Dan Muehlemann wanted a bass shaped like his hockey team's logo, but the shape did not fit on the blank. Here is how he added wood, walled the body with playing cards and poured it blue, and what you can copy.
A blank kit gives you a slab of wood and no outline. You draw the shape. You make the cuts. And you cannot put wood back once it is gone.
Dan Muehlemann wanted his bass to look like one thing: the winged blue note of his hockey team, the St. Louis Blues. He started with our Blank Bass Guitar Kit with Maple Neck and Fretboard. Then he hit a snag. The shape he wanted did not fit on the wood.
The body after the cuts. The pink wood is the mahogany from the kit. The pale wood at the round note is wood that Dan added. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
Why did he pick a blank kit?
This is Dan's second build. This time he wanted to make the shape himself.
I loved having a clean slate to start from and the Blank set up allowed for a lot of creativity and not just simple assembly!!
A blank kit suits a job like this for a plain reason. The hard cuts are done for you. The body comes with the pickup holes, the control hole and the pocket for the neck already cut, all in the right place. The neck comes with its frets in. So the parts that make a bass play in tune are set. The outline is yours. Our guide to building a blank kit from start to finish shows the steps.
What do you do when the shape is bigger than the wood?
The winged note is long one way and tall the other. The body blank was not. Most builders would shrink the drawing. Dan added wood.
I used an epoxy on this one, and I've got some pictures of how I did the build and the pieces that I had to add to it to make the shape correctly.
Look at the first photo again. He glued extra wood onto the mahogany to finish the round head of the note. Then he filled the joins.
Two things make this work. First, the added wood holds no parts. The bridge, the pickups, the knobs and the neck all sit in the mahogany from the kit. The added wood only has to hold its shape. Second, he had a plan for the joins. The added wood and the mahogany do not match, and a stain would show every seam. A solid color hides them all.
How do you pour epoxy on a guitar body?
Epoxy is a thick liquid that sets hard and glossy. While it is wet, it flows. It levels itself, runs to the lowest spot, drips off every edge and fills every hole it finds. So a pour has three jobs. Set the body dead level. Build a wall around the edge. Block every hole. Do those three and the epoxy sets as one smooth, flat sheet. Skip one and it ends up on the floor or inside a pickup hole.
Dan built his wall from playing cards and blue painter's tape.
The dam before the pour. Playing cards and painter's tape wall in the edge and line each hole. Pencils stand in the holes for the knobs. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
It is a smart pick. A card bends around a tight curve, and this body is all curves and points. Cards are slick, so set epoxy lets go of them. The tape holds them up and seals the gap at the bottom.
He did not stop at the edge. He lined the two pickup holes and the neck pocket with cards as well. He stood pencils in the holes for the knobs. He put small pegs in the screw holes for the bridge. Every opening had a plug before he mixed a drop.
The pour. Clear two-part epoxy, tinted with blue pigment powder, sits level inside the card walls. The neck waits behind it. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
One safety note. Wear gloves, work with fresh air, and mix the two parts in the exact ratio on the label. Our finishing safety tips cover the rest.
What makes this build so creative?
Plenty of fans hang a jersey on the wall. Dan built his team into a bass he can play. That was the goal from the start: an instrument for the club he cheers for.
And he did not stop at the color. Every part serves the idea. The body is the winged note. The blue is the team's blue. A white line crosses the top. The headstock is a shield. Take any one of those away and it is a blue bass. Put them all together and you know whose bass it is from across the room.
That is the hard part of a themed build. Paint alone is easy. Dan thought it through as one design, from the outline to the last stripe. Then he worked out how to make each piece with the tools he had.
What Dan got right
He kept the drawing and changed the wood. A logo only reads if the shape is true. Shrinking it to fit the blank would have lost the look. Adding wood kept it.
He added wood only where no parts sit. The strings pull on the bridge and the neck. Both stayed in solid mahogany. The glued-on pieces carry no load.
He chose the finish before he made the cuts. A solid blue pour hides two kinds of wood, the filler and the seams. With a stain, the same body would look patched.
He blocked every hole before the pour. Cards in the big holes, pencils and pegs in the small ones. Wet epoxy finds any gap you forget.
What about the neck?
