Found this bass, want to know if it's salvageable.

I'm a garbage man by trade and mainly a guitarist. I've always wanted a bass for the home studio but never bought one. Someone had this Mexican Jaguar bass out for collection and I couldn't help but take it home to see what was good with it. It's look like it's been outside for some time with the rust and what not. Surprisingly plays well and the electronics while not great do still work. I'd love to make a project out of this but I'm wondering if it would be worth it over just buying a good used one.

Couple key things I tried to picture are the skunk stripe is starting to separate from the neck a bit and the body is badly cracked in two places. But shockingly it still feels pretty nice and I haven't even put strings that aren't rusted to high hell yet.

Thoughts and opinions on building this up?
 

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Could be worth it if you do all the work yourself and are not picky about aesthetics.

Not worth it to pay someone to fix it up, at all. At that point you could just buy a new one.
This would definitely be something I would want to do myself if I did attempt it. Not experienced with wiring and soldering at all but considering this was free I wouldn't really care if I messed it up at all.

My only question is if the necks salvageable. Was thinking of rubbing some polish on the frets with steel wool after protecting the fingerboard, but the stripe coming out leaves me a little concerned.
 
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The cracks look they are mostly in the finish. It has clearly been in a very humid atmosphere for a pretty long time, which could have damaged the electronics and built up some rust in the electronics. I'd try to get it properly clean and working again first.
The skunk stripe could also be because of the humidity: the maple of the neck and the rosewood of the stripe react differently to humidity so the rosewood might have let loose. I'd let a good luthier take a look at that.

It is most definitely a genuine Player Jaguar bass. Very nice necks, pretty good basses overall and worth trying to save for a few bucks.

EDIT: I just saw the serial: this is a 4 year old bass. What happened in those 4 years?! Did it drown?
 
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Good catch there. I would fix that thing up. The pickups should be fine so new pots and some soldering should fix the electronics if they need it. If that crack in the body is deep it can be filled and sealed. Some steelwool for the frets and new strings. If the neck does need to be replaced you can always get a new/used one ebay or reverb.
 
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I would clean it up the best I could. Maybe replace the bridge and other highly rusted pieces. I wouldn't go for a full restoration, but keep the survivor/relic vibe. But that's just me. I take a little perverse pleasure out of showing up with old, worn, damaged (but good-playing) instruments. It's a reverse-snobbery thing. My experience is that a good-playing relic will get just as much attention as a boutique. They make great conversation starters.
 
Clean it up, install new strings, glue up the cracks, keep it as a G-man's heritage bass, trash to treasure, providing a solid lower end for your guitar flights of fancy. Beat up basses can sound pretty good. This is a $22 plywood flea market Peavey Milestone II. This is 'after', it was lots worse 'before'.
 

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Skunk stripes tend to shrink or swell differently than the maple neck wood. Not a big deal. I’ve seen it happen on lots of basses at all price points. Even my Dingwall Super had a bit of it.

Pull the neck off, sand it smooth. Take it to 400 grit and you are set. Maybe some clear Keewee shoe polish to finish.

The cracks look like just the very thick paint and clear coat has started to delaminate. It’s either the beginning of you relic job, or the beginning of a strip and paint money pit. If you like that sort of thing, have at it. Check out lil Roth daddy for paints and video.

Electronics are easy, pre wired retro fit stuff is available.

I never once made it to school on time on trash day, but I never scored something this cool!

Have fun!
 
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Nice find ! love this kind of stuff! Your are right on track with cleaning the frets. You say it plays good, so the neck is probably straight enough and the skunkstripe damage is only cosmetic. Just re-glue it(clamp it so it is flush). Leave the paint damage as is. Rock it.:bassist:
 
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As long as the neck/body joint is still solid and the truss rod works (and you can live with the looks), I'd definitely clean it up and use it.

The fingerboard you can tape off between the frets with the blue Scotch Clean Release painters' tape and steelwool the frets to remove the grunge (it's better to remove the neck to keep the steelwool out of the pickups and body cavity). IF there are no real dents or divots in the frets, you're good. The big body crack can be clamped up and glued, and passive electronics are cheap to fix or replace. So are Windex and elbow grease.

But it's really up to you. I will say though, Ya can't beat the price !
 
I also think it is worth salvaging.
The skunk stripe can be reglued into place. I would recommend finding a tutorial on how to polish frets and would discourage steel wool, as it has a way of getting into places you don't want.
One concern I would have is that it looks like moisture got under the finish and it looks like mold is growing there. If it were mine, I would remove the old finish, repair the body and apply a new finish.