What's On Your Workbench?

[Dark Horse]

I put the BroncoBird onto the workbench to have a look. I guess I should just go ahead and assemble it sometime this week. I have an infusion in the morning, so it’ll be a few days before I feel well enough to get to it, but Lord willing, maybe I’ll have another bass to futz around with in a week or so

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Foiled again….
View attachment 7473090
View attachment 7473091

I also did a little decal-ing. A friend of mine who runs a little guitar repair shop hooked me up with a headstock decal that’s period-appropriate and a neck plate with a 1975 serial number.

View attachment 7473092
The decal was very old - he’d had it for years - and I’m not really sure how well it will adhere. I’ll give it a few days and, if it looks sketchy, I might scrape it off and order a fresh one. If it seems okay I’ll shoot some lacquer on it and see how it goes.

No pictures of the neck plate but…. It’s a neck plate.

Curses!

 

[Lo-E]

Got some soldering done:

Okay, look; I know I said I was trying to get this instrument back to as close to stock as possible. Yeah, I know; that pickup is NOT close to stock. Fine…. I’m applying for a variance, okay? I didn’t have a stock-ish P pickup in my pickup stash but I did have this. As it’s an early Bartolini Hi-A, it probably is from right around 1976 or so but I’m the one who made the rules so I guess I aught to stick to them. I’ll change the pickup out later for something more appropriate but, for now, I just wanted to get it wired up.

I’m on the fence about the headstock decal my friend gave me:

It dried a little bit stippled. I’m not sure if it’s because the decal was really old or because I didn’t prep the headstock well enough. In either case I’m considering scraping it off, adding a few more coats of finish to the headstock, prepping it better and ordering a new decal. It’s a setback but this project has been a parade of setbacks already. What’s one more?
I might just roll with it as is but I doubt it. It would bug me.

From there it was all about leveling and dressing the frets:

And that was more than enough for one day.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Just finished the de-roughing and sanding this week. Not bad for pieces of wood that are 99 years old :

 

[Lo-E]

So, with that bass I guess the best note choice would always be the tonic?

 

[MPU]

Got some soldering done:
View attachment 7477260
View attachment 7477261
Okay, look; I know I said I was trying to get this instrument back to as close to stock as possible. Yeah, I know; that pickup is NOT close to stock. Fine…. I’m applying for a variance, okay? I didn’t have a stock-ish P pickup in my pickup stash but I did have this. As it’s an early Bartolini Hi-A, it probably is from right around 1976 or so but I’m the one who made the rules so I guess I aught to stick to them. I’ll change the pickup out later for something more appropriate but, for now, I just wanted to get it wired up.

I’m on the fence about the headstock decal my friend gave me:
View attachment 7477276
It dried a little bit stippled. I’m not sure if it’s because the decal was really old or because I didn’t prep the headstock well enough. In either case I’m considering scraping it off, adding a few more coats of finish to the headstock, prepping it better and ordering a new decal. It’s a setback but this project has been a parade of setbacks already. What’s one more?
I might just roll with it as is but I doubt it. It would bug me.

From there it was all about leveling and dressing the frets:View attachment 7477277View attachment 7477278
And that was more than enough for one day.

Those Hi-A pickups look great and match the idea well.

 

[Dark Horse]

I called an audible and instead of putting the Thunderbird pickups into the Bronco (which I still plan to do), I put them into a Jazz Bass . I have an old MIM Jazz that feels KILLER … awesome neck on it… and weighs under 8.5lbs… but I don’t need yet another Jazz bass, so I put the t-birds in it. I was definitely not disappointed ! Routed it out, slapped em in, and now it’s one of my favorite basses . It’s a beast !

Such a killer bass now…

 

[Lo-E]

Such a killer bass now…

And those p’ups look better in the J-bass!

 

[Dark Horse]

And those p’ups look better in the J-bass!

I agree … I love the way it looks !

 

[Lo-E]

Those Hi-A pickups look great and match the idea well.

