Chromes - the final touch. (Long)

Doufuss · #1 06-15-2009, 06:18 AM

I have an old Boogie Bodies P-J bass that I came into by mostly accident. It belonged to my brother back in the day, and was purchased direct from Lynn Ellsworth down on his farm/factory in Puyallup WA. (Very nice people BTW) The neck is birdseye maple with a brazilian rosewood fingerboard, 20 frets. The body is alder and resonates like nothing you've ever heard.

This bass toured and did the club scene locally back in the eighties and stands as the pinnacle of technology for back then. My Bro lovingly assembled the parts and carefully chose components to get 'HIS' sound. Schaller roller, S-D dipswitch active pickups, Schaller Large tuners, hand carved bone nut. The bass disappeared when the band broke up, and was kind of forgotten.

I had always wondered what had happened to it, and many years later found it at the guitar player's Parents house. (The guitar player had developed some mental health issues later in life, so no, it wasn't any kind of maliciousness, he honestly had no idea)

It had sat in a closet for 24 years with one string. There was crud on the chrome, the fretboard was dry, the nut had come loose, the electronics no longer worked, and the neck was significantly bowed. So, I rolled up my sleeves and went to work. I came here for tips on setup, woodwork and getting the electronics right.

This is an old style P neck with the truss rod nut at the bridge side, so any adjustment required removing and replacing the neck. I strung it with a set of EB super slinkies in the gauge recommended for fender basses (light) and let it sit except for the odd pickup and play over the course of a year. With the Fender factory recommended relief, I found that there was a significant amount of fret buzz on the upper frets.

I despaired that it would never come right. I started looking at Warmoth necks online, but, being stubborn, decided to simply straighten the neck near flat (while strung), and change the angle of the neck - body with a cardboard shim to the headstock side. There was no more adjustment to be made on the truss rod. I had to pressure the neck into back-bow and the truss rod creaked agonizingly with every turn. (Scary)

This worked OK, but with these strings there was still a significant amount of relief bow in the neck. I chalked it up to the neck being a piece of spaghetti junk and decided to just accept it for what it was. By this time, I was tired of it and didn't want to spend any more time on it.

One fine day while lurking here I found that a lot of guys were using flat wounds. I was suspicious that the strings I had on it (roundwounds in a light gauge) were pulling the neck out. I started looking at them and finally took the plunge on a set of D'Addario Chromes in a super light gauge.

This is now THE NICEST playing bass I have ever had the pleasure of mauling with my cement finisher fingers. And I've tried a few or more. The string gauge and tension are dead perfect. There is now only a tiny bit of relief bow. The strings are so smooth it is a sensual experience. (sorry...) The playability is incredible and this bass has a new lease on life.

Bottom line - You guys saved my bass and I want to say thanks.

Update - Here's a couple of pics. The action on this thing is remarkable. My Brother came over last night and wants the bass back, says it's better than ever. The paint job was accomplished with the generous donation of some large fishnet stockings from a dear friend back in the day. The action is indeed that low and does not cause ANY fretbuzz. (There is a slight rattle coming from the bridge)

Sundogue · #2 06-15-2009, 07:13 AM

Being a flatwound player (loving Chromes especially) and also someone who loves to take old basses no one wants or finding very cheap "project" basses and turning them into very usable players, I really liked reading your story on this one.

DogBone · #3 06-15-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doufuss

This is now THE NICEST playing bass I have ever had the pleasure of mauling with my cement finisher fingers. And I've tried a few or more. The string gauge and tension are dead perfect. There is now only a tiny bit of relief bow. The strings are so smooth it is a sensual experience. (sorry...) The playability is incredible and this bass has a new lease on life.

Bottom line - You guys saved my bass and I want to say thanks.

Congratulations on the save, especially on an instrument that used to belong to your brother.

There's a lot of discussion about flats and tone, but it's often overlooked how nice a player a flatwound strung bass can be.

It's almost a given that when someone who is unfamiliar with flatwounds plays my bass for the first time (often a g**tarist) that they get a shocked look on their face and comment on how smooth the strings are, and how easily the strings fret (P bass w/ TI jazz flats).

I'd be honored to see pics of your bass when you can upload them, sounds like a very special bass.

dangerkirk · #4 06-15-2009, 04:59 PM

pics?

Doufuss · #5 06-16-2009, 10:23 PM

I'll post some on the weekend.

Cheers!

Pilgrim · #6 06-16-2009, 10:29 PM

Great story, and I'm delighted that you found this bass and got it playing well again.

BUT................................

No pics, no bass!

And as a WSU Coug who has spent plenty of time in the Puyalluup area,

I'm even MORE interested in seeing pics!!!!!!

Pics!

Pics!

Pics!

Doufuss · #7 06-17-2009, 05:20 AM

I'll see what I can do today.

You guys...

yamark · #8 06-17-2009, 05:44 AM

i go back and forth between ernie ball hybrids and chrome flats. its a decision i cannot make. i think ease of fretting on my 36 inch scale will have me wanting to keep the chromes on it. but the hybrid sound is pretty cool.

Doufuss · #9 06-19-2009, 08:59 AM

Here you go, folks.

Sundogue · #10 06-19-2009, 11:57 AM

Looks amazingly like words and blank space.

Don't see a bass there though.

p-bass · #11 06-19-2009, 01:09 PM

I love it..it looks great !

DogBone · #12 06-19-2009, 05:14 PM

Looks like the action is nice and low.

What kind of paint job is that? Looks like a net design or something?

Thanks for the pics!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundogue

Looks amazingly like words and blank space.

Don't see a bass there though.

Pics have been added to the OP

Doufuss · #13 06-20-2009, 02:46 AM

I could only upload 2 pics, so you can't see the whole thing. I chose to display the action and the headstock with Boogie Logo. The action is very low, but because of the shim in the neck, there is no fret buzz. The reason this post is in 'strings' and not 'set-up' is because of the Chromes. The super light gauge allows me to reduce tension on the neck, thus removing the S-curve, while keeping the bassness.

Fretting notes is the easiest thing in the world, it requires only a touch. Again, it is THE nicest playing bass (for touch and feel) that I have ever played, including $3000 jobbies in the local stores.

The net job is gold metalflake under and green metalflake over. It looks like a big ole snake. Remember, this thing was built when garage modding was king. Think Van Halen. The history of this instrument is directly related to that age, as Lynn Ellsworth was partner to Wayne Charvel at that time. According to Lynn, those parts for the original Frankenstein were produced in Puyallup, by him.

Doufuss · #14 07-04-2009, 08:50 AM

The kid plays this bass now to the exclusion of all else. The sound couples with the drums so well it is amazing.

He doesn't even touch his BTB 5'er now, it's just gathering dust.

Thanks again Boyos!