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Luthier screwed up my P bass

#41
tpaul said:
I don't get all the praise for the luthier being so brave and honest. The guy's bass has a hole in it. It's not like he had the option of pretending it didn't happen.
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Sure he did. Exhibits A-Z lie in the archives of this website. He also could've tried filling and painting on his own to cover it up, BS'ing about how it happened, called to insist on needing a battery box, etc.

This definitely gets points for up front honesty & solutions in my book.
 
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#44
SirMjac28 said:
Well, now you know who not to take your '61 P to in the future :). I love that burst and what do those active pups sound like?
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People tend to have a love/hate relationship with these particular pickups. I like them because I can clearly hear what I am playing without having to crank my stage volume. I work with two guitarists that have very full sounding rigs and I have to cut through a wall of sound.

These pickups also seem have an eq baked into them that I happen to like. Most of the time, I leave my amp eq settings flat.
 
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#45
You can't ask for any more than someone who owned his mistake right off the bat with no BS and is offering several options on his nickel to make it right.

IF it were me, since I was going to have a double EMG setup, I'd cover this blooper with an 18v battery box as mentioned above, which would guarantee headroom with those two, and have enough power should you decide to add one of the EMG BTS or similar circuits (I would . . . .). Somehow, even if I got a wonderful replacement, it would still bug me subconsciously that it was a replacement, plus like Ricky Ricardo said, I'd 'have some esplainin' to do' if I sold it later to someone knowledgeable about things. So to me, the battery box would click several boxes. And since you wouldn't be holding his feet to the fire about paying for a new body, I'd imagine you could get quite a deal money-wise getting this axe back on the road.

Good Luck !
 
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#46
JW56789 said:
You can't ask for any more than someone who owned his mistake right off the bat with no BS and is offering several options on his nickel to make it right.

IF it were me, since I was going to have a double EMG setup, I'd cover this blooper with an 18v battery box as mentioned above, which would guarantee headroom with those two, and have enough power should you decide to add one of the EMG BTS or similar circuits (I would . . . .). Somehow, even if I got a wonderful replacement, it would still bug me subconsciously that it was a replacement, plus like Ricky Ricardo said, I'd 'have some esplainin' to do' if I sold it later to someone knowledgeable about things. So to me, the battery box would click several boxes. And since you wouldn't be holding his feet to the fire about paying for a new body, I'd imagine you could get quite a deal money-wise getting this axe back on the road.

Good Luck !
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Yeah, the battery box is the best bet. The bass already took a value hit just by adding the pickup and it needs a battery box anyways, unless you want to pop off the pickguard.
 
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#48
Sorry this happened, but if you’re going down to the pub for a few stiff ones, you’ll probably see him there, and he’ll be quite a few ahead of you. So maybe that’s a good time to suggest that he buy the bass from you. He can fix it anyway he likes, then sell it. And you can take the money and buy a Sadowsky.
I’d meet you guys down there, but I got family stuff today.
 
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#49
Spidey2112 said:
...Can you have an active pickup, without the supporting electronic elements?
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EMG pickups have a preamp built-in to the pickup housing, hence, requiring a battery to power them. TTBOMK, EMG is the only company that make actual active pickups (so to speak). Yeah, an onboard EQ system could be nice but not required with EMGs.
 
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#51
First, you have a great story here.

Second, if I were interested in buying a used passive bass with a battery box, there had better be a good story.

Your choice (obviously), but the guy is trying to make it right. Either a batter box or a pre-amp cutout or just a dab of epoxy and refinishing and it is as good as new. But, you have a great story here....

(I had a custom-made bass, and it is passive. The luthier routed out a pre-amp compartment because I MIGHT decide in the future to install one. It is a PJ with two huge soapbar covers because I MIGHT in the future decide to change PJ into soapbars. Just go with it....)
 
