First, hello all! I've been a reader on here for a while, but I can't remember if I've posted before. I hope this is a good place to ask this, but if it's not, a moderator is free to move it or ask me to move it. I'm honestly not much of a player any more, but I'm 47 and started when I was 16 and still enjoy picking up the basses once in a while.
Short version:
Is it wrong to disassemble and part out a perfectly good (and somewhat vintage) bass to restore another one that has sentimental value to you?
Long version:
Anyway, here's my situation. My first "real" bass was a candy apple red Peavey Dyna-Bass 5-string with black hardware. I LOVED that bass back when I was 17 (1988) or so, bought it brand new and actually had to order it since my local shop in my small town would have been crazy to stock one. I played it a lot, lots of bar gigs, weddings, stuff like that. Eventually (like 25+ years ago) , the active pre-amp went bad. When switched on, it would distort (fart) like crazy. I should have taken it in and had it repaired at the time, but I was super poor. So, to get by, I just removed the whole board, soldered the bridge pickup to a volume pot, and played like that for a while. The band I was in broke up shortly there after and I kinda retired out of it at the old age of 25. The bass was put in its case and forgotten about for many years.
A year or so ago, I saw a listing for a 4-string Dyna-bass of the same vintage pretty cheap on Craigslist. I was going to buy it with the intention of using it for parts to restore my 5-string (I also needed the knobs.) Turns out the one I bought also has a Kahler Bass Trem on it, which is pretty cool. I remember being a kid in the 80's and looking at the pictures in Peavey Monitor magazine and thinking it would be amazing. The bass is very very used, but still solid, everything works fine, it does need a good setup though.
So, here's my dilemma. I have begun to have second thoughts about gutting this bass. There's literally nothing wrong with it other than cosmetics. It feels wrong somehow, like killing someone for their organs. I definitely don't need it though, cool as it is.
The thing is, I know these basses aren't worth a lot of money, I figure in the condition it's in $200-300 TOPS, and that's probably being optimistic. However, the PARTS of the bass would easily be worth more than than. Used trems can go for nearly $300 alone. Completely disassembled, I'm certain the parts would be worth over $500, and that's after keeping the pre-amp and knobs. But I having difficultly getting past the fact that I'd be ruining a perfectly good instrument that someone else could play.
If I could just order the original replacement parts, I would do that and just sell this bass to make up the money. I love my old 5-string, but I'm not willing to go into a lot of money to fix it since I won't play it much. When I do play, I usually pick up my US Fender Jazz bass (that was a life long dream to own, I do love being an adult.) The Peavey pre-amp looks fairly simply (I still have it), maybe a guitar tech could just repair it? My solder skills are pretty weak, and my diagnostic skills even weaker, but I do have access to good shops, including Elderly Instruments in Lansing, in my area. I would prefer NOT to replace the pre-amp with something more modern, my goal is to make it all original, even though I know the original really wasn't that great.
If you've read all this, thanks! If you have advice, thanks for that too!
SO, am I a weirdo or what?
Scott
