New Old Bass Day

[rayc]

I wasn't going to mention it until I'd sorted it but tripped over myself in Greg's thread.
My original bass was bought in 73/74. It was borrowed/stolen in about 82.
I liked it - a simple short scale thing that had a good thump.
I looked for a replacement over the last 20 years and found one in about 2002 but it was in VERY poor condition and they wanted thrice what I'd originally paid for it PLUS postage.
I gave up.
Oddly I saw a post in fb that featured the same model and make/brand badge of bass but in metallic red rather than the ivory white of mine. The dude was asking upward of $300 for it plus postage but did say he'd look at offers.
I offered $200 including postage, he did his maths and came back with $205. I thought he'd just say no and that'd be that.
I accepted though & he sent it to me.
Most scews are screwed.
The worst damage to the paint seems quite recent - he did mention that it bought it from someone who was going to "restore" it but gave up. I suspect the damage was done pulling it apart as far as the person could.
I originally planned to strip & repaint but the neck is pretty good, smooth and feels nice.
The frets are in decent condition. The only one that has real wear is the zero fret.
The pots are quite small...I put a 9v battery beside one for size comparison.
I have purchased a set of screw extractor bits to try to remove the rest of the screws. The thing is missing a nut but is, otherwise, intact.
I'd removed all I could before the photograph. I left the bottom of the bridge in place as I didn't want to remove it unless I had to.

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[Greg_L]

Wow that thing is cool. Are you able to find parts for it?

[JD01]

That is a cool old thing.

[rayc]

Wow that thing is cool. Are you able to find parts for it?

At this point I have all the bits not on show except the nut.
I pulled it apart as far as I could until I can removed and replace the little screws and the photos are of it partly disassembled.
I might need to replace the neck pickup as one of the two feet(?) is missing and the thing was sitting in it's spot with padding under that side.
Pots & switches will be a process of discovery I suppose.
It's a deeply sculpted & slightly elongates SG/EB isn't it?
Imagine how dicky my band mate & I looked in 74/5 with matching ivory Coronet SGs! His guitar had a clone Bigsby as stock too.
Big flares, big collars, long hair and matching guitars. sadly I don't have any images from that time & the guitarist has fallen off the map.

[rayc]

That is a cool old thing.

Yep, cool & old. They stopped making this model in 75 so it's at least 47 years old.

[Tadpui]

Awesome, Ray! I saw your mention in the other thread and just now noticed that you posted it here with pics. Looks like that's going to be sweet when it's all put back together.

[WhiskeyJack]

That is awesome. nothing a little bit of time and sweat equity can't fix ray!!! I wouldn't even sweat the pain job. It tells the tale of an old guitar. If it were me the only thing i would set about updating is that bridge. looks a bit wrinkly. I am sure you could get some automotive place to spruce that up for you and rechrome it for not that much money. maybe?

either way cool snag buddy!

[Greg_L]

You have a few things that seem to be in your favor as far as parts go.

1) It looks like those pickup rings are just standard everyday humbucker rings.
2) You could probably braze or solder a new leg to the baseplate of the neck pickup.
3) Since it has a zero fret, the nut isn't all that important. You could make one from a blank. It's more of a string guide anyway.
4) Pots and jacks and switches and wiring are pretty standard to any guitar. Alpha pots are metric and will fit right in there.

[musicturtle]

Nice find Ray!

Can't wait to hear it.

[muttley]

........
1) It looks like those pickup rings are just standard everyday humbucker rings.
2) You could probably braze or solder a new leg to the baseplate of the neck pickup.
...................

I'd be inclined to use epoxy as there is not telling how brash and brittle the winding wire will have become over the years. Heat may be an issue if the enamel or poly coat is compromised. First thing I would do is measure the output to make sure it's good then I would look to see if I could get another frame for the baseplate. A competent pickup maker could swap out the base plate no problem. Those things come in a variety of string spacings and screw holes need to line up. I wouldn't be hard to make one though.

[Greg_L]

........
1) It looks like those pickup rings are just standard everyday humbucker rings.
2) You could probably braze or solder a new leg to the baseplate of the neck pickup.
...................

I'd be inclined to use epoxy as there is not telling how brash and brittle the winding wire will have become over the years. Heat may be an issue if the enamel or poly coat is compromised. First thing I would do is measure the output to make sure it's good then I would look to see if I could get another frame for the baseplate. A competent pickup maker could swap out the base plate no problem. Those things come in a variety of string spacings and screw holes need to line up. I wouldn't be hard to make one though.

Yeah that's a good point. Epoxy. Listen to mutt.

[Armistice]

Nice find. $205 including postage? How much is postage for a chunk of wood like that from where he was to where you are?

I can't be arsed trying to extract minor amounts of money from people for stuff. I'd rather give things away than be dealing with negotiations at that $ level. You must have been the only person interested.

