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Thread: Advice on this old thing

  1. #1
    Member filthyPierre's Avatar
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    Advice on this old thing

    Looking for some advice or assitance with this guitar, primarily, the neck.

    The story:

    I bought this beastie from a colleague about 25, 26 years ago. He'd bought it new in the '60s and played it in a band. He brought it to work to show me as we'd been having conversations about guitars, and I was playing in a band with three other guys who also worked at the same place. After seeing it I offered him 50 bucks for it. He countered with 100. We haggled and settled on something in the middle.. 80 rings a bell.

    So after I got it home, I played around with it to set it up and was planning on using it in the band as a second, for some of the old shite we used to do. Unfortunately, even after playing around with the intonation, action and so on, it was (and remains) a prick of a thing to play due to the horrible action (about 8.6 mm at the 12th, to over 11 at the 23rd).

    It bears no markings as to what brand it is. The bloke I bought it from had no recollection of who made it (it had been sitting, forgotten, in his cupboard for nearly 25 years at that stage). For a 50-year-old instrument, it's in remarkably good shape, probably due to the fact that it's unplayable for more than a few minutes at a time. If you're only pedalling it's ok, but don't try anything fancy. There's little to no rust anywhere, even most of the screws (all original) are pretty good.

    So here's what I'm thinking:

    I would like to put a new neck on it and see if I can actually make it playable. It seems a shame to waste a nice-looking instrument, that actually sounds quite good, just like you'd expect a 50-y-o hollow-body bass with single coil pickups to sound. If I could put a decent neck on, it might make it easier to play. But, that's not going to be so easy.

    Even though it looks longer, it's only 30-inch scale. Currently the distance from the zero fret to the bridge is 775 mm, or 30.5 inches. I think I moved the bridge back to try lower the action; as you can see, the bridge height is adjusted all the way down. The intonation, as you'd expect, is not quite right.

    So, googling for short scale necks brings up a few, but they're all too wide at the heel. The neck of the guitar is 55.5 mm wide at the heel, 42.3 at the nut (P-bass standard). Most necks I've found are around 60 wide at the heel.

    By comparison, my '72 Musicmaster Bass, which is a short scale, is 57mm at the heel and just over 40 at the nut. My '98 Jazz Deluxe is 38 at the nut and 58 or so at the heel.

    So if I could find a MM Bass neck I could probably sand it a bit to fit this body. But no-one seems to make replacements for them. The other thing I could try is to shim the neck with a wedge, so that it angles backwards and is lifted a few mm. I'm pretty sure I tried back when I got it to adjust the truss rod to try bend the neck back a bit, but it doesn't appear to be warped. The actual contact patch of the heel to the body is quite small too, and it's possible that the body has been warped over time from sitting in the case with the strings tightened (although, it was like this when I got it).

    Perhaps it's just a crappy Chinese guitar.

    So, looking for suggestions or advice. Does anyone know of a short-scale neck manufacturer that would fit it, or should I just not bother and relegate it to the cupboard for another 25 years?
    I'm willing to spend a little on it if I can make it playable, turning it into a "Franken-bass". Don't really want to modify it so that it can't be put back to the way it is now. But then again, it's probably not worth more than a handful of bottle caps at the moment.

    Cheers,

    Pete
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  2. #2
    Member filthyPierre's Avatar
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    Some more photos:

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  3. #3
    Overlord of Music Dedman's Avatar
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    before replacing the neck I'd try putting a shim under the back of the neck to change the break angle
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  4. #4
    Member filthyPierre's Avatar
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    Bloody hell that was quick. :-)

    Yes, probably the easiest thing too. But then again, making the shim.... do you reckon plywood? Some other material?

  5. #5
    Overlord of Music Dedman's Avatar
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    pop down to your local big green shed and see if that have any wooden axe wedges or hammer wedges, you can sand/file to suit. I used layers of old pick guard super glued together till I got the right thickness on my Bo-Diddly box
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  6. #6
    Moderator dingobass's Avatar
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    I use photocopy paper soaked with thin CA glue.
    Simply cut the paper so it covers the width of the pocket and make each shim around 5mm shorter than the last one and you will end up with a workable wedge.

    I am thinking it is probably a Japanese built axe, possibly a Tiesco or Gyatone?
    Last edited by dingobass; 10-09-2016 at 02:20 PM.

    There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....

  7. #7
    GAStronomist wokkaboy's Avatar
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    Hey Pete cool looking bass. Looks like your questions have been answered, good luck !
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  8. #8
    Moderator fender3x's Avatar
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    I defer to DB with regard to materials, but I have heard of people doing the same thing with playing cards.

    That neck is a beauty, so it would be a shame to replace it if you like the short scale and if it is otherwise straight. I remember those old Japanese basses. Pretty, but the action may always have been horrible.


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  9. #9
    Moderator fender3x's Avatar
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    If you go on eBay and use search terms "bass" and "coronado" you'll find a couple of Fender Coronado necks for around $200 US, that are 30" scale. Not sure what the heel width is, but probably standard Fender.

    It also occurs to me that if you put a 34 inch scale neck on the bass, you would need to move the bridge back about 2 inches. Because of the curve in the arch top that would also lower the action...

    In any case, for 80 beans you have found the garage Holy Grail.

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  10. #10
    GAStronomist wazkelly's Avatar
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    Looks like it will need a lot of packing under the heel to reduce height of the action. In most of those shots it is hard to tell but the neck looks fairly flat without too much forward bow?

    Have you considered a different bridge with saddles lower to the base?
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