Dave Vader

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='895945' date='Jul 15 2010, 08:27 PM']The seller of this says s/he was told that this is Japanese. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-precision-good-copy-Japanese-/330451608720?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item4cf0736490"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-precision-goo...=item4cf0736490[/url][/quote] I have that exact same neck, I picked it up brand new on ebay 2 years ago, for not very much money. Nice, but not japanese. Comedy amber tint gives it away.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='895666' date='Jul 15 2010, 03:12 PM']NOOooo!!! Don't put danish oil on, it will prevent proper adhesion of anything else except more danish oil you try to put on over the top. It may adhere initially but the oil will prevent full penetration into the wood pores and it will flake off as soon as its given a bit of grief. there are some dyes that the Rustins plastic coating can be used with if you need to apply a slightly tinted finish, but not all are compatible and some may retard the cure of the coating. Check with Rustins first! Put the Danish oil back on the shelf. Do it now.[/quote] Was hoping someone could point out to me a huge mistake if I made it. Al to the rescue again. BTW, got those springs from you yesterday Al, perfect, did the job nicely. Thanks very much. Will not strip all the nitro off the neck and refinish then. Just have to take it off the front, try and find a dye that goes a similar colour to the rest of the neck, and plastic coat away. Or leave it a completely different colour...

Read this, if you were hoping to be Danko (like me) you won't like it.... [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/eastwood-club-bass/oct-07/31867"]http://www.bassplayer.com/article/eastwood...ss/oct-07/31867[/url]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='895147' date='Jul 14 2010, 10:10 PM']I'm sure I came across a post on the Guitar project forum where a cyanoacrylate (superglue) had been flooded onto a fingerboard for a fretless bass, dries quick and rock-hard but you could end up with a couple of fingers stuck to it if you're not careful and they would all laugh at you in casualty. Stter away from yacht varnish & similar air-drying alkyd resins.[/quote] I've seen some of the superglue projects. I always manage to glue my fingers to something no matter what I'm doing, so might avoid this. My furniture maker friend seems to think the Kaufman-style walls and epoxy flood method, followed by LOTS of sanding would be the best option. Me, I'm thinking Rustins plastic coating now, probably over the top of some danish oil to get the colour right.

Old plywood hofners are brilliant, nothing else sounds quite like them. Fix it up to keep round the house and play it. Unless the neck has warped, in that case there's nothing you can do but give it to a luthier, or give it a dignified funeral.

[quote name='gusto' post='893802' date='Jul 13 2010, 03:08 PM']Yes its definately a Hofner, says Hofner on the body, top left, and engraved on the bridge. Not sure what the mods would be as the bridge is also engraved Hofner. It has a switch and two control knobs as seen in the picture, the switch goes either R or S. There is no label inside, and I cant find any serial numbers etc anywhere on it. I have looked on loads of Hofner sites but cant find one with that bridge/switch set up. Any ideas welcome.[/quote] There was a guy on one of the hofner collector sites that you could email, and he could spot anything, he got my congress down to a 1956, just by looking at the tailpiece. Sadly that was 10 years ago, is there a contact on any of the sites you looked at? There's some proper hofner nuts out there. They can help.

Love T-Birds, can't afford one, had an Epi one for a week, but decided that the price I was going to pay for it was too much (a much loved old analogue synth in a trade) so waiting for a real one. Or a Tokai, whichever comes first.

Looks like a Hofner Congress with some very nasty mods done to it. Have a look in the f-holes, there should be a label inside with hofner model and serial numbers in there.

[quote name='Stacker' post='893405' date='Jul 13 2010, 08:28 AM']Wizards, eh? Heard that name a lot on this forum. Anyone tried Kent Armstrongs, particularly the ceramic ones?[/quote] Heh, me again... Got Kents in my P-bass, they're not the ceramics though, hot alnicos. Sound surprisingly good for the price, I have no complaints, and haven't felt the need to upgrade them that I thought I was going to.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='893384' date='Jul 13 2010, 07:24 AM']These pickups are £50 a pair and made in China, right? Well, I've never used Toneriders, but for £20 more you could get a set of pickups hand-wound in the UK by [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass"]someone who cares[/url]. Just sayin'.[/quote] Yep, that's what I'm planning on replacing the sh1tbuckets in my J with, pair of Wizard 84s. Though I've never used those either, just heard good things.

[quote name='BeLow' post='893377' date='Jul 13 2010, 07:02 AM']Work in a school - if only I could be as accomplished - I was doing the dodgems[/quote] Mystery sorted, good man, you made my missus very happy, she loves the dodgems.

