Making an old bass more playable.

Falcon of Bass · #1 10-01-2011, 09:45 PM

Hey all... So, in all my 13 years of playing bass, I have only played stock instruments. I know, I know... I've always just been way too squeamish to take apart something that I usually had to work hard to get. About 4 years ago, though, my daughter was born, and being hard up for cash, all of my basses had to go... except for one.

A guy that I met in college found out that I was a bass player and said that he had a bass sitting in his attic that he wanted to give away, just to get rid of it. So of course I said I would take it. I opened up the cheap cardboard case it was kept in, and found a beat up Fender P-bass. Maple body, maple/maple neck, and heavy as hell. I didn't do anything with it, because I had nicer basses at the time.

I quit playing for a little while, after my daughter was born, due to time and financial constraints. But now, I want to start playing again, and all I have is this old P-bass. It plays, but whoever played it before me had put it through the ringer. It's had a lot of parts replaced, apparently pretty poorly. The neck is not stock as far as I can tell, with no logo. The E, D, and G tuners are of the same type, but the A tuner is different. The bridge is a disaster, but it holds the strings up. The pots and jack crackle. But it's all I have, so I play it. But when I cut my finger today on one of the junk pickups, that was the last straw. I started taking the thing apart. I'm not sure what to do next, though. Any suggestions on what part/s to replace first? Remember, this thing is all I have, but it's also a POS, so I don't really want to put a lot of money into it...

pnut166 · #2 10-01-2011, 10:01 PM

Depending on the year, I`d gladly trade you a nice bass for it

Muzoid · #3 10-01-2011, 10:07 PM

How do you know it's a Fender?

Ruoska · #4 10-02-2011, 02:10 AM

Yeah, could be any old P copy. With the neck gone and the bridge too I guess the only way to tell would be to look in the neck pocket where manufacturers often stamp something. Don't know if Fender does that tho, never owned one.

john grey · #5 10-02-2011, 08:50 AM

Take pictures!
A great deal of worthy suggestions could be gleaned from knowing exactly what you have.

Collider · #6 10-02-2011, 11:56 AM

Yep, pictures would be good but a couple of things occur -

Do you enjoy playing the bass in question (sounds like you don't)? If not, for the money you might have to spend getting up and running you might well be better off selling it and buying something inexpensive used, like a decent Squire p-bass.

Pilgrim · #7 10-02-2011, 05:56 PM

Pick up Dan Erlewine's book on guitar repair, and you can find a ton of information on every aspect of taking apart the instrument, replacing parts and making adjustments. It's a great ongoing reference and will help you work through just about whatever comes up.

Falcon of Bass · #8 10-03-2011, 07:13 AM

Hey, thanks for the replies, everyone.

I guess I shouldn't have jumped the gun and called it a Fender.. I have no real way of confirming this. The one different tuner on the A is stamped with the Fender logo, but there's no telling whether that's the one original tuner or not. My guess is not. Also, there was nothing stamped on the neckplate or in the neck pocket. As far as how old it is, the only discernible clue I have is in the form of a piece of cabinet sanding paper that was folded up and stuck behind the neck in the neck pocket... it had a 3M logo on it that was used between 1961 and 1978. Still vague.

I'm working right now on getting some pictures up. As far as it being worth the work... it's not the most terrible bass I've played, but lord it needs some TLC. I think most of the problems I have with it are hardware related. It's a little heavier than I would normally like, but the neck feels pretty good. Not to mention, I kinda like the idea of the "personal achievement" aspect of it, if you know what I mean.

Pilgrim, I'm searching for that book now, thanks!

LAPetrarca · #9 10-03-2011, 08:34 AM

Hey....modding old basses and bringing them back to life can be a blast!

A couple of years ago I modded a Squier P-Bass with new pickups and pickguard and had a blast doing it. Foolishly, I sold it.

Due to the recent passing of a family member, I ended up with another Squier P-Bass that was found in the back of a closet with a twisted, bowed neck and a stripped truss rod.

Took it home, pulled the neck off and bought a neck on the local Craigslist for $35. Installed it and had a pro setup done on it and it plays pretty good. Good enough that I leave it at the practice space for band rehearsals.

All for less than $100.

Be adventurous! You got it for free and could have some fun in getting it working again. You'll probably learn a thing or two as well.

Falcon of Bass · #10 10-05-2011, 04:18 PM

Hey all, sorry I've taken so long to get pictures up.. I've been pretty busy the last few days. Here are a few pictures of the neck, for starters. Don't mind the painted "logo" on the headstock... I got tired of how plain it looked. (Sorry Jens... Ritter is my last name too!

I took a picture of the first fret to show that there is some significant wear to the fretboard there. There is minor wear on the 3-5 frets. I also took a picture down the neck to show that there is a very slight twist at the first fret and headstock, although I don't know how well it shows.

More pictures coming tonight/tomorrow. Any suggestions for pictures?

john grey · #11 10-05-2011, 04:49 PM

I noticed a couple of things. If APPEARS there may be water damage, fret wear and deep E string impression or water damage near the nut. I think the neck may be fixable but it's not a high quality unit.: consider replacement with a moderate graphite (with frets included: unless you want to got fret-less).

Consider letting it sit for a few days and see if you can determine if it's water damage. A neck (IMO) is worth repairing if you're dirt poor or if the neck was of moderate to better quality to begin with. Otherwise, for as low as $100 you could get a fair to decent one and those problems are all behind you. If you like the body and if the electronics function: I would consider those routes.

Muzoid · #12 10-05-2011, 06:35 PM

Ya...I'd consider a replacement neck as well...that 1st fret look way out of whack.

From the pictures, I'd say home-made jobbie, with less than stellar fret work.

- If you do go with a replacement neck, and it's blank on the headstock...go to a local sign ship that has a vinyl cutter, they can cut you a "Ritter" sticker, that will look totally awesome, stick it on, and coat with some clearcoat and it will last the life of the neck....I do mine this way, and they look totally pro.

Sign shop should charge you less than $5 for this.