NFTBD (free trash bass....literally)

[funkinbottom]

Last night I get to rehearsal and the guitarist says he has a present for me. He knows I like to build/modify and generally tinker with basses and such, so when his girlfriend (who lives in San Francisco) called him to ask if she should salvage the bass she sees in a trash can...........

Here it is. A knock off P bass. (Davison? Never heard of them). Anyway, plugged it in and it sounds pretty much like a P bass should. Not noisy at all, surprisingly quiet. Pots function well, no scratchiness. A chunkier neck than I prefer, but it's straight as can be. Needs a proper setup, but plays fairly well. I'm amazed how good of shape it is in for being tossed in the trash. Only two tiny nicks on the back.

So here are pics of the way it came out of the trash, before a cleaning.

 

[kesslari]

Shoots and SCORES! Nice find! Thank the GF for that one!

 

[funkinbottom]

Shoots and SCORES! Nice find! Thank the GF for that one!

Thanks, I took care of that first thing. It just might be a keeper to modify, as it only weighs 7lbs. The baseball bat of a neck might need to surrender to a bit thinner one, but nothing I couldn't adjust to with a bit of playtime.

 

[chitoryu12]

I bought my Davison secondhand for $110 as a learner and I absolutely adore the cheap thing. I had the action redone as well as you could without filing down the nut to get rid of some buzziness and make it more comfortable to play, but it's otherwise perfectly fine and has never had any problems other than falling out of tune very slightly after 5 or 6 songs in a row. I wouldn't pay more than $120 or so for one, but it's a great student bass.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

If the chunky neck bothers you, you could sand it to a better profile.
Sure, it might warp if you go too far, but you wouldn't be risking much, would you?

 

[funkinbottom]

If the chunky neck bothers you, you could sand it to a better profile.
Sure, it might warp if you go too far, but you wouldn't be risking much, would you?

I've actually been giving that some thought lately (though the chunky thing doesn't really bug me) Neck is stable, with a functioning truss rod, and definitely plenty of material that could be removed. It might be a fun project. I've never really carved on a neck before, though I did reshape the headstock. I didn't care for pointy stuff.



The other thing I was thinking.... I have long and short scale, 4 and 5 string covered, but no fretless. So, I might just swap out the neck for a fretless one. I'm sure I can find a decent neck for less than $100. Then, of course, I'll have to rout and install a bridge pickup for a little bark and growl.

 

[mongo2]

Is it a 32" scale?

 

[funkinbottom]

Is it a 32" scale?

No, it's 34" scale.

 

[mongo2]

No, it's 34" scale.

My Davison is a 32. The position of the bridge made me wonder.

 

[funkinbottom]

My Davison is a 32. The position of the bridge made me wonder.

Yeah, it's seems like it is a bit north so to speak. I had to double check. It's 34". A 32 would be kind of cool. I like my shorties, but every now and then they seem ever so slightly cramped.

 

[chitoryu12]

Just as an update on my Davison, I broke my first string on it two days ago! The seller said it was freshly restrung before I bought it, but I had probably played close to 1000 songs (including two runs of "2112" and various other long songs) before it snapped while trying to tune slightly sharp to E Standard.

Other than that, the only problem it's had has been one of the screwholes for the jack plate being slightly oversized and causing a screw to pull out when I was unplugging. It's remained mechanically sound otherwise.