The old owner will probably go without food for a week now.

Good luck putting it together again. Be a fun project.

I don't share the general love around here for old instruments. I enjoy my guitars, and I'm careful to keep them in good nick, but they're just tools and I'd no more buy a vintage / old guitar than I would a vintage screwdriver. But to each their own.

[rayc]

Sage advice that I will heed @Greg_L & @muttley .

As to negotiations - @Armistice the postage came to around $35.
The seller was keen to shift it as he said he was moving from South Australia to Japan for a coupe of years.

@WhiskeyJack , as soon as I had it out of the box I knew I wasn't going to paint it.
@Tadpui , Yes, a bit of thinking and work should see me with a Coronet bass to go with the Vantage solid, Emperador semi, Knockoff Hofner semi and No name acoustic Five string. Worrying really.

[Tadpui]

@Tadpui , Yes, a bit of thinking and work should see me with a Coronet bass to go with the Vantage solid, Emperador semi, Knockoff Hofner semi and No name acoustic Five string. Worrying really.

Hey, you're a bass guy. And a bass guy needs basses. And this one was a steal. A little sweat equity put into it and you'll end up with (literally) more than the sum of its parts!

[muttley]

Sage advice that I will heed @Greg_L & @muttley .

As to negotiations - @Armistice the postage came to around $35.
The seller was keen to shift it as he said he was moving from South Australia to Japan for a coupe of years.

@WhiskeyJack , as soon as I had it out of the box I knew I wasn't going to paint it.
@Tadpui , Yes, a bit of thinking and work should see me with a Coronet bass to go with the Vantage solid, Emperador semi, Knockoff Hofner semi and No name acoustic Five string. Worrying really.

If that pickup is dead or FUBAR then pop it in the post to me and I will rewind it for you.

[rayc]

Sage advice that I will heed @Greg_L & @muttley .

As to negotiations - @Armistice the postage came to around $35.
The seller was keen to shift it as he said he was moving from South Australia to Japan for a coupe of years.

@WhiskeyJack , as soon as I had it out of the box I knew I wasn't going to paint it.
@Tadpui , Yes, a bit of thinking and work should see me with a Coronet bass to go with the Vantage solid, Emperador semi, Knockoff Hofner semi and No name acoustic Five string. Worrying really.

If that pickup is dead or FUBAR then pop it in the post to me and I will rewind it for you.

Ta Mutt,
I'll get a chance to look at things next week I hope.

[muttley]

If you can take a picture of the bottom of the pickup for me I may have an idea that will get is sorted for you.

The bobbins are often fixed to the baseplate using little screws and you maybe able to use them to anchor a second plate to take the surround screws.

[rayc]

Builders started on the extension..sadly the local council has decided to rate it as a new dwelling and hit us for an extra $5k in fees. oh well.
I started on the old bass but didn't get far...I assume the previous attempt to work on it fell foul of the same problem: corroded screws. I tried WD40 & leaving it for a couple of days. I invested in a screw extractor and that failed as well. I've ordered a recommended paint on version of a red deoxit corrosion thing so will see how that goes before drilling the fiddly little things out I suppose. The recommender said he'd used it and it worked for him in similar circumstances.
In the meantime here's a closer look at the neck pick up as requested my @muttley and a shot of the corroded screws.

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[Greg_L]

Since those screws are only going into wood you have a few options.
1) If the screw heads stick up enough and if you have a Dremel you could use a tiny grinding disc to turn them into flathead screws. Grind a groove into the top of the screw and use a small flathead screwdriver to get them out.
2) Reverse drill bits. Get a small reverse drill bit and backwards-drill into the center of the screw. As the bit tries to grab the metal it will back the screw out. They can't possibly be that tight being as they're only going into wood.

[muttley]

Wow, that is pretty corroded.

The screws: You can often help shift them using heat. A soldering iron with a fine tip held on the top of the screw long enough to get the heat to expand the screw and dry out the wood will often break what is a corroded joint. Be careful not to melt the pickguard and if it is an old pickguard watch out it doesn't set lite or flash, some old plastics can do that. I have used heat to budge old screws on loads of occasions and sit is worth a try before you start drilling or cutting them out.

The Pickups: They look like they are resin potted so you best bet would be to fashion a plate with a threaded hole where the missing lug is and use epoxy to glue it to the bass plate. The other way would be to make up a strip of metal to run from the existing lug across the bottom to give you a new lug which would be anchored to the existing lug. You could then use a small block to glue it to the bass to give it rigidity.

Before going to that trouble I would check continuity of the pickup to make sure that corrosion hasn't shorted out the coils. You should get a reading in ohms across the ground and hot on the hook up wire of between 4k and 8k at a guess.