MrFingers

Reggae: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIDnqk-v_E4"]check[/url]

Here are some more pictures. It's nice that this one has a brown-stained back & sides. Is an unique feature to instruments made in 1964 (all brown-stained back & sides date from 1964, but not all 1964's have brown-stained back & sides)








(no filter of Photoshop used, this is how the bass looks to the naked eye...)

Oh, that bass, from Frank Vallie... It pops by every once in a while. It's truly an unique bass (like that 1964 gold-sparkle jazz that pops on ebay every year), but indeed... 65.000 is steep, as you pay for rarity, not for an extremely good bass (which it undoubtedly is)

Thanks, I'm so happy with it (always wanted a bass like that. Had a Rivoli once, but this is in a WHOLE different league). It's also the best weapon of choice when your band says "you have too much bass in your signal", because it sounds like this (neckpickup, tone completely open, fresh roundwounds)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM1yopcD9Gs

So I had this 12-string Rickenbacker which wasn't seeing much action, so I was looking for something new. Got a call yesterday from a man who had this sunburst Gibson bass, and he wanted to trade, so we did. And now I have a 1964 Gibson EB-2, with a factory conversion to 2D in 1967 (that's why the knobs are located differently), in very good overall condition. I'm a happy camper!

It's twangy, it's a bit off-key, it rambles and it pierces... Gotta love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VoGs6johJI
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmkv3ZFrMYg[/media]
(Bob Dylan, One too many mornings, 1966, with what would later be known as "The Band", minus Levon Helm)

[url="http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=47291"]Inside Nash[/url]... I've had 2 in my hands (a somewhat lookalike to a 1960 stackknob Jazz, and a somewhat lookalike to a 64 jazz). Basically it's just allparts with a nitro paintjob. Electronics were cheap (big Alpha pots, no shielding tubs in the cavities, the 60 just had an earthwire running underneath the bridge, not the brass strip going to the bridgepickup), and it didn't sound nice. I honestly CAN'T see why they should be so expensive, since a trained monkey can do what they do. On the plusside, the relic was "above average" in terms of realistic.

Not mine anymore...


1978 Fender Musicmaster

And this is... how I got it:




(routed all the way through, every hole was filled with a resin-like substance, logo scratched of the headstock with a chisel, no tuners,... Was it worth it to restore it? probably not, as this thing isn't really worth much, but the satisfaction of saving this thing that was destined to end in the dustbin: priceless!

With the difference that Nash uses allparts (and is basically [url="http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=47291"]crap[/url]), and Bravewood makes his own stuff...


Anyway, here's mine...

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/a0fc4da0.jpg[/IMG]
it's the only bass I'll never sell.

Ripper indeed, and it's an AWESOME bass!

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/582d3c44.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/c9f55640.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/e7a2fb78.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/a5db053f.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/da9d4a35.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/29767695.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/7d4861c0.jpg[/IMG]

He lives 2 villages away from me, and he's the bassplayer of the band I'm in (I play other instruments than bass as well, so they told me: "you'll be the multi-instrumentalist...", so I did), so I'll see that bass on regular basis. And he's leaving for Mongolia in august for a month, so I'll guess the bass will be back here for that month. It's a nice bass, but I like mine better, the neck on that thing is ENORMOUS, which is good for my huge hands!

Mint indeed, from genuine celluloid.

I did a quick vid of the bass, but had to stop, because the owner already arrived (he sure can drive fast when he finally can get his toy )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ekT98pJq8

@Koigon... In a detox... I can still smell the nitro and the buffing-compound . No, thursday a Harmony H74 arrives here for a complete overhaul.

I was like: "maybe I should try the fingernailtest", and I couldn't dent the finish, so I sanded it... And it came out perfect (no goo whatsoever)... So I was like: "yeah, maybe I should handpolish it"... So I did...

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/94b37f68.jpg[/IMG]


Then I was like... "Why not, it's very shiny, and I can't get it any better than this, why not mount the hardware..."

