The CORRECT McCartney Conversion...

[jps]

Yeah, this resin is cool stuff. A future project I'm mulling over is to build a completely transparent car with the stuff.

Heavy, man!

[congerz83]

I bet Rick is thrilled.

I am gushing ...

NOW THE REAL FUN BEGINS!

[bassduke49]

Thanks, Evan. Yeah, this resin is cool stuff. A future project I'm mulling over is to build a completely transparent car with the stuff.

I can just hear the injured pedestrian telling the police: "Man, I never saw him coming!"

[gii_patrick]

Man, I can't wait to see the next step in this conversion. Rickenbacker "bass porn" at it's finest!
Keep up the good work!

[Lefty4003S8]

Mark....that bass is really looking SWEET!!!! GREAT work!!!!!!!

BTW---LOVE the color of the wood. Looks JUST like my V63. More of a "ButterscotchGlo" than MG

[antonius]

Nice Job Mark, and thanks for sharing. Your work speaks for itself...

[teeder]

Thanks, Evan. Yeah, this resin is cool stuff. A future project I'm mulling over is to build a completely transparent car with the stuff.

Then you can fight the Dirty Bubble like Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in their Invisible Boatmobile!

Nice work, BTW.

This is going to sound funny but, have you had any "shrinkage" issues with using resin before? I use it once in a while for preparing samples for cross-sectioning at work, and have to use a special, low-shrink, low-heat resin for plastics.

[s4001]

Thanks, Evan. Yeah, this resin is cool stuff. A future project I'm mulling over is to build a completely transparent car with the stuff.

An electric car, nonetheless. Watch out for pedestrians!

[jingle_jangle]

Nice work, BTW.

This is going to sound funny but, have you had any "shrinkage" issues with using resin before? I use it once in a while for preparing samples for cross-sectioning at work, and have to use a special, low-shrink, low-heat resin for plastics.

shrinkage_xlarge.jpg

This was my first reaction, too. There are so many hundreds of resins out there, in aerospace, commercial, medical, and home workshop grades, that I'd probably investigate the compression numbers of different materials, before committing. Mark, you mention that you used "the type that's used to make clear doorknobs, etc"., so I'm going to play Sherlock for a minute.

If it was a transparent polyester, there are both high shrinkage and "compression-over-time" issues. However, the photos show a meniscus that's crystal-clear and totally smooth (uncharacteristic of cast polyester), so I'm going to guess "epoxy", like the stuff that's available for bar-top coating? BTW, I would rule out a transparent urethane, due to its hygroscopic tendency (absorbs moisture from wood). This compromises its compressive state due to the forming of CO2 microbubbles.

So, I'd be concerned about the permanence of the epoxy fill due to shrink and compression, though in my heart I am really hoping that this will will hold forever. My own experience with epoxy casting resins indicates the least shrinkage (.002"/") and best compressive strength (27,000 psi) is with aluminum-powder-filled materials, which have a distinctive silver-gray opaque coloring due to the filler. I know of no epoxy that is water-clear and has specifications in this ballpark (though that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, of course!). What kind of stuff did you, in fact, use?

[walker]

Thanks, guys.

Yes, Kevin! That's the technology I'm shooting for! Except I hope to take it a step further and create an outer shell that will make me invisible when I get into the car. Still working out the bugs there.

I don't think shrinkage (or: "SHRINKAGE!!!!!" as George Castanza would say) is going to be a problem in this context. The resin I used (epichlorohydrin resin + polyamine hardener) was poured while the cavity was slightly pried open, and in relatively dry conditions (about 55% humidity) so now that the clamps have been released, the cavity has closed in somewhat on the resin, sort of like a vice squeezing it. I think the pressure there sufficiently compensates for any shrinkage which may occur. I hope that there is a bit of pliability in the resin's nature since the wood will be in flux too with the changes in humidity and temperature, but given how tightly it's being squeezed by the wood, I don't see it popping out anytime soon.

What I was most concerned with is durability. The resin boasts being heat & alcohol resistant and waterproof and is used for protecting wooden bartops, so I have a pretty good amount of faith that it will stand up to the test of time. How long will that test take? 2 months? 5 years? Rick Roosa's life expectancy? Hard to say, but I've yet to walk into a bar or restaurant and see a cracked counter top due to shrinkage. ("SHRINKAGE!!!!!") And those bars take regular abuse with blunt force contact and liquid spilled on them on a regular basis. I don't think the underside of Rick's PG will see that kind of action.

If it DOES fail down the road, I of course will repair it with a suitable solution at my own expense. ~PROVIDED the warrantee hasn't been voided!~

[cjj]

Yeah, I was wondering about the resin too. I'd think something like the glass-filled epoxy resins used for rifle bedding (accurizing) would be good. They are made to have minimal shrinkage (the idea is to have the metal parts of a rifle fit absolutely perfectly to the wooden stock), take very high shock/compressive loads, and be impervious to moisture and various chemicals/oils used when cleaning.

Of course, I have no idea how this relates to this sort of usage in a guitar...

[congerz83]

Mark! When I come to BK, I'll bring my car! IT'LL BE THE PERFECT MODEL FOR YOUR "RESIN-CAR"

[weemac]

You know what?
I hve just remembered that I did this same repair to a 1988 V63 that I had in the 90s. Now I did not use what would be the correct method these days (I used high strength Araldite).
I remember making a dummy plug that was the shape of the void I wanted to remain to allow the pickup to fit from blocks of neoprne, and coated it with a release agent (vasoline). I fitted the block and filled the rest..
It should not have worked, but it did!

I have since used the maple block repair and found that to work very well and would do it again (if I ever need to do it on my 4008)

My V63 may be gone but the dummy plug I made up is still floating around somewhere..

Eden.

[cassius987]

It's cool to see the thread swing back from destructive to constructive fairly quickly and I remain quite impressed with the effect of the repair. I'll cross my fingers it stays that way, at this point I see no reason to doubt it.

[johnallg]

Mark! When I come to BK, I'll bring my car! IT'LL BE THE PERFECT MODEL FOR YOUR "RESIN-CAR"

So, where is the push/pull to bypass the flux capacitor?

So glad your bass has progressed past repair and on to customizing.