Toddy Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Hi Gang,,, Ok so I needed a P Bass for a project,,,, need to look very retro,,My Ibanez and Warwick not really looking the part.. Bought a cheap Squier 5 String MII,,and all is cool,,, then (danger brainstorm alert) got around to thinking about that old P bass copy that I lent to a mate years ago,, an old Honher Arbour Series Fretless,,,, Now I bought this about 10 years ago,with a major bent neck an only 3 strings on it for a tenner,,and once I recovered it from said mate Ive now stripped it down to its components an have given it a major clean up... In my inexperienced, wild plan ,I was going to sit in front of google and order a nice neck for it,, maple perhaps,, have some LEDs maybe,, rebuild and have a nice retro bass to use on stage,,,, I could brag Id put together myself,,and even laff about how much money Id spent on gear over all these years,, when in a corner of the music room Id had my soulmate bass all along.... Then,,,,,,,,, sodding heck,,,, went on Allparts and HOW MUCH,,,, I could get a new bass for that!! So please help a poor foolish Bassist,,,,,,Is it possible to obtain a fretted neck for this for at a reasonable sum?? an return this sad old bass to gigworthy playability???? Any advice appreciated,,,,,, Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I had a Hohner Arbor P and I loved it. I am also 99.99% sure Machines Dad bought the very same bass from a shop 20 years later! I loved it, but the neck was the best thing about it. As far as I recall it has a plywood body which for me would limit the potential of upgrading it. I reckon if you can get a cheap enough neck off ebay then it might be worth tinkering with but I certainly wouldn't put the cost of a new bass into it. Hopefully Machines will pop into this thread and extol the virtues or lack of the bass. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 Cheers for that Paul,,,,, Tis indeed a ply body,,an after looking at some simply great basses for £100 this last weekend am not going to go mad on this one,,(Really dont need another Bass) However, Tis a nice old thing,,, and just missed a neck on Ebay... Will keep you posted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 How about cleaning it up and then selling it on to get something that you really want. They're not worth a fortune but people generally pay more for something that is in original condition. That's what I've done with my Melody Gibson Grabber copy. I was going to go nuts and change everything but a good clean up and it looks really good considering its about 30 years old. I'm going to gig it and if it turns out that its not for me then I'll get more than if I'd butchered it. Incidentally, I had a Hohner PJ professional fretless a few years ago that also had a plywood body. I can't remember what i got for it when i sold it but it was a fair amount for what it was. Had really bad neck dive due to the light body Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Advice taken,,,, Actually after cleaning and fettling I agree,,,,, Managed to sort the original issues with this bass,, the original neck is a really great profile.. Short of a couple of new knobs its now cleaned and restored to its original condition... Will try get some pics up,,, Cheers guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu_g Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 i had an old arbor series p a few years back i liked it thought it had quite a good sound for a cheap bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Incidentally I think the body's are "laminated" when you are selling and "plywood" when you are buying .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 [quote name='OldGit' post='487241' date='May 13 2009, 08:43 PM']Incidentally I think the body's are "laminated" when you are selling and "plywood" when you are buying ....[/quote] Good Call,,,,,,,,, My old Double Bass was def sold as laminated lol,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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