It all depends on how much you're willing to spend... (As with everything in life)

If you are going to do a full house restoration, you can look into the Leo Quan Baddass bridge. It's a high-mass bridge with a very thick base plate and should offer enough clearance for a decent action.



Cheers

Sakkie wrote: It all depends on how much you're willing to spend... (As with everything in life)

If you are going to do a full house restoration, you can look into the Leo Quan Baddass bridge. It's a high-mass bridge with a very thick base plate and should offer enough clearance for a decent action.

Thanks Sakkie , did some reading & that's a interesting option.

Very doubtful I'm going the whole hog on this one - If I did spend serious $ on it - i'd want restore to original. But the parts seem super scarce (nothing on ebay) and only a few bass bits available at projectguitarparts and nothing I need :'(.

Would be a pity to turn this into a ornament (the neck is usable) or break it up for parts - which is looking more likely as I trawl the interwebs.

Fast forward a few months and I got into playing bass (again) and I was gasing for a p-bass...

So I pulled out the hofner and started messing around to see what it would take to get her playing again :

1. Refurbed the tuners, I could find the missing two ferrules from the UK at 15GBP...each! So I made some sleeves for the two missing ones out of a golf club shaft - not pretty, but they work.

2. Checked out the neck. Truss rod was a little stiff, but some patience + valve oil and she adjusts easily now. Nut was fine, frets were worn, so a quick n nasty level and crown along with a strip and refinish of the fretboard was in order. I'll have to go back and pay some more attention to the frets, I missed a few spots =(.

3. The bridge...the biggest part of the build was figuring out how to get the bridge to work on this bass. Eventually I thumbsucked that 5mm was about the height I needed to raise the bridge (original two plastic plates were 7mm). My mate Paul cut me a piece of steel - which with a touch of tweaking worked like a charm. During the test fit the bridge lifted when I was tuning up - noticed that holes were skew, probably for the original tailpiece bridge. Not gonna work for this one, so filled and re-drilled.





Now about the "finish"...I never intended on refinishing the bass. I had a feeling it was far too much like hard work. And I was right. At least four re-finishes in it's past!

From what I can find on the net, she was probably a sunburst finish originally. I reckon it had a lots of play, had some touch up's in brown and then someone went and stripped her and did a really through refinish in white. Then a nasty rattle can job in green and finally the crappy black rattlecan spray job.

In my defense, I did NOT intend on a 'relic'. I just pulled out some scraper blades and investigated what lay under the paint. A week later there was only one option, get creative. Some of the relic'ing existed before I started, hidden under the white paint. As I pulled up the paint it was interesting to check out the wear patterns - the neck was very nicely worn. The body not so much, but I think that's because the white refinish was a bare wood refinish on the body (but not the neck - weird).

To get the aged look - a combo of tea, vinegar and steel wool was used as a "chemical stain" and finally it was 'sealed' with coconut oil for that greasy & used look. I'm very happy with the way the neck came out - I'm still deciding if I like the front of the body - there's a art to how much tea (tannin) vs how strong the vinegar/steel wool solution reacts. Basically, the more tannin = darker aging. It's gone a bit darker than I intended and is continuing to darken after two weeks. If I want, it's real easy to strip the bare wood and try a lighter solution - two hours from start to finish.


Applying some tea. First of four coats, next time I reckon one or maybe two is enough.

Left to right : Before aging, after aging, after waxing




Some idea's are just bad...

Looking good- I like the layers of finish that the relicing reveals.

you been busy ?
But it looks like you missed a few spots eh ?

Here she is...a sunrise photoshoot to get a bit of a naturally vintage flavoured photo. Still a few things to get done, but for now she be strung and playing. And the consensus is...she's a winner! She slaps, pops and fingerstyles like a champ. The neck is something else - kinda a cross between a jazz neck (lovely radius), but slightly wider - though not as chunky as the majority of pbass necks I've tried. Next mission is the pickup...more news this week I hope!

Looking good! Is it a 34" or a short scale?

Sweet looking bass. I was against the worn look at first, but the more I look at it the prettier it gets. Great work.

peterleroux wrote: Looking good! Is it a 34" or a short scale?

Thanks! It's a 34''. Would be a VERY cool bass were it SS or even better a 32''.

Interestingly, it came with very low frets from the factory, compared to the skyscrapers on the Curbow. Add in the jazz radius neck vs flat neck of the Curbow and it's a entirely different playing experience.

Lu22 wrote: Sweet looking bass. I was against the worn look at first, but the more I look at it the prettier it gets. Great work.

Thanks ! It was a exercise in budget that lead to a 'creative' solution. Since the bass is no longer in original condition and I can't get the parts (or even figure out what they actually were) - my approach was do it on a budget.

Attacking it with razor blades and tea seemed like a way to go about it... :?

The finish will evolve a little more, I want to age the white paint, kinda match the sun aging on the pickguard. I've tried a few methods - all failed thus far. I've got one more trick to try though.

Good Stuff!

Good going. Six years, time flies. Good that the project not only survived, but advanced. How does this rank on your favourite scale?

modulator Good going. Six years, time flies.

Thanks! Eish, time has indeed whizzed by, the 'rona interlude' made things seem a bit surreal maybe?

Wellll, great question - so far #1, because I still have , play it and dig it. I have been looking around for something else for ease of slapping - I might add a cheap Gio Soundgear or similar - they are a lot easy to play and have a active circuit. No rush though, I'm playing more guitar lately, working on getting some shreddiness back in my life.

V8 Have a look at them Yamaha's.

I paid about the same as for a gio, and its 300% the instrument. TRBX 174. It is passive though.

Had a conversation recently, guy bought a left-hand bass with obvious neck issues, just because it was left. Could not sort it with truss rod, threw it in the cupboard. Some time later he looked at it again: previous owner(?) had shimmed the neck to sit with more than 10 mm action. Sorted that, set the truss rod, is a good player now, and has active pickups.
Sometimes the gems are just a bit mud-crusted.
Enjoy.

RCVN Have a look at them Yamaha's.

Thanks, I have They are good, I dug on the RBXA2 a long while back, just wasn't cheap enough at the time to tempt. Played great, sounded real good.

I'd have have a (Gio) Soundgear, just because I'm used to them. Everytime I play one (4 string) it's a familiar, easy playing, place. Can't say I like the sound - it's McD's compared to the Hoff's homemade fatty mids

modulator Sometimes the gems are just a bit mud-crusted.
Enjoy.

Too true, thanks! I remember having fun with the refurb, getting all the overspray off the headstock was extremely satisfying. I've been looking around for a sister guitar to join, but nothing turn ed up quite as beat up.