gary mac

Decided my old tin of T cut was past it's best as it was in the shed all last winter and probably spent a few weeks frozen. Paid a visit to the local car spares shop and got a fresh one. I'm sure it was about two quid last time I purchased, now best part of seven. Did a bit more fine sanding, then a t cut and a final polish up with a buffer pad attached to my drill. Still can't see much difference really but I'm going to leave it as it is and go for discreet rather than fully mojo'd. The body has a number of small dings and a little wear and I think my efforts have probably given it a slightly aged look. I won't put any pics up as I dont think they will look any different to the earlier snaps. Meanwhile experimenting with a couple of suggestions from bass chatters regarding ageing of hardware. So far just risking the pickguard screws. Some soaking in salty water and some in vinegar. Will leave them overnight and then investigate. I think my next task will be to install the pups and wiring. Once that's done and the bridge is re-fitted, I'm done until I get hold of a neck.

Thanks for that, I'll check it out.

[quote name='Rumple' post='1016423' date='Nov 8 2010, 02:46 PM']Have you thought about having a neck made to your own spec? I'm having one made for me by a fellow basschatter, you get exactly what you want and it's not as expensive as you would think. R.[/quote] No I hadn't even considered that as an option, but would be interested to know more about it, thanks.

In my quest to find a p bass maple fretboarded neck I've been searching on here and checking out ebay every few hours over the last couple of weeks. So far no luck, typically there are plenty of jazz necks and a fair few rosewood p bass necks. I've thought about ordering from one of the sites in the states that has a few 57 ri mexican necks, but by the time I factor in the shipping, V.A.T. and duty it becomes too costly for me at the moment. Now I'm thinking of maybe buying a new one and trying to age it myself. So some advice on where to buy from and which manufacturers you would recommend. I've seen a new Mighty Mite maple f/b neck on ebay for what seems like a reasonable price and the seller does offer a vintage look laquer and decal service. Any tips/pointers gratefully received, thanks Gary

I like to listen to the song two or three times without my bass to hand. That way I can actually listen without just following the chord changes.

Glad nothing truly hideous happened to your bass, I was getting nervous as your post progressed.

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1013926' date='Nov 6 2010, 01:42 AM']Hey Gary Just to say following our PMs I'm reading this thread. keep at it! [/quote] Will do matey. Having a break today as I'm gigging this afternoon. It's our first proper outing, as everything got put on hold when the cancer came along. We've got a half hour set at a fireworks party. Looking forward to kicking up a din again.

04/11/2010. Pups turned up today. Yet more frustration. Looks like the pick guard needs filing to get them to fit. I can now see that some filing has already been attempted, I would presume because of the same problem. 05/11/2010 Feeling in a more positive frame of mind I unsoldered the pickups from the pots and screw them in place. Sat the pick guard over them and marked out with pencil where to file. Set up the workmate and got to work with a couple of files and emery cloth. Twenty minutes or so later and it was looking much better, not perfect but that being mainly due to the filing carried out by a previous owner. At this stage had to drill one additional hole in the body and then screwed down the guard to see how it all looked. The answer being not as good as I would like, but it will have to do for now. I may fit a chrome pick up cover.

The way my P bass project is going I'm going to need the pup cover to hide the filing that needs to be done to the pick guard.

Thanks chaps, good advice as usual. Like I said the pick guard has already been filed by a previous owner, so I suppose I've got nowt to lose. I'm not doing anymore today, have a fresh start tomorrow.

I'm trying to crack on with my p bass project and keep getting thwarted. I've now got a gold anodized pick guard and some pups, both purchased on the forum. Having some problems with the fitting, it would seem that the guard is going to need some filing to allow the pup to be fitted. I imagined that everything would be standardised really. What I mean is all p bass pups would fit all p bass pickguards. Having said that the pups I've got are not Fender but I believe the guard is. A previous owner has done some filing of the guard, which will also need some tidying up. So do I start filing or get proper fender pups? Or a new pickguard? Thoroughly confused and fed up now. Each of the pups that I have got are 55 mm long x 28 mm wide, excluding the half round bit with screw holes. Hopefully I've explained myself well enough for someone to offer some advice, before I bin it all and give up. Thanks, Gary

Not sure matey, sorry

02/11/2010. Postie delivered the gold anodized pickguard and even though it was well packaged with “do not bend” written large on both sides, it had been nicely bent out of shape by some heavy handed royal mail git. Given that it hadn’t been insured, I felt that that there was little point in even contacting Royal Mail and therefore decided to attempt to straighten it out. Tool of choice was a rubber mallet. After a few minutes bashing it was reasonably flat again, with just a slight crease visible. Just about acceptable on a reliced project.

Old Horse Murphy has been advertising an american fretless p bass neck. And he's a splendid chap to deal with!

With that budget you could pick up something on this forum probably powerful enough to gig with. For example sold my trace combo on here sometime back for about 300 ish I think. Can't remember exact spec but 15" speaker 12 band graphic etc and with the option of adding an extension cab.

[attachment=62993:042__2_.JPG] My G&L

Japanese Fender P bass body that I intend to relic, and transform in to something resembling a 1958 model. [attachment=62836:001.JPG] 01/11/10 First job was to remove bridge and strap locks. Next the ageing, which I felt really nervous about as the body looked so good. I decided to just work on the rear of the body at this stage as given my lack of experience it seemed like the safest bet. So starting with 1000 grade wet and dry I nervously made a start. Then moved on to 1500 and finally 2000. At this stage it didn’t look good. Gave it a T cut which improved things marginally but the sanding had left the surface covered with fine scratches, which surprised me given the fine grade of paper that I was using. I stopped at this stage to do some more research. I’m not sure whether I need to buy one of those buffing pads to fit on a drill or to carry on with T cut and polish. That's it for the first session. Not much progress really, sanded the back, t cutted and polished. It doesn't look much different to when I started other than a whole load of fine scratches. But have now got a gold anodized pickguard and pups on their way from BC members. Checking the sale forum and ebay regularly for a maple neck and tuners. [attachment=62837:004.JPG]

Wondered where you had got to. No advice from me, sorry. But wanted to say have a splendid trip.

Yes, that is a handsome beast.

Good man, glad it went well for you.