Reverb Fender '74 purchase

[Geek99]

54 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

No way 😮

Late Middle Ages I believe 

[diskwave]

Nice work on the screws. Make sure to use suitably hard plugs..and yes TiteB is the biz.  If done well you could coat them in a thick poly then carefully blend the edges into the surrounding mire. Art and furniture restorers do it all the time. No one would ever know what had been done.

Out of interest.. whats the weight?

[andytoad]

33 minutes ago, diskwave said:

Nice work on the screws. Make sure to use suitably hard plugs..and yes TiteB is the biz.  If done well you could coat them in a thick poly then carefully blend the edges into the surrounding mire. Art and furniture restorers do it all the time. No one would ever know what had been done.

Out of interest.. whats the weight?

Hi, I bought hardwood plugs, so presume they would do. I have plenty of muck left over from the drilling so was going to use the dust to help blend?

 

It's pretty light, but diddnt weigh it before taking it apart. I will let you know when it's back together. I had a '69 once that was light a a feather, almost diddnt seem real. This comes close. Loved it, see my searching for post..

[andytoad]

Ok so purchased this off Charles guitars, what's the opinion? It's better than what was on there certainly, but can it be better? I really don't know about scratch plates, it's supposed to be aged, it has light relicing  scratches and browning. That said, I thought it would be 'duller' ie not quite so shiny.

 

Edited yesterday at 20:23 by andytoad

[wateroftyne]

1 minute ago, andytoad said:

Ok so purchased this off Charles guitars, what's the opinion? It's better than what was on there certainly, but can it be better? I really don't know about scratch plates, it's supposed to be aged, it has light relicing  scratches and browning. That said, I thought it would be 'duller' ie not quite so shiny.

 

 

Still doesn't work for me, sorry. There's no depth to it.

 

But... who's going to notice / care in reality? A few anoraks on BC, and no-one cares what they say 🙂

[andytoad]

6 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

 

Still doesn't work for me, sorry. There's no depth to it.

 

But... who's going to notice / care in reality? A few anoraks on BC, and no-one cares what they say 🙂

Is there one you'd recommend or is it that in general repro's just don't stand up? If it's the latter I will probably stick with it, but if there's better out there...

 

[Geek99]

3 hours ago, andytoad said:

Ok so purchased this off Charles guitars, what's the opinion? It's better than what was on there certainly, but can it be better? I really don't know about scratch plates, it's supposed to be aged, it has light relicing  scratches and browning. That said, I thought it would be 'duller' ie not quite so shiny.

 

Rub it over with the rough side of a dish sponge, takes the shine off nicely 

[ossyrocks]

8 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Rub it over with the rough side of a dish sponge, takes the shine off nicely 

I have a selection of micromesh pads, bought cheap off amazon. one of the very fine ones could nicely dull down a shiny scratchplate without causing visible scratches I think.

 

Rob

[ossyrocks]

11 hours ago, andytoad said:

Ok so purchased this off Charles guitars, what's the opinion? It's better than what was on there certainly, but can it be better? I really don't know about scratch plates, it's supposed to be aged, it has light relicing  scratches and browning. That said, I thought it would be 'duller' ie not quite so shiny.

 

To me, the colour is wrong.

 

I have a cheap tort guard here that I had on a MIJ P bass, and I think it looks better. I'll post a pic of it against my '73.

 

Rob

Edited 12 hours ago by ossyrocks

[Geek99]

25 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

To me, the colour is wrong.

 

I have a cheap tort guard here that I had on a MIJ P bass, and I think it looks better. I'll post a pic of it against my '73.

 

Rob

Tort varied a lot

[diskwave]

Youve got a light one?  Lucky man. Save ur pennies and get a Spitfire guard. Hands down the nearest to the early 70's originals which had a rich deep red tone. 

[andytoad]

1 hour ago, ossyrocks said:

I have a selection of micromesh pads, bought cheap off amazon. one of the very fine ones could nicely dull down a shiny scratchplate without causing visible scratches I think.

 

Rob

Cheers Rob, I will have a look into those!

[Belka]

I would agree with the Spitfire suggestion. Either that or one of the alternatives like Lava Pickguards or Reptile guards. The modern stuff just doesn't look right.

 

Alternatively, as the bass is a '74 you can always save some pennies and just put a black pickguard on it. 1974 was the very last year of Fender using tort and most '74 basses do in fact have a black guard rather than tort, so it would be historically accurate if you went that way. 

[bloke_zero]

I'm going to out myself as a BC anorak! I think the redder more 'authentic' period pickguard is the way to go. I don't know the brands as other people have mentioned but for comparison here is an reverb listing for an original (ended): https://reverb.com/item/29201598-vintage-1973-75-fender-precision-bass-pickguard-tort-1974-1975-73-74-75-1970s-70s-p and you can see it's much redder.

 

For what it's worth - I don't hate the one you've selected!

[andytoad]

What about this?

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/84471655-pour-fender-precision-bass-precision-low-thumb-70s-brown-turtle

[wateroftyne]

3 minutes ago, andytoad said:

What about this?

 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/84471655-pour-fender-precision-bass-precision-low-thumb-70s-brown-turtle

Run away!

[andytoad]

1 minute ago, wateroftyne said:

Run away!

 

A shocker then??

[80Hz]

I think it's a matter for taste. Looking at the 60s Precisions on Andy Baxter (different to 70s guards?? I dunno), there seems to be a redder, more diffuse look to those guards - more presence of orange and yellow. It almost looks more "molten" whereas modern tort skews brown and more textured.

 

Personally I'm not sure I would want a real celluloid guard - I'd prefer not to have a combustible material on my bass!

 

Some of these look good to my eye: https://www.pickfordguards.co.uk/gallery

 

Edit: just to add that there seem to be a bit of "drama" around this maker - I'll let you do your own Googling. I have no experience either way!

Edited 8 hours ago by 80Hz
context

[wateroftyne]

Here's both my 71s, which gives an idea of the variation. The darker one looks almost black in some light.

 

Note the lack of sharp detail - it's more about molten, swirly depth.

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by wateroftyne

[bloke_zero]

1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

it's more about molten, swirly depth.

Now we're talking!

[Cairobill]

Threads like this remind me how much I need a P bass with old flats on it...argh gas

[andytoad]

6 hours ago, Belka said:

I would agree with the Spitfire suggestion. Either that or one of the alternatives like Lava Pickguards or Reptile guards. The modern stuff just doesn't look right.

 

Alternatively, as the bass is a '74 you can always save some pennies and just put a black pickguard on it. 1974 was the very last year of Fender using tort and most '74 basses do in fact have a black guard rather than tort, so it would be historically accurate if you went that way. 

I think it could be quite fetching in black. Got a cheap one laying about... it would certainly solve the tort dilemma (or tortgate as I now call it), not into the idea spending hundreds on a spitfire one ATM...

 

 

That said, the colour of the thumb rest suggests it may have been tort - similar to @wateroftyne colour.