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Refinishing my 1973 Telecaster bass


Delberthot
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I recently bought a 1973 Telecaster bass with the big humbucker that had been poorly refinished some time ago. I thought it would be a good idea to refinish it properly.

I also thought that it might be a good idea to post my progress here to show anyone else who is interested how to do it (or not to do it)

The bass as it arrived to me looked like this:





Everything else at first glance seems to be original. There's a split in the wood where the bullet truss rod comes out at the top of the headstock.



its probably been there for years and was a problem on the early ones where the wood at that section wasn't thick enough. I plan on sealing the crack with superglue as it is invisible to minimise any further splitting.

The next step was to carefully take all of the hardware off. I began by removing the strings and then the neck. The first odd thing is that there is no wood between the butt of the neck and the humbucker.



It is amazing how big and heavy this pickup is. Once I had removed the bridge, I was able to pull the earth wire back through and take the scratchplate off. I then unscrewed the nut holding the jack to the cup so that i could lift the whole lot clear.

All the parts are in separate containers so that they do not go missing



the second odd thing was that someone had shielded the control cavity but hadn't done it properly so that will be going.







The next step will be to sand down the body and fill any dings in the wood. I'll probably take a couple of weeks to do this as i will only have time after work to do it.

For anyone interested in what the final finish will be: I am using nitro to paint it to make it more authentic. White primer, Daphne Blue colour and clear laquer top coat

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These are monstrous basses. I wish I'd kept mine...

JUst in case you find it useful - there's a simple mod you can do by unscrewing two of the polepieces from the pickup.. I did it to mine and, although the signal still sounded as big as a house, it was a little more controllable and a little more defined.

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[quote name='Delberthot' post='37013' date='Jul 25 2007, 08:14 PM']Which poles to you remove as I may try this first? Thanks[/quote]

It's been a while, but IIRC...

Take the pup out, and there should be two polepices with screw heads accessible from the bottom.

Unscrew 'em, and take them out. Bob's your uncle.

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[quote name='paul, the' post='37782' date='Jul 27 2007, 12:57 PM']I didn't know how cool these basses were until I found out that George Porter Junior played one.
Keep it natural, it looks great and very unique. Although a Californian yellow would be pretty cool.[/quote]

Yeah....
It don't get much cooler than this (though George is playing a '68 Tele bass here - or maybe even a really old 50's Precision?):

[attachment=1405:george7.jpg]

Edited by 99ster
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[quote name='99ster' post='37916' date='Jul 27 2007, 05:56 PM']Yeah....
It don't get much cooler than this (though George is playing a '68 Tele bass here - or maybe even a really old 50's Precision?):

[attachment=1405:george7.jpg][/quote]

He played Tele basses and Precisions as well as a holow-bodied EB-2 through a Bassman (in the old days).

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[quote name='Delberthot' post='42181' date='Aug 6 2007, 09:22 PM']On the underside of the pickup are 4 polepieces with screw heads





Do i take 2 from one side or one from each?[/quote]

It's comin' back to me now!

Take all four out... they just screw right out.

Give it a go and see what you think - it's easy enough to reverse. If you do put them back in, don't overtighten them as they'll push into the top plate and make a little bump.

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