gpcustomguitars Posted April 17, 2019 Report Share Posted April 17, 2019 As usual, there's a bit of a backstory to this build - I was commissioned to build a bass a few years back, the price was friendly, and as a sort of thank-you, I got a dismantled P bass in a poor state. I just can't resist those, my friend knows me (too) well Well, a visitor in the shop spotted it in the all 4 corners in pieces and said his bass player would probably be interested in buying it. So, I got the initial spark to finally do something with it. Dirty, dusty, marker lines all over... 01-IMG_20190119_170520 by Goran P, on Flickr Some disassembly, nail polish remover (non-acetone one) 07-IMG_20190318_212835 by Goran P, on Flickr Polished 08-IMG_20190322_202726 by Goran P, on Flickr Neck was not in that a bad shape, frets filed down to get a fretless, but tangs still in fretboard, which was exactly why he wanted to buy it... 06-IMG_20190120_180447 by Goran P, on Flickr 05-IMG_20190120_180438 by Goran P, on Flickr 04-IMG_20190120_180433 by Goran P, on Flickr but 02-IMG_20190119_170651 by Goran P, on Flickr also from the other side.....some people have really weird ideas...so after some careful watering and ironing to bring the fibers at least a bit back up, had to fill and try to match the color to the rest of the surface. 13-IMG_20190323_134528 by Goran P, on Flickr 12-IMG_20190323_134523 by Goran P, on Flickr polished all the hardware, not hiding the mileage, but it should at least be clean 16-IMG_20190324_142027 by Goran P, on Flickr 14-IMG_20190324_141725 by Goran P, on Flickr btw these felt polishers are great for making spare felt rings for strap buttons, I use old belts also 15-IMG_20190324_141807 by Goran P, on Flickr 17-IMG_20190324_142305 by Goran P, on Flickr I re-lacquered the neck and polished it next. All the hardware, pickups and screws went trough detailed polishing/cleaning/oiling where applicable, shielded all the cavities with tape, and some custom lasering later: 18-IMG_20190404_173816 by Goran P, on Flickr but for now, we settled on this: 19-IMG_20190405_185609 by Goran P, on Flickr 20-IMG-c58e0ae4ff9ebcbf48fef7e59345bc01-V by Goran P, on Flickr Not that great pic, and also no pics of how the headstock came out, but will add those when it comes in for a final setup. Pretty much stock electronics, had to replace all, change is that I've added 2 piezzos, one under the pickup, and the other under the brigde, in parallel, and with their own volume pot. I thought it might add some vibe to the fretless sound. Soundclip to follow I hope. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 17, 2019 Report Share Posted April 17, 2019 Nicely done, Goran! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 17, 2019 Report Share Posted April 17, 2019 30 minutes ago, gpcustomguitars said: As usual, there's a bit of a backstory to this build - I was commissioned to build a bass a few years back, the price was friendly, and as a sort of thank-you, I got a dismantled P bass in a poor state. I just can't resist those, my friend knows me (too) well Well, a visitor in the shop spotted it in the all 4 corners in pieces and said his bass player would probably be interested in buying it. So, I got the initial spark to finally do something with it. Dirty, dusty, marker lines all over... 01-IMG_20190119_170520 by Goran P, on Flickr Some disassembly, nail polish remover (non-acetone one) 07-IMG_20190318_212835 by Goran P, on Flickr Polished 08-IMG_20190322_202726 by Goran P, on Flickr Neck was not in that a bad shape, frets filed down to get a fretless, but tangs still in fretboard, which was exactly why he wanted to buy it... 06-IMG_20190120_180447 by Goran P, on Flickr 05-IMG_20190120_180438 by Goran P, on Flickr 04-IMG_20190120_180433 by Goran P, on Flickr but 02-IMG_20190119_170651 by Goran P, on Flickr also from the other side.....some people have really weird ideas...so after some careful watering and ironing to bring the fibers at least a bit back up, had to fill and try to match the color to the rest of the surface. 13-IMG_20190323_134528 by Goran P, on Flickr 12-IMG_20190323_134523 by Goran P, on Flickr polished all the hardware, not hiding the mileage, but it should at least be clean 16-IMG_20190324_142027 by Goran P, on Flickr 14-IMG_20190324_141725 by Goran P, on Flickr btw these felt polishers are great for making spare felt rings for strap buttons, I use old belts also 15-IMG_20190324_141807 by Goran P, on Flickr 17-IMG_20190324_142305 by Goran P, on Flickr I re-lacquered the neck and polished it next. All the hardware, pickups and screws went trough detailed polishing/cleaning/oiling where applicable, shielded all the cavities with tape, and some custom lasering later: 18-IMG_20190404_173816 by Goran P, on Flickr but for now, we settled on this: 19-IMG_20190405_185609 by Goran P, on Flickr 20-IMG-c58e0ae4ff9ebcbf48fef7e59345bc01-V by Goran P, on Flickr Not that great pic, and also no pics of how the headstock came out, but will add those when it comes in for a final setup. Pretty much stock electronics, had to replace all, change is that I've added 2 piezzos, one under the pickup, and the other under the brigde, in parallel, and with their own volume pot. I thought it might add some vibe to the fretless sound. Soundclip to follow I hope. i kind of liked it with both pieces, dissapointed u r'ent using that but looks good.