Egmond Rambler & Typhoon bass projects

[Mickey666]

We didn't have any good tv but we had "top of the pops"... "the old gray whistle test" and a ton of great bands

 

[JIO]

Going down the list while waiting for the bridge & strings. First, fix the two missing corners of the pearloid pg. Where can I find some of the same material? ... why, under the pu's!

Dremel to the rescue -

Not invisible upon close inspection - but close enough and stable. Because of the pearloid shrinkage, only few of the original pg screw-hole lined up. I plugged the rest (toothpicks/superglue) and re-drilled new holes.

Shielded the control-cavity w/copper tape -

I then worked on the neck connection. I needed to make side-pocket shims for a snug fit. I ordered some silver flexible automotive trim material to possibly replace the side strip which was damaged. Either it will work or I'll develop a way to make the original strip work.

 

[MCF]

Going down the list while waiting for the bridge & strings. First, fix the two missing corners of the pearloid pg. Where can I find some of the same material? ... why, under the pu's!

View attachment 5368461
Dremel to the rescue -
View attachment 5368468
Not invisible upon close inspection - but close enough and stable. Because of the pearloid shrinkage, only few of the original pg screw-hole lined up. I plugged the rest (toothpicks/superglue) and re-drilled new holes.
View attachment 5368469 View attachment 5368470
Shielded the control-cavity w/copper tape -
View attachment 5368471
I then worked on the neck connection. I needed to make side-pocket shims for a snug fit. I ordered some silver flexible automotive trim material to possibly replace the side strip which was damaged. Either it will work or I'll develop a way to make the original strip work.
View attachment 5368472

I’m getting GAS. And it’s not blue.

 

[Reedt2000]

Going down the list while waiting for the bridge & strings. First, fix the two missing corners of the pearloid pg. Where can I find some of the same material? ... why, under the pu's!

View attachment 5368461
Dremel to the rescue -
View attachment 5368468
Not invisible upon close inspection - but close enough and stable. Because of the pearloid shrinkage, only few of the original pg screw-hole lined up. I plugged the rest (toothpicks/superglue) and re-drilled new holes.
View attachment 5368469 View attachment 5368470
Shielded the control-cavity w/copper tape -
View attachment 5368471
I then worked on the neck connection. I needed to make side-pocket shims for a snug fit. I ordered some silver flexible automotive trim material to possibly replace the side strip which was damaged. Either it will work or I'll develop a way to make the original strip work.
View attachment 5368472

Very slick pickguard repair, it's looking great

 

[JIO]

Very slick pickguard repair, it's looking great

Thanks! Strings arrived today (D'Addario EXL160BT Nickel Wound Medium Gauge 50-67-90-120 rounds) - antsy on wanting to string it up and hear it!

 

[Beej]

Yeah, the pickguard is awesome.

This thing is really coming back to life. That red is incredible.

 

[JIO]

Yeah, the pickguard is awesome.

This thing is really coming back to life. That red is incredible.

It is, and every one I've seen pic's of is missing the same two upper 'peaks'. And I agree - very pleased with the Montana rattle-can colours. Really special shades - they are acrylic, I only use lacquer as a top clear-coat anymore for natural amber-ing. Nitro for the most part is a nostalgic marketing ploy and is only effective in specific cases in 2024.

 

[JIO]

Found this pic on-line of a Egmond guitar showing ripped fabric. There's a chance the one I have had fabric on it. An owner of an Egmond on a tb thread said his Egmond had the fabric removed by the previous owner. owner. (possibly ripped like this one) Hagstrom also did this as well as a couple Italian made guitars. The side strip made it so there were no visible seams as it covered frontside and backside fabric ends after wrapping around the contours. The guitar was very much the same as the bass; electronics, pg and most likely pu's were the same - body had a elbow scallop which the bass didn't have and the tail-piece and bridge were the same other than the whammy-bar & 6-string stop. And the HSC was the same faux alligator covered/burgundy interior one that mine came in.

