neepheid

Well, just to balance things out - I don't rate them. Although I have only tried a Tokai copy, I can safely say that the T-bird is one avenue I do not wish to continue on any further. Nice enough sound, I liked the neck on the Tokai (being a bit chunkier than a Gibson), the famed neck dive was manageable (in that the bass gracefully descended to about horizontal) but the ergonomics are all wrong. Poor high fret access. Doesn't sit right on me when I'm playing. Doesn't stand up on its own. Doesn't fit in a regular gig bag/case. It would have to have been stellar in all other respects for me to keep it but it was simply OK, and I chose not to put up with all the ergonomic annoyances for something that's simply OK.

More sanding, and lesson learned - don't be afraid to give it a good scrub. It's solid maple after all. Hopefully I'll get it completely clean tonight

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='893789' date='Jul 13 2010, 02:59 PM']Looking good. That's a very pretty cavity (insert bishop/actress joke ) It's best to get rid of as much as you can though Matt. You have no way of knowing how it will react with the next batch of paint, undercoat included. Did the previous (ahem) "painter" take it back to the wood or are there gold remnants like I found in the neck pocket?[/quote] It was all the way back, only the strange remnants which were under the bridge and the ones in the neck pocket remained. I'm finding it particularly tough to get that old crappy paint out of the edges. Might have more success with some hand sanding, just use the mouse to take off the bulk of it. Also decided to try making a decal to renew the Artist logo on the truss rod cover. Ordered a sheet of white laser water slide paper, will print it black apart from the logo (leaving it white) then applying it. To avoid visible edges I was thinking of covering the entirety of the top with the transfer so no visible edges then a light coat of lacquer over the top. Sound plausible?

Body sanding has commenced: Some of that old paint is like glue. Some of it seems difficult to shift without removing a lot of wood - might it be ok to leave if it's being refinished in an opaque colour anyway? Won't show through a primer and a colour coat?

Welcome to the forum

Seeing as the "any colour you like" option has hit the front I thought I'd "bring out the GIMP" and have a muck about with colours (original picture of Jules' Victory Custom on Fly Guitars): The "reasonably historically accurate" section: From left: black, Candy Apple Red The "plausible, but incorrect" section: From left: gold, silver The others (some more silly than others) From left: Pelham Blue (an actual Gibson colour, though never applied to Victories), white, Sonic Blue, Surf Green, Shell Pink, Sherwood Green Metallic That Pelham Blue is quite fetching, actually...

[quote name='Doctor J' post='888080' date='Jul 7 2010, 08:35 AM']It's just people chancing their arm, I wouldn't get too worked up about it, part of me believes the gullible should be exploited and this kind of marketing approach seems to appeal to quite a lot of people these days. Kicking ass and having fun just isn't enough anymore unless you're doing it on something which sets you apart from the great unwashed. [b]It draws similarities, to me at least, of the sometimes absurd prices sought (and frequently paid) for vintage basses, where when you say the year of manufacture before the model that the bass is somehow better, or there is some kind of chronological snobbery at play... I grow weary of folks saying "I was playing my 76 Jazz last night"... what are they saying the year for unless there's some kind of self applied kudos to exclusivity which massages the ego just right and gives the owner whatever it is they're missing?[/b] So yeah, someone somewhere will get an extra glow from having a [i]rare[/i] bass which, hopefully, will be worth the premium they no doubt paid for it. They can tell their buddies that it's not just a Vigier, it's a [i]rare[/i] Vigier and, for 90 days, they'll still be able to show the ebay ad as proof [/quote] Just to offer an alternative viewpoint on this - sometimes it is necessary to apply a year because it denotes a particular style of bass - for example a '51 Precision looks different to a '57 - be it a reissue or the real deal. I also don't find it offensive the way you seem to. I find it interesting to be able to place a bass in the chronology of the particular model. So if you don't mind I'll continue to let people know that my Gibson G-3 is a 1978 model (which allows those in the know to surmise that it has clear epoxy potted pickups and the body is probably made of alder) and that my Gibson Victory Artist is a 1981 model (meaning it's an early one - and not much else - Gibson at the time seemed to mix and match whatever they had lying around in the shop ).

Thanks for all the replies and votes, at this time it's black by a nose! I report good news - Schaller are absolute stars. I contacted them to see if I could scrounge (or even pay for) the parts I need to fix the single broken M4S tuner I had. It took a couple of emails to get across what I was talking about - I think I muddied the waters when I mentioned the Gibson branding, they (when I say they, I mean the MD of Schaller ) suggested contacting Gibson - I know from experience this is a waste of time when it comes to things they haven't made for 20 years. Once I sent a highlighted diagram showing the parts I was taking about he said he would send the bits I need. The parts came today - in quadruplicate! I only needed one Not only that but a full set of plectra from .018 to .043 and a sticker which I will be placing somewhere probably on a hard case to show my appreciation. No sign of an invoice, despite offering to pay. Amazing! Yesterday I begun the resurrection. Sanding down that poor, burned lacquer on the neck. Very careful around the serial number, the first two digits are not very well stamped and I might have to leave a little bit of the burning there for the sake of retaining the number. Edges are much easier than flat areas: I had to be careful at the heel too, as I removed a mess of attached new finish, old finish and an old card shim I found some interesting things: the date stamp (Oct 2 1981), someone's initials (N.S.) and a couple of random number stamps (17, 19). These are the kind of fascinating historical things that I don't want to lose. So, a first pass results in this: Still some remnants of burn marks left. I'm not sure how deep I want to go to try and remove these.

