Gus G3 5-string

[BigRedX]

Earlier this year I bought a Gus G3 5-string on eBay for a very good price. The seller mentioned that the finish was suffering and provided plenty of photographic evidence which is probably why it only attracted 2 bids. However I still wasn't quite prepared for the state it was in when it arrived...











The finish had chipped off down to the primer all over the bass, and even the chrome was flaking off the tubes and other parts. The straplock buttons that would have been originally fitted had been replaced by normal strap buttons, the one on the horn being too small to securely hold a typical strap in place and the cover for the back of the bridge was missing. The action was terrifyingly high and the strings deader than dead.

Once I'd got over my initial shock, it turned out that the damage although horrifying looking was cosmetic only (except where the missing finish on the back of the neck presented sharp edges to my fretting hand) and with a new set of strings and a quick set-up to lower the action and tweak the truss rod the bass turned out to be a really good player, and also quite a different sound to my other fretted Gus and in many ways more suitable in sound for my current band.

After a couple of rehearsals I decided that this bass deserved being restored to it's former glory, and therefore got in touch with Simon Farmer at Gus to see what could be done...

[BigRedX]

It turned out that not only was this bass the second Gus 5-string made, but it is the one featured on the [url="http://www.gusguitars.com/product.php?model_id=9"]G3 Five Active page on the Gus web site[/url] where you can see what it looked like when it was new.









Also until the previous owner bought it, the bass was one of the demonstration models, so it would have been the one I used to base the specification of my black G3 on.

Simon already knew about the current condition of the bass, as the original owner had been in touch regarding having the chipped paint areas retouched. However he thought that the damage to the finish may be too extensive for this to be feasible and that most likely a complete refinish would be required. With this in mind there was the possibility of having it refinished in a different colour. If that was the case I decided that although it would be nice to keep the bass in it's original colour, if it proved unfeasible to retouch, then I could go for a brand new colour finish.

Mid July I packed up the bass and sent it back to Gus Guitars...

[wotnwhy]

and you've not heard anything back?

[BigRedX]

Patience...

Once Simon got the bass back it was obvious that the original finish couldn't be saved. So the first thing was to strip the bass back to the primer coat.







Now was the time to decide whether to refinish in the original green/purple flip paint or go for a brand new look...

[budget bassist]

Wow, that original pearlescent paint is beautiful Hope it turns out nice

[wotnwhy]

i quite like the primer look!

leave it like that and save a bit of money

[BigRedX]

To be honest I wasn't that big a fan of the original finish. The purple was OK, but to my eyes most of the time it looked green which I was less fond of. In the end I decided that since this could well become my main fretted bass, I'd prefer it in a colour I liked.

So, on goes the first colour coats:









Can you tell what it is yet?

[Sibob]

Gold?



Si

[Kiwi]

[i][M&S food ad mode][/i]
"Not just any kind of gold, its supermacdaddymegapimpin'ultrabling-gold, lovingly coated in the finest spray of freshly mixed mojo and hot dipped in liquid jesus-butter..."
[i][/M&S food ad mode][/i]

[BigRedX]

I was hoping someone would guess when I said they were the first colour coats.

Here's what it looked liked after spraying the second colour:









More to come...

[steve-soar]

Yozzer, yozzer, yozzer.
How much is the re-fin going to cost?

[sgt-pluck]

The green/purple original paint job. In fact the whole bass. At first glance it's just hideous. But then when you actually start to look at it, it's also kind of fantastic! Good luck with the refinish - looking forward to seeing it.

Pluck

Edited October 18, 2008 by sgt-pluck

[BigRedX]

After the clear-coat applications it's polishing time:



Simon realised that the two tube horns needed re-profiling after stripping off the old flaking chrome so that was done before they went off to be re-chromed. At the same time we decided to replace the original satin finish control knobs with bright chrome ones.



Time also for a fret-dress and polish:





Almost finished...

[7string]

That Stew Mac fret leveller is very cool. The bass ain't too shabby either

Great to see that the GUS guys took the job on of bringing one of their own back to life again. The Ferrari red is a very dramatic choice.