[quote name='BeLow' post='893127' date='Jul 12 2010, 08:03 PM']Have you been talking to my boss again?[/quote] Tricksy fellow that BeLow, doesn't want his workmates from the posh school knowing he hangs out on Bass forums in his spare time I think....

[quote name='Telebass' post='892934' date='Jul 12 2010, 04:27 PM']I don't know where BeLow works, but meeting two Basschatters in 10 minutes at a private gig was slightly surreal![/quote] Just spotting one from across a marquee was odd enough for me, never met any before.

[quote name='henry norton' post='892770' date='Jul 12 2010, 01:41 PM']+1 on that - I wouldn't use yacht varnish on a fretless board but Rustins plastic coating looks pretty good if you want an alternative to the epoxy route. So far as I know it's similar constitution to the polyester Fender would have applied to their fretless maple boards in the first place.[/quote] Excellent, I was trying to get the look from a 70s maple fretless P-bass that I've been gawping at in Mansons. If it's close to that, then I'll go that way. Have considered epoxy, but the decent stuff is not cheap, and cheapness is the priority on this project. Only considered the yacht varnish as I found it. Thought it might do the job, and possibly had something in common with marine epoxy. Which shows why I know nothing about sailing, or wood finishing (except what I get from my many advisers, both on here and IRL, my furniture maker friend is often bemused by my many requests about wood finishes).

Haven't found any of that in my shed yet, will look deeper into the gloom Sounds good though, might well give that a go instead. If it's dirt cheap.

Thanks Bloodaxe, will try and be careful for once. Cheap neck so if it goes badly I won't be too bothered, just sand back to wood and try something else. But I will take your advice with the turps. Lucky we had that mild winter, no way it could have got cold out there...

I found a tin of Rustins Yacht Varnish in my shed yesterday, and being in the midst of a fretless project, which will end up being strung with flats, I wondered if anyone had slapped this stuff on a maple fretless neck before? The tin is very unhelpful as to what is in this stuff, just saying that it does not contain polyurethane. Just want to try and keep the fingerboard a bit shiny looking for a while, as I say it's getting flats, so shouldn't get chewed up anyway. Any one else tried it?

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='892584' date='Jul 12 2010, 10:21 AM']Can you print gold? I make my own black ones but can't do the gold infills. I have a "one off" I need done and was going to contact a guy on ebay this morning who I've used before (theclash1968) but if it can be done through Basschat.... :brow:[/quote] theclash1968 is a great guy, I've used his stuff before, really helpful guy, especially if you're rubbish at applying decals, 1st, second and third time round....

Glad to be of help.

We have got a few bookings through Lemonrock, couple of decent functions, probably only because we are an '80s tribute, and thus hard to come by down here in Devon. So internet search by the mid-life crisised women who need 80s bands at their birthdays will bring us up fairly quickly. Not tried goodparty though.

[quote name='BeLow' post='891329' date='Jul 10 2010, 03:15 PM']Den Glad you got it sorted - and hope you get better soon. Having seen you play a couple of times (including the same do as Dave mentioned) I would have loved to have done it but hampered by my lack of talent I doubt I could have pulled it off without quite a few rehearsals.[/quote] Spooky, do you work at the same school as my missus then?

I've got one in the bridge of my ropey old Jazz copy, I don't really like it. I read all the reviews about how brilliant they are, so figured for £25 you couldn't really go wrong. It's a bit thin, not much output. Maybe if it's in a matched pair (and a decent bass) it wouldn't be as bad, but I wouldn't buy one again. I'm starting to think that all those glowing reviews are written by people with nothing to comapre them to. However, at that price it's worth getting some just to try, if you don't like them you can flip them on for pretty much the same price easily enough on the bay.

Plenty thanks. Maybe cos I'm a good 20 years younger than the rest of the band, and still have all my own hair... Oh and the wife hates it, she doesn't come along because she like us, just to keep the women away.

Gigged it last night, sounded surprisingly alright. Lot more tonal variation in the SCs, and the pots have more range as well. I have a black thumb, and a white line on the top of the pick guard, but that is not a surprise, couple more sweaty ones and there should be a nice white thumbprint, and no more to come off. Plus thanks to Al Heeley, I have big springs on the way, so the pickup should stay down, and clean my tone up a bit. Good times. Oh, went with plan A, holes are drilled, is not so farty.

Top bloke, cheers. Friendliest forum on t'interweb.