Same as a P-bass pretty much, but for a little more official flavour:

[quote name='Tengu' post='883103' date='Jul 1 2010, 03:52 PM']That logo was put on by a machine so trying to do it free-hand would never look the same. I suppose you could print the picture you have there and create a stencil but you would still need to be very precise. It might be easier to try tacking down a replacement from somewhere. I'm sure there must be places online that sell spares like this.[/quote] A replacement will be difficult to find, not to mention expensive. As alluded to below, a decal might be the way. [quote]theres people on ebay that do custom waterslide headstock decals, i'm sure they'd do one of those for you for not very much.[/quote] I suppose so. I'm going to have to cut real close to the edges, then probably spray some kind of clear coat over the top - I'm guessing acrylic would be best for on plastic?

Hi there The truss rod cover of my Gibson Victory Artist is bare - someone painted over it with silver Hammerite and either removed the Artist logo first or it came off with the Hammerite. It's supposed to look like this: What would be the best way to restore this logo? It's pretty intricate, I dunno if I am good enough to paint it freehand. A stencil will be an interesting challenge. Is paint the best way to go?

Not a problem, this style was used briefly from 1975-1977. See [url="http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/1976gibsonG3-10.php"]http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/1976gibsonG3-10.php[/url]

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='881866' date='Jun 30 2010, 01:04 PM']Hartke Mediums 45-105 are my current roundwounds of choice, triple packs off the 'bay for very reasonable money - handy if you're on a budget.[/quote] +1 for those Hartke strings - very bright for nickels, feel nice and seem to perform way above their price point. I used to hate flats until I tried some TI Jazz flats - I'm converted!

I think I'll get this moved into Build Diaries, it's not a build per se, but a full blown restoration so I suppose it counts. Anyway, I was doing some polishing, and found that a shiny headstock was possible! So, one eye on the football, one eye on the headstock: [i]Et voila![/i] Victory is mine!

[quote name='ahpook' post='879762' date='Jun 28 2010, 12:23 PM']nice. what's the push button for ?[/quote] Someone thought it would be a good idea to have a separate button which disconnects the battery. Fine in theory but I kept pushing it while I play, which delivers a nice thump to the amp. Got rid of it pretty quick. I will have to make a new battery cover now, there's a big hole in it

I've been keeping this quiet, as I'm a superstitious sort of person, yes, I believe in things that I don't understand It's here, arrived on Friday having survived the flight, the clutches of HM Customs and Excise and Parcelforce. Gave it the once over and found non-corroded chrome and working electronics. I've managed to snag (for relatively cheap until Customs got involved ) a rather sad looking 1981 Gibson Victory Artist in the States. I've been after one of these bad boys for months. She's not pretty - been refinished badly in dark blue, pickguard etc. painted with something like silver Hammerite and someone had the great idea of taking a blowtorch to the back of the neck. No, I don't understand it either. It will be refinished, but structurally and electronically it's remarkably sound. A wire had popped out of the preamp circuit, an easy fix. Also the D tuner was broken - the screw which attaches the capstan to the pinion had snapped. It would tighten up to a degree but once the string tension got too much it would jump out of position, like the string snapped. Thankfully, to get going I found that the capstan/pinion from a Grover Titan fits in the body of a Schaller M4S damn near perfectly I'm still trying to find a single Schaller M4S (not only do I want this as original as possible - I want my Grover Titan back, that's for a project on the back burner). So, my question is - what colour to refinish? It was originally Candy Apple Red (gold base coat). According to flyguitars (the Gibson Bass Online Bible) the only colours that the Artist came in in 1981 were CAR and Antique Fireburst. Although they say that Ebony (that's black to you and me) was introduced in 1982, I've seen pictures of a 1981 Standard in Ebony top to toe. I'm not going to try and recreate an Antique Fireburst. Should I remain true to history, or if it's being refinished anyway then do it any damn colour I like?

The EMG-HB is a split rail humbucker in a P-like configuration. Can't speak specifically about the HZ/Select passive versions, but I have the active HBs in my Epiphone Les Paul bass, just slotted right in. I think the Schaller Bassbucker is guitar humbucker sized, check the excellent techy info on the Schaller site: [url="http://bass-pickups.com/hp135071/Bass-Humbucker.htm"]http://bass-pickups.com/hp135071/Bass-Humbucker.htm[/url]

It seems someone was thinking along similar lines to me. Can't say I approve of the maple fingerboard though.

Having played all three of Gibson's family of thin but rotund basses I'd say the G-3's better than both the Grabber and the Ripper.

Welcome to the forum

I wouldn't call it a re-issue, it's more a re-imagining. Different neck joint, different bridge, and waaaaay different price point

Walk away. The guy is dreaming. I wouldn't pay more than £300 for a refinished Grabber, particularly one which has been refinished in a colour they were never made available in. I'm not precious about these things personally but I've just got my collector's hat on. You don't say whether or not a case is included.