Preamble
The only information I was able to gather on this seemingly vintage sunburst Jazz Bass copy was that it was "made in Japan," thanks to an Audiofanzine review on a similar (albeit left-handed) instrument. The task before me was to get this baby back into working condition "at minimal cost" (an extremely common request).
For starters, virtually every metal component on this bass was rusted and/or jammed, thanks to years of neglect. The bridge was totally unusable,as was the neck pickup. Thankfully, I managed to get the tuning machines and truss rod nut to turn smoothly after a derust/lube job.
Almost every screw had either a worn-out head or was frozen in the wood. Attempts to unscrew these ended in many of them breaking off below the surface. This being the case, I had no other option but to use a homemade screw extractor drill bit and pliers to remove them, and plug the resulting holes with wooden dowels.
The electronics were shot, as one would expect from an instrument in this condition. I was planning to replace the stock jack with a Neutrik, but budgetary constraints did not allow for that.
Work Done
Bodywork
New chrome covers for bridge and neck pickup
Replaced bridge
Replaced "tortoiseshell" pickguard
Replaced neck pickup
Replaced all screws
Replaced tug bar
Complete Rewire
New Alpha A250K volume/tone pots
New generic mono jack
New 0.022uF capacitor
Nut reprofile
New strings and setup
The only information I was able to gather on this seemingly vintage sunburst Jazz Bass copy was that it was "made in Japan," thanks to an Audiofanzine review on a similar (albeit left-handed) instrument. The task before me was to get this baby back into working condition "at minimal cost" (an extremely common request).
For starters, virtually every metal component on this bass was rusted and/or jammed, thanks to years of neglect. The bridge was totally unusable,as was the neck pickup. Thankfully, I managed to get the tuning machines and truss rod nut to turn smoothly after a derust/lube job.
Almost every screw had either a worn-out head or was frozen in the wood. Attempts to unscrew these ended in many of them breaking off below the surface. This being the case, I had no other option but to use a homemade screw extractor drill bit and pliers to remove them, and plug the resulting holes with wooden dowels.
The electronics were shot, as one would expect from an instrument in this condition. I was planning to replace the stock jack with a Neutrik, but budgetary constraints did not allow for that.
Work Done
Bodywork
New chrome covers for bridge and neck pickup
Replaced bridge
Replaced "tortoiseshell" pickguard
Replaced neck pickup
Replaced all screws
Replaced tug bar
Complete Rewire
New Alpha A250K volume/tone pots
New generic mono jack
New 0.022uF capacitor
Nut reprofile
New strings and setup
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