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted April 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2019 (edited) Thanks! I was also hoping to use both pieces I designed, but the client is trying it first without the top one, and we might add it sometime in the future. Found a few more pics of the progress: 1-IMG-bbb853f1f4ff39ba703b130191681bba-V by Goran P, on Flickr this is how the headstock came out - I didn't want to do the whole restoration, as we agreed that we want all the accumulated dings and scratches to show, but as a something-in-between, it isn't too bad I think. IMG-f6fd2d08a90fac4377f9e4fb20f2082e-V by Goran P, on Flickr i tested the sizes first with printouts, before committing to laser, more times than I'm willing to admit IMG-ea2a629f04348c33e5aaa9c78822c566-V by Goran P, on Flickr shielding, and the separately removable electronics plate, my usual beef with strat-type pickguards. I actually had 2 made, for different versions of circuit IMG-ae419f2554ea3a59975643623d5fad9f-V by Goran P, on Flickr IMG-bc70d80cc38ca3eacba6d70ea4b9cc18-V by Goran P, on Flickr IMG-bfcd59a3d90eca4667770946b7576b31-V by Goran P, on Flickr pickups were cleaned, some light rust removal form pole pieces with steel wool, and polished with some medium compound IMG-44070506b1ce042e4e0ff5100ef8f4ed-V by Goran P, on Flickr trying to free the seized height screws IMG-a7b432fe3c69aa6a3999e9a336fb7ca0-V by Goran P, on Flickr Edited April 18, 2019 by gpcustomguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 18, 2019 Report Share Posted April 18, 2019 6 hours ago, gpcustomguitars said: Thanks! I was also hoping to use both pieces I designed, but the client is trying it first without the top one, and we might add it sometime in the future. Found a few more pics of the progress: 1-IMG-bbb853f1f4ff39ba703b130191681bba-V by Goran P, on Flickr this is how the headstock came out - I didn't want to do the whole restoration, as we agreed that we want all the accumulated dings and scratches to show, but as a something-in-between, it isn't too bad I think. IMG-f6fd2d08a90fac4377f9e4fb20f2082e-V by Goran P, on Flickr i tested the sizes first with printouts, before committing to laser, more times than I'm willing to admit IMG-ea2a629f04348c33e5aaa9c78822c566-V by Goran P, on Flickr shielding, and the separately removable electronics plate, my usual beef with strat-type pickguards. I actually had 2 made, for different versions of circuit IMG-ae419f2554ea3a59975643623d5fad9f-V by Goran P, on Flickr IMG-bc70d80cc38ca3eacba6d70ea4b9cc18-V by Goran P, on Flickr IMG-bfcd59a3d90eca4667770946b7576b31-V by Goran P, on Flickr pickups were cleaned, some light rust removal form pole pieces with steel wool, and polished with some medium compound IMG-44070506b1ce042e4e0ff5100ef8f4ed-V by Goran P, on Flickr trying to free the seized height screws IMG-a7b432fe3c69aa6a3999e9a336fb7ca0-V by Goran P, on Flickr is that tin foil shielding? if so how do you get it to stick? just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 18, 2019 Report Share Posted April 18, 2019 59 minutes ago, mistermikev said: is that tin foil shielding? if so how do you get it to stick? just curious. I'd vote for aluminium tape used sold in hardware stores for fixing and sealing metal pipes, alufoil insulation and other building related things. It's much cheaper than copper tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 18, 2019 Report Share Posted April 18, 2019 1 minute ago, Bizman62 said: I'd vote for aluminium tape used sold in hardware stores for fixing and sealing metal pipes, alufoil insulation and other building related things. It's much cheaper than copper tape. alum foil tape doesn't have conductive adhesive. I use it all the time in places where it's appropriate (control cav covers) but if you look close you can see he's using it to link cavities which makes me think it isn't. I think I see some solder marks in there which makes me think perhaps it's alum foil. I know it's fairly common to use the thicker alum foil for this. I guess we'll see when he answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 18, 2019 Report Share Posted April 18, 2019 There's aluminium tape with conductive adhesive as well. On the other hand, not every copper tape has conductive adhesive. Anyhow, let's wait for the correct answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted April 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 Hi! Sorry for the late reply, I've been quite busy for a few days! I'm using a local brand of alu tape with conductive adhesive. It's relatively cheap and works nicely, this bass is completely quiet I've been using it for a few years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 4 hours ago, gpcustomguitars said: Hi! Sorry for the late reply, I've been quite busy for a few days! I'm using a local brand of alu tape with conductive adhesive. It's relatively cheap and works nicely, this bass is completely quiet I've been using it for a few years now. I stand corrected. Thought for sure it was alum foil. One of these days I'm going to try that! Anywho, thank you for solving the mystery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 Mistermikev, don't be too harsh to yourself as you were partially right! Isn't aluminium tape just a long but narrow piece of alum foil with glue? I was equally wrong in suspecting it's the regular hardware store tape, found the conductive glue version only after you mentioned it. Does that mean that if we combined our knowledge, we'd be on par with gpcustomguitars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted April 22, 2019 Report Share Posted April 22, 2019 17 minutes ago, Bizman62 said: Mistermikev, don't be too harsh to yourself as you were partially right! Isn't aluminium tape just a long but narrow piece of alum foil with glue? I was equally wrong in suspecting it's the regular hardware store tape, found the conductive glue version only after you mentioned it. Does that mean that if we combined our knowledge, we'd be on par with gpcustomguitars? if I'm honest it was sort of wishful thinking. I don't even know why... perhaps just the spirit of diy. Either way a nice clean job of laying out foil is a think of beauty. It's nice to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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