nosnowking Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Hi all, Got myself a double bass a few weeks ago after 30-odd years of playing electric. It's not a pretty sight, and has been gigged extensively on the rockabilly/psychobilly circuit. Came to me with nylon strings and painted all over in this silver and black spiderweb pattern. To be honest, it was pretty well done, but I wanted steel strings and the fingerboard was not up to the job with paint all over it. As it turns out it's an Antoni plywood box with a maple board...not exactly orchestral quality but it's suitable for my needs and budget. Stripped the neck, sanded it down, scored myself a set of helicores, strung it up, then realised the bridge was not in a decent shape for steels, so ordered an adjustable from CJ Stephens. Realised I'd cut the bridge too low so had to "borrow" the feet from the old bridge. 😅 The old pickup was in a bad way so I picked up a J-Tone off eBay. Once strung up I realised the fingerboard was in worse shape than I originally thought, and it wouldn't play without rattles and dead spots. Strings off again and sanded some relief into the board. It now plays pretty well with a reasonable action, although it's still a bit high near the octave so I might need to take the bridge end of the board down a bit further. The nut has been cut way too deep and wide for steels. For now I've got some maple veneer shims in the nut slots while I work up the courage to cut a new nut from a blank I bought. So a few weeks have passed and I've grown tired of the paint job. It's not me. Out with the paint stripper again... Not sure if the spiderweb was done with some kind of sheet overlay, but it came off in great globs of slimy mess. Under the silver there's also red, and black, and blue, and primer, and writing, and stickers...🤣 The wood itself shows some battle scars and looks kinda cool. This thing has had more spray jobs than David Dickinson! Found myself some walnut varnish in the garage, and painted the fingerboard black. It's looking pretty good so far. At least I'll have slightly more dignity walking into the local jam night! This has been a fun experience so far. I know it's not a "quality" instrument but it plays alright and sounds like most other plywood basses. It might even speak a bit more freely without 27 layers of paint on the body...although I doubt it! It is what it is. Future work...new nut. Sort out rattly tuners. I need to strip the scroll but that's a fiddly job so the bass looks like it's wearing a tinfoil hat! I have a nasty feeling there's a historical headstock break under the paint, but it feels solid. Tailpiece also needs stripping. The neck join shows no sign of movement, so long may that continue. Need to properly sort the bridge feet, they're not quite sitting flush. The you go, my budget bass-shaped object! 😎 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Looks cool. Never lean it against the wall balanced against the neck though, it’s a receipt for disaster. Find a corner (preferably one away from a radiator!) and place if there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 1 hour ago, Burns-bass said: Never lean it against the wall balanced against the neck though, Too right...leant mine against a wall in a pub last week, while setting up for a gig. Now there's a £3000 bill to mend the neck that cracked when it fell forward, hitting its peg box on a table. Good job it was insured. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosnowking Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 That's great advice, thank you! The keyboard stand to the left of the bass is its usual resting place, à la BassBar. I need to move some furniture to find a corner! 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 21 hours ago, NickA said: Too right...leant mine against a wall in a pub last week, while setting up for a gig. Now there's a £3000 bill to mend the neck that cracked when it fell forward, hitting its peg box on a table. Good job it was insured. So sorry to hear this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 10 hours ago, nosnowking said: That's great advice, thank you! The keyboard stand to the left of the bass is its usual resting place, à la BassBar. I need to move some furniture to find a corner! 😅 The Hercules bass stand is my favourite and you can often get them cheaply on eBay. I estimate you’ll be out gigging in a few months when word gets around… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 On 30/03/2024 at 22:27, NickA said: Too right...leant mine against a wall in a pub last week, while setting up for a gig. Now there's a £3000 bill to mend the neck that cracked when it fell forward, hitting its peg box on a table. Good job it was insured. I dropped mine decades ago when my carrying strap broke. I had always begrudged paying insurance. Suddenly it was a VERY GOOD THING. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickA Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 2 minutes ago, Owen said: Suddenly it was a VERY GOOD THING. ..yup. reckon I've broken even on my payments to Allianz over the decades. They'll win in the end tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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