1979 Fender Precision re-Mojo'd

[Cat Burrito]

This was a second late 70s bass that I decided to put together. At the risk of upsetting the purists, I've done these basses to play & I'm not too fussed about non original parts.

I could have started this 2 months ago but I've held off on posting as I've done it. The S9 serial numbers of course relate to anywhere between 1979 and 1981. The neck is a 1979 neck and the body which came with it is possibly late 80, early 81.

[Cat Burrito]

I like stripped basses and the tatty black finish was never going to stay. Nitro Mors here we come!

[Cat Burrito]

Personally I've never used a heat gun so it's just a LOT of nitro mors and a lot more patience. That undercoat is the toughest so the body usually requires a few revisits.

[Cat Burrito]

As you can see the wood stripped and unfinished looks a little pale so I looked at Colron wood dye. Any more contraversal colours should be experimented with under where the pickguard will be. I like the darker colour but my original vision was for the more yellow-y finish so I stayed with plan A.

Whilst all this is being done I ordered a Seymour Duncan SPB-1. I acquired some cream 70s pickup covers from my mate who runs the local shop, the tuners off a 62RI Fender bass and sourced some ashtray covers from EBay. An original 1970s string tree was going cheap on EBay and the scratchplate was from an old bass from the 1990s.

[Darkstrike]

Love the pickguard!

[Cat Burrito]

Finishing it off with 55-110 Rotosound Flatwounds and my token bit of foam under the bridge yet to be added here are the latest shots from my mobile phone. I'll do some proper shots over the next couple of days

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='Darkstrike' post='1027237' date='Nov 17 2010, 07:43 PM']Love the pickguard![/quote]
From the first post? That's a 70s brass one and it weighs a fair bit so as you can see I didn't use it

[xilddx]

Mate, that looks beautiful!

[bartelby]

NICE!
You've done a great job!



If it had a maple fretboard it'd be perfect!

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='bartelby' post='1027270' date='Nov 17 2010, 08:12 PM']If it had a maple fretboard it'd be perfect!
[/quote]
In the first post I mentioned this was the second one I had done. The other one has a maple fretboard

And cheers Silddx

[bartelby]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1027275' date='Nov 17 2010, 08:21 PM']In the first post I mentioned this was the second one I had done. The other one has a maple fretboard [/quote]

I was going to say I preferred the maple fretboard one, but I wasn't quite sure it was yours.


Both stunning looking basses though!

[Cat Burrito]

Yep, one maple & one rosewood. And I'm hopefully closing a Basschat deal on a 70s Jazz at the end of the month. I'm undecided if I'll strip that one. Of course if people don't like played in 70s Fenders...then this ain't the thread for them! But I try to have every other angle covered

[gary mac]

That just looks mega cool. Nice job.

Does it sound as impressive as it looks?

[Cat Burrito]

Yes & I was thinking I'd not mentioned the sound. I ran it through my Orange Terror head into an Ampeg 210 cab and my wife commented that next door's dog had started barking! I've put some foam under the bridge now and with those heavy flats it sounds like a real rumbler. I like those SPB1 pickups and with the flats it's just the sound I want.

I'm gigging tomorrow night (with it I hope) but I'll put some proper shots up on Friday evening

[gary mac]

Enjoy the gig matey. Look forward to seeing more pics.

[Clarky]

That a real looker BB, exceptionally good job (unlike other poster, I prefer this to the maple necked one). How many Ps do you now have?!

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='Clarky' post='1027566' date='Nov 18 2010, 07:53 AM']How many Ps do you now have?! [/quote]
I have my 2006 USA going out the door on Saturday if the sale goes through which will keep it at a steady 5 which is probably two too many but I'd only spend it on sweets so what the hell! The other Basschat deal I have on the horizon will be a Jazz but with a 1976 Precision neck. So that might make it 5 and a half!?!

[Darkstrike]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1027240' date='Nov 17 2010, 07:46 PM']From the first post? That's a 70s brass one and it weighs a fair bit so as you can see I didn't use it[/quote]
Yup, the brass one, shame they're so heavy as the just look phenominal.

[Cat Burrito]

A better pic but again from the mobile. Note the foam tucked under the bridge.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

mmmm - reminds me George Porter Jr's bass

[Cat Burrito]

And in all it's glory!

[Cat Burrito]

Another one

[Cat Burrito]

And a body close up

[Truckstop]

Burrito,

I'm about to embark on a stripping job of a '97 Jazz, and I was curious to note you use a method that doesn't involve the use of power tools. What is nitro mors? And is it easy to use without making a massive mess?
Loving your stripped basses by the way, they've sort of inspired me to strip the jazz and sexify it!

Cheers

Truckstop

[Cat Burrito]

Nitro Mors is a strong paint stripper. Not for indoor use really (unless you have a well ventilated area) and you can get it from any hardware DIY store.

I wouldn't say I made a "massive" mess anymore than if I'd have been using power tools.

Obviously you get your body free of the neck and all hardware and then just paint it in Nitro Mors. You leave it for 1) they say 20 mins or 2) I say a couple of hours and then use a stripping tool / stripping knife to peel the paint off. The first application should take about 85% of it clean off and it literally falls off in a chemically mess.

So you then repeat on the stubborn areas. I was interested to see a thread the other day on a stripped bass where somebody commented that the stripping had been a "professional job". It looked about as good a job as mine so I figured I must have got something right!

Edited January 16, 2011 by BurritoBass