N (un) ‘effed BD - Squire P - Black Beauty!!!

[Pea Turgh]

Yo yo yo. Just popped in to mate’s on the way home from work, where he offered me his Squire for free!

The reason for the freeness is the neck is warped. You could drive a bus under that action!

Now I read this site every day, any bass is a ‘project’.  This one only needs a new neck, so here we are!

I feel bad not giving my mate some sort of financial redress though. How much would you give your mate for something like this?  It’s from Indonesia.

I’m feeling black plate, maple board.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Pea Turgh
Additional info

[aitkenaudio]

is the truss rod knackered?

[Pea Turgh]

Not tried it yet - got dinner on!

[Rikki_Sixx]

39 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Not tried it yet - got dinner on!

Proper priorities!

[BreadBin]

My JB Special was almost as bad as that - it's worth trying to save that neck before buying another. 

[Pea Turgh]

Will do - once the Tasmanian devil (or son, as some people say) is asleep.

[BreadBin]

Check the sixth photo 

Edited September 26, 2018 by BreadBin

[Pea Turgh]

1 minute ago, BreadBin said:

Check the second photo 

I’d seen that, but thanks for the reminder!

[Pea Turgh]

Hey cool - it’s torzal!I think i’ll stick with the original plan of putting a maple fretboard neck on instead - those twisty necks are too exotic for me!

[BreadBin]

Dibs!

[Pea Turgh]

Pay day! New neck on its way. I was going to go maple fretboard, but the binding here is alluring, and I love a slight flame. Black pickguard also en route, though maybe tort would sit better?

[Grangur]

On 26/09/2018 at 20:06, Pea Turgh said:

Hey cool - it’s torzal!I think i’ll stick with the original plan of putting a maple fretboard neck on instead - those twisty necks are too exotic for me!

I recently fixed a neck worse than that.

[Pea Turgh]

35 minutes ago, Grangur said:

I recently fixed a neck worse than that.

I thought a twist was Game Over?  How do you do it?

[Grangur]

28 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

I thought a twist was Game Over?  How do you do it?

Have a read here.

I think judicious use of the steam iron is a valuable contributing factor. 

Also, when you fit the neck after wards, tighten the truss rod BEFORE you tighten the strings. It's worth remembering with these cheap basses, the necks are no the best. So, you need to make good use of the TR to compensate for the lack of structure in the wood. But with care, you can get a good result.

 

[BreadBin]

On 26/09/2018 at 21:03, BreadBin said:

Dibs!

Should have made myself clearer - I would take on your twister if you wanted to get rid...

I like a challenge!

[Pea Turgh]

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

Should have made myself clearer - I would take on your twister if you wanted to get rid...

I like a challenge!

You can have it!

The new one arrived today - I only ordered it yesterday!  Looks lush. Will try to fit it later after domestic duties are complete.

[BreadBin]

3 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

You can have it!

The new one arrived today - I only ordered it yesterday!  Looks lush. Will try to fit it later after domestic duties are complete.

Awesome, I'll drop you a PM 

That does look nice, and what great service. 

[Pea Turgh]

The neck is on, and straight too! Just got to wait for the scratch plate and buy some new strings.

[Pea Turgh]

The scratch plate arrived this morning. I had to widen the pickup holes, cut in to the neck pocket corners and cut the truss adjustment hole (original neck was  headstock-end truss nut).

i am really pleased with the neck - it’s perfect!  Look at this grain!!!

I have no affiliation to the seller, just thought I’d add a link to them as they do a few neck options...

musicalaccessories

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F232723568523

[uk_lefty]

Looks good! The binding on the neck sets it off really well. Hope it plays nicely too.

[Pea Turgh]

So my free bass is costing increasingly more - just fitted a set of ultralights!

I suppose I should sort the old screw holes. Any ideas?!

[Pea Turgh]

Just realized I’ve subconsciously constructed a cheap version of one of the fantasy Maruszczyk I spec’d on their website!

Edited October 26, 2018 by Pea Turgh

[BreadBin]

Looking good mate - I should be starting on the bender this weekend 

[Pea Turgh]

I knew this bass had potential, but I lacked the tools and attention to detail to bring it out.  Luckily, I knew of a very good tech in the area. Apparently, so does everyone else as he has a 4 week backlog!

For years I’ve thought “I can tweak a truss rod/set intonation” etc, but I now happily admit I was wrong.  The strings are sitting at a perfect height at both ends and over the frets, the action and feel is consistent on every note up and down the neck. Definitely feels like my playing will improve as a result.

I am now very happy with Trigger, the bitsa P!

[Rich]

Re: screwholes... cocktail sticks, PVA glue and a shap blade for trimming.