Grangur

Maybe it could work if it was agreed that all were to insure all basses in their possession and all owners were to accept that all minor dings were to be accepted as "fair wear and tear". That's to say you shouldn't offer up a pristine Jazz if you don't accept it could come back with a couple of small chips. It's still fraught with danger though.

We need an "Up 4 Swap" section, where for an agreed period, 2 members can swap basses, with the full knowledge that what's borrowed will be returned after the given time. The problem with this, of course, is what happens if a bass gets dinged? What happens if the owner finds a ding the borrower didn't know it had gained? ... Hmm... back to the drawing bored.

Ahh, many thanks for the tips. Yes, I was thinking that of the dips. Is there any way that you would use to fill the dips though? The way I was thinking was strip the neck and sand it flat, then re-fret. This could be done, of course on just part of the neck, but to do the job right it would be good to have all the frets the same. Warwick sell the frets in pre-cut lengths. The advantages of going there, as I see it are: 1. The wire gauge is right. 2. The wire would be of a good quality. 3. Their fret wire is yellow brass all the way through and won't turn silver when polished. The disadvantages are that Warwick's price isn't exactly budget and having cut pieces means there's no slack really if I do mess one up in the timing. Re-fitting frets after sanding the neck would be impossible I guess?

[quote name='Manton Customs' timestamp='1476650962' post='3156047'] It's not too difficult to trim the tangs back if you go the refret yourself route. On the Warwick necks I've worked on the frets slots are not cut so the edges don't go through the edge of the fingerboard, but they are simply filled after the (tang trimmed) frets are installed. The current frets look like they need a bit more leveling and crowning action if you're going to keep them, I can still see the wear on (especially) the second from left fret and the fret to the very left...You don't want that. Regarding how low the wire can go, the fretboards (nearly) the limit really, as long as you can crown them and are comfortable playing on low frets. There still looks enough material there, can you take a measurement at the lowest point? [/quote] Many thanks for your reading this and your helpful information. I leveled the frets down until the dents were just about gone, then used a crowning file to give some kind of crown. The file is now grounding on the FB and not really doing much to improve the crown. I guess the next stage is to take needle files to the sides as they're not as tidy as I'd like. The height at the lowest is below 1mm though. I don't have anything to measure with more accurately. If I did I don't think my eyesight would hold out to read it anyway. It's interesting what you say about the slots. I did wonder how one can cut a saw blade slot and not go through the sides. So the method, I guess, would be to cut to length, and then clip off some of the tang each end, then make good with a file.

Take a look at youtube.com and Deschamps for Crimson Guitars. They did a good series on buying a guitar kit and making a good guitar from it. If I were you, I'd be on the lookout for a nice old bass, such as Marlin, a Squier or even an Encore and have a go at pimping it with pups, bridge etc. Gear4Music LA basses are good too as are Harley Benton. Good luck with the journey. Its good fun.

First job is to get the parts on order from Warwick. What I did first was to strip the body and clean the parts to see what's needed. The electrics were ok, if a bit stiff. One of the knobs had a grub-screw stuck in the side. I managed to release this though by putting a screwdriver in the slot and giving it 2-3 sharp taps with a small hammer. The body stripped went onto the neck. The frets bother me. The dents are low and the strings have taken a groove into the fingerboard. With the fret worn the round-wound is lower and cuts into the wood. The above picture was taken after I've leveled the frets to see what we have left. TBH, there's not a lot of height to the frets. Big question here is at what point do you re-fret. I've done refrets before, but not with frets that don't go through the sides of the neck. Looking on the Warwick site, they sell fret wires in sets of 26, but they are universal and need to be cut to length. This wouldn't normally worry me, except for the wires not going through the sides of the neck. To be honest I'm thinking of getting prices from luthiers better than I to get this done and for a re-finish of the wenge fingerboard. Any thoughts here from the collective?

The neck has signs of having had some love in the past. Played using rounds for a good number of years, the frets are somewhat wrinkly, and the plastic Just-a-Nut has gone the way of most of it's kind; broken at the ends. Taking it apart, the neck was probably the tightest pocket fit I've come across. Breaking their tight embrace was a small challenge, but once it's open we can see the true colour of the bubinga wood. The tail-piece was also a tight fit with the chrome breaking down.

This is a really nice bass that I've picked up from Painy of this parish. It's one he's owned from new and it's seen some action. So it's now come to relative peace and tranquility of the Grangur Retirement Home for Gentle-basses. Here, among the trees in the Hertfordshire countryside, this amazing bass will be pampered and treated with the care and dignity it deserves in as it takes some well-earned rest in our tranquil surroundings. First we take a look at the credentials of this wonderous instrument. Serial number: E-075214-00 Article number: 1245780000CZBUBOWW produced: 2000-05-17 Description: Corvette Standard, 5-string Natural Oil finish Bubinga body Ovangkol neck Chrome hardware Cool. Let's now take a closer look. As can be seen here on the lower horn, the wood has some layers in the depth and as you can see Painy has been diggin' a groove above the front pup. The bridge has been kickin' up a sweat and the chrome is showing the signs of exhaustion.