Speaking of which - my restoration of that alligator vinyl came out great - looks like new!

before -

after -

 

[JIO]

I spent the rainy, grey afternoon dealing with the non-working N-pu and at the end of the day - I resolved it! (with help from @Jon Clegg - thanks Jon!) And here's how it went... at first I thought my wiring on the rotary-switch was incorrect. Jon helped clear that up but it still wasn't working. I tested it again and the N-pu was in fact dead. I could have sworn it tested good at one point... but anyway, time for plan B. I looked in my parts bin and luckily had a twin-coil soup-bar that fit inside the Egmond pu cover pretty ideally. (score!) It measures 11.8uF and the Egmond B-pu is 8.5uF. Aside from being stronger than the B-pu, it was deeper than the thin Egmond pu so it would be too high as a N-pu. So... I switched the B-pu to the N position and installed to twin-coil to the B position. Everything now works as it should. The bridge, a vintage Ric bridge that should work with this bass (not a 4000 series Ric bridge-some other model) arrives on Monday. So once I get and install it - I'll string it up and hear what it sounds like.

Brass-plate soldered in to hold the thin pu in place needed to be de-soldered.

The dead N Egmond pu "wafer" - nothing looked 'off'...

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Final re-wiring - success!

The 4 ferrules arrived today but unfortunately they are for guitar Van Ghent tuners... my mistake but returns accepted so they are going back. The VG bass post is thin, but not as thin as the guitar posts.

 

[Beej]

That's a clever fix! I can't help wondering if someone local to you couldn't rewire that Egmond pickup.

 

[JIO]

That's a clever fix! I can't help wondering if someone local to you couldn't rewire that Egmond pickup.

Gary Brawer probably could and I'll look into it but actually this fix addressed the problem seamlessly and depending on what it sounds like it - may have made it better!

Another update - the original flexible plastic chrome trim being 50yrs old was mostly easily removed but came apart in 3 pieces due to the 2 strap-peg locations and the damage/break at the neck-heal. It's a T-channel piece which after a major search I wasn't able to find something like it... but, I did find and buy flexible plastic chrome trim (auto product) with a sticky adhesive backing.

Car Trim Strip Body Light Strip Window General Electroplated - Temu - comes in various widths - their narrowest is the same as the original trim-piece. Cheap too! 5M (!) assures it will stay stuck!

 

[Beej]

Awesome.

 

[JIO]

Awesome.

Thanks - after doing a number of these vintage resurrections, I've developed a working philosophy regarding them. It centers around assessing what is started with and what the finished product will need to be. Most of what I'm interested in is from the '60s, other than my two Jolana's. ('70 & '85) And, because I buy DIY'd or neglected basses - there's work to be done to make them look good, play well and hopefully sound good.

None of the basses I've resurrected are super valuable (like a vintage Fender, Gibson etc) even though they are made in the same years. I'm attracted to them by the way they look initially. There was just a specific way of designing things then - and it stretched all over the world. I guess it's sorta' nostalgic for me starting out as a bass-player/musician in 1966 as a 13yr old. Although I only saw/was aware of a small number of basses then (no internet or tb!) - the ones I did see were 'of the era'; Hagstroms, Vox's, Harmony, Silvertone, Teisco. Actually ones I was more familiar with than Fenders or Gibsons starting out, mostly because I couldn't afford Fenders or Gibsons so I didn't really look at them. (although my 3rd bass bought in around '72 was a NOS '68 EB-3) But I digress...

Finding a project bass with all original parts and in decent condition is a definite goal, as finding parts for obscure vintage basses is a "good luck” situation at best. Initial (affordable) price of said project bass is where it starts. I’ve found bartering for a lower price is usually accepted by sellers of these project basses, since I am aware of what it would take to restore it. (and they are just trying to unload it) Of which, If I were to spend top-dollar on every aspect of restoring it - I would far outspend what it’s worth/what someone would be willing to spend to buy it. I determine that cost-ceiling by researching what a similar bass sold/is selling for on Reverb/eBay or tb. All basses/guitars are steadily going up in price, so it may take years to sell but by the time it does - those 2nd-tier vintage basses become more expensive. Teisco Del Rey EB-2’s used to sell for under $400 - now they’re around $700. Just capitalist economics.

