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weird japanese sixties bass

jj.833

jj.833

Oct 19, 2006
1,412
2,241
47
prague czech republic
#1
I've got my hands on Link Removed japanese Ibanez bass. It's ugly, beautiful, and sounds surprisingly fine unplugged as well as plugged. See pics, and if you are willing, please look at few technical questions below.
ib_f.jpg

ib_head.jpg

ib_neck.jpg

ib_br1.jpg

ib_br2.jpg


I am trying to help this bass shine again, I'd be grateful for any advice. So far I found two problems:

- the neck is glued from three pieces of wood (5 on the headstock, pic 2). Where the neck meets the body, there's a little cleft on the G string side suggesting that the glue is slowly giving way (pic 3). The cleft is about 30mm long, about 0.5mm wide on the body side. Is this a problem? Is there a way to repair it? Would I damage the bass, if I adjust the truss rod?

- the bridge (pic 4+5) is clearly not a fender copy :-) There seems to be no way of adjusting the height of the strings. Or, anyone having such a bridge, is there?

I'll buy strings, clean the neck, check the frets and try to adjust the string height. Hopefuly the bass won't fall apart.
 
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#5
Cool bass. The bridge saddles can adjust down, with a file! :smug: Seriously, if there are no height adjustment screws, and there does not appear to be, you’d have to either file the slots in the saddle deeper or use a small shim at one end of the neck or the other depending on which way the string height needs to go.

On the neck, is the crack just in the finish? If not, is it open and does it move or can it be forced (gently) open more? If it is open and will close with light clamping pressure or will open slightly with hand pressure then use an Xacto knife or something similar to clean the crack out, try to remove only dirt or debris, not wood. Then use a little wood glue or CA glue down in the crack and clamp it and let it dry.
 
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#6
Matt Liebenau said:
The bridge saddles can adjust down, with a file!
Click to expand...
It's not apparent from the photo, but of course, somebody adjusted the saddles with a file in the past. I'm afraid to do the same (by the way, the plastic looks bit waxy, like something from Marie Curie's lab). I'm thinking about having a locksmith make the same from metal; they are high enough to make them adjustable... if it proves neccessary.

Matt Liebenau said:
If it is open and will close with light clamping pressure or will open slightly with hand pressure
Click to expand...
It's open, I'll try to measure the depth with a needle. Won't close slightly. Didn't try to open it more.

Thanks for the input!
 
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#8
jj.833 said:
It's not apparent from the photo, but of course, somebody adjusted the saddles with a file in the past. I'm afraid to do the same (by the way, the plastic looks bit waxy, like something from Marie Curie's lab). I'm thinking about having a locksmith make the same from metal; they are high enough to make them adjustable... if it proves neccessary.


It's open, I'll try to measure the depth with a needle. Won't close slightly. Didn't try to open it more.

Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...

That is why I suggested shiming the neck. A cut up piece of playing card in one end or the other of the pocket can make a big difference in string height.

As @GretschWretch suggested, you could give the neck a little time and if the split doesn’t get any worse, don’t worry too much about it, just keep an eye on it.
 
#10
Take those saddles to a machine shop and ask how much it would cost to cut from brass.
Make them half as thick and add adjustment screws.

You could also go to a 3D printer and just make a handful of them and keep filing and sanding till you get the strings where you want them.

Those originals look like they might be dry and ready to crack and crumble like most 1960’s plastic parts Ive ever worked with.
 
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#11
I had an early 60's Goya bass some years ago that had the same bridge, same finish, and the same woodgrain (pretty sure it was solid mahogany). In regard to those bridge saddles, filing is the way to go. I went a hair to low on one of mine, but a little shim underneath the saddle was all that was needed to correct the height. Definitely file very carefully though! As MVE mentions above, they will crumble if you're not gentle
 
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