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/a4814159.jpg[/IMG]

Then I was like... "Now I've got my tools, why not continue... So I did..."

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/2aa97d06.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/597c3e20.jpg[/IMG]

Since I can't do anything now (waiting for the nitro to harden, and the next "job" won't be here until next thursday), I started with the booklet. Armed with a printer, a sketch (to know which page has to be glued to which page), a pair of scissors and glue, I set sail. 2 Hours later, this was the result...

Indeed (on the other hand, I've got more than enough stuff to work on in the meantime, but seeing that body lay here, awaiting completion, it tickles ). There is a trick to knock a week of the time required to harden it enough, and that is to lightly sand it with 800-1000grit sandpaper (DRY!) 3 days after the final coat is applied, just to break the surface, so the solvents can evaporate more quickly, and repeat that step once more 3 days after that. As for the buffing: I have a buffing machine here, but since the lacquer isn't that thick (I guess 10 misted layers of clear, to seal up the metallic) and one "medium" coat of clear, I'll go for the hand polishing, the last thing I want is a buff-through, as a metallic lacquer is a PITA to spray nice and even. I'll probably look like Glenn Quagmire in the end, but that will be totally worth it!

Fixed it... B15N, from 1962

I think it's fine... don't forget there will be a pickguard on top of it. Normally the top of the pickguard should be halfway the nut of the trussrod...

Did the "true" clear lacquering today. The misted coats of yesterday were to fix and protect the metallic coats. I'm not that experienced with lacquering (is my 2nd time ever), so I did 2 cans of clear lacquer, which were misted on (so it dries fairly quickly), waited for an hour, and sprayed an entire can of clear in 2 thick strokes on top of it, so it settled nice and even. I am kinda satisfied with the result, but in very direct sunlight, and particular angles, you can see some darker areas, where the metallic is just a hint thicker than on other parts. Bit of a bummer, since it wasn't noticable when I sprayed the metallic... anyway: pics:









And now the agonizing waiting begins... trouble is that I have all the hardware already here, so I'm eager to get cracking, but I have to let the nitro harden. Guess I'll place the body when most of the fumes are gone in the attic, and leave it there. It's also the driest part in the house.

You sir, are a HERO!

This is, together with the other 4005 build, one of the biggest "raise your middlefinger and wave towards John in Santa Ana, CA, USA" in history!

Shot "some" clear today... 2.5 canisters from 400ml. 0.75 can tinted lacquer, to add some depth to the golden color (and get rid of the reddish hue it had), and the rest just plain high-gloss lacquer, to get enough buildup so I will most certainly not sand/buff through the finish. I still have 2 cans left, which I will use when I did initial wetsanding...

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/0735b0b7.jpg[/IMG]

How did that song from The Tremeloes go again? Oh yes: "Shoreline is Golden..."

Luthier-stamping...



Body is now standing (on the correct nails ofcourse ) in my shed, with a nice coat of primer.

Short:

Decal: always the same: http://www.guitarcolonel.com/sale/newsletters/dpbass.jpg (top one)

Specs: always string through body, 2 saddle bridge, singlecoil pickup, wooden (maple) thumbrest with 1 center screw

1952: Ash body, no tummy nor elbow cut, lacquered black bakelite pickguard, slotted screws, nylon bridge saddles, serial on bridge.
1953: virtual the same as 1952, but serial starts to appear on neckplate, slotted screws were gradually replaced with Philips-head, nylon saddles were replaced with brass saddles
1954: identical to 1953, but sunburst became an option. Late 1954 the tummy & elbowcuts were sanded in the body
1955: switch from ash to alder for the sunburst bodies (and the custom colors), blonde stayed ash. White vinyl pickguard (monoply) started to replace the black.
1956: virtually identical from 1955.

Colors:

[IMG]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/williamsanders127/9b8f9a23.png[/IMG]