SpondonBassed

Acetone is for wimps. For the real hard stuff you need the tube of catalyst from a pack of araldite, forget the syringe, just screw the needle right onto the squeezy tube. HTH

Ha! Have you tried using Araldite with one of those? If so was it successful?

It's enough to drive one potty!

JT and in Florence? I feel your pain. Abscond and claim that you were on the run from Zebedee when the dust settles.

The Rotosound 88 black nylon tapewound strings that I bought immediately impressed me with a pleasing thump. Opening up the tone brings out some mellow harmonics that suit the fretless quite well. The Vantage has P and J type pups. The sound is never going to be bright but I am not a fan of bright so it's okay. No finger noise whatsoever. Slick. I was reluctant to play the fretless with the roundwounds supplied from new. This was partly due to the roundwounds being noisy under my fretting fingers and feeling harsh after a bit of playing. This was born out by the way the black finish wore through on the fingerboard. With the flats my attitude to the instrument improved lots. I enjoy picking it up for a noodle now. One day, I might actually knock a groove out of it!

That's a subjective question. "if I could play bass" - I have days like that. Heeheehee, If you intend this to be more ornament than instrument, does it really matter? If however you want to dabble, start with a medium set or a light/intermediate set if you feel that your fingers are soft. If you play often enough your finger strength and the toughness of your fingertips will improve. At that point you should ask the question again. The nylon flats that I have were a little "grabby" at first but they were quick to bed down and feel slick. If you have tapewounds that feel abrasive I'd say they are faulty.

I haven't tried the Nexus strings, sorry.

88s

Understatement of the Month! It looks really nice. Sort of dark and sultry.

I have the Rotosounds on my fretless Vantage. They sound fine. The bass is all black and the strings have yellow silks. Visually it's quite satisfying.

You're welcome of course. Really though, I'm sure I speak for lots of folk when I say thank you for sharing your craft with us all. I will watch with interest to see where you go from here. I wish Len many happy years of ownership of this beauty. With a bit of luck I'll see and hear it in performance soon. (Been trying to catch Len with the Daz Kelly Trio for a while but plans keep getting scuppered)

I agree. The binding should stand out.

Beautiful!

Given your popularity, I'd say you are faced with an unreasonably large task if you take it all on. Good luck with that. You needn't worry. We're a casual lot for the most part. So, what brings you to this forum? I'm betting you aren't looking for tips on slap technique or the TAB showing how to play the intro to Wherever I Lay my Hat as played by Pino Palladino...

That's probably what prompted me to append my post. I had a feeling I had seen something similar but I don't pay much attention to those sort of details unless it's of immediate relevance. I'm not what you'd call a Fender fancier, more a sort of ferret fancier. Vox, being British in origin, is my ferret of the month. How do you pronounce Mingus in this case? (sorry for the trick question)

The oaf has written the "F" word on the body and the headstock! Can't we have him tracked down and shot slightly? That's a worthy rescue job. Are you going for a true resto job or a functional one? I'm not sure that this is original but it never deserved to become a Fender wannabe. I'm envious. I used to be like you only with radios, record and tape decks and stuff. Folk would give me stuff that didn't work and that they had replaced. I left all that behind when I left the area. My reputation had become that of a collector which I am most definitely not so I was happy to escape from the growing mountain of crappy old gear until I saw what I might have been playing with instead. PS: Now I suppose someone will tell me that the make-over is a replica of someone's signature instrument. I'm sorry but even that's no excuse for that sort of behaviour.

Re-PMd. Sorry Andy.

I'd think it could work slung low on the strap Hooky style.

That's looking really good with binding and no belly/arm relief.

Are these basses that you've picked up with simple restoration in mind or are you one of those lucky folk who seem to attract bass parts without really trying? The vintage Vox bass has me even more intrigued.

Welcome Dave.

Welcome Darren.

You might already have seen this.

I don't care how it sounds it looks 'king amazing! Just put one on me and I'll mime.

I read up on a few of the different oils at the time and I seem to remember that it doesn't come from nor is it exclusively for use on Teak. ...but then I didn't really believe that you'd get Danish Oil by applying infeasibly great pressure to a Dane either.