Si600 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I got this Aria Pro II Magna Series 5er from eBay maybe seven or eight years ago. It's got a made in Korea sticker on the neck heel and I think it plays nicely. Over the years however things have started getting a bit flaky. So... Take one perfectly usable bass and put it on a bench... Whip the machine heads off to replace with tasty "new" Schaller M4's with Made in W Germany stamped on them Replace the bridge with a real new Schaller 3D5 Things got interesting at the pointy end. On offering up the Schallers we found that the collar is 12mm, while the originals are 14mm. To really make a mess, the holes on the head that the tuners go through are 15mm, no wonder the B tuner was broken. We made some sleeves with an appropriate ID and OD I don't have a picture of the sleeves in situ because I forgot and it means de-stringing and taking the tuner out so you'll have to trust me they're in there Once the metalwork is sorted, take the pups out, empty the control cavity and add the new controls Put the new pups in. Why is nothing simple? EMG don't supply springs and the originals were chocked up with a bit of high density foam. Plus the new pups are smaller than the old by enough to mean drilling new screw holes, fingers crossed I don't go through the back... Mr Maplin saves the day with a box of 150 springs for £2.99. I only want 8 springs, but springs and P&P from the 'net is over a fiver... Control cavity wired up, and I bet that you are all laughing at me now.. The poxy battery didn't fit!!!! Re jigged to get it all in. Cleaned and restrung, the finished article As a bit of a teaser, here is the old plywood body from my P Copy. A new eBay body and the neck are in the garage awaiting new paint, plus there's a pedal board in the offing, so watch this space as they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 That a steam engine you are making in the background? Bit fancier than mine: [IMG]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b69/Incarante/steamengine.jpg[/IMG] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si600 Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 It's my dad's workhop not mine, but I do use it occasionaly. It's a water pump for his Simplex, he can't get the injectors to work and the eccentric pump is worn out. He's actually stopped making locomotives and got into clocks at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 nice, my first guitar was a red aria magna 20, if you ever need to sell this on give me a shout, I'd love to have a bass to go with it. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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