My jazz bass was destroyed in my house fire(pics)

stratguy740 · #1 01-28-2010, 10:24 PM

Hello, im new here and i really like it, im really confused right now and was wondering if you guys could help. See my house recently went up in flames and everything was destroyed. (Either by the fire or smoke damage). My room was untouched by the fire but all my music equipment was ruined by the smoke. This jazz bass was my pride and joy. They wanted me to throw it away cause it smelled like smoke but i refused. It was all black when i got it. I ended up taking all the guts out. How much would it cost to have someone gut this thing for me? Or what i really want to do is buy everything and do it myself, as like a project and ive always wanted to do this. oh yeah and its a deluxe active j bass MIM. Any ideas? Thanks guys!

__HM__ · #2 01-28-2010, 10:32 PM

All it needs is a refinish, and that should take the smell off of the wood. If even, maybe just a ton of elbow grease would do it. As for the parts, might as well use this as an excuse to upgrade. Although I imagine what with the fire that money's tight.. Sorry about your troubles man, that's horrible. :\

afireinside · #3 01-28-2010, 10:37 PM

Being a full time firefighter and bass player/guitar player id say the smoke wont "permeate" the finish I would go over the body and neck with a fine car polishing compound to get the residue off. And maybe rubbing alcohol and paper towel on the electronics and wiring. Take a lil work but beats a refin!

__HM__ · #4 01-28-2010, 10:41 PM

Hey AFI, how's being a firefighting musician workin' out for you? I'm 17, and really want to be a fireman, but I'm concerned that it's going to be too busy of a job for me to stay in practice with my music. On the other hand, I hear there's plenty of free time around the station between fires and whatnot. opinion?

afireinside · #5 01-28-2010, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by __HM__

Hey AFI, how's being a firefighting musician workin' out for you? I'm 17, and really want to be a fireman, but I'm concerned that it's going to be too busy of a job for me to stay in practice with my music. On the other hand, I hear there's plenty of free time around the station between fires and whatnot. opinion?

Hahaha well put it this way we work 9, 24 hr shifts a month, it works out to be 51 hr work weeks. I have 21 full days off every month. I am doing one full time and one part time band project as a bass player and writer. And I also play guitar. I am the bands tech. I play video games and work on my house have a GF and many other things so yeah time isent really a factor

gumtownbassman · #6 01-28-2010, 11:08 PM

A duplicate thread here
My Fender Jazz Bass that was in my house fire!(pics)

spellcaster · #7 01-28-2010, 11:22 PM

Rebuild it... keep the mojo...

__HM__ · #8 02-07-2010, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afireinside

Hahaha well put it this way we work 9, 24 hr shifts a month, it works out to be 51 hr work weeks. I have 21 full days off every month. I am doing one full time and one part time band project as a bass player and writer. And I also play guitar. I am the bands tech. I play video games and work on my house have a GF and many other things so yeah time isent really a factor

Man that sounds amazing.... lol. Where exactly do you work again?

kesslari · #9 02-07-2010, 11:28 AM

Rebuild it. The Bionic Bass!

I'm sorry you lost your house, it is extremely cool that your bass survived. That's serious mojo - put her back together and play the heck out of her!

HaMMerHeD · #10 02-07-2010, 12:42 PM

That bass is a survivor. Refinish the body and neck, upgrade the electronics, and play on.

J. Crawford · #11 02-07-2010, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afireinside

Hahaha well put it this way we work 9, 24 hr shifts a month, it works out to be 51 hr work weeks. I have 21 full days off every month. I am doing one full time and one part time band project as a bass player and writer. And I also play guitar. I am the bands tech. I play video games and work on my house have a GF and many other things so yeah time isent really a factor

Sounds like one heck of a job to me! Well, except for the danger factor.

Ruckus_Instrmts · #12 02-07-2010, 12:55 PM

I'd airbrush/spray a "real" fire paint job and top with a "smoked" clear. Celebrate the survival, I'd also jam out to New Grass Revival's "Revival".

ZombieBRAINS!! · #13 02-07-2010, 01:10 PM

just let it air out, it'll be ok, far worse has been done to instruments and they still played well.

archer121 · #14 02-07-2010, 05:15 PM

Look over the body and neck to make sure the wood's not cracked or warped from the heat. Relax the truss rod and inspect the bond line between the fretboard and the neck to look for any gaps and sight down the neck to see how straight it is. Also, check the headstock for cracks in the wood. If everything is structurally sound, the beast can rise once again. Part are readily available and for less than or equal to the cost of replacing this bass with a new one, you can put this one back together and have an even better partner than one you can ever buy in any store.

The trade off is that you will have to name it either Phoenix or Charlie... that's just how it is.

J. Crawford · #15 02-07-2010, 05:22 PM

Im all for the airbrush it with flames, but thats just me!

Marco A. Mayer · #16 02-07-2010, 05:34 PM

Add a flame maple top to it... just for the irony

throbgod13 · #17 02-07-2010, 05:59 PM

find an Ionic Breeze air cleaner and put it and the bass in a small closet, turn the IB full blast and leave it there for a few days.. the IB puts out Ozone, which will kill the smell on the bass..

then rebuild it.. i wouldn't worry about the finish at all.. it's something that you can look back on.. you will eventually get another bass, don't go through the hassle of trying to refinish it..

play it..

sonic assassin · #18 02-07-2010, 08:08 PM

+1 on the mojo. looks cool that way. it survived a fire... its a keeper.

Beej · #19 02-08-2010, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stratguy740

Hello, im new here and i really like it, im really confused right now and was wondering if you guys could help. See my house recently went up in flames and everything was destroyed. (Either by the fire or smoke damage). My room was untouched by the fire but all my music equipment was ruined by the smoke. This jazz bass was my pride and joy. They wanted me to throw it away cause it smelled like smoke but i refused. It was all black when i got it. I ended up taking all the guts out. How much would it cost to have someone gut this thing for me? Or what i really want to do is buy everything and do it myself, as like a project and ive always wanted to do this. oh yeah and its a deluxe active j bass MIM. Any ideas? Thanks guys!

You and I apparently have radically differing definitions of the word "destroyed"...

knitman · #20 02-08-2010, 07:03 AM

Are those pictures after the fire?? Looks perfectly fine to me. String that baby up