Combine Newsletter - April 2022
March's Guitar of the Month Contest Winner!
We’re pleased to announce that Aaron is the latest winner of our Guitar of the Month contest! His bass is built using Combine's 5-String Multiscale DIY Kit. Here is his story:
The idea for this design came to me while I was portaging up in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario. On a calm starry night, the lake we were camped at was smooth as glass. When I looked out over the lake at the treeline across from me, I realized that the perfect reflection of the pine trees created an interesting design. The symmetry of the real trees and the reflected trees created a shape very reminiscent of a soundwave. I knew right then I wanted to make some art using this design. Fast forward a month, my brother gives me a Combine DIY bass kit for my birthday. I decided this would be the perfect medium for my soundwave design!
This was my first time building and finishing a guitar, and the design I had chosen was by no means easy. Dubbed “The Great Bear Fire”, named after recent forest fires in The Great Bear rainforest of British Columbia, I wanted to use the trees/soundwave design being backed by the looming threat of an approaching forest fire. After experimenting on test wood with a few different methods of applying my design, I ultimately decided using a combination of wood dyes and epoxy resin. I found that the epoxy was the best medium for creating my “fire in the sky” backdrop, inspired from the Gojira’s music video for the song Amazonia. Using mica powders, acrylic paint, and dyes in the epoxy helped to give the “Fire in the sky” the desired sparkle and glow. For the treeline, dyes were used instead of paint because I still wanted to showcase some of the lovely woodgrain on the body instead of covering it up completely.
After routing, epoxy pouring, and then dying the body with various colours of dyes, I sprayed the body with Mohawk Tone Sealer (a pre-sanding lacquer) to help the colours pop. For finishing, I chose to use Tru-Oil, an oil based finish, due to its easy application process and because I love how it looks over woodgrain.
I had a blast building this bass with my brother, and the assembly came together very easily and painlessly! I did take it to a guitar-tech because I wanted fret leveling and nut filing to be done by a professional, but after proper setup this thing plays like a dream! I was pleasantly surprised by the active pickups in this kit. I wasn’t expecting much from stock pickups, but they sound great and have a ton of bite to them! I love my new bass guitar, and I can’t recommend Combine enough!
Aaron will receive 50% off the base price of his next DIY Guitar Kit, and his build has been shared on our website and social media.
20% off Accessories
Use code: Parts20 at checkout, and click the link below to shop Accessories.
Offer valid April 1, 2022 - April 30, 2022
April's Guitar of the Month Contest
We know you're all busy working away on your builds, and we expect some of you will complete them in time to enter April's Guitar of the Month contest! The winner will receive 50% off the base price of their next DIY Guitar Kit, and their build will be shared on our website and social media.