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$5 bass rescue from death
- Thread starter Never2Late
- Start date
Well, that fair warms the cockles! 
Great story. Like saving a hound from the pound! ❤
Great story. Like saving a hound from the pound! ❤
Great job!
One of my good friends is a retired metallurgist and trumpet player who gets old and distressed brass instruments, rebuilds them, and gives them to the schools in the area. He has had some classic 'bring back from the dead' experiences as well.
Sweat equity and learning/honing skills have their own value that cannot me quantified.
One of my good friends is a retired metallurgist and trumpet player who gets old and distressed brass instruments, rebuilds them, and gives them to the schools in the area. He has had some classic 'bring back from the dead' experiences as well.
Sweat equity and learning/honing skills have their own value that cannot me quantified.
I've only done it a couple of times as its a PIA (or at least was to me). What you want to do is if the holes for the pickup wire are quite small diameter is drill them to a larger diameter like 4mm maybe even 5mm if there is enough land, nhen get yourself something like a wooden BBQ skewer or chopstick. apply a bit of vaseline (petroleum jelly to skewer and use the skewer as a mandrel and wrap the copper tape around with adhesive side down. might be worth just fixing each end with a scrap of tape at each end so the "tube" slides off in one piece aided by the vaseline. poke it through the hole between pickup cavity and control cavity, then splay ends of tube and fix with more tape on sides of each cavity before shielding proper.
As I said it's a real PIA and you can end up doing it several times, as tube can easily collapse when threading it through.
I just cheat now, I do all the shielding, then when I'm positioning the pickup(s) wrap the pickup wires in tape, pass through then I add more tape from the wrapped pickup wires to the shielded walls. As long as it all checks out with the continuity setting on your multimeter, jobs a gud 'un.
I have to concede though - OP has done a magnificent job on his.
Awesome story. Congrats. Loved the photo journey. Thanks for posting.
Though I've never had the chance to do this to a bass, I've done this many times to old tools and furniture. Not that I make a habit of hanging around land fills you do get to rescue bits and pieces that just seem to good to chuck away. For instance I found this lovely little table all painted in garish colours and battered in a skip by our house. Stripped off the paint, found it was walnut then restored it back to to it's former glory.
There is something immensely satisfying when you breath new life into something thats destined to become landfill or burned.
Well done, really enjoyed your walkthrough, you should be proud.
Thank you for all of the support! I love this community. 
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I'm not familiar with the Memphis brand or history, so I wasn't sure if it was worth making the logo more visible (vs. the "ghost" logo that's there now). The comments in a couple of videos suggest this bass is from the 80's and made in Japan, but I have no idea if that's accurate. Does anyone here know?
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@BAG - It's pretty easy. Just wrap copper tape around the pickup wires, sticky side out, and pull it through the hole. I pull the wires and the tube together to get the tube into the hole. Since it's sticky side out, the wires still move back and forth after it's done.
If the hole is big, I wrap the copper more loosely and use more layers. If the hole is small, it's a tighter wrap around the wires with less layers.
Once the tube is pulled into place, cut a few slits in each end and fold out the "tabs" onto the edges of the cavity. (the copper tape tube needs to be longer than the hole,)
Then when you shield the cavities, that copper tape overlaps the "tabs" and connects everything. Once it's all in place, I push a toothpick in the hole ends all around the wires to smoosh the overlapping bits together really well against the hole walls for good contact, and to allow the wires to move easily.
Here are a few pictures from when I shielded one of my other basses with a P/J config:
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I did something similar when I found an inexpensive model Yamaha acoustic in trash in the hallway of my rehearsal studio with a clean headstock break.
I had zero need for it.
Did a Simple glue up, made a new nut (first time, took a few tries), strung it up and gave it to a subsistence-wage immigrant from Iran who I got to know.
He has since got other instruments but at the time, nothing to play.
Practice repairing, a small good deed
I had zero need for it.
Did a Simple glue up, made a new nut (first time, took a few tries), strung it up and gave it to a subsistence-wage immigrant from Iran who I got to know.
He has since got other instruments but at the time, nothing to play.
Practice repairing, a small good deed
That's amazing. Not only well done on the work, but great job documenting it. What a great thread.
Awesome Job!! That Bass Needed To Be Saved!! Thank You! 
️
️FWIW, Haha, ok, now I’m not sure the guitar company is the same one that made this bass. The logos are very different. They both are probably Asian made.
That was quite the overhaul. That reminds me of a little bit of what I had to do with one of my basses. I took a cracked neck and used it for a fretless project. There's a small imperfection that causes a little bit of buzzing where the first fret would be but the rest plays pretty good. Just took it on because I wanted to see what was involved with converting a fretted bass to fretless.
Me too, liked the whole restoration project with photos and explanations, but the negative shadow logo is great!
If nothing else, it might make for a good donation instrument sometime in the future.Since I'm mainly a short-scale guy, having this will be nice whenever I get the itch to futz with a full scale. And because repaired basses probably aren't worth much on the used market, that will eliminate brain cycles tied up thinking about selling it.
I did something similar with some of my less-expensive parts. I just zipped them all together and gave them to a client who's the music director/teacher at a nearby high school that doesn't necessarily get all the funding they need. It feels good to pass on decent, working instruments to students who might not be able to afford a bass of their own…real "pay it forward" kind of energy!
The shadow logo perfectly matches with the concept: This bass was dead, it's now a ghost 
Excellent work ! congrats on your resurrected bass !
Excellent work ! congrats on your resurrected bass !
Why on earth did I spend 5 days fixing an inexpensive bass rather than just buying a new or undamaged used one?
1) One less thing in a landfill.
2) It feels good to bring things back to life.
3) The continued learning process.
Since I'm mainly a short-scale guy, having this will be nice whenever I get the itch to futz with a full scale. And because repaired basses probably aren't worth much on the used market, that will eliminate brain cycles tied up thinking about selling it.
Thought I'd once read somewhere that Memphis branded basses from the 70's and 80's were made by Matsumoku in Japan so I Googled. If so it's likely worth more in resale than you assumed. Results say -
AI Overview
Yes, many early and higher-quality Memphis-branded bass guitars, particularly those from the late 1970s and early 1980s, were indeed made by the legendary Matsumoku factory in Japan. These Japanese-made models are known for their excellent build quality and are often considered higher-end instruments from the era.
Key Points:
- Origin:
While information can be scarce, a common assertion is that some Memphis models, especially early and higher-end ones, were made by Matsumoku in Japan.
- Quality:
Vintage Memphis guitars marked "Made in Japan" are generally considered well-built and high-quality instruments.
- Identification:
Look for a "Made In Japan" or "MIJ" marking on the instrument to help identify a Matsumoku-made model.
- Later Models:
Bolt-on neck Memphis guitars, particularly those from after 1988, were often made in Korea and not by Matsumoku.
Fascinating! Great work, both on the bass *and* on the documentation!
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