My Ibanez Blazer

[ZootHornRollo]

Hi,

I have a couple of Q's about trying* to restore and upgrade my Blazer.

*please pay particular attention to the word 'trying'. I have never done this before!

I have had it for about 15 years after picking it up from a second hand shop in Edinburgh for about £100 - perhaps someone will recognise it by the ever-present black tape on the back of the body that appears to be covering up a large chip?

It is now time to tart it up a bit.

As you can see it has a rather fetching mirrored perspex scratch plate that is unfortunately cracked around the jack - a common fault i have found. I have managed to find a UK supplier - http://www.auroraproject.co.uk/metal_plates.htm - and was thinking about a polished aluminum replacement.

Whilst it is in pieces i was thinking about replacing the pickups, pots and rewiring. I was also going to remove the bridge and give it a good working over with brasso along with any other metal parts such as tuners.

This will of course leave the woodwork in need of some TLC. I was wanting to strip the body, sand down to smooth it and remove some of the minor blemishes etc (nothing too savage as there are a few heavy dings and that chip out the back is about 1/8 of an inch deep) then refinish. There is a sizeable chip on the headstock but i was just going to leave the neck well alone and was going to unbolt it from the body before any stripping/refinishing.

What kind of finish is used on these guitars from new? I am guessing that it would be best to use a chemical stripper?

Any recommendations for which pickups to replace the originals?

What about tone/volume pots? There seems to be many price points but i have no idea if spending £25 on a tone control makes any difference over a £5 one? Any particular brand/model you'd recommend?

The strap pin on the tail end works itself loose every now and then, any way to get that to stay put? Or best to relocated it in a fresh bore?

Sorry for all the q's.

[ZootHornRollo]

[ZootHornRollo]

Found this p-bass wiring kit on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Precision-Bass...item4154eaab69

Can i use that?

[Thumpin_P]

Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo

Found this p-bass wiring kit on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Precision-Bass...item4154eaab69

Can i use that?

Yes! Be sure to use a shielded control cavity. It looks as though the ground wire coming off of the case of the volume pot is intended to be screwed into the side of your cavity. As far as the finish, I was never brave enough when I refinished my B.C. Rich Mockingbird, so I sanded the finish off. More work, but, less chemical residue. I would recommend a simple clearcoat, possibly nitrocelulose laquer. Be sure to use pore seler before spraying the lacquer, though, or you might end up with a sloppy, grainy mess. As far as the strap button, the method that always works for me is to use a toothpick, some cynoaccrylate glue (super glue), put the toothpick as far in the hole as possible. Break the toothpick where the top of the hole is, without breaking the toothpick in two. Coat the piece that will reside in the hole with glue, place in the hole, and hold pressure until the glue bonds ( usually 30 seconds). When it is stuck, break it the rest of the way and screw your strap button in. It should stay for a long time. As far as pickups, whatever your taste is, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Rio Grande, Fender replacement. If you use that wiring harness, you will have to steer clear of active pickups, though.

I don't know your level of experience, so I hope that I have not insulted your intelligence. I hope this info helps. I have some experience, but not as much as many of the people on this forum. Be patient, you will probably get more help than you want. PM me if there is anything else I can help you with.

Sincerely,

Thumpin_P

[ZootHornRollo]

Thanks,

I was had considered active but i really don't want to be routing out chunks of my guitar. I was born with passive so it will remain passive. Can't make up my mind about the pick ups. I play mainly blues and blues based rock but also some metal covers (rory gallagher/ peter greens fleetwood mac/ cream/ neil young/ alice in chains etc etc) so not really looking for anything too hot. I guess smooth and well balanced would be best.

I have been doing a bit a reading on the forum and quite frankly it is doing nothing other than make it even more confusing as there are so many differing opinions. SD spb-2's seem to be too deep with poor high end, spb-3's to gainy, dimarzio p122's come across as hot, and nobody ever mentions the Fender replacements. I am looking to spend around £60 on a pick up but am prepared to go up a bit for the right one.

Any thoughts on the DiMarzio DP127?

I am just going to leave the body as-is because i don't want to risk losing some of the character the bass has picked up over the years. So i just need a new pickguard - will be ordered next week - and a new pickup and wiring loom.

[bertbassplayer]

I don't know if the pickups on your Blazer are stock or not... can't tell from the picture.

I have a Ibanez Blazer and tell you the truth they are some of the best P pickups I've ever heard. I use the bass for anything from rock to funk to bluegrass and it sounds great.

I got a new pickguard for mine because the stock one cracked and then I rewired it, and that's all it's really needed. Anyway don't think just because you got it cheap it needs to be upgraded. Sometimes things are just fine the way they are.

[Lazarus.Bird]

Before you go mod crazy, think things through. I have an '84 Roadstar II that I thought about modding but in the end decided that I loved the vintage feel it had and would leave everything original.

I would say at least leave the pickups! That is assuming they are the stock Super P4s. I love the way they sound.

[ZootHornRollo]

Cheers for the comments.

I priced up new pick guards and am still thinking about a polished aluminium one. I priced up copper but that was going to cost about £70. I guess if I don't renew the pickup I can stretch the pickguard budget.

[grisezd]

I totally understand the urge to modify things, but that's a classic bass that looks to be in very good condition. Myself, I would clean it up (good idea on the bridge) and give it a nice fret dress and setup, and leave it alone. Once it's been refinished it will be worth less to others, not just in money but in all the intrinsic value of having and original survivor.

If you want to upgrade electronics it would be cool to find another pickguard to build up and put the original one away intact.

[ZootHornRollo]

i decided to leave the blazer as original as i can for now.

gave it a bloody good clean up. All the metal work has been polished using diamond paste. The bridge was really hard work and took over an hour and a half but once it was done it was really worth the effort - no longer is it a dull matt brown... its reflective!

I have replaced the broken scratch plate with a DIY plywood plate. It does the job for now.

Unfortunately when i was puting it all back together again i have dislodged one of the connections (the earth i think) to the volume pot and my butane soldering iron is no longer holding gas. I will fix it once i get a new soldering iron.

Gave the frets a good clean up with the diamond paste. Between that and the good clean and polish to the fretboard have made a dramatic change to the playability. There are a few frets need replacing - maybe 5 or 6 - any idea how much it is likely to cost to have these done? (£)

[StraightSix]

I'm a bit late to this thread but I had my Blazer completely refretted for only £75 so to replace 5 or 6 shouldn't cost much.

Also, I would agree with what's been said earlier about the pickup - the original Super P4 split pickup from Ibanez is fantastic.

I wish mine looked that clean...!

[ksandvik]

If I had that Blazer I would just fix things that need repair and let the vintage-wear look stay there as it shows that that bass has been played. I.e fix the electronics, the Blazers are notorious for the switches et rest becoming noisy after some time.