This started as a Czech made Dean Jeff Berlin signature model from 1999/2000. A great under estimated bass. Got it used in Dec 2017. Two main things I disliked about it - the color and the neck pickup sound/position. Here is what I did and when.
Dec 2017
Original condition. Alder body, three piece maple neck, ebony board, passive Bartolini humbackers, bad-ass II bridge, Schaller tuners.
Feb 2018
Added a 3-way switch for 3 different tone control cap values. Nice touch to any passive bass.
Not pictured, upgraded to CTS pots 500K V/V and 250K T. Frets got leveled around this time as well.
Apr 2020
Old thick finish pilled off. A long exhausting process.
Routed a new neck pickup cavity closer to the bridge pickup, maybe too close but it is what it is.
Body sanded, dyed light brown and finished with Formby’s tung oil finish.
Back of the neck sanded and finished the same way, no dye. Middle flamed maple piece poped out nicely.
Made a square purple heart pickguard to cover the old pickup cavity and a matching truss rod cover.
Got in touch with Bartolini tech support (thanks again Doug Somervell !). Rewired pickups with 4-conductor wire.
Installed a pair of 2-way toggle switches (one for each pickup) for a series/single-coil (inner coils) operation.
Mar 2022 – fretless conversion
Fast forward two years later. I loved the bass but knew it would really shine as a fretless. Got some stuff from StewMac and dived in again.
Pulled out the frets with minimal damage to the ebony board. Frets had hidden ends so the slots didn’t go all the way to the edges of the board.
Maple veneer glued into slots.
Board leveled using a long sanding beam followed by a 20” radius block. I was surprised at how uneven the board was.
Sinked the bridge 1.5mm into the body using my dremel routing kit. This compensates for the loss of height of the missing frets while keeping the action low and even along the board and body. Shimming I don’t like, ask if you want to know why.
Made a new dimond wood nut. Much better than the original plastic.
Made a new ramp/pickguard made of walnut.
I’ve had this old dream about a Ric 4003 Blue Boy (which will never materialize) so decided to go wild and spray a similar color over the body. This didn’t go very well but from a few feet it looked fine. You’ll be the judge.
Jun 2022
The fretless was/is a success. Plays incredible and sounds fantastic. Unfortunately summer has arrived and after a few minuets of playing, as the bass body got warm, the finish became soft and sticky. Couldn’t stand it so off it went for another refinish; yes indeed.
Pilled off the blue and sanded the body to bare wood. Did some experiments with water based dyes and ended up with deep gray/green for the top & sides and light turquoise for the back, sanded to get a washed look. Then, 6 coats of pure tung oil applied (4-5 weeks process). Nice smooth worn-in feel with matte finish.
Sanded and finished the pickguard/ramp with some coats of oil and lacquer on top.
I also took the opportunity to do the following:
Changed the switches to 3-way for single/series/single operation, for each pickup. I really like all single coil modes.
Shielded all cavities including sleeves to run the pickup wires through, all grounded to the output jack. The bass is incredibly quiet now.
That’s it, completed and perfect IMHO.
That was my longest TB post ever. Peace & Love.
Dec 2017
Original condition. Alder body, three piece maple neck, ebony board, passive Bartolini humbackers, bad-ass II bridge, Schaller tuners.
Feb 2018
Added a 3-way switch for 3 different tone control cap values. Nice touch to any passive bass.
Not pictured, upgraded to CTS pots 500K V/V and 250K T. Frets got leveled around this time as well.
Apr 2020
Old thick finish pilled off. A long exhausting process.
Routed a new neck pickup cavity closer to the bridge pickup, maybe too close but it is what it is.
Body sanded, dyed light brown and finished with Formby’s tung oil finish.
Back of the neck sanded and finished the same way, no dye. Middle flamed maple piece poped out nicely.
Made a square purple heart pickguard to cover the old pickup cavity and a matching truss rod cover.
Got in touch with Bartolini tech support (thanks again Doug Somervell !). Rewired pickups with 4-conductor wire.
Installed a pair of 2-way toggle switches (one for each pickup) for a series/single-coil (inner coils) operation.
Mar 2022 – fretless conversion
Fast forward two years later. I loved the bass but knew it would really shine as a fretless. Got some stuff from StewMac and dived in again.
Pulled out the frets with minimal damage to the ebony board. Frets had hidden ends so the slots didn’t go all the way to the edges of the board.
Maple veneer glued into slots.
Board leveled using a long sanding beam followed by a 20” radius block. I was surprised at how uneven the board was.
Sinked the bridge 1.5mm into the body using my dremel routing kit. This compensates for the loss of height of the missing frets while keeping the action low and even along the board and body. Shimming I don’t like, ask if you want to know why.
Made a new dimond wood nut. Much better than the original plastic.
Made a new ramp/pickguard made of walnut.
I’ve had this old dream about a Ric 4003 Blue Boy (which will never materialize) so decided to go wild and spray a similar color over the body. This didn’t go very well but from a few feet it looked fine. You’ll be the judge.
Jun 2022
The fretless was/is a success. Plays incredible and sounds fantastic. Unfortunately summer has arrived and after a few minuets of playing, as the bass body got warm, the finish became soft and sticky. Couldn’t stand it so off it went for another refinish; yes indeed.
Pilled off the blue and sanded the body to bare wood. Did some experiments with water based dyes and ended up with deep gray/green for the top & sides and light turquoise for the back, sanded to get a washed look. Then, 6 coats of pure tung oil applied (4-5 weeks process). Nice smooth worn-in feel with matte finish.
Sanded and finished the pickguard/ramp with some coats of oil and lacquer on top.
I also took the opportunity to do the following:
Changed the switches to 3-way for single/series/single operation, for each pickup. I really like all single coil modes.
Shielded all cavities including sleeves to run the pickup wires through, all grounded to the output jack. The bass is incredibly quiet now.
That’s it, completed and perfect IMHO.
That was my longest TB post ever. Peace & Love.
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