Down the rabbit hole again - Project 4350

[ChickWithaRic]

Ive seen some truly wretched horror inflicted on basses, makes me a little weepy, but even worse results can be had when a screwdriver is used as a chisel. Usually to "route" pickup cavities.These people should be shot! Shot I say! I forget, what is it you are supposed to be doing? I just enjoy the reparte and digressions, which distracts from my glacial progress on my own build. Carry on.

Reminds me of a full page piece from one of Marvel's classic first run of "The Punisher" comics, where a badly battle scarred Frank Castle is reflecting upon his new found life...

"Sometimes, even the devil on my shoulder whispers into my ear, "Just what the f*ck is it that you think you are doing?".

 

[Black Out Jazz]

Come on! Hurry up!

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Come on! Hurry up!

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Ive seen some truly wretched horror inflicted on basses, makes me a little weepy, but even worse results can be had when a screwdriver is used as a chisel. Usually to "route" pickup cavities.These people should be shot! Shot I say! I forget, what is it you are supposed to be doing? I just enjoy the reparte and digressions, which distracts from my glacial progress on my own build. Carry on.

I mean really, I dunno, it just astonishes me **now** in 2021 that somebody back at some other time would just casually replace the iconic Gotoh made Ibanez sweetheart tuners with... another Gotoh.

I think it was probably a well meaning but entirely uneccessary upgrade, like when one of my teenage friends dropped a DiMarzio into his Tokai Hard Puncher. It's a side grade.

Oh well. Sigh. Maybe I can now feel entirely justified in replacing those 1980s Gotohs with Hipshot lollipops, which are almost as cute as the original sweethearts, and offloading the vintage Gotohs on reverb for ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Ive seen some truly wretched horror inflicted on basses, makes me a little weepy, but even worse results can be had when a screwdriver is used as a chisel. Usually to "route" pickup cavities.These people should be shot! Shot I say! I forget, what is it you are supposed to be doing? I just enjoy the reparte and digressions, which distracts from my glacial progress on my own build. Carry on.

Not just basses. I’ve got a nylon string Crucianelli acoustic that I spent an inordinate amount of time chipping out what I suspect was spackle or drywall compound from the inside of the top pondering “Who does this to a poor, defenseless guitar?!?” Pretty sure there’s still some in there where I can’t reach.

 

[Flamingo21]

“Who does this to a poor, defenseless guitar?!?”

Good question. Another good question might be:
"What did someone hope to achieve with this?"

 

[ChickWithaRic]

Good question. Another good question might be:
"What did someone hope to achieve with this?"

I think it's very much a case of having no idea what they want to achieve, or why.

 

[Flamingo21]

I think it's very much a case of having no idea what they want to achieve, or why.

People are weird.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

People are weird.

And let's be clear that if a certain party wants to do someting with any instrument when off work, it's utterly cool.We've certainly filled the thread with enough blarney that another diversion that's actually working on any bass is an overall improvement.

Hmm. Drywall mud. That's used on sheet rock. Musta been trying to turn that acoustic into a rock gee-tar.

 

[Slidlow]

Not just basses. I’ve got a nylon string Crucianelli acoustic that I spent an inordinate amount of time chipping out what I suspect was spackle or drywall compound from the inside of the top pondering “Who does this to a poor, defenseless guitar?!?” Pretty sure there’s still some in there where I can’t reach.

I think most have already seen what happened to this unfortunate bass.
Carvin LB75 ressurection

 

[ChickWithaRic]

People are weird.

I think I am very lucky on my Ibanez RS900 that the only attempted "improvement" was a tuner replacement. A butchered, but essentially, inconsequential modification. It still has the unique voice of the RS900, and if you've ever played one, you'll know exactly what I mean. It's like an original 2 band EQ Stingray, but with additional 2 band EQ Stingray on top. Very aggressive, percussive, basses.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

I think most have already seen what happened to this unfortunate bass.
Carvin LB75 ressurection

Exemplary work. That is expert level restoration.

 

[Lo-E]

I mean really, I dunno, it just astonishes me **now** in 2021 that somebody back at some other time would just casually replace the iconic Gotoh made Ibanez sweetheart tuners with... another Gotoh.

I think it was probably a well meaning but entirely uneccessary upgrade.

If I had to take a wild guess, which is exactly what this is, I would say that the bass took a spill and the original sweetheart tuners took a hit. One or two of them got the snot bent out of them, maybe one of them started to rattle…. anyway, the original owner couldn’t find matching replacements for the Ibanez tuners so they went with the closest thing they could find and did a wholesale replacement of the entire set so they’d all match.

They also weren’t exactly handy and should have left the job to a pro but many people overestimate their abilities. What puzzles me is why they didn’t just leave the original ferrules.

 

[ChickWithaRic]

If I had to take a wild guess, which is exactly what this is, I would say that the bass took a spill and the original sweetheart tuners took a hit. One or two of them got the snot bent out of them, maybe one of them started to rattle…. anyway, the original owner couldn’t find matching replacements for the Ibanez tuners so they went with the closest thing they could find and did a wholesale replacement of the entire set so they’d all match.

They also weren’t exactly handy and should have left the job to a pro but many people overestimate their abilities. What puzzles me is why they didn’t just leave the original ferrules.

Obviously, like any other time we really don't know, the answer is "aliens".

 

[OldShark]

Just add "with speed of intercontinental drift" to the title.

As long as this thread keeps its wealth of humour, technical knowledge and wisdom, I'm absolutely fine with it, and that's even on the other side of the ocean (or, correctly, of a different ocean)...

 

[Flamingo21]

Hmm. Drywall mud. That's used on sheet rock. Musta been trying to turn that acoustic into a rock gee-tar.

That MUST be it.

 

[Lo-E]

Obviously, like any other time we really don't know, the answer is "aliens".

This is why UFOs are always depicted as being made of shiny metal. It’s known to practically everybody that aliens, for the most part, are lousy woodworkers.

 

[Flamingo21]

But obviously industrious, or their saucers wouldn't be so shiny.

 

[Delusionati]

This is why UFOs are always depicted as being made of shiny metal. It’s known to practically everybody that aliens, for the most part, are lousy woodworkers.

Not so sure about that. Imagine the size of a jig used for a crop circle router. That's a lot of MDF.

 

[Max Bogosity]

This is why UFOs are always depicted as being made of shiny metal. It’s known to practically everybody that aliens, for the most part, are lousy woodworkers.

There's an old SF story (whose title and author escapes me) where the aliens show up in wooden spaceships. There's some easy low tech trick for anti-gravity and faster-than-light travel that humans never discovered, but the aliens stumbled across it before even inventing the steam engine and they go blundering through space in ships that aren't much more than wooden barrels.