SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

[toomanyslurpees]

Not the amount of wear of some of these basses but an excuse to post my 85 stingray...

 

[bluesdogblues]

that's a hot one

 

[bluesdogblues]

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sure!!! the story is:
someone beat the body into oblivion...... sanded, stained, scratched and abused!! I rescued the body and i attached a 1971 Fender neck "B"width!!
the pups are virgin 1969....the same goes for the harness!! they sound AWESOME!!
the pick guard is a piece of broken junk that came with the crud and dirt on it!! the scrap piece was perfect..... all the screw holes were there!!
i completed it with a pair of old Musicmaster knobs to help deliver the "Dirt"
she's a dirty, filthy Girl!! Tone of the Gods!!

 

[bassbully]

87 MIK P bass

 

[bluesdogblues]

Let's flood this thread with beautiful pictures of beautiful basses (sorry for any repost pics)

My '62 RI. She's a little scratched up, but still sounds great.

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A few pictures of my "true friend" of 35 years.
(Yes, we've had quite a few "FLASHY" acquaintances, but no TRUE FRIENDS.)

We've both aged, and not always gracefully.
We've both lost something forever, but it's life.
Life is unfair - I got over it.

I've relied on you, and YOU'VE NEVER LET ME DOWN.
Don't worry about those scratches. It's our memory.
They prove that we've both worked hard, traveled a lot, and had an interesting life.
JB, you will always have a special place in my house and in my heart.

Thank you JB-77 for your true friendship.


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a little extra love and care ...

74 Jazz salvaged from a fire ... w/ a 78 neck ... shoulda kept it ... View attachment 520697

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I happened across a 1972 P-Bass this year and added it to my collection. It was a bass that was heavily gigged, so the wood has really opened up. I think with any instrument you will find good and bad.

I have nothing bad to say about the workmanship... fit/finish.

But just as with modern instruments, you can find 2 that came out of the same shop worked on by the same luthier and the sound will be remarkable different.

As a result, I think it's bad to categorize ALL instruments into the same category.

 

[JIO]

Seems that even those early 70's Fenders got fully road-worn even w/o the thin nitro finishes. Maybe they switched to the thicker poly epoxy after '75.

 

[bassbully]

Seems that even those early 70's Fenders got fully road-worn even w/o the thin nitro finishes. Maybe they switched to the thicker poly epoxy after '75.

I had a 'and a 74'. Both had very thin and fragile Poly finishes that had darkened allot from the original factory colors (oly white) turned into mustard or a yellow color.

There are also Squiers from the 80's that had very thin (cheap) finishes like the 87' MIK I posed above. I had a late 80's P bass special that the neck and body finish flaked off as you played it, a real worn thru finish if you just looked at it.

 

[JIO]

I had a 73 and a 74. Both had very thin a fragile finishes that had darkened allot from the original factory colors. There are also Squiers from the 80's that had very thin (cheap) finishes like the 87' MIK I posed above. I has a late 80's P bass special that the neck and body finish flaked off as you played it, a real worn thru finish if you just looked at it.

Maybe it was just the clear over ash bodies that were so thick - instead of wearing through they would develop hair-line cracks/checking.

 

[bassbully]

Maybe it was just the clear over ash bodies that were so thick - instead of wearing through they would develop hair-line cracks/checking.

Maybe. My MIK I posted here is in much worse shape than the pics show. There are finish cracks, chips and dings everywhere. The neck is really worn in the "money position" 1-5 frets. I have helped it along getting road worn. One day it took a nasty fall and took some wood and about an inch of finish when It fell on the concrete on my patio...opps! Lesson: do not put your bass on a cheap plastic chair on a hot day to go grab a beer.:

 

[bluesdogblues]

Yep,..the symptoms are just like my 78.. (darkened, develop hair-line cracks/checking instead of wearing through, finish cracks, chips and dings everywhere),...

As a fan of 'distressed finish' look basses,...(what a funny term to write, LOL)... I'm affraid that if the 'decision makers' people in Fender -who like their products to kept shiny for longest time possible, knowing this fact, they will strengthen & thickening the poly or whatever protector substance on their new basses more and more, so in the future we'll see much more shiny and rarer distressed finishes fender basses..

 

[JIO]

It's already happening. They use an acrylic epoxy blend on most new instruments that is really hard to 'wear'. Other than the 'road worn' or the nitro finish models of the recent past, you won't see that 'classic' distressing/wear on basses now. You'd have to really abuse it to get anything going on in the visual 'mojo' dept.

 

[bluesdogblues]

It's already happening. They use an acrylic epoxy blend on most new instruments that is really hard to 'wear'. Other than the 'road worn' or the nitro finish models of the recent past, you won't see that 'classic' distressing/wear on basses now. You'd have to really abuse it to get anything going on in the visual 'mojo' dept.

Oh really..Sad news for some, happy news for some (unnecessary info for other )
Me? sad..

 

[JIO]

Oh really..Sad news for some, happy news for some (unnecessary info for other )
Me? sad..

Who knew? At one time a bass with that much wear would have simply been refinished w/o much thought to look 'good' (new/fresh) again. Even in this enlightened aesthetic environment - "Mojo" continues to be in the eye of the beholder.

 

[bluesdogblues]

Yes..
(Like a soundtrack or music illustration for a movie,..I think we need some pics for this conversation )

1978 Music Master

 

[JIO]

I've always loved checking like this - it is so organic and beautiful like a spiders web.

 

[bluesdogblues]

I agree sir.. How about this one?

1973 Jazz

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Beautiful isn't it?

 

[bluesdogblues]

Or perhaps You prefer this one..

 

[JIO]

Or perhaps You prefer this one..

Now you're barking up my tree! My first (very used) black '86 Kubicki Factor was owned in the days before easy pic-taking so I don't have documentation. It wasn't this worn but was very played (probably owned by a professional as these were expensive when there weren't a lot of expensive basses) I stripped the finish off eventually and it was a real chore. I considered it to be likened to a Mercedes paint-job! (from back then, not now as there isn't a difference anymore!)

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

Maybe it was just the clear over ash bodies that were so thick - instead of wearing through they would develop hair-line cracks/checking.

Do you remember the first year or two of those???? Man, the first EPA friendly stuff would check SO bad and lot of times, curl up like the desert floor along all the check lines??? I had a red trans that checked bad, didnt curl though, and a black Strat that did both...A LOT, and got milky white along the curled up check lines too.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

Some GREAT ones on Page 33 here...ZOWIEE!