Meazzi Hollywood (referenced) project

[Dynacord]

Actually I was wrong - it has a bridge ground ... I can't recall now and don't have a pc but it lacked some sort of ground.

The ghosting is from another bridge which someone replaced the original with.

View attachment 4458156
I luckily found a 1960 bridge to get it back to original. I lucked out with with the bridge and a '66 HSC getting both for a very reasonable cost.
View attachment 4458161
A little "road worn" but solid with hinges working. Case was $100 and the bridge was $150. Can't beat that with a stick!
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Awesome. Days of those deals are long gone...

 

[JIO]

Maybe there was a bridge cover? Though I don't see how it would have attached.

Wow, your '66 doesn't have a ground wire running from under the bridge?

Now I remember - it didn't have a ground wire on the jack. (bridge-plate ground was on the volume pot) Apparently Fender didn't have the ground at the jack until the mid-late '70s.

 

[Retro]

Curious about the chrome "L" under the bridge

Maybe a ground connection?

I think I remember reading that it's some sort of ground. I do have a Klira Arkansas bass (w/ red "naugahyde"-esque vinyl and only one pickup) and it has one of those tabs as well. The pg is painted metal but the paint isn't conductive, so I guess that was their solution.

 

[JIO]

So much for the MIC/sold in the US "Precision" bass bridge cover. It's HUGE! It might work on a 5-string P-bass. And there is a generic Jazz bass version although this "P-bass" cover is nearly as big. If anyone can use it for a project - let me know, I'll gift it to you. It's too much trouble to return. The opening is 4-1/8" wide - wide enough to drive a truck through.

Grabbed this blue paint card from the paint-store. It's the only blue that reached out to me on the wall of colour. It's kinda' what I had in mind - Fender International colour Maui blue with a slight hint of green. (amber'd MB) It's a Benjamin Moore colour named Spa Day "A tranquil, relaxing day away is closer than you think." (sounds sorta' like a fortune cookie) "Immerse yourself in this soothing shade and let the stress melt away."

I can dig it!

 

[Reedt2000]

So much for the MIC/sold in the US "Precision" bass bridge cover. It's HUGE! It might work on a 5-string P-bass. And there is a generic Jazz bass version although this "P-bass" cover is nearly as big. If anyone can use it for a project - let me know, I'll gift it to you. It's too much trouble to return. The opening is 4-1/8" wide - wide enough to drive a truck through.

Grabbed this blue paint card from the paint-store. It's the only blue that reached out to me on the wall of colour. It's kinda' what I had in mind - Fender International colour Maui blue with a slight hint of green. (amber'd MB) It's a Benjamin Moore colour named Spa Day "A tranquil, relaxing day away is closer than you think." (sounds sorta' like a fortune cookie) "Immerse yourself in this soothing shade and let the stress melt away."

I can dig it!

View attachment 4460914

That cover is huge!

The chrome also looks out of place with the aluminum (IMHO). Could you bend your own cover out of the aluminum? Or build one outta something else and skin it with aluminum?

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

That's a great color! The bridge doomaflogee...not so much. But great color.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I like the color but I’ve been into greens and blues lately so I might not be the most impartial.

 

[JIO]

That cover is huge!

The chrome also looks out of place with the aluminum (IMHO). Could you bend your own cover out of the aluminum? Or build one outta something else and skin it with aluminum?

For now since there's no rush - I'll keep searching.

 

[JIO]

That's a great color! The bridge doomaflogee...not so much. But great color.

I like the color but I’ve been into greens and blues lately so I might not be the most impartial.

Same - time will tell.

 

[JIO]

Another possible choice for colour/finish. Maybe a semi-transparent version so the mahogany is seen.

Sadowsky calls it Black Cherry. Looks almost maroon (reddish brown)

Fender called their version Midnight Wine.

It looked very different in different lighting situations.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Maybe a semi-transparent version so the mahogany is seen.

You do you (as you do.) I'm in favor of pretty fully transparent as that's a nice hunk of wood. But I'm not you.

 

[Bleecker]

Another possible choice for colour/finish. Maybe a semi-transparent version so the mahogany is seen.

Sadowsky calls it Black Cherry. Looks almost maroon (reddish brown)
View attachment 4466184 View attachment 4466185
Fender called their version Midnight Wine.
View attachment 4466186
It looked very different in different lighting situations.
View attachment 4466188

I love it!

 

[JIO]

You do you (as you do.) I'm in favor of pretty fully transparent as that's a nice hunk of wood. But I'm not you.

I appreciate natural wood when it's nice (which this slab of mahogany is) but for me the design gestalt supersedes and this particular build will inform me of its finish. I won't make that call until the neck is finished and bolted on, the body glued together and the body binding installed. At that point - I'll know what it will need to look like. (and I appreciate your continued input - )

 

[Dynacord]

Another possible choice for colour/finish. Maybe a semi-transparent version so the mahogany is seen.

Sadowsky calls it Black Cherry. Looks almost maroon (reddish brown)
View attachment 4466184 View attachment 4466185
Fender called their version Midnight Wine.
View attachment 4466186
It looked very different in different lighting situations.
View attachment 4466188

One of the stock colors for the Jupiter guitars (all the Jupiter basses I've seen have been black) was a similar dark transparent red/maroon - though bursted to black at the edges, no doubt to cover the lamination lines at the edges/contours as the body was made from laminated sheets of mahogany.

