Can't resist a bass sob story.
Found a beat up P bass with a maple neck locally for $350 including a good condition deluxe SKB case. Here is the un rehabbed pics..
Had the wrong bridge which had the G string way out of whack but since it was from a EBMM Sub bass I knew folks that would happily take that.
Also had an original Badass bridge but since the body was unrouted the action was stoopid high.
The wood looked somewhat like the Fender walnut basses of the early 80's but was so funky I couldn't be sure. Turns out the neck is from an '83 Fender but the body is not Fender.
The fretboard finish was chipping as well and felt icky.
Some folks would say the back of this neck is mojo but the poly finish was chipping and flaking like a mofo and felt like crap.
Took a few hours and using the Fender cleaning products discovered that under the funk and dirt was a lovely mocha brown well grained body which upon examination by a local luthier determined it is in fact walnut which to purchae a walnut bass body unfinished would run $225 for a neekid hunk of wood.
Under the hood precleaning...
Post. Like a nice cup of cafe au lait coffee in New Orleans....
With a proper Fender style bridge which will get replaced with a Badass II later...
The electronics popped like a machine gun to to some of the worst soldering I have ever seen. Took 4 hours to disassemble the pots for cleaning, replace the corroded wires, run a new bridge ground, and reroute all the wiring to see what the heck those pickups sounded like. Actually not bad at all.
Next came tending to the neck. Took about 2 hours to scrape and flake off all the excess finish and sand it down. Then 2 coats of Birchwood Casey Tru oil gunstock finish and then wax which is how Ernie Ball MusicMan finishes their necks. Looking way better...
Still has a long way to go because I just picked the fretboard side of the neck clean and will sand and oil over the next few days. After that is replacing the bridge, tuners, tried to salvage them but they are sticky and binding still but better than when I picked it up.
Eventually this will have a 70's TV logo like this....
Just did one coat of oil and wax on the fretboard side. The oil actually brought out more woodgrain and even more little marks.
Still has it's battle scars but they no longer affect the playability of it or makes me nervous about getting a poly sliced finger. Feels broken in but not beat to snot anymore.
Original..
Finished
Jim
