hamfist Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Last week I saw a very cheap Hohner LX90B on ebay just near to me. I popped over and it seemed very sturdily built, and played nicely, although in need of some tweaking and a bit of love. Offered him cash and for £80 it was mine, with a nice padded soft case too ! As I bought it, it went from this .... [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/-57-12.html"][/url] and a lot of elbow grease, sanding, dremelling and soldering later, to this ..... [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-full.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-front-body-b.html"][/url] I just love tarting up old basses at the moment. I get such satisfaction from turning an unloved, but well-built bass into something excellent. So, anyway, what I've done is ... - Strip all the finish (I think it's alder underneath - please correct me if you think it's something else. It's definitely a very hard wood !)(EDIT - now I don't think it's alder. It's definitely a great hardwood, maybe utile or something similar ?) and refin with Danish oil and Briwax. It's a gorgeous bit of wood (well actually it's 3 bits of wood) and is nicer in the flesh than in pics. - Rout a new precision pickup cavity, roughly in the Stingray position. - Make a cutout in the pickguard to fit the new pickup. - Install two new Duncan SPB-3 quarterpounders. - Rout out control cavity, and a battery compartment. - Fit 3 band Artec preamp with parametric mids. - Make battery compartment cover (actually the hardest bit of the whole thing for me). - Really flatten neck and body aspects of the neck/body join (I'm a great believer in this to improve punch and attack, especially on the low strings). As it came, there was a shim in there and lots of knobbly lacquer finish. So I also re-angled the body to avoid the need for a shim. The neck/body contact will be much improved now. - Chucked away the crappy OE bridge and fitted a hefty solid brass Westone bridge I had in a draw. - New set of roundwound 105-45's and we're away !! I have to say that this thing is a monster ! I have played different sounding and feeling basses, but none is better than this. The neck is a great playing neck (about 41mm nut), and the tone is simply stonking, and so versatile with the 2 x P's and the preamp. I can't believe how good this thing is, and I only spent about £250 tops on the whole thing, and half of that is the pickups. I'm so tempted to get another. They go for peanuts. Currently on ebay there are a couple with BINs of about £70-£80. Much, much better woods and construction than any comparable Squier at the price, for definite. I thoroughly recommend these as the basis of a project bass to work on. Maybe I simply got lucky with this one, but I'm so pleased with it. Here's some more pics. [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-wood-3.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-wood-2.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-wood-1.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-headstock.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-full-rear.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-front-body.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/hohner-body-rear.html"][/url] Edited February 2, 2014 by hamfist Quote
FlatEric Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 As a lover of the Double P set-up, looks the business. Nice. Quote
Roland Rock Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Loving that, what a transformation! On the subject of the wood, I wouldn't say that that was alder. My best guess would be something much more tropical; not quite rubberwood, but maybe utile? Pic of utile attached for comparison. Anyway, great job! Edited January 31, 2014 by Roland Rock Quote
hamfist Posted February 1, 2014 Author Posted February 1, 2014 [quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1391210676' post='2354725'] Loving that, what a transformation! On the subject of the wood, I wouldn't say that that was alder. My best guess would be something much more tropical; not quite rubberwood, but maybe utile? Pic of utile attached for comparison. Anyway, great job! [/quote] Hmmmm. You've got me wondering now. That utile picture does look quite close. I feel a bit of interweb research coming on. I know that the wood is about the same hardness as well aged, hard, quality ash (from having routed both). THanks to all for your kind words BTW ! Quote
grayn Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Brilliant. Recycling at it's best. It must be so satisfying to create beauty from the beast. You should do some pre and post videos. Cheers. Quote
namefail Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Very impressed, there's a really nice flow to the layout. Normally I feel a 2 x P set up looks cluttered but she's smooth. hmm bin ebay, what are these things you say. Edited February 1, 2014 by namefail Quote
dannybuoy Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Anyone looking to do a similar project would be advised to pick up this Westone for the bargain price of £100 including a hard case: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/228093-westone-thunder-1-now-with-pictures-l100-incl-hard-case I bought Hamfist's last Westone P/MM project from him for more than twice that amount. They're well made basses, with great necks and a unique body shape! Quote
Jellyfish Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Certainly does look like a monster. Nice one. Quote
Skol303 Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Nice job! I had one of these myself and used it as a 'project' bass: de-fret/lacquer, re-spray and some new pickups. Build diary here: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/196051-how-easy-is-it-to-remove-a-polyresin-finish-update-project-finished-photos-added/ The body on mine was made from MDF, hence I decided not to strip it. PS: have since sold it. Edited February 1, 2014 by Skol303 Quote
hamfist Posted February 1, 2014 Author Posted February 1, 2014 [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1391258816' post='2355031'] The body on mine was made from MDF, [/quote] That's interesting. I already knew mine was solid wood as it had a translucent finish and I could see all the woodgrain underneath. However, buying a bass with a solid colour finish, you can't see what's underneath and it becomes more of a risk. I know nothing about the history of this particular model but it would seem to have changed in spec at some point. There is one on ebay with a skunk stripe down the neck, whereas mine does not have this. I also see that the body from your project bass had a P-pickup shaped rout on it, whereas mine has a large square rout (clearly done in the factory). Seems like there are different version of the LX90B out there. I'm glad you pointed that out. Quote
Thunderpaws Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 On the back of this I have my eye on a PJ version on eBay at the moment. I have all the hardware including wizard pj pups and a badass bridge to turn it into something sweet. It'd be cooool. Quote
bagsieblue Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 That is lovely - good job, well done. Quote
hamfist Posted February 2, 2014 Author Posted February 2, 2014 [quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1391309931' post='2355684'] Woof woof [/quote] It's mieow in this household ! And thanks to all for all your comments. There is now an incoming Mighty Mite maple fretboard P neck, probably for this bass. I do fancy it with a maple board (and a slightly reduced nut width). Quote
Thunderpaws Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Hey Hamfist...is the neck pocket cavity ok for the mighty mite neck or is it another routing job? Quote
hamfist Posted February 2, 2014 Author Posted February 2, 2014 [quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1391335527' post='2355790'] Hey Hamfist...is the neck pocket cavity ok for the mighty mite neck or is it another routing job? [/quote] I'm expecting it to be a straight swap. It's a 63mm wide pocket on the body. I'll let you all know if I'm right ! Quote
.jpg.518c69c2d9e1581799f3c11301dc2da5.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.