Peavey Milestone remake - please suggest

[kipsus]

I've (re)opened my Peavey Milestone bxp. You can see from the photos that it isn't a top quality instrument, nor extremely valuable. But it is my first bass so I will probably keep it till I die. I also like to DIY, so tuning it up a bit won't hurt I guess

Okay, here are the shots:








The neck is very nice, I did some fret aligning myself, succesfully. The electric part is also acceptable, I have changed all the wires, shielded everything, etc.
The whole problem is the body. In addition to being ugly and boring, it looks like the makers only used an axe and perhaps some coarse sandpaper..
My question is, can the body be improved in any way? If so, how? I would like to even out the area where the neck is bolted on. Maybe using some kind of filler or smth. Plastic epoxy looks promising.
Various other improvements are possible but in that case it would be easier to just make/buy another body I guess :/
Any suggestions? And no, taking it to a luthier isn't an option, I have to do it myself.
Thanks
kipsus

[kipsus]

Ok, me is doing some serious modifications. I'll post the pictures later. Btw, those flimsy screws don't seem to be a very good way to fix a neck. I was thinking of this:



To replace the original screws (upper in the pic) or at least an additional pair. Good idea?

[kipsus]

Bump
Despite the lack of interest from you guys, I did some things to my bass and now it's once again improved. Not much but hey, it's always nice to improve something
Pictures coming

[K-Frog]

I think DaveCustomade (sp?) tup a figured wood top on his Peavey, as well as reshaping the headstock.

On your bass, I was kinda shocked at the messy finish hanging over into the pickup and electronics cavities.

Keep up the work, tinkering for improvements is a lot of fun,and is likely how several custom builders developed their skills and got into the business.

K

[The Penguin]

Originally Posted by kipsus

I would like to even out the area where the neck is bolted on. Maybe using some kind of filler or smth. Plastic epoxy looks promising.

Filling it sounds kinda messy, ultimately you want to get in there with a router and just take out enough to make it flat. You'll need to build a little jig to supprt the router but if you have access to one that's the way to go.

[kipsus]

Okay, so this is how it used to look. Fret polishing in progress, one is still untouched:





Finished:



The I cleaned up the wood and got some furniture oil to renew the fretboard a bit. After all the procedures it looks like this:



Okay now I filed my a$$ off with this. File, measure, mark bumps, file, measure, mark.. When there no bumps left, I started adding layers of plastic epoxy. Very easy to work with. Then the file, measure mark cycle again.. And voila, maybe not the prettiest peace of work in the universe but it is pretty much flat now.




I also did some minor finetuning to the electronic part, fixed a couple of loose screws etc.

Another experiment was to soak the strings in denaturated alcohol over night. That stuff stinks like hell but the effect is very good, the strings sound like new now.

I feel like it weas worth the trouble because now it feels like the neck is much more stable, doesn't crackle/loose tuning even if stressed quite hard.

kipsus

[Sean S]

Looks good

I wish I had the skill/time/patience to deal with my Milestone IV. Oh well!

sean