- Jan 21, 2006
- 16,223
- 7,613
- 76
- Disclosures
- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
Warning: Long Post! I can't wait to shout about this! I finally got a little sunshine so we could take some pictures!
RSGuitarworks in Winchester, Kentucky has beautifully restored my 1955 Fender P-bass. I have posted this picture for the MIA Fender club thread, but here it is again. This is a BEFORE picture (middle instrument).
Here is another BEFORE pic, a body close-up.
I purchased the bass in 1973 (IIRC) for $250 from a friend. He was a terrific guitarist (the best I have ever worked with). He was obsessed with old Telecasters and 4x10 Fender Bassman amps. He lived in Nashville for a while in the late 60's, and bought several old Fender instruments from pawn shops, dealers, and other players. One was this abused old 1955 P-bass. He had another friend who was into old P-basses, but this guy already had several, so my friend pirated a few parts for one of his old Telecasters from the bass (a knob, both pots, and a half a dozen screws), and sold it to me.
For a while we worked together with the house band (Jim Carr and the Trucks) in an "oldies" bar in Massachusetts, where we backed the Shirelles, the Platters, and Chubby Checker.
As I recall, my guitarist friend said the bass had been very very badly refinished a livid pink over a two-tone sunburst. He stripped it and did a frankly pretty hashish influenced job of refinishing it in polyurethane--lots and lots of polyurethane. Hey, it was the early 70's, and everyone was doing it to their basses. He replaced the missing parts with some other old but non-vintage parts, and sold it to me with the original pickguard (unmounted) and the bridge cover. The pickup cover was not with the bass. In the process of refinishing it, he filled the pickguard screw holes with plasticwood, and sanded the headstock face to remove pink paint, also removing the original Fender decal. The rest of the neck was not sanded, just lightly brushed over with polyurethane.
I reinstalled the pickguard, but not until I had played it for about 10 years, creating a small area of wear from my thumb. I no longer anchor my thumb, but at the time, I had the original tugbar above the strings (ugh!). About 1998 or so, the pickup output went to zero. I had it repaired (rewound) by Lindy Fralin himself, using the original magnets and bobin. The wire and number of turns were vintage spec. I replaced the pots with ones with the right resistance, and the capacitor with one that matched the old one pretty well.
Here are the issues the restore was to address:
Body Finish:
The body was to be cleansed of it's yellowing saggy and runny poly coat, and the wear and grime that had worked into the unsealed Ash grain cleaned up. The new finish would be a period accurate nitrocellulose two-tone sunburst, all based on a considerable number of photos we collected and the amazing knowledge of the RSGuitarworks luthiers. The nice and tight neck pocket showed that the original finish had been a two-tone burst. The new nitro finish would be lightly relic'd/aged, as though I had played it and taken good care of it for over 30 years (what the RS guys call "well-loved").
Neck Finish:
Thank heavens, but poly does not stick to nitrocellulose very well, so sanding and peeling would remove all of it from the neck (it did!) The frets were cleaned up a bit, and a period correct decal was applied. BTW, the heel date is May, '55.
Hardware:
The screw situation was tricky, as it is hard to match these, but Roy and Scott of RSGuitarworks did it. Also, they aged the new screws to match the originals. In fact, I can't tell which are replacements, except I know the neck "bolts" were not original, but the new ones look just like originals. The single unoriginal knob (tone) is very similar in shape and texture to the original one, so it was aged a bit to more closely match the remaining original knob.
OK, OK! The AFTER restore pics:
Despite the slightly sloppy string wrap on the D in the photo (now fixed), this bass is darn near perfect. I have strung it with D'Addario Chromes (XL). I posted in the Strings forum that I first tried Fender Mediums. They had way too much tension for the neck, and franky didn't sound very good. The truss rod has lots of adjustment left, and I want to keep it that way, so off came the Fenders (.055-.105) and on went the Chromes (.040-.095).
Wow! This bass loves these strings. It is very responsive and much richer in tone, and even though I am playing with both covers on, I can find two great sweet spots for my fingers. Heaven.
