hooky_lowdown

I'm building a 50s P bass, and now its time to add a decal. I have a Fender waterslide decal, spagehetti logo. I was told 50s decals were waterslide and were added without any lacquer on top, can anyone confirm this?

I know the Vintage V4 reissue P gets some love around here as a decent entry level P. I recently pulled the trigger on an original Vintage V4 P (not the reissue version) - headstock just has large "Vintage" logo - thats it. It has the Wilkinson branded pups, bridge, tuners, glossy neck - all the same as the reissue version. It is currently being courier to me so not got my hands on it yet. I've tried to find images / reviews on google with no luck. Every image etc is the newer 'reissue' version. Does anyone have any feedback or info about the original V4 P?

You can return them, but I think you must pay postage back to Germany - good luck with that.

@Trueno don't make my mistake and spend when you don't need a new bass. I have too many and need to thin the heard.

@James Nada custom made by a mate.

As a little project to keep me entertained, I got myself a p bass kit from DVD247 - super cheap. It arrived today, and I'm pretty impressed with the wood on the neck and body, both have a nice weight and grain. The body needs some sanding which I'll do over the weekend. I will need to seal the wood on both neck and body. Having done a little research I don't plan on coating the body in layers of poly, but keep the wood as natural as possible. I'm thinking of using 3 or 4 coats of pure tung oil, as I want a matte to silk finish, to retain the pale wood look. My question is, has anyone used pure tung oil and if so, any tips? I plan on applying a diluted first couple coats, and wipe away any excess after 10 mins or so. Then coats 3 and 4 will be full strength. Is there any prep work I should do before applying the oil, other then sanding down and cleaning the wood? I don't require a professional look, as its only a cheap bass. But any other ideas to seal the wood would be appreciated, especially if they require as little amount of work as possible?

Thanks Maude.

I've owned both Wilkinson and Roswell pup versions. Personally I liked the newer Roswell pup best, I liked the bigger poles and sounds big and warm as a 50s SC should. The newer models have deffo gone down in quality, the last one I had came with really poorly finished frets, and a nut which was cut too low - had to use the baking soda trick. I won't be getting another again. Shame.

All HB basses I've come across arrived with an allen key - use that.

Why change pups if they sound good? If it’s not broken... ! I had to change the cheap guitar pup on the bronco, the hot rails hugely improves the sound. Tuners were from a squier p bass affinity, closed backs, direct replacement.

Pimped a Squier Bronco I got recently. Changed the tuners (elephant ears), bridge and added a hotrails, cream pickguard and pickup cover - to be extra pimpy!!! Super fun to play, the neck is very comfortable and fast. Gets big and thumpy. Depending on the amp can get a nice 60s p tone thump, but it can also dig in and growl when I want it to. Think my full scales may be taking a back seat for a while.

Its all personal taste, but I just don't like glossy finishes as I lean more towards vintage aesthetics. I'm looking to lessen the shinny finish of a black glossy p body - not make it satin or fully matte. I don't want to go the 0000 steel wool or 2000 grit sanding route as both will leave fine marks and I'd like a perfect even finish. So I'm thinking of using some matte clear spray paint, and spray directly on top of the glossy finish, doing a few thin layers to get a consistent finish. Has anyone done this, and moreover, would this work - matte paint adhering to gloss?

Are there any brands of flatwounds available in UK which don’t have silk at both ends? It’s a personal taste thing.

Unfortunately I don’t have the tools to drill out the nails, and I have fairly basic diy skills. The metal strips join on the bottom of the amp, so I could carefully lever the nails fixing the metal strip along the bottom upwards, allowing me to lift the metal strip up, which should allow me enough space to slide the mdf panel with tolex out. But because of the age of the metal it may simply snap or break if I try bending it etc. So I’ve decided to cut out the current tolex covering the speaker, and use extra strong double sided tape to attach some new material on top of the mdf panel. Not an ideal solution, but one which should work!

Thanks Norris - you are right, took the black plastic strip off and metal is indeed nailed down with lots of headless nails. Impossible to get off without causing lots of damage.

Picked up a naff little 70s or 80s bass combo. I want to replace the tolex, but found when I removed the screws on the front, that the tolex is stuck to a thick piece of mdf, and that the silver metal strips down both sides prevents me from lifting the mdf panel straight out. The back of the combo is totally enclosed (no screws), and there are no screws fixing the metal strips to the amp. The sides of the amp are solid and I can't see a way of removing one side to get the mdf panel with the tolex out. Any idea's how I can remove one side or get the tolex/mdf panel out?

Found this which lists nearly all brand names... https://drowninginguitars.com/2012/02/12/1960s-japanese-guitar-brand-name-game/amp/

I’ve got gas for a cheap 60s mij full scale bass. I’ve been unable to replicate that 60s sound with my gear, so looking for a NBD. I know about brands like Teisco and Guyatone, but what other brand names are there? I’ve seen lots of short scale basses - but I’m looking for a full scale.

Burns Bison with the famous Tri-Sonic pups. Great bass, with the 3 pups I could get rick, p, jazz, musicman and upright sounds, all of which sounded great. Just didn’t like the weight.

My biggest regret was parting with my CIJ 62 reissue P, red with cream pickguard - played and sounded amazing.

+1 about premium strings. I put a used set of D’Addario Chromes on my pb50 and it sounds really great. Lots of vintage, fat sounding goodness.

I’ve noticed bass prices across the board have increased substantially. I see used basses selling on eBay for more than what they cost to buy new. Crazy! Seems people think everything on sites like eBay etc are cheaper than buying new.

Also had a third party neck (Fender spec) and fitted perfectly in HB neck pocket.

I’ve had two different HB p basses and both had standard Fender / Squier neck size pockets. So guess any Fender spec neck will fit HB basses.