Operation Ibanez Quaran-Bean Restoration

[LowEndLobster]

Hey all!

You may remember my Ibanez RB-999 Bean bass that I recently scored. It'd been sitting on my rack since I got it. I took it out and realized that though the body was in great shape, the hardware could use some TLC. I decided to tear her down and restore the hardware .

The bass (on the left):

The icky bridge:

The torn down bean:

Cleaned up the end of one of the tuners:

One tuner fully done!

The finished bridge:

Bridge back on the bass:

Going to do the rest of the tuners tomorrow, then maybe check out the electronics to see how they are. This is fun!

 

[wvbass]

Impressive work. How are you cleaning the hardware?

 

[el jeffe bass]

Very cool and I have to ask, what is that cool looking stringless Tele shaped bass in the background. Me gusta.

 

[steveinohio]

That bridge looks like it weighs 9lbs!!

 

[JW56789]

Truly one on the short list of the 'What Were They Thinking?' bass hall of fame.

BUT . . . . . so what do you think about the AFR behind it ?

 

[LowEndLobster]

Impressive work. How are you cleaning the hardware?

I used some wire polishing heads and some simichrome metal polish.

 

[LowEndLobster]

Very cool and I have to ask, what is that cool looking stringless Tele shaped bass in the background. Me gusta.

It's a Warmoth custom tele that I put together for myself. She's not done yet, but close.

 

[LowEndLobster]

Truly one on the short list of the 'What Were They Thinking?' bass hall of fame.

BUT . . . . . so what do you think about the AFR behind it ?

It's a cool bass. Going to review it soon

 

[hypercarrots]

That bridge looks like it weighs 9lbs!!

accu-cast bII weighs 207g

 

[garp]

Nice work! At least you've got all the original parts. When I did a restoration on an RB-888, it took me six months to find a pair of those OEM delta-shaped/"bat wing" strap buttons, and they weren't cheap either.

 

[LowEndLobster]

Nice work! At least you've got all the original parts. When I did a restoration on an RB-888, it took me six months to find a pair of those OEM delta-shaped/"bat wing" strap buttons, and they weren't cheap either.

Damn! I didn't realize that those things were so hard to find.

 

[garp]

Damn! I didn't realize that those things were so hard to find.

I've discovered – painfully – that there's a "market" for vintage OEM parts in the music world. Capitalism at its best, I suppose. I'm almost embarrassed by what I paid for an SCSI circuit board to repair a '90s-era synthesizer.

 

[LowEndLobster]

I've discovered – painfully – that there's a "market" for vintage OEM parts in the music world. Capitalism at its best, I suppose. I'm almost embarrassed by what I paid for an SCSI circuit board to repair a '90s-era synthesizer.

I have some IDE ribbons that I could sell you for a cool.... uhh... $950 each! Yeah!

 

[Standalone]

Superb work. My RB850's black anodized bridge is so worn... My BL800's frets are so cruddy... your work is inspiring me to be responsible about the cosmetics on my basses. Since I guess aside from woodshedding the only thing I can do with them is move them about the house and take photographs.

 

[ruju]

That's a nice ATK next to it!

 

[Standalone]

That bridge looks like it weighs 9lbs!!

The same bridge is on my RB850, which is a rather light bass overall. Compared to my ash eighties beauties...

 

[LowEndLobster]

Made a quick vid on my restoration process. Enjoy!

 

[Wisebass]

hi LowEndLobster

This is fun!

greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

[LowEndLobster]

That's a nice ATK next to it!

Thanks! I LOVE the ATK. Such a great instrument.

 

[LowEndLobster]

hi LowEndLobster



View attachment 3797636

greetings

Wise(b)ass

Hi