More to come, when I get a chance.
RSGuitarworks in Winchester, Kentucky has beautifully restored my 1955 Fender P-bass. I have posted this picture for the MIA Fender club thread, but here it is again. This is a BEFORE picture (middle instrument).
Here is another BEFORE pic, a body close-up.
I purchased the bass in 1973 (IIRC) for $250 from a friend. He was a terrific guitarist (the best I have ever worked with). He was obsessed with old Telecasters and 4x10 Fender Bassman amps. He lived in Nashville for a while in the late 60's, and bought several old Fender instruments from pawn shops, dealers, and other players. One was this abused old 1955 P-bass. He had another friend who was into old P-basses, but this guy already had several, so my friend pirated a few parts for one of his old Telecasters from the bass (a knob, both pots, and a half a dozen screws), and sold it to me.
For a while we worked together with the house band (Jim Carr and the Trucks) in an "oldies" bar in Massachusetts, where we backed the Shirelles, the Platters, and Chubby Checker.
As I recall, my guitarist friend said the bass had been very very badly refinished a livid pink over a two-tone sunburst. He stripped it and did a frankly pretty hashish influenced job of refinishing it in polyurethane--lots and lots of polyurethane. Hey, it was the early 70's, and everyone was doing it to their basses. He replaced the missing parts with some other old but non-vintage parts, and sold it to me with the original pickguard (unmounted) and the bridge cover. The pickup cover was not with the bass. In the process of refinishing it, he filled the pickguard screw holes with plasticwood, and sanded the headstock face to remove pink paint, also removing the original Fender decal. The rest of the neck was not sanded, just lightly brushed over with polyurethane.
I reinstalled the pickguard, but not until I had played it for about 10 years, creating a small area of wear from my thumb. I no longer anchor my thumb, but at the time, I had the original tugbar above the strings (ugh!). About 1998 or so, the pickup output went to zero. I had it repaired (rewound) by Lindy Fralin himself, using the original magnets and bobin. The wire and number of turns were vintage spec. I replaced the pots with ones with the right resistance, and the capacitor with one that matched the old one pretty well.
Here are the issues the restore was to address:
Body Finish:
The body was to be cleansed of it's yellowing saggy and runny poly coat, and the wear and grime that had worked into the unsealed Ash grain cleaned up. The new finish would be a period accurate nitrocellulose two-tone sunburst, all based on a considerable number of photos we collected and the amazing knowledge of the RSGuitarworks luthiers. The nice and tight neck pocket showed that the original finish had been a two-tone burst. The new nitro finish would be lightly relic'd/aged, as though I had played it and taken good care of it for over 30 years (what the RS guys call "well-loved").
Neck Finish:
Thank heavens, but poly does not stick to nitrocellulose very well, so sanding and peeling would remove all of it from the neck (it did!) The frets were cleaned up a bit, and a period correct decal was applied. BTW, the heel date is May, '55.
Hardware:
The screw situation was tricky, as it is hard to match these, but Roy and Scott of RSGuitarworks did it. Also, they aged the new screws to match the originals. In fact, I can't tell which are replacements, except I know the neck "bolts" were not original, but the new ones look just like originals. The single unoriginal knob (tone) is very similar in shape and texture to the original one, so it was aged a bit to more closely match the remaining original knob.
OK, OK! The AFTER restore pics:
Despite the slightly sloppy string wrap on the D in the photo (now fixed), this bass is darn near perfect. I have strung it with D'Addario Chromes (XL). I posted in the Strings forum that I first tried Fender Mediums. They had way too much tension for the neck, and franky didn't sound very good. The truss rod has lots of adjustment left, and I want to keep it that way, so off came the Fenders (.055-.105) and on went the Chromes (.040-.095).
Wow! This bass loves these strings. It is very responsive and much richer in tone, and even though I am playing with both covers on, I can find two great sweet spots for my fingers. Heaven.
More to come, when I get a chance.
