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Bass Makeover

Hello all :).

Figured that I'd start to actually post on TB since I've surfed here for a while and never really said anything. I've noticed that TB tends to be pretty supportive as well and there is some really good advice on here that's well worth reading into.

Anyways...............

For the last while, I've had two main basses: My OLP MM2 in pearl Blue and my Brice HXB-406 in Black with a quilted top.

Recently, I completely redid pretty much everything about the Brice. I De-fretted, repainted, coated, reshaped the body, and replaced the electronics, all at once.

I also glued the neck in place and just plain made the bass like a brand new instrument all over again.

Now, some of you may be wondering why I did this.

Simple: I wanted to.

Sometimes, you just have to try something new in order to shake things up a bit........

This Brice was my main bass for about 2 years and I loved (and still love) it.

Now I know that there are luthiers and players out there who are going to want to hatchet me in the face with a rusty albacore for what I've done to this thing. All that I say to those people is this: I'm not going to touch your instruments, so chill. I wasn't looking to make this as professional as possible. I DON'T want a bass that looks like someone with special equipment went for hours on this bass with nothing else on their mind.

:hiding:

I wanted to get to know this bass better and make something that was truly mine. It has a certain charm that no other bass I've come across yet has had to me, mostly because I spent so much time on this bass before and after the lift.

But guess what........ It also sounds good too. One of the better fretless basses that I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

The bass is passive and has two Volume knobs and one tone knob. The Bartolini Soapbars were bought through on Bestbassgear.com. They sound awesome.

The bass sounds very "Jaco". Ya'll know what I mean........... ;)
 
Here are some pics from before painting but after sanding and gluing and just plain getting the bass ready for "Snazzification":

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More to come........
 
Thanks.

What did you paint it with?

I used a Hammered metal finish paint that was supposed to mainly be used for painting over rust. It said it worked well on wood as well, so I figured "What the hell? Why not."

Turns out, there aren't too many guitars with this paint, so added bonus for me :D

man that actually looks really good! what did you use for the fret markers?

Thanks. I took strips of Birch Veneer and I used wood glue to keep em in place. Turns out, it was easier to do all of this than I thought it would be.
 
Did you take the neck off before painting?
'cause in these two it looks very much like you didn't.. If you didn't, why not?
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After the body was sanded, I decided that I wanted one color on the entire bass, including the neck. In order to make that step a bit easier on myself, I just glued and screwed the neck in place. I felt that this would sound better and make it easier to spray all at once, instead of in two separate pieces.

However, after painting the bass, I put on 2 coats of gloss poly on the body (for a little more protection), and 3 coats of Satin Poly on the neck (so that I could play on it easier).

Looks fantastic!

Thanks :D.
 

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