Fender 1973 Mustang Bass Restore

[ahhhnice]

I just picked up a '73 Mustang Bass that i'm restoring as a gift.

There's been some modifications to it — from what i can tell they drilled out the body to fit Precision-style pickups and then covered it with a paper cut-out pickguard. It's also missing a tuner bolt — the piece with the gear and bolt that goes through the headstock. It's only the one piece that's missing, as the other 3 tuning machines are completely together.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience with changing/replacing these tuners, or finding that lost piece. The headstock holes are larger than the more recent reissue Mustangs, and if possible, I'd like to find the missing piece rather than drill new holes in the headstock. The replacement parts on BassPartsResource.com don't seem to be made for this vintage style since the bracket holes are different as well. I'm more interested in just making it playable, but getting the vintage part would be amazing.

Thoughts?

[s_mcsleazy]

ouch @ the routing

[Pilgrim]

The good news is that a decent pickguard will cover the nasty routing.

[ahhhnice]

For real... I ordered the pickguard—got a friend with a laser cutter that's gonna help me with the custom cuts. I should probably figure out how to best set the pickups.

[BigOldHarry]

That is not the first old 'stang I've seen with this mod... Bet it sounds better with real P p'ups!

Like the sunburst finish - a bit uncommon for old Stangs...

[AntAir267]

I love those pups. I would do it myself if I had the guts to. Also, for replacing the tuners, just buy a new, larger set and dremel out the holes to fit.

[ahhhnice]

the newer replacement tuners ive seen have a smaller pegheads that goes through the headstock than the early 70's ones, meaning i'd need to buffer the space between the existing holes and the new bushings. i'm thinking that'll affect how well she'll stay in tune?

[Pilgrim]

I'd go to Ebay and do online searches for the correct tuner.