99ster

[quote name='The Burpster' post='34923' date='Jul 20 2007, 08:21 PM']Come on you tease, when do we get pics of the emporer in his new clothes? [/quote] Unfortunately, it will be a while yet - a couple of months probably...as it will take a month at least just for the nitro cellulose lacquer to dry properly. And I'm waiting for some custom electrics for the stack knobs to come from the US. You can't rush a job like this - it's got to be done properly! But as soon as it's all done I'll be taking loads of photos - & I'll post them here first (of course!).

[quote name='MB1' post='34760' date='Jul 20 2007, 04:00 PM']MB1. Great find!,you do know your fenders,i wouldnt have had a clue to be honest,and at £620 i doubt many people would have wanted to take the chance(probably why you were bidding on your own).Definately a lamb dressed as mutton story,nice one. All The Best. MB1.[/quote] Many thanks MB1! Just for once - being an obsessive sad B*****D vintage bass geek was a handy thing to be!! To be honest I would have paid that much just for the 1960 neck alone - even though it needs a lot of restoration - as the magic of having anything from one of the very first Jazz basses fascinates me. To get a '60 body & all the other bits was luck really & maybe a reward for being ready to take a punt. Funny thing is I had only just told a mate (who was looking for an old Gibson) to not even consider finding a 'bargain' vintage guitar on eBay - as they were none to be had anymore! All the best 99ster

On the fabulous 'Standing In The Shadows Of Motown' DVD you can clearly see that Bob Babbitt has a simple piece of foam sponge under the strings by the bridge on his '65 P Bass (with LaBella Medium flatwounds) - & he gets a great sound. [i]"...it had no foam dampener, so I found a sponge in the dressing room, tore off a piece, wet it, and put it under my bridge cover..."[/i]

[quote name='wazz' post='32851' date='Jul 17 2007, 08:25 AM']I'm happy to report that my strings arrived this morning from [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MyMusicStuff_W0QQ...sQ3amesstQQtZkm"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MyMusicStuff_W0QQ...sQ3amesstQQtZkm[/url] No nasty import tax either so I'm a happy chap. Cheers for the info Tempo. Wazz[/quote] Sounds good! Thanks for the info Tempo & Wazz. I've just ordered 2 sets of DR Hi-Beams from MyMusicStuff - at half the price I'd pay from Stringbusters. I'll report back when they arrive...

[quote name='The Burpster' post='33834' date='Jul 18 2007, 08:13 PM']Brilliant, just brilliant, I'm still laughing now...... [/quote] Ditto. That's priceless!

*** Reserved for Paul ***

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='33421' date='Jul 18 2007, 08:09 AM']PM'd[/quote] PM replied to...

Found these 2 odd chrome covers in my parts box... not sure what they belong to! [b]FREE[/b] to a good home. I just need £1 for P + P. [b]*** Gone to Paul Cooke ***[/b] [attachment=1227:odd_ashtrays.jpg]

[quote name='Darcy' post='33227' date='Jul 17 2007, 07:25 PM']Andy is a No1 guy, only done fret dressing and set ups for me but top dog When are you taking it to him?? (he says putting on black face paint, clothes, abag with SWAG on it and get his crowbar out lol)[/quote] He's sleeping with it under his pillow!

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='33175' date='Jul 17 2007, 06:10 PM']I presume the muppet that did the refin also took off the DC knobs. Lovely find - well done.[/quote] Thanks bass_ferret Yes - the pots & control plate all date from 1973... don't know when they were added. And who knows what happened to the original set - they may well have simply been worn out with use & chucked in a box somewhere (as even in 1973 the bass would have had 13 years of wear)... So I'm going replace them with a Fender re-issue set of concentric pots (I've never seen anyone selling an original old set - they just don't exist - & even if they did would cost a small fortune). The only other thing that's missing is the pickguard - everything else is there & looks original. I could get a later 60's one - but that will cost me £300-400 & still not be correct for a '60 model. So as the neck & body are getting re-finished I'll go for a Fender 62 re-issue for now - should look fine & dandy.

Not nearly as practical due to the weight... But [url="http://www.flightcasewarehouse.co.uk/"]http://www.flightcasewarehouse.co.uk/[/url] quoted me £168 inc delivery for a full fight case for a CR4M - so an NS5 would probably work out about the same..? PS - love the 'bass' sticker!

[quote name='Hamster' post='33094' date='Jul 17 2007, 03:31 PM']Which tech are you using for the refinish? Hamster[/quote] Andy Viccars - he's a great guy & really knows his stuff...

[quote name='The Burpster' post='32895' date='Jul 17 2007, 10:09 AM']Well done for being prepared to take a risk...... Better still it paid off! Cant wait to see the 'before and after pics!'[/quote] Thanks Burpster! It wasn't too big a risk as I knew that the neck was pretty definitely a 1960 & that most of the parts were original – but I didn’t dare hope that the body was original as well. I'm still amazed that nobody else was prepared to take a punt on it - a 1960 Jazz is one of the most desirable & sought after basses! Even as a re-finished neck & body with some re-issue parts – a '60 Jazz is so incredibly super rare that it will still be worth a packet when it’s finished (a 100% original one would be £15K+ – even if you could find one to buy). The seller had taken it to Music Ground in Manchester to get it valued by the ‘experts’ there & they told him the body wasn’t original (he didn’t even mention the orginal 1960 neck plate in the listing!) - but when the bass arrived I spotted the infamous ‘router hump’ straight away & knew it was definitely an old body - & started to get a little bit excited... It took Andy Viccars ages to get the thick orange paint off – he had to strip it right back to the bare Alder wood (which had obviously been done previously before it ended up orange). And it’s definitely a 1960 body – the tell-tale 4 screw holes for the individual mutes are there, but filled in, as are all the correct temporary nail holes added during the original painting process in 1960. It’s nice & light & should ‘ring like a bell’ when it’s all back together again. It'll be a couple of months before it's all done (a month alone for the nitro lacquer on the body to dry) but I reckon I’ll end up with a very lovely Jazz that will have cost me a fraction of what it should have – and a little piece of bass guitar history as 1960 was the very first year of production. I'll definitely post some before & after pics when it's all finished...

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='32879' date='Jul 17 2007, 09:40 AM']WHEY!!!! I hope that white "primer" wasn't actually the pain underneath tho. Haha i'm sure it wasn't.[/quote] No worries on that one - it had already been stripped previously by the comedian who decided it would be a good idea to cover it in a thick coat of orange car paint! And even if it was over an original paint it would take Harry Potter to remove the orange & leave the original intact!

Have you seen the bid history? Looks a bit strange...?