GEO's 1st bass restoration

[JIO]

It's gorgeous! The "twist" elevates it to a class of its own. Nice work as always!

Thanks Tom - it came out mauvelous!

 

[BTL]

That's really lovely, congrats!

 

[JIO]

Daylight pics -

 

[JIO]

That's really lovely, congrats!

Thanks Brad -

 

[JIO]

Took the Tempo to TSC rehearsal tonight. At home, it sounded good - not much depth but decent. Well, of course that's in comparison to many fine sounding basses I built, own & play. So there's that. But "in the mix"? - this bass is a beast. Only weighs in at just over 7lbs of wood & wire, but it ROCKS playing live rock. We are a pop-rock band by definition* but we rock and this beast delivered the proportional rock.

Feel/playing: the neck is a true "baseball-bat" neck profile - really thick. It reminds me of playing a double bass. I'm lucky being open to try/play different neck profiles & widths. (not counting 5-string) So it was fun to play adapting to the thick neck. It's light but does neck-dive so I used a Guitar Center wide thin-leather strap and that helped. Action was good, tone setting erring on the treble side as tone full bass is a big, muffled, reduced output/volume pillow. That pillow-bass style has its place for sure but for what I want to hear thus far - I'm drawn to presence and definition. Because of the new strings it initially sounded like it needed "more bass". But after taking it through its(our?) paces - I got it sounding pretty great as an ensamble player. Basses like this one really can offer a whole new playing approach or at least discovering why something sounds good in the mix and being open to a basses unique character/voice. Also used it with effect pedals and it really clicked with them. This purple beast lives live -

I think I just created it's handle... "Purple Beast"

* we're a bit more than just pop & rock as we also do rather unique originals by our Paul, writer of multi-faceted compositions.

You can listen here :

 

[ac100X]

This is really interesting. This is a St. George. Memories of mine are foggy but I think it was badged "Stadium" (below) as I would have remembered a bass with my saint name and Tempo doesn't ring a bell. Same bass whatever it was badged. Ok.., so what I find curious is the pg, pu & bridge placement. As you can see in this straight-on pic (and compared to mine above), both the pu & bridge look cock-eyed. (off) I saw this on mine and thought, oh well - 1966 Japan. But they are both off in the exact same way! Measuring from the heal to the top of the pu is 2-13/16" E-side, and 2-11/16" on the G-sde and the bridge plate is 9-3/16" E-side and 9-1/4" on the G-side. And... the gaps on both sides of the pg at the heel are 'off' exactly like mine! (1/4" E-side / 1/8" G-side) I'd have to see a third example for certainty, but the two are so much the same it would seem that all basses like this were off in the same way. Also, you can see the tug-bar screws w/o the white plastic plugs.

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Another picture of one -

 

[JIO]

Another picture of one - View attachment 7271735

It's pretty distinctive! Is this someone you know? It is one of the later versions with the Fender-esk hs with string restraint as I posted earlier (post #26) in this thread. And a Firebird and VOX 12 string! Great pic - thanks for posting!

@johnk_10 has similar pics of him playing his in that same era -

 

[ac100X]

It's pretty distinctive! Is this someone you know? It is one of the later versions with the Fender-esk hs with string restraint as I posted earlier in this thread. And a Firebird and VOX 12 string! Great pic - thanks for posting!

@johnk_10 has similar pics of him playing his in that same era -

It was from the VOX guitar Facebook page.

 

[JIO]

It was from the VOX guitar Facebook page.

My 2nd bass was a used VOX Cougar, but I have no pics of it or me playing it. Years ago I bought this Conrad that is similar to the Cougar - the original pu was replaced when I bought it and I added the "Russian-esk" pg.

 

[Indiedog]

I got impatient and finished it off. With the added neck-pocket shim I was able to re-add the 'four-bit' saddle wheels and with some tr adjustment got the action surprisingly good. I personally prefer "medium" over "low" action and that's where it's at. Installed new "Stringjoy" light gauge strings [45-105]. I was asked to preview/assess them vs D'Addario's which I primarily use. They are out of Nashville. All I can tell is they sound 'new' which is good in certain applications but usually I like strings better when they lose that 'newness', so time will tell if I like them or not. I use heavy gauge strings so light gauge is already noticeably different.

