MrFingers

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]

Very remeniscent of this bass... EXACTLY the same recipe and guts, only in "Pagoda Green"...

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this bass. The filler is on, the cavities are stained, it is now enjoying the view in the shopfront

I can confirm what Gary says: Fender Japan makes some of the best, if not THE best instruments that money can buy at this moment. Price/quality is unbeatable. As for the '62, you have 2 different version, the PB-62 and the PB-62US. While identical from woodwork, the US has the correct reverse tuners, a real tortoise pickguard and American electronics (CTS pots, AVRI62 pickup), while the standard PB-62 has generic "Japanese" tuners (those reverse tuners are also japanese, but you get the point), and cheaper electronics (alpha pots, standard pickup). As a first P, it's very good, as you'll have an amazing instrument, but... The necks are kinda huge, as they are vintage spec'd. The PB-62 has a more modern 42mm nutwidth, but the US has the vintage 44.5mm nutwidth, which is kinda wide if you have small hands, but nothing to be worried about.

Thanks for the replies! @Steve: Will try that, on his site, I mainly see B15N's, so I guess that is the way to go @jensen: Funny you came up with the 135, just sold a silverface 135 with the matching 412 cab, because it's too loud (we play some sort of americana music, with ac. guitar, reed organ, small drums and bass). Already found some here on the local ads, some B15N's, and a B15R (just the head, no cab).

Amp-heroes, I'm in the market for a Ampeg B15 "Portaflex", a dream lustring for quite a long time. So I was thinking: "yeah, I'll pick up a B15 on the 'bay, it will be fine", but I've read that one B15 isn't the other. From what I've found on the Interwebz is that there are a lot of versions... Can anyone talk me through that, and hint me what should be bought/avoided. I'm looking for a vintage amp (the older, the better), with a thick, Motown sound, but also reliable. Volume isn't an issue, we don't play that loud (Guitarist used a Marshall Class 5 and a Fender Pro Jr.) What I've found: [b]B15N: [/b]The "classic" 25W Ampeg B15, as used by Motown/Stax [b]B15NC: [/b]B15N, but with a solid-state rectifier [b]B15R:[/b] The nineties reissue, switchable from 100 to 60W, more a V4B in a portaflex coat [b]B15S:[/b] B15N, beefed up to 60W [b]B15T: [/b]Transistor version [b]B15X:[/b] 50W tube, with vibrato. I think the best thing would be a B15N or S... That would be my guess.

"I" (actually my friend Guido/Rawsprawl, but he isn't that active here on TB, and I was there as well) also bought a 1973 Rickenbacker 4001 (which was amazingly repaired and set-up) from Donny, first it was going to be sent overseas, but we met in Amsterdam, to do the transaction IRL, as we happend to have to be there at the same time. I couldn't ask for anything more. Donny is the nicest, friendliest and most openminded guy on your side of the Channel, cherish him! I would trust him with my hypothetical firstborn without a hint of doubt.

I mailed Tony from Pickguardian if he could help he. He said he could, but he didn't have an actual template for an (early) Ripper, but he gave it a shot, and it turned out it was 100% accurate and a perfect fit (there is NO gap between the guard en the pickups. In fact, the guard is so snug, that the pickups stay in place without screwing them into the body). This is a very early Ripper, and those early ones had a celluloid tortoise pickguard. Instead of the 4 layers that Fender used, Gibson used a single slab of tortoise, quite thick (5mm), but tortoise shrinks and warps over time, and those singleply guard are all severely damaged or cracked beyond repair, like the one [url="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/180/405130705_89e6fb1741_z.jpg?zz=1"]Nick Movshon[/url] has. This one came to Belgium with a shoddy painted piece of plexiglass as pickguard, made into shape with an axe and blowtorch). He could have made one in real celluloid, but this one is a plastic variant, which is identical in looks & swirls (even has the small rimples in the surface, like celluloid has), but without the chemical instability. Here are some pictures I took today, with the cover in place. It looks kinda reddish, but it depends on the lighting, from reddish to virtually black. And it sounds like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF9XVwUi1zI

And an update Sanding more sanding (notice the nice, deep contours) Yellow staining, (the lighting makes it a bit too harsh) Filling

August 1973 and August 1973 (serials are MH XX52 and MH XX63), assembled by the same guy back in the plant, based on the signature in the cavity and pickguard). The Jetglo is 100% original, the "mapleglo" is a stripped jetglo, waxed, with an 80ies 4003 tailpiece (extra screws against taillift) and a ReIssue horseshoe pickup... Both sound awesome, and the horseshoe really makes a difference! (there is also a 1999 Rickenbacker 370/12 MG here, but that's a bit off-topic I guess )

I thought the "domestic" CIJ/MIJ has the correct 44.5mm and the "export" has the 42.5 mm.

[quote name='FEND3R' timestamp='1339578567' post='1690726'] paper in oil cap. [/quote] It needed to be as correct as possible. If it were for me, I'd use a linear tonepot, and a PIO "Orange Drop" capacitor, but hey, it needs to be accurate, so

Repro wiring is done... Both logarithmic pots (so the tonepot is basically an on/off switch, but hey, that's how it was done back in those days), with a big ceramic capacitor... Stackpole pots are impossible to find, so we stuck with CTS...

The allparts neck is 42mm at the nut with a 9.5" radius (medium frets), and has a thicker C-shape. The "real" 62RI neck (vintage, CIJ and AVRI) is 44.5mm at the nut with a 7.25" radius (narrow vintage frets), and has a bit more shallow C-shape (I guess they are 0.10" apart in depth), so it's not just the nutwidth that's different... I have a neck from musikraft, they make the 1.75" nutwidth necks, with correct radius and stuff, and for a more than decent price (cheaper than warmoth), and it is truly vintage correct... You can read more on it [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/176706-64ri-precision-bass-build/"]here[/url].

That jazz next to it is "the tits"... info about it? Anyway: 1974 Gibson L9-S "The Ripper", with aftermarket pickguardian celluloid pickguard (like the very first Rippers would have), and with an upgraded 6-way rotary switch (thus giving the standard switching + neck solo and parallel out of phase)...

If you can't contain yourself... But with clay dots and covers!

This one isn't that sticky, which is nice! Anyway, it's got it's name now. The only thing needed now is the stringtree (which I already have), but that will be mounted when the strings are in place)... I hereby declare the neck as FINISHED

You're laughing, but in fact, I got an SMS from the owner, and he said: "yeah, nitro, I'll probably just sand it down, I want the feel of your bass"... And I was like: BTW: this is the very first time I ever work with this kind of lacquer, let alone polish something... Turned out rather nice!

Glossy

Because I'm stuck now (waiting on lacquer to dry is as tense as [url=http://www.watching-grass-grow.com/]this[/url]), and because I wasn't 100% satisfied with the made-up warranty card based on a 1962 model, I was browsing "teh interwebz". I found an auction from 5 years ago from a guy who sold is 1964/65 P-bass, with an original hangtag/booklet. The pictures were 200x450px, so not good enough to read what was on them, but good enough to get the basic outline. Since those booklets are generic (it says the same in every version, just the layout differs) I got to work with 2 manuals I got laying here at home. An afternoon in paint.net, word and typing later, this was the result... (is there a therapy for people like me? )

No indeed... and what do guitarplayers know ... But still, it's "just" allparts, and I assume the guy didn't narrow the tremcavity...

Hmm... Nash... http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=47291 ...