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New Bass restoration project Day! And diary


uk_lefty

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On 25/02/2020 at 08:55, uk_lefty said:

Some of the frets are rough as hell and quite worn... This may be going Fretless at some point in time. 

On inspecting the headstock lacquer cracking what do you guys think of this? I've given it a firm woggle and there's some play in there, but not sure if that indicates a structural crack that needs repair (something I can't do) or if it's just normal because it's a thin neck? 

The bridge is tarnished but the springs are still springy, I reckon it's still working. 

IMG_20200225_085242.jpg

Serious fret board to neck issue. Adjusting the truss rod with strings on may actually damage it further! 

The truss rod needs to be set so the neck is straight then the repair to the fret board glued, clamped and left, Before strings are attached imo. Don't put to much glue in the truss rod cavity. Then worry about cosmetics. 

If the bass had a removable neck I would of offered to fix for free. As I'm nice like that. 

I believe that lacquer is just cracked. 

Franklin's original wood glue is excellent for neck repairs. And makes a stronger than wood bond it also sands and polishes nicely and doesn't mind being bent in the degrees a neck goes through. 

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43 minutes ago, Twincam said:

Serious fret board to neck issue. Adjusting the truss rod with strings on may actually damage it further! 

The truss rod needs to be set so the neck is straight then the repair to the fret board glued, clamped and left, Before strings are attached imo. Don't put to much glue in the truss rod cavity. Then worry about cosmetics. 

If the bass had a removable neck I would of offered to fix for free. As I'm nice like that. 

I believe that lacquer is just cracked. 

Franklin's original wood glue is excellent for neck repairs. And makes a stronger than wood bond it also sands and polishes nicely and doesn't mind being bent in the degrees a neck goes through. 

That's brilliant, thank you for the advice! 

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Coca-Cola has phosphoric acid in it. It has been used with gunsmiths for ages. Let the bridge be in the coke for 24 hours and if the result is not good enough, repeat.

Maybe a shorter trial first to some smaller part...

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  • 1 month later...

OK so lockdown is making me reluctant to make the non essential trip to get this professionally looked at or even posted. So, if I want to find out what's going on under that lacquer crack is 80grit sandpaper a good way to get through this sensibly? It's all I've got at the moment... Another view of the neck crack... 

 

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Sorry, to add, I'm looking to get the lacquer off to see what damage there is underneath. I'm OK with there being a bit of bare wood on the neck as long as I can sand in such a way that there isn't a lip or ramp that will be uncomfortable to play over. Or maybe the neck goes naked. Whichever... 

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Re. the original pickup.  Both pups in my SB900  were quite dodgy.  When throwing the switches  (  i have 2 pickups ) the drop in volume was so bad, it was unplayable.  The volume drop was only on the D and G strings, weirdly.   So i tried Rautia and sent an email,  but the cost of £ to euro was exortionate  .. paypal and bank wanted about £30, so i asked if he would go through Transferwise, but he wouldnt, which was strange because they're a reputable company. Used them before.  He also quoted me a long delay, (2 months ) so i tried Aaron Armstrong here in the UK, and he built 2 pickups for me to original spec, and had them delivered to me in a week.

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  • 1 month later...

Well this wasn't supposed to happen...! I got some quotes via email for the neck work and decided to flog the bass to someone who can do it as a labour of love. It just didn't seem viable to spend the money on it. I got a buyer but he pulled out before I could ship the bass. I relisted it. Then I was going to get my Stingray set up so I took it along just to see... And I must have caught the chap in a very good mood. The neck is repaired and a bone nut installed now. The frets are levelled and it's all set up ready to go. The price for the work was fantastic. I just need a replacement pup and may as well do the wiring all out too while there. 

So somehow I've gone from giving up on a lost cause to being within a pickup delivery and some solder of having a 1984 Aria SB Elite-i. 

I think it just shows that it's a bit unfair to get repair quotes just from photos, it needs to be seen and felt in the hand by the luthier. 

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17 minutes ago, gary mac said:

What a great outcome:friends:

Well, I have to order a pickup from Armstrong and I may as well do all the electronic guts while I'm there but it will have got me to the point of having a classic Aria from my year of birth. 

 

Now watch me give up on it after 3 months and sell it at a loss..! 

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She's back, she's in good shape. The crack repair has been done well, you can still see the crack but you can't feel it, which is the most important thing! 

There's now a bone nut installed, strings and a set up... Though the pickup is not yet working, I've still got a knob missing and for some reason the switch has been hidden inside the cavity. 

1592311163581358407406761269044.jpg

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OK so the neck is all sorted, we are ready to go except fitting the next pickup. Here's the latest issue, I can't get the b@stard old pickup out!! I can get it most of the way out by hand, see picture. Short of getting hold of it with an adjustable wrench what does everyone recommend? It just seems to be stuck in the middle somehow (it's not the wiring, that has plenty of wiggle room), either a tight fit to get it out of the body route or there's something underneath holding on to it. Don't want to risk further damage to the paintwork... Recommendations welcome! Thank you 

 

IMG_20200624_094301.jpg

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It's clear from your photo that the problem is that there are four wires across the top holding it in place.......😂

Seriously, could there be foam under the pickup like Fenders?  If so it could be glued in place.  Is there any room around the edge to slip a thin wedge in and lever it out? 

I noted there was some paint chips around the pup already maybe someone's already tried to lever it out previously? 

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There will be foam underneath that has become attached to the pickup. The only tiny bit of damage on my SB-R150 is around the pickup where a previous owner had clearly tried to lever out the original pickup.

I would suggest some form of gripper/clamps from above (strings off of course). These pickups are full of epoxy so pretty robust to give them a good squeezing in order to pull straight upwards.

Oh and congratulations on bringing a lovely old bass back to life. 👍

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1 hour ago, Deedee said:

There will be foam underneath that has become attached to the pickup. The only tiny bit of damage on my SB-R150 is around the pickup where a previous owner had clearly tried to lever out the original pickup.

I would suggest some form of gripper/clamps from above (strings off of course). These pickups are full of epoxy so pretty robust to give them a good squeezing in order to pull straight upwards.

Oh and congratulations on bringing a lovely old bass back to life. 👍

Thanks for the advice. I'll use the wrench but carefully. I don't think there's room to get a lever down there. 

I just took a punt on something on ebay and somehow managed to get a cost effective repair done by set up guy. I've been a bit lucky I think, but hoping that once the new pickup is in I've got something 80s-tastic. I always liked the look of these so hoping I can get it up and running in time for gigs to be legal again. 

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