Duarte

Glad it's not just me! I find intricate tasks like this incredibly difficult - I'm as good as blind when working with things close up. Just have to order more screws and all is well though 🙂

Quick update - tuners installed, covering many ugly holes! Being a novice with extremely poor eyesight, I threaded 2 screws and lost another 2. Otherwise, perfect!

Exactly how I envisaged him!

A handsome pair!

Haha! I fled Bangkok and went to Koh Chang for a week to escape the smoggy lockdown and work from the beach. I'm back on the bass and about to apply the first coat of tru-oil. Pics soon. I did have a parcel from Japan waiting for me when I returned... Gotoh vintage style tuners, and they weigh an absolute ton. I love it.

Damnnn, so nice. EB should supply these knobs with the bass. Where did you get them?

Cool. Cream covers of course. Always fancied a bass with cream pickups. Not in Thailand! Bangkok's streets are paved with Dimarzios, babay. That is, I've seen some new pairs in shops recently.

This is how I feel. The best basses I've had were always the heavy ones. Weight has never concerned me, although that may change now my hairline has started to recede...

The combined knowledge and experience here never ceases to amaze. It's bonkers how informative this thread has been so far! Thank you all. In the event that I buy this old bass, would dimarzios be the natural choice of replacement pickups? I'd likely attempt to restore it to something close to its original state.

I think I'll go for it - it looks like a great base (bass) for experiments. Revert back to passive, refinish, etc. Well well well, I don't need a 1970s P bass to crop up after all...

That's stunning. I wonder why fretless maple boards aren't 'in' any more.

Great resource. Thanks for that! I'm not sure of the scale length or any details really - it's a mystery. Kind of looks like the RS824BB from the catalogue - with some modifications.

Interesting. I'm not too bothered by weight, I've owned some ludicrously heavy basses (Rays and Jazz basses are the usual culprits), but 99% of the time my basses are lounging around the house for impromptu jams and home recording. Heavier basses just stay in comfier locations! £6 - 700 means serious bass far as I'm concerned. Looks like I have a good deal on my hands. Interesting. I don't subscribe to the jibba jabba really - as long as it's a good bit of wood with some sturdy hardware, chances are I'll love it. A bit of modding is fine too, I can mod it further without feeling guilty about it. Perfect!

I'm constantly on the lookout for beat up old basses. A huge portion of old japanese instruments seem to wash up on the shores of Thailand, poorly modded or degraded by the tropical climate. I recently bought an old yamaha P bass and I've stripped the old finish and currently oiling it and replacing all the broken parts. That bass cost almost nothing but I've found that I'm quite good at this kind of project. So here's the next potential candidate, an 80s ibanez. I'd love to know more about the instrument - is the rear pickup modded? And this must be a refin? Are these things any good? I suspect they are. I've got a lot of tru-oil to get through before it dries up. What would you do? Asking price converts to £220. Is it reasonable? Cheers! Zak

Sad to hear this news. MB1 was indeed kind and forgiving, and at times baffling. It always felt like he had my back. RIP, basschat legend.

Here's this week's tune. Given a go at full blown reggae...

Interesting idea.

Sure is. Great bonus!

It's a really interesting grain isn't it! Decided on oil, to showcase the grain

It has begun. I almost changed my mind and left it as it was... but then I had a gin and changed my mind again. The finish was thick and not easy to remove, but I'm happy with what I found underneath! If you need me I'll be sanding on the balcony.

Glorious bass. I'm looking out for one too. Certainly no tone control needed!

Ideas!! Natural wood is my first choice. The grain is too nice to hide. Tru oil and a long lockdown of gradually getting it to a glorious sheen is what I'm thinking... It might be a terrible idea. But I won't know for sure until I've actually done it. I love the aubergine purple idea! I am eyeballing another bass, an 80's Jazz bass special (the one with slanted pickups) which looks like it was left out in the Thai sun for year, which would be a good candidate for that kind of treatment! I''ll include a pic below. This bass is on sale for £140. Scratch plate is anodised metal. Screw holes appear to align with standard fender dimensions, and there are 13 filled holes in the body, which leads me to believe that someone had to make a fender sized one fit. I'll go for black. As for the bridge, I actually have an old spare fender one kicking around that fits. Electronics seem fine as they are. I think they've been replaced, as pots are nice and sturdy with no crackles. Also there are weird routings where it looks like someone might have added active electronics at some point. Pickups seems OG and are nice and hot. However, for the sake of getting it up to the next level of quality, KiOgon is a good shout. I installed one of his harnesses on my main player and it's top notch. Here's that other bass I'm talking about.

The little bronco hold up exceptionally well! I love it

I'm convinced - enough of you lot have said it now! The neck stays as-is. Any advice for the body? I did go into this looking for a project, so something's happening to it.