neepheid

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Grover Titans?

Captain JapCrap will be along shortly

Why do people waste 4 characters putting "L@@K" in their auction titles - who searches for "L@@K"?

"If you are not only "cheap" looking, but also quality"

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='350747' date='Dec 10 2008, 02:16 PM'] yeah me too, I've just asked for higher resolution pictures to be sent to my email address. We'll see what happens...[/quote] I've reported it to eBay. I'm going to be mean spirited and assume that the seller knows damn well what he/she is doing.

[quote name='Cabal' post='350621' date='Dec 10 2008, 12:58 PM']Indeed, but for once in my life i wanted to avoid bodging it. [/quote] You won't. A screwdriver which fits in the holes in the edge of the wheel will suffice. It doesn't have to be tight - just make sure it fits right in the hole for good purchase when turning. You've more chance of bodging the object you use to turn the wheel than the wheel/truss rod itself.

[quote name='lateralus462' post='350669' date='Dec 10 2008, 01:32 PM']Good point - although I am pretty sure I'll be using it for gigs - I bought it for one song in our set that'll sound awesome on fretless (it is quite a simple line so I should be OK).[/quote] Well, just to be argumentative I would say that the chrome control plate sitting there on its own looks daft. If they had rear routed this and mounted the controls [i]sans[/i] plate then maybe (although that would have increased cost). The whole thing smacks of "Jaco did it so it's THE WAY" kind of thing. To me it looks unfinished. To the OP - yes, remember to drill pilot holes. You have the luxury of a virgin surface to apply a pickguard to, no existing holes. Changing pickguards on a Squier is a nightmare of misaligned holes which need filled because no-one seems to be able to agree on where to drill. Or what angle sometimes. Make sure you get a pickguard which does not have the notch out for the truss rod adjustment at the neck heel, because you won't have one there!

Pickup looks suspect also - shouldn't the mounting points be on the sides of the pickup (1 on one side, 2 on the other) instead of the top (and presumably bottom) of the pickup as shown in the bass in question?

Welcome to the forum

Couldn't resist finishing the truss rod cover off tonight. I think it's cute. Didn't manage to get the veneers to match up, but I'm not too bothered. Screws are temporary until I find some suitable countersunk ones. Yes I know they're off centre, that's because of the daft recesses for the truss rod nuts being off centre too.

I've been working sporadically on this over the past week: 1. Maple veneer applied to the back of the headstock I got around the curve of the volute by using the foam out of an EMG box in a roll then squishing it down with a scrap of ply and a g clamp 2. Installed the machine heads Not happy with how the veneer turned out. You can't really see the problems in the photo above. I was impatient and only gave it a cursory flatten with a steam iron and due to running out of clamps (and not having one at the time which was deep enough, some ripples occurred in the veneer in the middle. I will try to slit them and re-glue them now that I have acquired some deep clamps. 3. Strung up and filed the nut slots I cut one slot too low, but the old superglue trick worked for now. I'll probably get another Tusq blank and redo it at some point. 4. Glued the filler into the control cavity Remember the cavernous cavity? This filler, carefully chosen to match the wood surrounding it will mean that the exposed bridge screw is covered and allow me to drill the holes for the through body stringing. 5. Made a truss rod cover Just like a flower press eh? It's a 3-ply cover made from zebrano/maple/zebrano veneer. This will make it approx. 1.8mm thick and ought to make it strong enough to do the job. I've tried to get a similar grain pattern in the top veneer to the headstock at that point, but it's a bit of a lottery so we'll see how it turns out. The poly pocket is to stop my caul from sticking to the piece - wood glue won't stick to it. So, things are progressing. It was a bit of a downer taking the bass to bits after it has been made up but needs must.

[quote name='Jesus' post='349773' date='Dec 9 2008, 03:09 PM']I would love a Rockbass Streamer, but they are £20-30 more than i can afford to spend for a while now. I think i'm going to to take the plunge and get an Aria P-bass for £109.99 unless someone has anything to say on why i shouldnt?[/quote] £20-£30? That's a typical spend that down the pub on a Fri/Sat night! At the risk of making an assumption about your lifestyle - stay in for a couple of weekends then get the Streamer?

I guess it depends upon whether you're playing it or investing in it. Non-original stuff harms resale value (which is probably why it was never mentioned - although the guy might have been ignorant of these things). The crack in the fingerboard is quite a common thing with the bullet truss rod. It's ultimately up to you how much these little faults/idiosyncrasies annoy you. The first thing you mention is that you're happy, so I'm guessing it's more of a niggling feeling of mild indignation at someone who has been economical with the truth.

