Advice on this old thing

[dingobass]

You could also sand about 1mm off the bottom and another 1mm of the timber bridge support.
Combined with 1-2mm of heel shim you will get that action down.
Then you may need to deepen the nut slots slightly to get a better first fret to string height.

Just go slow, check often and she will be sweet.

[stan]

I think your bass is a Teisco Kingston, surprised Pabs didn't beat me to this...

i think the reason you are having issues are because it might not be the original neck.

they look more like a strat neck/headstock

[dingobass]

Could be an Aria as well.. hard to pin down as so many mid 70's Japanese axes were similar.
The mother of toilet seat headstock veneer points towards Aria..

As Stan sed, where is Pabs when we need him?

[pablopepper]

Hello!

DB pretty much nailed it. Could be an Aria, Teisco, Guyatone, Univox, Silvertone, Kay, Kent, Harmony, Valco, Supro, etc. All of these brands (and more) were made in the 60s and 70s in Japan, some shared models and were sold in different countries under different names with slightly different features.

Stan is probably pretty close, here is the only pic I could find of a Kingston.

[filthyPierre]

Hey fellas, thanks for all the tips and comments, much appreciated. Apologies for not acknowledging them or replying sooner, been a busy few weeks with work and only today got some spare time to work on my guitars.

So, referring to the photos below, today I pulled the neck off. Surprise surprise, someone had a similar idea, as the two paddlepop sticks will attest. Even though it's been 25 years, pretty sure I've never had the neck off. So someone was not happy with the action at some point in time.

Also, that big hole in the middle of the neck mount screws, dunno WTF that is for. Can't even think why it would be there, obviously not original with the way the paint is chipped around it, and not centred.

As for the neck itself, I think it's definitely original, as the "mother of toilet seat" (onya DB!) veneer on the headstock is identical to the pickguard material, so would have to think it's the original neck.

Waz, it's definitely flat - after taking it off the body I put a steel rule along the frets, all touch at the same point, no gaps.

BUT, and a big but, as you can see from the third photo, the frets are horribly finished - running your hand up and down the neck is not a very nice experience. They have jagged edges and varying lengths. All in all not a very nice neck.

fender3x, tried searching for Coronado bass necks, found one that would cost in excess of $300 AUD to get here, so probably too much, although it would be nice. I did find one from a site called Rondo Music that is 30 inch scale and 2 and 1/4 inches wide at the heel, which I can probably make fit with a bit of sanding. It is about $150 AUD to get it here. So a little cheaper.

As for the bridge, yes it would be better if it was lower. I pulled the two adjusters off and it sits about 1mm lower, so combined with a wedge in the heel socket the action might come down a bit. Will be a lot of frigging around I should think. I googled for floating bass bridges, the only one I could find was a Hohner style, which looks to be taller than the original piece, and the saddles aren't adjustable. No measurements on the string width either. The original part's centre-to-centre of each saddle is 17mm, give or take 0.1mm or so. I guess I can always sand a bit off the bottom too.

So, now need to make a decision as to whether it's worth spending the money on. I will try make a wedge for it and see if I can get the action down.... if I can get it to a reasonable height it might then be worth buying the neck.

Cheers,

Pete

P.S. Pablo - thanks for the photo, yes, very close to mine with some slight differences.

[stan]

it may not be worth it in dollar terms, but in terms of learning and resurrecting a cool old guitar i say go for it and bring it back to life

[filthyPierre]

it may not be worth it in dollar terms, but in terms of learning and resurrecting a cool old guitar i say go for it and bring it back to life

Stan, yes I totally agree. A couple of hundred bucks may be over capitalising as they say, but better than having it sit in its case for another 25 years growing mildew (yes, yuck).

And if it's playable, then all the better for it.

Cheers

[dingobass]

The hole would have been where it was hung for painting at a guess.

Personally, I would just clean up the fret ends. It is normal for them to stick out a bit on an old beast like this as the timber would have shrunk a bit.

[dingobass]

With the paddle pop sticks, I would ditch them and make a proper wedge shim to get a better break angle on the neck.
That will sort out the action height dramas

[wazkelly]

Plywood body and maybe a bit of thin plywood cut to the size of the neck pocket as a shim would be the first thing to do and then drop the neck in over the top and re-check action height to see where things are at and which end needs how much sanded off to bring it somewhere near a decent level/angle to play.

The fresh plywood should be easy enough to sand into shape rather than trying to use a solid piece of timber such as maple or pine and would be harder/stronger/tougher than just pine on it's own.