Norris

I wonder what the next thing to be thrown over your fence will be...

A new pickup is on order but will take a few weeks to arrive. I'll also replace the preamp with one of Prostheta's reproduction boxes. There's not much I can do to it in the meantime

I used gaffer tape, tearing lengths into thin strips about 1cm wide, then wrapping enough around the end of the spike inside the cavity until the gaffer tape fitted snugly when the spike was extended. That took a lot of the rattles & squeaks out.

I tried a set of rotos once 30 years ago. They lasted for 2 weeks before they went dead. EBs ever since.

It's got a new set of Ernie Balls on at the moment - which is all I've ever used on it. However I'm trying out some D'Addario Prosteels on my Ric...

Now the issue is, that having re-assembled the bass the electrics need sorting. The output was very quiet... too quiet. So I don't want to post any photos that make it look finished until it is. But to bring you nearly up to date, I got a meter on the pickup and couldn't get a reading. Both coils seem to be open circuit. I fetched it out of the bass to measure again - still no good. Having read a fair bit of the internet, it seems it is not uncommon on these old basses. Anyway that's for a future post

[b]Where There's Muck There's Brass[/b] The hardware that came off the bass was pretty grimy. Andy took his dremmel to the brass bridge, nut and back covers. The chrome tuners were beyond saving. I never really felt that the brass/chrome combination worked, and much as they are derided by many, it was time to [i]bring on the bling[/i] with some new [color=#ff8c00][b]gold-plated[/b][/color] Grover tuners (144G). But you don't get to see them just yet (mwahh-ha-ha) Starting to look a little better - and that last photo even has the original overlay for the controls

[b]Respray Time[/b] Unfortunately I haven't any photos of the glue repairs that Andy had to do. As I mentioned there were a few cracks to deal with. Anyway having spent ages with paint stripper, scrapers and lots of sanding it was time to respray. The lacquer that was stripped off was honey in colour. I'm not sure if it started out that way or was originally clear in the days before the smoking ban! But having seen the gorgeously blonde wood while 'naked' I decided on a clear gloss to try to keep it as light as possible. Some of the photos here make it look a little dark, but it has actually kept a lot of the lightness. Anyone for a bit of Nitrocellulose? (That's Andy ) Who's a shiny bass then?

It might be an idea to video yourself opening the package, just in case there is damage

[quote name='Prostheta' timestamp='1431358999' post='2770442'] Part of me wants to kick you in the shins for letting her get this way, however you seem to have figured out what the proper way to treat this lady is. :-) [/quote] I don't blame you The bass has a lot of sentimental value to me, which is why a lot of time, effort and a fair chunk of money has gone into the restoration.

I wish I'd taken photos with the old strings on. You can probably tell how bad they were from the state of the case lid. They were twice the normal gauge from all the rust. What you probably can't see on the photos are the cracks that had to be glued. Mainly around the knobs, switch and socket, but also quite a nasty one on the top half of the body where it had started splitting along the grain of the wood.

I don't seem to be getting any notifications on this thread at the moment, so apologies if I've not replied to any queries. I'll try to post pictures of the hardware clean up and the respray this evening (although attendees of the Midlands Bass Bash have already seen it on Saturday)

Btw, I've now started a thread in the Build Diaries forum of the restoration of my SB-1000.

(It was my bass - tauzero had the lovely Warwick Buzzard )

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1431262054' post='2769326'] 11 [/quote] +1

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1431263657' post='2769357'] I used my rumble at a gig for the first time at the weekend, after a bit of fiddling with the tone controls it sounded good, one thing confused me though, I've been using Marshall MB4210 before with a Carlsbro Bass Beasty used as a 1 x 15 extension cab ( the amp section doesn't work anymore) to good effect, it increased volume and bottom end, but with the Rumble it had hardly any effect at all, maybe a touch more bottom end but no perceivable increase in volume, any ideas why this should be? I was thinking of getting a matching 2 x10 rumble cab for it, but now I'm not so sure. I did change the 15 inch speaker in the Beasty for an 8ohm one I had btw [/quote] The combo by itself is plenty for my needs so I can't help on extension cabs, but I'm glad you're enjoying your rumble

Lights, stands and leads in the garage. Combo in the corner of the dining room (no complaints yet). Basses under the bed, in the spare room and one currently in the hall because I haven't found a home for it yet (again no complaints... yet!)

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1431245886' post='2769059'] [attachment=191702:Hercules.jpg] Hercules. I've used them for years. You lower your bass into the spring-loaded clip and it closes around the neck. [/quote] +1 This is the one I use. Very sturdy and secure

And tauzero - you've got a lovely buzzard. That was my favourite bass of the bash

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1431202759' post='2768825'] Did he sand the lacquer off? [/quote] I'm not sure - I'll ask him. I think a lot of it was scraped off, but there was obviously a lot of steaming out the dents and a lot of sanding too

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1431204478' post='2768839'] Ah, oh well. I have a feeling they had more members anyway, I seem to remember there being a keyboard player, too (we were actually a Roland service centre repairing mostly keyboards, but I do remember installing crossovers in a bunch of said band's pa cabs). the name of that band is going to have to go on bugging me! [/quote] We never had a keyboard player or indeed a PA as sophisticated as to need crossovers

The drummer Rob Peasant was pretty bald. The guitarist was Danny Willson. We played all round Leicestershire and beyond from 1985 to 1995 Edit: No Mercedes van. We had a white Transit for a long time and then a trailer

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1431201674' post='2768811'] That's not as bad as I expected.... [/quote] That's 'cos the Internet doesn't smell

Oh, and before I go... [b]* Advert *[/b] The bass was restored by: Andy Holland mail: [email protected] He's based in South Leicestershire

[b]Strip Down & Re-Fret[/b] We decided the lacquer was in too bad a state to try to save it and it didn't look particularly good in its 'reliced' state, so the lacquer had to come off, the dents steamed out and the wood sanded back down to a nice smooth surface. Andy had taken some decent photos of the water slide transfers before stripping, so that he could get new ones made up And then re-fretted it That's enough for now. I'll post some more photos shortly