I kind of like fairly bold, almost primary, colors on a lot of their stuff as it sort of fits the Eames/George Nelson/mid-century aesthetic of Meazzi's designs - and I know whatever you do will be tasteful and cool!

 

[JIO]

One of the stock colors for the Jupiter guitars (all the Jupiter basses I've seen have been black) was a similar dark transparent red/maroon - though bursted to black at the edges, no doubt to cover the lamination lines at the edges/contours as the body was made from laminated sheets of mahogany.

I kind of like fairly bold, almost primary, colors on a lot of their stuff as it sort of fits the Eames/George Nelson/mid-century aesthetic of Meazzi's designs - and I know whatever you do will be tasteful and cool!

Yep, I kneel at the same alter of mid-century modern. I've done decorative painting in that mode when the architecture warrants it and the client approves it. The most adventurous work in this line I've done was for 'show houses' (mansions) in Silicon Valley and in SF. Don't do them anymore - was more of a way to get my foot in the door when I first moved to the Bay Area in '90.

If you have a selection of colours that you find fitting - feel free to post here.

 

[Reedt2000]

With the accent colors being black and silver you can really use any other color for the body. I kinda dig the blue, maybe a little pearl in it so it's not a straight clone of the vintage model look?

 

[Dynacord]

Yep, I kneel at the same alter of mid-century modern. I've done decorative painting in that mode when the architecture warrants it and the client approves it. The most adventurous work in this line I've done was for 'show houses' (mansions) in Silicon Valley and in SF. Don't do them anymore - was more of a way to get my foot in the door when I first moved to the Bay Area in '90.

If you have a selection of colours that you find fitting - feel free to post here.

I kind of like colors of this type:

HOWEVER, I totally get not wanting to cover up nice wood!

 

[JIO]

With the accent colors being black and silver you can really use any other color for the body. I kinda dig the blue, maybe a little pearl in it so it's not a straight clone of the vintage model look?

I still like the blue option - just have the time to consider all possible hues while waiting for Dan to finish the neck. The blue I chose is close to a Gracey's colour called Taos Turquoise (missing the q there) - very blue.

I warmed it up a bit to get close to my paint sample - more of a blue-green ala aged/amber'd blue

And another Gracey's colour - Teal Green Metallic... somewhere in between, but it is metallic which could be cool.

I'm just wanting to avoid colours like Seafoam and Surf Green because they are such common '50s retro shades.

I do like Daphne blue. On the left is fresh, on the right is is an amber'd sample which is very much similar to my sample. With this in mind I have two options - have Pat shoot Daphne blue with an mild amber clear-coat. (poly) or have MJT shoot Daphne nitro and do their checking thing with a very mild amber nitro on top. Or... no checking and just a straight Daphne nitro, letting it amber over time. I think they can add an accelerant to speed up the amber-ing process.

This I like (aged Daphne blue) - this pic will go to whoever is going to do the finishing as a prime example of what I want color-wise. White pu's too... ummm.

 

[Dynacord]

I still like the blue option - just have the time to consider all possible hues while waiting for Dan to finish the neck. The blue I chose is close to a Gracey's colour called Taos Turquoise (missing the q there) - very blue.
View attachment 4466916


I warmed it up a bit to get close to my paint sample - more of a blue-green ala aged/amber'd blue
View attachment 4466948

And another Gracey's colour - Teal Green Metallic... somewhere in between, but it is metallic which could be cool.
View attachment 4466918

I'm just wanting to avoid colours like Seafoam and Surf Green because they are such common '50s retro shades.

I do like Daphne blue. On the left is fresh, on the right is is an amber'd sample which is very much similar to my sample. With this in mind I have two options - have Pat shoot Daphne blue with an mild amber clear-coat. (poly) or have MJT shoot Daphne nitro and do their checking thing with a very mild amber nitro on top. Or... no checking and just a straight Daphne nitro, letting it amber over time. I think they can add an accelerant to speed up the amber-ing process.

View attachment 4466936 View attachment 4466935
This I like (aged Daphne blue) - this pic will go to whoever is going to do the finishing as a prime example of what I want color-wise. White pu's too... ummm.
View attachment 4466945

Love the Taos Turquoise myself. That color sample doesn't look much like Fender Teal Green Metallic to me - I've only seen a real example once but it was very similar to Gibson's Inverness Green Metallic. Also a head scratcher that they say it was used by Fender 1956-59 when it was one of the colors CBS introduced in '65 along with Charcoal Frost, Firemist Silver and Gold, etc.

 

[JIO]

Yah, a bit confusing dates. The Taos blue is nice - it reminds me of a FCS/Kubicki Ex- Factor I owned in what they called "Sonic Blue". It was close to that colour & had a bit of pearl in it. It was a nice color.

And yes - wood is always nice to look at. I love working with it. I always secure 1 piece slabs of wood for my basses. Using Alder or Basswood - I've always painted it. But I've painted Korina/white Limba and roasted Swamp Ash also. Kinda' depends on what is wanted for the whole package; weight, tone-wood, feel, sound/tone, visual vibe - all to land a concept from inception to completion. I saw a pic once of an early '60s P-bass that was LPB I think (it was years ago) but the elbow bout finish was worn away and it disclosed mahogany! A very rare P-bass for sure.