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The official "Show your basses" thread part 19!

#23,601
It took me 20 years to consider a Bongo. I tried this HS one and I had to have it.
The neck pickup goes into P bass territory with some mid boost.
The bridge pickup has a Ken Smith vibe.
The balance knob is very progressive , which I really appreciate to dial various tones.

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#23,607
This one just came off my workbench. I made a bass vi (sort of) from a Teisco Telestar body that had been chewed on by time and grime. Doing things to it with power tools did not weigh heavily on my conscience.

It is such a blast to play and the tremolo has me feeling like i just unlocked some hidden world.

I mostly stuck with the bass vi wiring, minus a pickup and choosing instead to use a 3-way pickup switch. I had to modify the bridge and nut for the strings, obviously, but i tried to keep it looking consistent with the original Telestar. I recreated the pickguard shape and whipped up a nice amber tone on the neck, and it's quite handsome if i do say so myself.

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#23,609
scooterguy said:
This one just came off my workbench. I made a bass vi (sort of) from a Teisco Telestar body that had been chewed on by time and grime. Doing things to it with power tools did not weigh heavily on my conscience.

It is such a blast to play and the tremolo has me feeling like i just unlocked some hidden world.

I mostly stuck with the bass vi wiring, minus a pickup and choosing instead to use a 3-way pickup switch. I had to modify the bridge and nut for the strings, obviously, but i tried to keep it looking consistent with the original Telestar. I recreated the pickguard shape and whipped up a nice amber tone on the neck, and it's quite handsome if i do say so myself.

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Well done - I enjoy resurrecting these old neglected/dismissed guitars/basses.

Here's one I resurrected - a bass like my 1st bought new in 1966 -

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#23,610
JIO said:
Well done - I enjoy resurrecting these old neglected/dismissed guitars/basses.

Here's one I resurrected - a bass like my 1st bought new in 1966 -

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That's stunning.

I included a couple more shots that are more flattering without the afternoon glare, as it's perched next to another rescue of a Heit bass. It was one of those super duper short scales with a wonky neck, so it became a 30 inch instead.

The Telestar had an ugly round hole for the bridge ground wire, and although i could have plugged, planed, and refinished, i chose a coin that had the same diameter. It's now worth 0.20CHF more 🙂
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#23,613
SJLee said:
That purple is sweet. What's the story on it?
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It's my own finish - Montana rattle-can (Mauve Lakers) with Montana Hologram and Stew-Mac tobacco-burst. All covered in my LC thread -

JIO

Thread 'GEO's 1st bass restoration'

I just acquired a long-scale, solid body bass from Japan, a bass like my very 1st bass. I don't know for certain if it was made in 1966, but that's the year that I as a 13yr old bought one like it for $40 at Woolworths Dept Store. Being a 59yr old instrument, it has some questionable past repair issues. The cost was nominal so dealing with 'issues' was factored in to my buying it. As you'll see in my pics of it, cosmetically it's in fairly good condition. I doubt it came in any other finish, a standard brown-burst. My goal here is to restore the bass as good as possible considering a few...
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#23,614
JIO said:
It's my own finish - Montana rattle-can (Mauve Lakers) with Montana Hologram and Stew-Mac tobacco-burst. All covered in my LC thread -

JIO

Thread 'GEO's 1st bass restoration'

I just acquired a long-scale, solid body bass from Japan, a bass like my very 1st bass. I don't know for certain if it was made in 1966, but that's the year that I as a 13yr old bought one like it for $40 at Woolworths Dept Store. Being a 59yr old instrument, it has some questionable past repair issues. The cost was nominal so dealing with 'issues' was factored in to my buying it. As you'll see in my pics of it, cosmetically it's in fairly good condition. I doubt it came in any other finish, a standard brown-burst. My goal here is to restore the bass as good as possible considering a few...
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You wouldn't happen to have any closeups would you?
 

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