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Big Musicmaster Job

#24
There is something kind of nice about where it's at...
But I think I'm going to be in love with it when it's done.

oVlDgl.jpg
 
#26
Hmmmm

The only way I'd really do anything with this is if I *knew* this bass was from a desirable year... The MusicMaster may be cool to some, but it was unquestionably Fender's entry-level student bass when it was released; If it was from the first year or so of release (Sometime in the early '70s???) then it might be worth the effort... but if it's a newer MIJ or MIC bass, I wouldn't burn too much energy or money on a refurb.

That said, if you're committed, you clearly need to start with stripping the thing down to wood, both the neck and the body. Stuff like the pickup & hardware is a matter of purchase - but the finish is *work*.
 
#27
I'm doing it for a few reasons

1) I love the shape of it - it's a really cool shape but was really ugly. I think when done up properly it'll look really cool.

2) I love the feel of the short scale bass, but it didn't sound great so I never play it. With a new pickup it'll most likely get some use, instead of just sitting there.

3) I've never done anything like this and think it'll be fun. So far, I'm enjoying it!
 
#28
It's an exciting day!

I talked to the guy at the paint shop, he looked over the body and gave me the go-ahead. He gave me some glazing putty to fill up the indents, some 2 in 1 black primer, and I'm good to go.

I still have to route for the pickup before I can prime, but hopefully that'll get done soon. I will probably route the crap out of some 2x4s on Sunday to get the feel for it.

Also, I just ordered my pickup! Bit the bullet.
One Lull pickup with a nickel cover... I suddenly feel very poor.
 
#29
Everything has been on hold for a while now because I've been waiting on the pickup and I've been waiting on a nice day to be able to spray outside.

The pickup hasn't shipped, but yesterday I was able to get it about 20 degrees in my shed, so I was finally able to spray the primer. Pictured below you can see my ultra high-tech work area.

I did three coats yesterday and some wetsanding, but after the sanding was done it looks like I"ll be doing another coat today.

The actual finish may have to wait until next week now, though. The store I am getting the paint from closes at 5, so it can be pretty hard for me to get down there after work.
 

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#31
rllefebv said:
What happened to "route before I prime"? Oh, and I love the hanger!!

Honestly, this is turning out way better than I would have thought, given the original condition of the bass... Kudos!

-robert
Click to expand...

I was going to route before I did any finishing because a bunch of people told me that I would most likely chip the finish if I did it after. But two things changed my mind

1) I have a strat body I got for free to practice on. Yesterday I routed a swimming pool into it and didn't chip the finish.

2) Impatience. I ordered the pickups first week of March and they still haven't shipped yet. The nickel covers have been back ordered forever. They were supposed to be in by the end of last week, but as far as I know they still aren't there. I've spent a month starting at this bass in parts and it's killing me.

Also, if anything goes wrong and it chips around the route it's not a big deal. It'll be covered by a pick guard.
 
#32
Update:

The finish has been sprayed and the pickup is on its way!
This is the first time I've sprayed anything. First coat was perfect, second was perfect third... ran in three place.
*sigh*

I let it all dry then spot sanded and resprayed and it's looking much better now.
You can find two pictures here - Finsih Done - Imgur
I couldn't get an accurate picture due to the lack of light in my garage, so the colour is actually somewhere between the two pictures, closer to the picture of the body.

All my hardware was pretty rusted up, so I asked the band instrument techs at my work (a music shop) what the best way to get rid of it was, and they told me to throw it all in the Ultrasonic cleaner.
After removing my hardware we learned an important lesson... chrome isn't supposed to go in the Ultrasonic.
Normally it turns the metal kind of pink and it can be wiped off with a cloth, but with chrome it all binds and is extremely hard to remove.
I ended up having to take my bridge apart and put it all to a brush wheel.
It's all looking great now with the exception of my machine heads, which we couldn't really fix. They were kind of bent anyway, so I am now trying to track down what will be a replacement I can use without having to redrill.
 
#34
I customized a Musicmaster Bass years ago that turned out quite well.

I replaced the stock bridge with a Leo Quan Badass 1 (routed 1/8" into the body). I used two DiMarzio Model G pickups [I don't think the Model G is still available so I would try the Schaller Bass Humbucker or Bartolini 1C pickups]. I cut one pickup in just in front of the bridge and replaced the original pickup without changing location. Both pickups have series/parallel switches - neck pickup is a mini-toggle, bridge pickup is (volume control) push-pull pot. There is a mini-toggle pickup selector and the tone control is push-pull pot for phase reversal.

The tone ranges from classic Fender P-Bass all the way through to tones that are "Alembic-esque" in nature.
I loaned this bass to a friend of mine to get his opinion of the sound and he kept it and recorded with it for 23 years! It finally came back to me a few years ago.
;)
 

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#35
MusicBear said:
I customized a Musicmaster Bass years ago that turned out quite well.

I replaced the stock bridge with a Leo Quan Badass 1 (routed 1/8" into the body). I used two DiMarzio Model G pickups [I don't think the Model G is still available so I would try the Schaller Bass Humbucker or Bartolini 1C pickups]. I cut one pickup in just in front of the bridge and replaced the original pickup without changing location. Both pickups have series/parallel switches - neck pickup is a mini-toggle, bridge pickup is (volume control) push-pull pot. There is a mini-toggle pickup selector and the tone control is push-pull pot for phase reversal.

The tone ranges from classic Fender P-Bass all the way through to tones that are "Alembic-esque" in nature.
I loaned this bass to a friend of mine to get his opinion of the sound and he kept it and recorded with it for 23 years! It finally came back to me a few years ago.
;)
Click to expand...
That looks awesome!
Dimarzio Model Ones were in the mix when I was deciding what I wanted for pickups... I went through five or six ideas before I made up my mind.

Beej said:
I like the colour. Hope you're having fun with this, and good luck on the tuner hunt...
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun. I've already stripped the finish off of a strat and routed out the body for a new pickup configuration, and I've started gluing wood for a guitar I plan on making from scratch!
This stuff is addictive.

Here is a picture of it all together as I have it now.
I've cut the pickup (black/white/black), but I don't have the pickup cut yet.
HRDPZl.jpg
 
#37
Its for sure a darkish purple, but I'm having a hard time getting it to photograph well.
It looks really different depending on the lighting - I'm curious to see how it looks under stage lights.

I'm playing every weekend this month (excluding this one), so if all goes well I'll have it ready for my next show.
 
#38
So close to done it hurts.

Two setbacks:

1) I'm not sure how this happened, but somehow when I did the routing for the pickguard then threw it on the body, the routes didn't line up. *sigh*
My girlfriend had some hockey arena board laying around so we used that for now. Actually, my girlfriend re-cut it for me because I was so down about the whole thing. She's pretty awesome.

2) Now the second problem, and it's an annoying one... the pickup is broken. When it shipped it looks like the wires were waxed to the bottom of the pickup, but that waxing had come off. The next day I noticed one of the wires had broken, and then the next day another broke. I hadn't even installed it or done anything yet, it had broken just from being moved around. I wanted to avoid more wait time, so I emailed and asked if they would refund me some of my money and I could pay somebody here to fix it, but instead they said they will pay to have it two day shipped back to them, Mike will fix it right away and then they will two day it back.
I probably won't see back until a week from now, or slightly more but oh well. Better to wait and have it done properly.

Either way, here is how she looks at the moment.
ZQrSl.jpg
 
#39
That sucks about the pickup, those little delays in time SUCK don't they?

It's really looking good though, I think this is one of the few times I'd like a white pickguard. I hope the pickup comes back ASAP.
 

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