[quote name='Duarte' post='343465' date='Dec 2 2008, 08:23 PM']Is it wrong for a budding bass player to try and sell his guitars? No. Is it wrong that he advertise on a bass forum in which he is a member? No. Is it wrong that he has posted in ebay links and not 'bass guitars for sale'? No. Is it wrong for people to go out of their way to act like asses and demand a higher 'authority' to put their (deranged?) mind at rest? well...yes, it is.[/quote] To be honest, I read it as humour. It's a good default to use - saves a lot of aggro.

I have had no problems with stuff acquired via BC. However, I have heard of/seen some situations where people have been a bit economical with the truth when it comes to item condition. I hope I don't come across as blowing my own trumpet here but when I sell something on here (or eBay), I take photos, full disclosure with respect to condition (the motivational factor here is "how would I feel if I received this?"), accurately weigh and quote postage, post the thing when I say I will and keep the buyer informed of progress or changes of circumstances. Why do I do all this? BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. People who fail to live up to these (IMO) reasonable expectations really hack me off.

There's more chance of an SX, Squier or something at that price point being a solid piece of wood.

[quote name='nick' post='348629' date='Dec 8 2008, 02:10 PM']Hi all, Last week, my cat managed to bring down a bookcase on top of one of my basses (Maya Rickenfaker), also knocking out of it's stand, onto the carpet. The finish on neck is 'shattered' in areas. However, this (luckily) seems to be the only damage, it still plays OK & thru-neck joint is fine - tough old bass. Fragments of finish coming away from the neck are like shards of glass, & after during scraping a bit away - horrible smell leads me to believe that it's some kind of plastic (?) I've played a few acoustics before with a satin-like finish which I liked the feel of. I would like to strip all the old finish off the neck, and rather than try to blend in patches, try to get as near as possible feel to a bare-wood neck. Can anyone recommend anything to refinish bare-wood in a natural colour and how to do it? Many thanks[/quote] I have refinished necks in two ways - with premix "French Polish" and nitrocellulose lacquer. The French Polish that I used will give quite a yellow tint to the wood: The satin nitro is a lot more neutral: The good thing about the "French Polish" is that you can do it at home without any special equipment other than making a "rubber" (cotton wool/wadding wrapped in cotton cloth). With nitro you [b]need[/b] a good mask whether you're using aerosols or an air gun (one with filters, not a simple dust mask), a ventilated area to do it where it doesn't matter about the stink, no sources of ignition etc. Both approaches involve removing the old finish. I sanded, started off with something rough like 80 grit to get the finish off, then working up the grades - 160, 280, 400, 600 etc. I stopped at 600, seemed smooth enough to me. As for applying finish, many thin coats are better than a few thick ones.

Well, it sold this morning to what looks like an eBay newcomer/occasional user (4 feedback), so I've taken the liberty of pointing them at the previous auction and pointing out the damage which the seller seems to be blind to.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='341481' date='Nov 30 2008, 10:28 PM']I never seen one of these before. Quite nice in a toilet seat kind of way. I know a fellow BCer, keen on short scales and lives round the corner from me who would love this.[/quote] Heh, I did see that one. Not at that price though. Not at any price at the moment, actually - no early Xmas pressies from me to me

[quote name='Beedster' post='346130' date='Dec 5 2008, 09:17 AM']Not sure how we'd know if that's a replacement pickup (or perhaps your screen's better than mine) and that does seem to be where a lot of players place their thumb rest! Chris[/quote] I only see 4 pole pieces and some sort of logo printed in white underneath them which probably means that it could be a Seymour Duncan SCPB or it could be a Vista-tone one out of the short lived Squier Musicmaster reissue. If it was an original pickup with the cover missing then it would have 6, as they used a guitar pickup on Musicmasters. Sensible place for a thumbrest or not (I wasn't disputing that) - drilling holes in a vintage bass reduces its value, hence my point about the price being optimistic.

You'd be much better trading your bass for one the colour you want. Refinishing only makes sense when the original finish is so badly worn that there's more wood showing than finish. I am refinishing this because it's the only way forward (practically none of the original finish remains and you can't get these basses any more) : I would not refinish a bass just because you're bored of the colour. If you're bored of the bass, trade it or sell it and buy a new one.

Did you even get Musicmaster basses in 1964? In any case, they would have a different headstock logo and different tuners. Although the finish looks in good nick, it's had a replacement pickup and a thumbrest fitted in a rather unusual place which will have made holes where they can't be covered. Price is maybe a little optimistic.