Also just an update, there were some spec changes in meantime.
I wanna base this bass of 1974 Jazz Bass. No 70’s bullet on headstock.
So this is the goal.
I’ll post more pics of work when luthier sends me.
Did some more work on my Franken Fretless Bass of Doom
Here is how it looked this morning:
Here is how it looks tonight
Unfortunately the bridge cover isn’t photographing as well as I would hope
I got it yesterday and it looked like this:
I am trying to match these parts
So I spent this morning experimenting with linseed oil, G96 and fire and good a good approximation. It has some copper shine still which goes well with the burst
I did the pickup cover as a test but won’t add it as I don’t like the look with it on and there is limited pickin’ space.
Here is a link showing what the body looks like- this is the one I picked up to refinish but rather liked the damage:
Students are back on campus next week, so I wasted my last two days of annual leave in the shed. At some point every bassist needs a through-neck multi-scale headless five string, with a preamp. Seven laminate neck, maple fretboard and spherical walnut burl body. Just needs two stacked humbuckers fitting.
A-Maz-Ing !!!
Love it!
So the work on the neck has officially begun.
Template got made, and CNC drilling is complete.
Also template got made to specifically fit these Ultralites.
First baby step: swapping out the bridge on my Squier project J
Not exactly difficult to do.
Next: removing the gloss. As far as I researched, the 0000 steel wool I got for fret polishing is great for that, too. (Want to do that on my Ray34 if it works here).
Other ideas: make a wooden pick guard and when I did some first steps in soldering, replace the pickups (the pots feel anways like they need replacement).
Finally getting around to changing the pots on the Talman! They both got slammed pretty hard by courier… after some careful bending they did somewhat work but not very well. So here we are!
I plan to add some more stickers to this bass as well once this is complete. It’s kinda my idgaf bass lol
How do you like the Talman? I must confess I looked at it when looking at 5 strings, but a 30" B seemed iffy to me (though they build it, it must work) and went with the EHB instead. I hear good things about them though
I haven’t put a lot of playtime on it yet… I noticed the strings still sound super new when I was testing today. It’s nice to have something different from my harem of Fenders and I did record one of the 50 songs with it (Ramones) so you can check that out if you like.
I like the neck profile on this one quite a lot. It’s chunky at the 1st fret and I think I’m really getting into those baseball bat style necks.
I’ll have to report back more later!
This is so cool!
Not mine, and not purely a bass, but completely whimsical, amazingly OTT and wonderfully impractical nonetheless: 
Drilling a channel for bridge earth wire?
Has anyone done this on a blank body?
Do I need to get an extra long drill bit or is there an easier way?
I have.
Extra long bit (6" stickout or more) IS the easy way. Here in Canuckistan, you can get a 10" drill bit, 1/4" OD at the dollar store. Also, get a plastic or metal tube, with an ID just greater than the bit.
Notch a starter hole with an exacto knife or sharp chisel where the wire will come up and then put your tube over the bit. Place the bit tip in the notch, and slide the tube down so that it rests against the wood. This gives you a handle to hold on to the spinning bit and guide it, as well as protecting the wood. Easy peasy. Cheap.
Hello all.
I’ll be catching up on a few months worth of projects, but in the meantime let me introduce you to my own restoration project; a 1963 Hofner Artists bass (sometimes known as the 185).
I saw it on a local FB Marketplace at a price that was tempting, but as I have two basses and really don’t play often enough to justify 3, I set it aside. Then I stumbled upon a couple for sale, did a bit more research, and suddenly found I’d written to the seller. 2 days later I gave it a once-over and negotiated all of £20 off the price.
It hasn’t had a proper test, but I did strip it down to see how bad the insides were: dirty and gunked-up, but not too bad for it’s age (and a strong suspicion that it hasn’t been picked up in 30 years). The only significant problem I’ve identified for sure is one dead pickup and a broken E string (snapped as I put it back on - just far too old and brittle). There is also a hint of a neck twist but I think it’ll straighten out with a little appropriate coaxing.
I’m looking into getting the pup rewound, but I might replace it with new. The reason I would prefer a rewind/repair is that everything is completely original so much of the value is in that, and I wouldn’t want to devalue it for the sake of a £50 rewind. Then again, new pups are only £15 each and I could still keep the originals for later reinstatement.
Happy to get any and all insights/suggestions on the project.