Considering my goals for this bass - I've pretty much checked all the boxes. My overriding philosophy on it has been prefaced with "for what it is" and so to summarize; for what it is it's now a very playable long-scale vintage bass that looks ('60s) period correct- with a twist and (for now) sounds like it looks. (like a late '60s Japanese long-scale one pu electric bass) Definitely better than when it landed on my doorstep.

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Very cool! Congrats!

"New" sounding strings…so, a bit too trebly? Or is it some other nuance in the sound?

 

[JIO]

Very cool! Congrats!

"New" sounding strings…so, a bit too trebly? Or is it some other nuance in the sound?

Yes, too trebly but I boosted the bass setting on my MXR d.i.+ and for certain songs it sounded really good. I played it late last night un-plugged after our BG rehearsal and it has a distinct inherent rough & ready sound. The 50+yr old mahogany resonates nicely also. I think it's breaking-in well now that it has a new lease on life.

Plus, I'm not familiar with these strings (brand). I use D'Addario BT nickel round-wounds and LaBella Deep Talkin' flats. A friend wanted me to test them. The verdict is still out...

 

[JIO]

Gotta send another shout-out to warpednecks.com - it's been over a month and the neck has not moved. Action has remained med-low and no buzzing on any section. It was pretty bad when I sent it and I hoped it would be 'good enough' after getting it back. I'd say it's better than good enough - it's solid good. Just want anyone who has a bowed neck to know there is a solution and a company that makes it happen.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Gotta send another shout-out to warpednecks.com - it's been over a month and the neck has not moved. Action has remained med-low and no buzzing on any section. It was pretty bad when I sent it and I hoped it would be 'good enough' after getting it back. I'd say it's better than good enough - it's solid good. Just want anyone who has a bowed neck to know there is a solution and a company that makes it happen.

That's good to hear about Warpedneck seems like they have it figured out. I have an old MIM P with terminal ski-Jump they could probably fix... but I'm making a J neck from scratch just for fun instead.

 

[JIO]

That's good to hear about Warpedneck seems like they have it figured out. I have an old MIM P with terminal ski-Jump they could probably fix... but I'm making a J neck from scratch just for fun instead.

They'd let you know if they couldn't fix it. I bought a sorta rare '80s G&L 5-string P years ago off eBay and it had a warped neck. Of course the seller failed to disclose that detail. I looked into fixes and steaming was mentioned but with no guarantee that it would stay fixed. Making a new neck for it was also mentioned. As it wasn't cheap - I sent it back. So I'm glad steaming fixed this vintage bass that I paid substantially less for. Luckily in the Bay Area, temp swings aren't an issue so that probably helps wood stability over the long run.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I live on Cape Cod, so damp winters, and dry summers, at least these days. It's not too bad, I usually have to adjust the trussrods two or three times a year. My 83' G&L L2k is probably the most stable wood bass I own. So far all my builds seem pretty stable too, I added extruded CF stiffener bars to all of them, one either side of a DA trussrod, which seems to be working. You never know though, wood gonna be wood so....

 

[JIO]

I live on Cape Cod, so damp winters, and dry summers, at least these days. It's not too bad, I usually have to adjust the trussrods two or three times a year. My 83' G&L L2k is probably the most stable wood bass I own. So far all my builds seem pretty stable too, I added extruded CF stiffener bars to all of them, one either side of a DA trussrod, which seems to be working. You never know though, wood gonna be wood so....

I have three Dano basses from 1968, a Coral Deluxe Bass and two 1445 Hornets - all 34" scale with no tr. They all incorporate two metal bars that run from the hs to the end of the heel. The CDB was spot on, but the Hornets both required work to get them right. So even with two metal bars - wood can still do it's organic thing.

 

[Indiedog]

I have three Dano basses from 1968, a Coral Deluxe Bass and two 1445 Hornets - all 34" scale with no tr. They all incorporate two metal bars that run from the hs to the end of the heel. The CDB was spot on, but the Hornets both required work to get them right. So even with two metal bars - wood can still do it's organic thing.

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Here in the desert big swings of temperature and occasional swings in humidity make protection of wood instruments a must.

 

[SJLee]

Beautiful work JIO!! It turned out great!

 

[JIO]

Beautiful work JIO!! It turned out great!

Thanks! I almost considered it a lost cause (because of the neck/neck-heal issues) but I luckily was able to turn it around!