Yeah, they may not be stock but they’re certainly period-correct.
Early ‘70s was when Bill Bartolini was making a name for himself with Hi-A.
I believe it was 1977 that the factory burned and he re-tooled with a Bartolini stamp on the covers so if somebody wanted Bill’s pickups in their shiny, new 1975 P-bass they would be buying Hi-A.

Also worth noting - those early Hi-A pickups sound fantastic.

 

[Dark Horse]

 

[rickwrench]

Odds and ends ---



I finished up an abandoned 20" baritone Uke for myself. This one has been hanging on the wire for a few years. I've been neck deep in a car restoration for a few months, but I had a few free days to finish this one up. It will probably live in the shop as a stress relief instrument.
Redwood grape stake body and neck, carved redwood grape stake top, heart sound hole. Manzanita fretboard, bridge, nut, and saddle. Abalone dots in a guitar layout (3-5-7-9). Tuned DGBE.

 

[Lo-E]

The theme for the ‘75 P-Bass restoration seems to be “Do Everything At Least Twice.”

In the case of the finish I can give myself a little slack. I haven’t done much finishing and this was a new product for me so I had to learn the ropes. No problem.

In the case of fret work? I have no excuses. I was in the shop doing something unrelated and I looked over at the neck at an angle that caught the light and thought “Wow, pal…. not your best work.”

Nobody likes having to hear that, especially from themselves, so I did the right thing:

Now they’re looking like they should.

I was also a little saddened to have to scrape the decal off:

It was just too old. It didn’t adhere well and wasn’t sitting as flat as it should. It was worth a try but I’ll have to order a fresh one. While I’m at it I’ll put a few more coats of finish on there and get it really nice and flat for the new decal. I don’t want to do this a third time.

 

[mapleglo]

The theme for the ‘75 P-Bass restoration seems to be “Do Everything At Least Twice.”

In the case of the finish I can give myself a little slack. I haven’t done much finishing and this was a new product for me so I had to learn the ropes. No problem.

In the case of fret work? I have no excuses. I was in the shop doing something unrelated and I looked over at the neck at an angle that caught the light and thought “Wow, pal…. not your best work.”

Nobody likes having to hear that, especially from themselves, so I did the right thing:
View attachment 7482085

View attachment 7482086

View attachment 7482087
Now they’re looking like they should.

I was also a little saddened to have to scrape the decal off:
View attachment 7482088
It was just too old. It didn’t adhere well and wasn’t sitting as flat as it should. It was worth a try but I’ll have to order a fresh one. While I’m at it I’ll put a few more coats of finish on there and get it really nice and flat for the new decal. I don’t want to do this a third time.

I can't count the number of times I've done things twice. As I get older, I'm getting to the same point with doing things 3 times. Pretty soon, I'll be spending my days doing the same thing over and over again...

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I can't count the number of times I've done things twice. As I get older, I'm getting to the same point with doing things 3 times. Pretty soon, I'll be spending my days doing the same thing over and over again...

I’d love to be able to give you a blank, uncomprehending expression on that…



I just can’t.

 

[mapleglo]

I am remembering last year's build off. I had to rebuild the bass body three times. That's right. Three. Times. That was expensive. Of course, at least I didn't stab myself requiring 9 stitches...

 

[Gervais Cote]

10 layers of Truoil turned a 99 year old wood crate into this :

 

[Gervais Cote]

The back of the bass is not bad either for a 1 year old piece of wood :

 

[Gervais Cote]

And matching neck requested black hardware :

 

[Pep]

Squier Jaguar modified.

Modified headstock
Wilkinson tuners
Custom headstock decal
Routed to accommodate Wilkinson J-Bass pickups
Replace the MM humbucker with a Reverend Split Brick
Mini toggle to choose Split Brick, J-Bass pickups or all 3
Blend knob to pan between the J-Bass pickups
Jack moved to edge of the body.
Wilkinson Black Bent-Plate with brass saddles.
Custom Orange Pearl pickguard

Hope to finish it this week.