$5 bass rescue from death

[v-12]

Came out great and thanks for sharing!

I’ve been wanting to do something similar, but that bass would have been $100 locally vs $5 lol.

 

[godofthunder59]

Well done! I love a good project.

 

[joeLowB]

Dude...that is just awesome! What a fun project! Outstanding pix and description.

Thank you!

 

[MindinAction]

You're my hero.

 

[GKon]

Bravo on doing that. It was a good read, and felt good to know you saved it

 

[BassDaddy77]

Wow, very impressive. Bravo, Sir.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I have rescued a few guitars for my classroom. It is a great learning exp.

 

[P. Aaron]

These types of threads are why TalkBass can be so cool.

Congrats. Hope the bass rocks yer world.

 

[REV]

The bass Gods will smile upon you from now on. Great job!

 

[jallenbass]

I love a good bass rescue. They never should have gotten to that condition in the first place, but thank goodness for those who give them a new lease on life.

 

[Swerve]

Whoa, you definitely put humpty dumpty back together again! Looks great.

A little bummed to see the Memphis logo gone. Any plans for another decal?

 

[Yahboy]

I was recently browsing CL and saw an ad for a "basket case" bass that was headed for the dump. I felt bad for the bass, and thought, "That's a pity." It was a Memphis P-bass, listed for $5.

I decided to see if it could be rescued. It looked sad in the pictures. It looked worse in person.

The good: The neck looked pretty straight, the original tuners had been replaced with Gotohs, and the bass was relatively light (8 pounds).

The bad: The headstock was broken and split open at the tuner holes, and had small splits at the screw holes. The nut was broken and was partly covered with aluminum foil tape. There was a gooey grime all over the bass, and rust on a bunch of the hardware, including the pole pieces on the pickup. When I plugged it into an amp, there was a pop and a ground buzz but no sound from the strings, which were filthy and a bit rusty.

Headstock crack
View attachment 7326168

Broken nut
View attachment 7326169

Grime
View attachment 7326170
View attachment 7326171

rusty pole pieces and more grime
View attachment 7326173

Bass rescued
View attachment 7326219

Now become a walking dead !!!!

Anyway, great job !

 

[speedball3]

Wow great work! Really impressed with how you repaired the nut, I figured that thing was toast!

 

[Five or Six]

I wouldn't call that a "cheap bass"! No amount of money could buy that. Great job! I would have done the same!

 

[DrBnz]

Dude..... I'm impressed...... Nice job.

 

[Geogio]

Thus gives me hope for my rescued

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Arirang SS (Samick) It needs the love

 

[ahbradot]

What a wonderful way to start my day by having read your awesome rescue bass story.

 

[Just go for it]

Your hard work has paid off. Well done!

 

[BAG]

copper tape tube between cavities

Great work!
How do you insert a copper tape tube?

 

[lark_z]

God, I love this.