[quote name='Macbass68' timestamp='1476625321' post='3155705'] Bought a Squier Jazz bass from Tony - Absolute pleasure to deal with! Communication and Packaging excellent, and the Bass is a gem. An absolute gentleman, ThanksTony! Mac [/quote] Hi Mac, welcome to Basschat. Who's Tony? Is his ID "Feedback"? Normally, to give feedback, we find a thread that has a title like "Tony's Feedback" and post any feedback in there. Have a nice day!

Just had the pleasure of meeting up with Richard to buy his Warwick Corvette 5er. Met his family too and had a pleasant evening. Great guy to deal with and looking forward to any other future opportunities to do it all again. Many thanks Richard.

Interesting "Impact made in Japan" bass http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1970s-Vintage-Impact-Made-in-Japan-short-scale-Solid-Body-Bass-Guitar-/302100760146?hash=item46569bc652:g:P5kAAOSw8w1X-WMx

This thread is a good reminder to us all to photograph and keep records of our basses and insure them. I MUST do this! Many thanks Walman.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1476458614' post='3154545'] Depends on what the finish is. But normally easy if unfinished for someone in the know, who has had a bit of practice. Only works for some finishes. If its lacquered it may or may not work and you can damage the finish. If its lacquered then its a bit harder to do you can use lacquer, superglue or fingernail varnish. This takes practice to get "right" where it really is as good as new. If "unfinished" so to say or oiled its easier but if oiled you do sometimes need to re oil. Get some wood and practice before hand. [/quote] Sadly true. "Sweating" out a dent works by soaking water into the grain of the wood and then expanding it with the heat. So, there's no way that's going to happen without removing a good chunk of lacquer. Even on oiled, I always rub down and re-oil the finish. (My background on this is refinishing oak furniture professionally)

I've done relic work. Can't say I enjoy it much, but I've done it. If you're interested, drop me a PM. I won't pretend I know a quick route to "checking". I know there *was* the way of heating and freezing the nitro. But new nitro has that "flaw" removed. So I won't pretend I know a shortcut.

I've got a better one already

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bubblewrap-Small-LARGE-Bubble-300mm-500mm-750mm-1000mm-1500mm-10m-100m-FREE-P-P-/222020264781?var=&hash=item33b170634d:m:m0P2TGdRSEYaDjFbLhAB9iA Same link as BRX - Big bubbles, 750mm wide - lots of choice on length, but 20M is £6.89 (Until the price goes up because it's made from oil and the pound is falling.... etc, etc)

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1476451115' post='3154439'] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bubblewrap-Small-LARGE-Bubble-300mm-500mm-750mm-1000mm-1500mm-10m-100m-FREE-P-P-/222020264781?var=&hash=item33b170634d:m:m0P2TGdRSEYaDjFbLhAB9iA"]1m wide x 100m long for just over £20 including delivery[/url] [/quote] Fine, if you don't live in a pokey 2 bed flat. [quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1476450976' post='3154438'] Everyone's a critic [/quote]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1476450216' post='3154431'] That's expensive - I'd be wanting a 1m wide roll for that price. [/quote] £20 for 30M ? http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/catalog/catalogSku.do?id=T100&cm_mmc=Google-_-pla_gen_google-shopping_packing-and-mailing-_-packing-and-mailing-_-T100&s2m_channel=544&_%24ja=tsid:34770|cid:242833697|agid:16600084217|tid:pla-91709944697|crid:55356844337|nw:g|rnd:3695745357732024944|dvc:c|adp:1o4&gclid=CjwKEAjwhILABRDwo8mlqt6ug38SJACNSq_kG_WdLLkfKavZu5M1AhJwmSF81EYN4JFH4yujtD8b3hoCqEvw_wcB

Seeing Jon's SR there, who would ever want the brown one? I think I'd have gone for a satin or matt finish, but hey! It's looking great. [quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1476437413' post='3154247'] I quite fancy an Ibanez SR500 (although I am tempted by Grangur's SR740), but the finish on most used SR500's seems to wear off really easily. Can the finish be removed and the body refinished? Has anyone attempted this? [/quote] Have another sneaky peak..

The other side to this, I guess, is if you go into Gak and buy a bass. They offer you the box and you, as you're buying a gig-bag too perhaps, say, "No thanks". Do they then charge a fee for box disposal? After all, it will cost them to have Clearway come and take their cardboard from round the back. I can't imagine that happening. So, now't wrong with recouping some dosh from those that want them if you ask me.