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SD Curlee Hondo II


W1_Pro

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I'm also going to leave the finish on (I hope). I quite like the dark green colour, I've given it a clean and its actually quite nicely battle scarred. So I'm going to buff it and see where we get too. Pics to follow.

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13 hours ago, W1_Pro said:

On the laquered fingerboard tip...has anyone done one? I assume you put the frets in first and then give it a seeing to with a can of clear coat? It all sounds so simple when you write it...

You can do it either way.  Pros and cons but both work OK

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Proper bargain that. Following this with interest. I remember trying out a US Curlee in Hickies Music in Reading, back in the day. I'm sure it was double P, but my memory might be playing tricks on me.

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Thanks Rich, Curlee did a double P, the Curbeck, pic of mine further up the thread. 

I've buffed it up a bit today and its looking pretty good for a frst time relic job😆..I'll post more pics shortly.

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  • 1 month later...

Sorry for the lack of updates.  I've done quite a bit to the bass. I decided to leave the finish as is, so I gave it a bit of a buffing which left it nicely battle scarred. Its been rewired and the cavity shielded as you can see from the pics. I wish I could say I was this good at soldering, but I'm not. I paid someone to do it. The neck has been stripped, sanded and tru- oiled, I've also put new frets in (currently in the process of de sharpening the fret ends, which is thereaputic). I clear coated the fingerboard, not that you can see it here for the masking tape.  I also handily managed to dot some superglue on it (the fingerboard) at various points during the refret, so there will need to be a bit more sanding and clearcoating done, I think. One quite nice touch, I needed to make the fret slots a little bit deeper, and I found an old fret saw of my fathers (who was a very handy amateur carpenter) which acomplished the task nicely. The old man has been dead for nearly forty years, but I like to think he was smiling at me from somewhere whilst I was doing this...  What else...I've bought a set of SD Curlee accurate Grover machine heads and I found an old Gotoh P bass bridge in my bits box which will fit the bass nicely. I need to get a step drill to ream out the tuner holes. The original Hondo tuners were in pretty bad shape, one was entirely knackered, and the other three were pretty ropey forty years ago when they were put on the bass, so best replaced.

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Edited by W1_Pro
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Thanks for the various likes and comments everyone. Much appreciated!

A bit more done. Its going back together nicely.

So far...

  • Neck back on.
  • Bridge fitted.
  • The various metal plates back in position
  • New jack plate fitted.
  • Old strap button holes plugged with toothpicks & glue.

I'm waiting on new covers for the pickups. Someone up the thread suggested cream/white and I like that idea. I'm also waiting for pickup screws and a step drill bit to ream out the tuner holes.The new Grovers are a fair bit more substantial than the original own brand Hondo ones. I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, if all the various bits arrive.

IMG_7744.thumb.JPG.f7eb53fc2807c00571e850a57b606d42.JPGIMG_7745.thumb.JPG.f0202792b5aa58d793078b0bcadc7079.JPG

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20241119_155907.thumb.jpg.936de12cc9e4635d9c242eb85b5e3960.jpgI just picked one of these up for $80CAD. It's going to be my first foray into resurrection of a vintage bass. Cream DiMarzio pickups! One snapped tuning key, and missing knows, but everything else is there. Some extra holes past the bridge, but that's an easy fix. Never even seen one in 40 years of playing, but I'm excited now!

20241119_155913.thumb.jpg.1aa35717b15d0bc9bb6ffc577245aecc.jpg

Edited by TheJay
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9 hours ago, Hellzero said:

The bridge will need a massive realignment @TheJay...

Yeah! Haven't had a chance to look at it carefully yet, but you are correct. It will be interesting to see if there are MORE holes under that bridge. Seems the pots may need a change as they're super tight. A week of holidays starts Friday, so I'll dig into it then. I just hope the neck is still good one it gets tension on it.

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On 19/11/2024 at 14:00, W1_Pro said:

Thanks for the various likes and comments everyone. Much appreciated!

A bit more done. Its going back together nicely.

So far...

  • Neck back on.
  • Bridge fitted.
  • The various metal plates back in position
  • New jack plate fitted.
  • Old strap button holes plugged with toothpicks & glue.

I'm waiting on new covers for the pickups. Someone up the thread suggested cream/white and I like that idea. I'm also waiting for pickup screws and a step drill bit to ream out the tuner holes.The new Grovers are a fair bit more substantial than the original own brand Hondo ones. I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, if all the various bits arrive.

IMG_7744.thumb.JPG.f7eb53fc2807c00571e850a57b606d42.JPGIMG_7745.thumb.JPG.f0202792b5aa58d793078b0bcadc7079.JPG

I'm needing to replace a busted tuner. Which Grovers did you go with, and will the screw holes also need moving? Thanks!

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Yes, the screw holes will need moving, also the holes will need reaming out as the OEM tuner shafts are quite narrow. I went for the Grover Titan 145c, which are the same as on my Curbeck.  Gives the headstock that SD Curlee 'big eared' look.

 

Edited by W1_Pro
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