[b]BigRedX[/b] - A difficult question I know, but how would you describe the sounds of both this bass and your other GUS?

Edited October 18, 2008 by 7string

[mathewsanchez]

That's gonna look great when it's finished. The chrome along side the red laquer will give it a real sort of retro 50's cadillac look. I look forward to seeing how this turns out.

[BigRedX]

On Thursday I received the refinished bass:







The colour is Simon's version of the Fender Candy Apple Red (Gold base coats and then a mix of 50% Candy Apple and 50% Tangerine Candy - both House of Kolor tints). The gold gives a very fine metallic sparkle to the colour (which of course doesn't really show on the photos) and the mixing in of the Tangerine Candy makes the red a bit more vibrant than the standard Fender colour which can look a little dark sometimes.







As you can see the result is stunning!

The Candy Apple Red and the bright chrome go so well together and it looks like a brand new bass. The fret levelling has made an improvement to the playability, and now I've got proper straplocks back on there I don't have to worry about the bass falling off the strap mid-song anymore.

[b]7string[/b] Because of the construction of the Gus basses the differences in tone are mainly down to the pickup and electronics configurations. Construction-wise the basses are identical except my original black Gus has an unmarked ebony board and Hipshot Ultralight tuners, and this bass has a cocobolo board with resin inlays and rather massive Gotoh tuners. The black Gus with it's humbuckers and passive controls feels more 'organic' and definitely does the dark and deep sounds better, but occasionally struggles if I need a really bright sound without help from the amp. The single coils and active electronics of the red Gus give it a much more 'present' sound plenty of top when I need it, but never quite as fat, even when both pickups are on together in humbucking mode. For me this is an ideal situation as each has an individual sound but, with a bit of tweaking they can cover for each other which is exactly what you want with a main a backup bass. As to which is which that would depend on the kind of music I'm playing. In my previous band the black Gus would be the one (that's what it was built for), but in my current one, the presence of the red Gus is a bit more suitable.

[7string]

Thanks for the explanation. They really are striking instruments and the resurrection of old red is great to see.

[Toasted]

Looks fab - thanks for posting so many pictures for us to see. I like the new Red.

[Dubs]

that looks great Real pro job, nicely done.

[bassmanady]

I remember looking at this bass when it was on ebay,and was sort of interested,but not to keen on the colour,and design of the bass...but now with this refinish it looks terrific,i love the this red and chrome combination,great choice

[BigRedX]

Thanks for the comments guys!

I'm dead pleased with how it came out. The red looks stunning and was definitely better result than having it refinish in the original colour.
In the end the cost of the bass and the refinish worked out at slightly more than half the price of having a new one built to that spec.

Here's two more photos - taken by Simon with a decent camera and a light tent...





and finally a group shot of my three Gus Basses

Edited October 20, 2008 by BigRedX

[Shockwave]

Hubba hubba! I think i know what i might go for my next high end! Whats the average 2nd hand price on these things?

[BigRedX]

Glad you like it.

Good luck with finding a second hand one, this is the only bass I've seen come up, and I only got it for a decent price because of the rather sorry state it was in. The guitars come up slightly more often (I've seen 2 or 3), usually with a starting price of at least £2000 and consequently go unsold. Like most esoteric high end instruments the second hand one's tend to priced too highly in comparison to what a new one would cost. A fair second price for a standard bass in good condition - solid colour, single coil pickups, passive controls, no extras would be around £1600-1700. Bear in mind also that most owners have ordered highly customised instruments, just have a look at the [url="http://www.gusguitars.com/gallery.php"]Gus Gallery[/url] and therefore are unlikely to be selling and if they did would be looking for a price in proportion to what the instrument originally cost.

When Simon used to have a stand at the UK trade shows he had a number of 'demonstrator' models which would be available at a reduced price (this bass and my fretless were both originally demonstrator models). However these days AFAIK if he goes to any shows any more it's just Frankfurt, so I don't know what the situation is with these.

My advice would be to start saving and order one customised to your specification. Pricey but well worth it.