The kit's headstock comes as a plain paddle with no holes. Dan cut his into a pointed shield and drilled it for four tuners, two on each side. He gave it a dark gloss finish with a hockey shield on the face. He left the maple fretboard bare. Our headstock drilling guide shows how to lay out tuner holes on a blank paddle.
How did it turn out?
The finished body on Dan's wall: the wing, the stem and the round note, in gloss blue with chrome parts. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
Look at the white line. It runs along the top of the wing. It breaks up a big field of blue and points your eye toward the neck. The pale maple does the same job. Against that blue, the neck reads as one clean stripe.
Up close: the gloss of the pour, the white line on the wing, and the kit's two black pickups. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
Dan named it in the video he sent us.
I call it my blues bass guitar.
Then he said the part we like best.
I'm not a bass guitar player, but we'll try to do this.
And he played it.
Dan shows the bass and plays it. Video courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
Here is how he summed up the build in his review.
This was a great build for me. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, and it turned out pretty close to my vision.
Dan with the finished bass. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.The whole bass: winged body, bare maple neck and the shield headstock. Courtesy of Dan Muehlemann.
What you can take from this build
Draw the shape at full size first. Lay the drawing on the blank. You will see right away where you run out of wood.
If you need more wood, add it where no parts sit. Keep the bridge, the pickups and the neck in the body that came with the kit.
Match the finish to the wood you have. Mixed woods and filler call for a solid color. Save stain for a body made of one wood.
For an epoxy pour, level the body first. Check it both ways. Epoxy runs to the low side and sets there.
Build the wall from something that bends. Playing cards and painter's tape cost almost nothing and follow any curve.
Plug every hole. Line the big ones. Stand a pencil or a peg in each small one.
Can you build a guitar for your own team or band?
Yes. That is what a blank kit is for. The shape, the color and the headstock are all your call. Dan built his for his hockey team. You could build one for your band, your town or your school. Our guide on how to design your own guitar is a good place to start.
What do builders ask before they pour epoxy on a guitar?
Can you pour epoxy over a wood guitar body?
Yes. Sand the body, then brush on a thin coat of epoxy first and let it set. This seals the wood. Bare wood holds air, and that air rises into a thick pour as bubbles. Once the thin coat is hard, pour the main coat on top.
How do you stop epoxy from running off the edge of a guitar body?
Build a wall around the edge that stands a little higher than the top. Painter's tape works, and so do playing cards held with tape, as on this build. Press the tape down hard so the bottom is sealed. Set the body level before you pour, or the epoxy will pool on the low side.
How do you keep epoxy out of the pickup holes and screw holes?
Line each big hole with tape or cards so its walls stand above the top. Stand a pencil, a dowel or a peg in each small hole. Do this before you mix the epoxy. You will not have time once it is wet.
Can you glue extra wood onto a guitar kit body?
Yes. Use wood glue, make both faces flat, and clamp the joint until the glue is dry. Add wood only where no parts mount. Keep the bridge, the pickups and the neck in the body that came with the kit. Plan on a solid color, since the seam and the new wood will show under a stain.
What is a blank guitar kit?
The body is a solid slab of wood. The pickup holes, the control hole and the neck pocket are cut for you. You cut the rest of the outline yourself. The headstock is a plain paddle with no tuner holes, so you shape it and drill it where you want.
Does an epoxy top change how a solid body bass sounds?
Not by much. On a solid body bass, the pickups and the strings make most of the sound. What you will notice is the weight. A thick pour adds some, so keep the coat as thin as the look allows.
Our thanks to Dan for sharing the photos and the video. Most people would have made the drawing smaller. He made the wood bigger, and the bass is better for it. It is one of the most creative builds we have seen on a blank kit.
This bass is a one-off fan build that Dan made for himself. Guitar Kit World is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by the St. Louis Blues or the National Hockey League. Team and league names and logos belong to their owners.
Now a question for you: if you could build a guitar for one team, band or place, what would it be, and what shape would you cut? Tell us in the builder community.
Tak Takenaka drew a guitar no store sells, then cut it from a blank kit. He took out the wood behind the bridge to save weight, and solved the problem that caused.
Vincent S. had a pale quilted maple top and chose not to stain it. He covered it edge to edge in tattoo-style stickers instead. Here is how he layered, masked and coated it, and what to test before you try it.
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