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Retrovibe swirl transformation


BassApprentice
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Hello all,


A while ago (April) I picked this up from a FB group for a bargain price. It's progressed a fair bit since I have got it but I thought I would start a build diary to show you all the process Safe to say the previous owner hadn't done a great job refinishing. With the addition of using superglue to fill the frets to make it 'fretless' I had a bit of work to do.

My plan is to strip it down and swirl paint it black and gold....This could go one of two ways....

Edited by BassApprentice
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And here we have the stripped body :lol:

I found out from the original owner that there is some filler on the rear of the body which the Nitro Mors decided to melt...It also melted some of the binding on the body :unsure:

Next up: Sanding, filling and priming for dipping!

Edited by BassApprentice
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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1472333538' post='3120463']


I did! I didn't do this as fretless conversion, I simply did it to copy the thin, hard finish that Rickenbacker use on their fretboards. I've done it before, and it does work. I built up thin layers of superglue, then simply leveled and polished. A bit of a hassle on higher frets, but not impossible.
[/quote]

Looks more like a mess to me! That's why they use lacquer!

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[quote name='BassApprentice' timestamp='1471595455' post='3114221']
And here we have the stripped body :lol:

I found out from the original owner that there is some filler on the rear of the body which the Nitro Mors decided to melt...It also melted some of the binding on the body :unsure:

Next up: Sanding, filling and priming for dipping!
[/quote]

Great job so far, excited to see the updates!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry this has been so quiet, as I'm sure many of you know life just gets in the way.

I have a plan to make it a single pickup and put a Nordstrand Bigman in the bridge position, but I'm not sure it's close enough to the bridge to get a good Musicman growl. Anyone got a Bigman in their bass or proivde a recommendation for a MM style pickup in this location?

Cheers

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[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1475805065' post='3148911']
I have a bigman in my Alpher see my avi, awesome pickup were you adding a preamp as well?
[/quote]

That's a real looker!!

If it's not too much hassle could you tell me how far the pickup is from the bridge? It looks to be in a similar position as the routing on this body.

Yup, I think a preamp is pretty much essential for this pickup. Would probably be a Nordy just for consistency...What do you have in yours?

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