangle]

You are outclassing yourself!

[s4001]

Wow. I think I like that. But I'd need more pictures to be sure.

[scotty]

Ok too far Nice job my friend looks great.

[gareth]

As far as matt black hardware goes, if you want the sort that stands up to having a screwdriver used on it, I would parkerize it. There's two ways to do this, either the hot method, or the cold method. Both are essentially bluing methods. It used to be a very common finish used during automotive production in the war years, as chrome and cadmium were only available for war production. Nowadays, the most common area you will see a hot parkerize type process is in gun manufacture. I'm very familiar with this process from my restoration of vintage Harley Davidsons, and I have parkerizing baths still here at home.

One thing has to be remembered though, and that is that you can't parkerize stainless steel or chrome finishes. It works best on plain hardware, which is actually harder to get than you think. The best way to achieve the finish is to get cadmium plated hardware and strip it with muriatic acid before dumping it into the blackening solutions. If you do this at home, make sure you do it in a ventilated area, as the by product of cadmium stripping is essentially cyanide gas. Don't ask me how I know this.

Anyway, the bottom line is that is anyone wants some matt black screws, just message me, and I'll see about doing them for you.