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54 Precision Attic Find
- Thread starter Tim Rinkerman
- Start date
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- precision bass
I'm truly amazed at the interest this project has drawn! Thanks to everybody who has offered atta boys and encouragement..I stated earlier I'm not a pro player, or a pro luthier..just trying to apply some skills to make an honest and solid restorative effort. A pro may have had a better way or a closer matching piece of wood to make the repair I did,but mine is solid,level and tight..it is what it is..an honest repair. I'm not sure paying a pro to do it would have given me the same amount of satisfaction.
You don't relic a relic...it will have an appropriate amount of age yellowing...and thats it. There are a couple tiny dings that I'm not touching..there were 2 other screw holes in the front that the "red painter" fixed from a tug bar located way too close to the G string..one I plugged, the other had a bit of a gouge around it, so I scraped it clean and fitted a sliver of ash in it. I don't think this is a particularly beautifully grained piece of wood and I kinda suspect that there are different degrees of "blonde" which have turned "butterscotch" over the years..if it was a nicely figured piece of wood, it just got a very,very light tint of color to unify the grain...ones that didn't look so good got more layers making it slightly more opaque. You'd be surprised as to how little product is actually sprayed on for color..you can bury the grain in a hurry if you're not careful...(ask me how I know..).
Milling machine vs. router? If you have a milling machine, you won't use a router..they will both achieve exactly the same results, but you don't have to make a template when you use a milling machine. And you can sneeze in the middle of a cut.
A trusted luthier friend of mine reccommended SantaFe pickups. Good output and proper looks..doing a few searches Lindy Fralin or Seymour Duncan seem to be popular...I didn't realize Precision pickups were such sought after items...I lost the originals from my 68 someplace or somewhere in the last 35 years, I was ready to toss the body before I found its missing pieces!
Fender being sub-par in the 60's? There was quite a rivalry between Fender and the rest of the world guitar wise, but basses? Check the history books and pictures...I think you'll find otherwise...you'd be hard pressed to find a band NOT using a Fender bass...
Thanks again for the interest, guys...I'll get some more pictures when the sealing is completed, and some blonde shows up...
You don't relic a relic...it will have an appropriate amount of age yellowing...and thats it. There are a couple tiny dings that I'm not touching..there were 2 other screw holes in the front that the "red painter" fixed from a tug bar located way too close to the G string..one I plugged, the other had a bit of a gouge around it, so I scraped it clean and fitted a sliver of ash in it. I don't think this is a particularly beautifully grained piece of wood and I kinda suspect that there are different degrees of "blonde" which have turned "butterscotch" over the years..if it was a nicely figured piece of wood, it just got a very,very light tint of color to unify the grain...ones that didn't look so good got more layers making it slightly more opaque. You'd be surprised as to how little product is actually sprayed on for color..you can bury the grain in a hurry if you're not careful...(ask me how I know..).
Milling machine vs. router? If you have a milling machine, you won't use a router..they will both achieve exactly the same results, but you don't have to make a template when you use a milling machine. And you can sneeze in the middle of a cut.
A trusted luthier friend of mine reccommended SantaFe pickups. Good output and proper looks..doing a few searches Lindy Fralin or Seymour Duncan seem to be popular...I didn't realize Precision pickups were such sought after items...I lost the originals from my 68 someplace or somewhere in the last 35 years, I was ready to toss the body before I found its missing pieces!
Fender being sub-par in the 60's? There was quite a rivalry between Fender and the rest of the world guitar wise, but basses? Check the history books and pictures...I think you'll find otherwise...you'd be hard pressed to find a band NOT using a Fender bass...
Thanks again for the interest, guys...I'll get some more pictures when the sealing is completed, and some blonde shows up...
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Wow!! This is a very interesting thread! What a great find and nice way to a restored slab body!
My thoughts on the finish: by now it would be Butterscotch after so many years. I would choose that so it will be recognized as a vintage bass.
Here's my newly finished 51RI:
My thoughts on the finish: by now it would be Butterscotch after so many years. I would choose that so it will be recognized as a vintage bass.
Here's my newly finished 51RI:
You mean turn it into a replica of the worlds least cared for bass?
It's 63 years old, don't be so silly.
That is the color and depth of finish I am hoping to achieve...we'll see how well the grain reacts to the color coats..
It'll happen eventually though it may take a while.
Sounds to me like you're on the right track. I agree with you, don't fake relic it - let the next 50 years do its job! Nice work, cant wait to see the final result.
You're doing a fantastic job so far, Tim! From one average bassist and amateur luthier to another, I tip my hat to you for putting in the love and effort that this bass deserves.
I just gave this thread a thorough read. Damn man, I'm loving every minute of it! I'm speechless!
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,122
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- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
Oh sorry. I like beat up looking basses. I gotta learn to keep my opinions to myself.
I think most people like the looks of a beat up bass. I believe the question is often whether it's through a relicing process or honest wear.
I personally can't stand the look of beat up basses....
If any of my basses picks up a ding (which one recently has) I go absolutely mental.....
I can't help it....I just do.....
People who ding them, scrape them and abuse them with abrasive substances deliberately, should, of course, be boiled in oil.....
So there.....
If any of my basses picks up a ding (which one recently has) I go absolutely mental.....
I can't help it....I just do.....
People who ding them, scrape them and abuse them with abrasive substances deliberately, should, of course, be boiled in oil.....
So there.....
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Just a suggestion - sometimes the aging can turn it a yummy butterscotch.
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That's a great picture...but solid color guitars just don't do it for me. I like seeing the wood..