This all relates to the level of input needed to result the final product. Taking this Egmond Typhoon as an example - my abet low-rent, custom finish is not perfect, just like an original 50yr old vinyl covered one that may have a tear or blemish is not perfect. The chrome is scratched and the pg material is distorted/wobbly. Chrome parts can be shined-up to a certain point but they never look brand new. The neck I always do my very best make playable - these basses are not just to look at. Same with electronics - I do the best to get the bass to sound as good as possible ATC.

The analogy would be, would you install a scratched pg, bridge, neck-plate, pu’s or tuners on a brand new factory-finished bass? Most likely the answer would be no. From a visual standpoint - it wouldn’t look right even if it played/sounded fine. So when restoring a worn bass within reason - I don’t care to have it look brand new*, just that it looks "right", like it could be an original good condition 50yr old played bass.

*...usually. Two opposing examples are my ’63 Burns of London Vista Sonic, and my late ‘60s Tempo which Pat Wilkins did his magic on. But they are exceptions to the rule as they push their worth into a higher price bracket.

To summarize - all of the above specifically relates to attempting to keep a vintage (project) bass as close to original as possible, but in the 'player' category - not the 'hang on a wall' variety. Sorry for the windy extrapolation...

 

[JIO]

Here's a couple like mine from the late '60s currently on Reverb from the Netherlands -

Egmond Typhoon 2EBS1 JAGUAR 1969s - Red | Reverb

Egmond Typhoon Bassguitar 1950-1960 - red vinyl | Reverb

The '69s serial # is 192629, mine is 2095167 and the other one is 3499057 - I don't have definitive dates for these basses other than trusting the '69 posted is accurately listed - and I don't know what specific years this model was produced. Hard to say if the numbers are linear as the '69 is a 6 digit # and mine (nearly double in number) and the other one are 7 digit #'s...

 

[JIO]

I really lucked out finding this bridge and want to know the backstory. It's brand new and perfect for this bass - as close a match to the original, at least appearance-wise as you get.

I centered it where the original was and need to remove or shorten the E & A saddle springs for spot-on intonation. (it's very close now) As the pu's are very curved, I'll need to do a bit of work on the saddle slots of the E & G saddles to get the strings to follow that curve and get them closer to the fb. Right out of the box action is decent and the neck stable. Minimal fine-tuning will get it totally dialed.

The cover is where it looks like the original - even if the side adjustment screws are different. (better actually)

I need to make a new string-guide for it as the original positions the E & G too far away from the end of the fb. Easy to replicate using BWB pg scraps.

Van Ghent tuners polished up nice - the bass weighs a nice light 7lbs/9oz and sounds pretty good. It definitely has a bit of a hollow-body sound - I have rounds on it now but flats may be the way to go. The 'tone' switch (between V-T knobs) doesn't seem to do anything - it's wired correctly so I'm not sure what's (not) going on. It's a good-looking bass! I like how in neutral light you aren't aware of the sparkle - I bet stage lights would activate that aspect of the finish.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

need to remove or shorten the E & A saddle springs for spot-on intonation.

If I get the design correctly, the saddles are threaded and the springs just keep them from rattling, so you could probably put them on the other side?

 

[JIO]

If I get the design correctly, the saddles are threaded and the springs just keep them from rattling, so you could probably put them on the other side?

I ordered light gauge strings for it and will do any needed bridge/saddle adjustments once they are stung-up. On these 50+ yr old basses the necks can only get so close to being ideal and so keeping the string tension low helps. I need long-scale because of the added string-length from the bridge to the string-stop - an additional 5"

 

[JIO]

Strings arrived today - nice low action, but a number of frets now need some work to curb buzzing. No problem - I've dealt with much worse. Half-rounds feel nice, I haven't used them for years.

 

[JIO]

Spent about 1/2 hr addressing the various location fret buzzing on the Typhoon yesterday. Plays sweet now - so I spent some quality time today playing it through nice amps. Definitely has a distinctive hollow-body tone going on. The neck is sorta baseball-bat but really comfortable to play. I'm lucky to be open to playing many different neck profiles even though I do have favorites. Of the many basses I've worked on/have owned/own - there was never one I 'couldn't' play. I hear of those who 'can't play' this or that neck (profile) and just feel fortunate. Allows me to experience a wide variety of basses! I do have big hands which is initially why I was drawn to playing a bass rather than a guitar... (true story!)

 

[JIO]

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