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#52
Jeff Scott said:
EMG pickups have a preamp built-in to the pickup housing, hence, requiring a battery to power them. TTBOMK, EMG is the only company that make actual active pickups (so to speak). Yeah, an onboard EQ system could be nice but not required with EMGs.
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Thanks, Jeff! I was of the mind some type of cavity would have to be routed (anyways) for the extra pre/battery, then @two fingers offered up the idea of 'under the pickguard'... which in itself would suck, of course (I don't think I've ever seen it, done... maybe, older instruments?).

NOTE: A mind is a terrible thing to waste. I had a Steinberger, with active EMG's, and a battery compartment on the backside to power them. I swear, I couldn't tell the difference sonically, active or passive.
 
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#53
Hopefully the battery box won’t interfere or compete for space with the existing electronics. If it does, a fun option may be to counter-bore and inlay a birth year coin or some such. I tend to disregard resale values as I rarely sell...

Like others, (and yourself apparently), I view this guy as someone who would get my continued business. Kudos on approaching a solution that doesn’t hurt him too much financially!

-robert
 
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#55
funkmaster p said:
Two weeks ago I dropped off my bass for modification by a well respected luthier in my area. He has always done a great job for me in the past. He is also a very nice human being, and although I have never seen him outside of doing work for me, I consider him to be a friend. He replaced the stock pickup in my American Standard P bass with an active EMG P bass pickup and I was delighted with the results.

This week, I brought the bass back to him to have an active EMG J pickup installed in the bridge position.

While at my gig this afternoon, I got a text from him saying that he was making good progress on the bass until he drilled through the back of the body. He said if I want to get another bass body, he will pay for it, or if I want him to look for one, he will do that.

View attachment 3031755


There are many different ways to approach this problem. I will start by having a couple of stiff drinks first.
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This is why I do my own work on my own basses
 
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#56
tpaul said:
I don't get all the praise for the luthier being so brave and honest. The guy's bass has a hole in it. It's not like he had the option of pretending it didn't happen.

I'm glad a battery box seems to be a satisfactory solution for the OP, but for me it would not, unless I was thinking about doing that mod anyway.
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There's always a risk something can happen when you get any work done. Hell, there are horror stories about gear just straight up disappearing, letting something out of your hands at all is a gamble. The praise is that a guy is doing the right thing. It should be a given, it isn't, and frankly him offering to either find a new body or pay for one of OP's choosing is cool. Just about any retail warranty is to repair or replace at the vendor's discretion, and you don't get a choice one way or the other.

I'd be upset if one of my instruments got damaged, even knowing it's a risk I take when it goes on some guy's bench. The fact that he's trying to do right by his customer says a lot about his integrity. Sure it would be better if the damage never happened in the first place but it's a little hard to un-drill a hole.
 
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#57
Spidey2112 said:
Thanks, Jeff! I was of the mind some type of cavity would have to be routed (anyways) for the extra pre/battery, then @two fingers offered up the idea of 'under the pickguard'... which in itself would suck, of course (I don't think I've ever seen it, done... maybe, older instruments?).

NOTE: A mind is a terrible thing to waste. I had a Steinberger, with active EMG's, and a battery compartment on the backside to power them. I swear, I couldn't tell the difference sonically, active or passive.
Click to expand...

A lot of people are put off by the idea of putting the battery under the pickguard. When you consider the battery life for a single active EMG pickup is about 3,000 hours, it's not so bad to deal with. About half the hours if you go with two pickups. Just have to make sure to unplug your bass after each use.

BTW, I also had a Steinberger that I played for years and years. Bought it in '83 back when the Steinberger logo was on a flimsy sticker.
 
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#58
funkmaster p said:
A lot of people are put off by the idea of putting the battery under the pickguard. When you consider the battery life for a single active EMG pickup is about 3,000 hours, it's not so bad to deal with. About half the hours if you go with two pickups. Just have to make sure to unplug your bass after each use.

BTW, I also had a Steinberger that I played for years and years. Bought it in '83 back when the Steinberger logo was on a flimsy sticker.
Click to expand...

I had an '86, fully engraved... Lol! I used it as a backup, when I was playing out, back then...

Lie to me, if you have to... the Ric, in your avatar... tell me it's still stock, and no harm has come to it, from the idea of modding it.
 

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