River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025 - Image Gallery

Images in this post were taken on September 21, 2025 at Kompleks Teruntum, Kuantan and are courtesy of Damir Idris, Ya Thora, Tok Sarif, Ajib Vater and Kurnia Pianist.

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

River Blues @ Teruntum Rock Festival 2025

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 4 - The Overhaul Begins

Let the overhaul commence, then. That pickguard? Well, it's been scrubbed clean, for starters. Topside, stubborn remnants of the clear protective plastic layer trapped beneath the pot and output jack nuts have been removed. Meanwhile, I've also scraped the burnt section on the underside clean, and with the help of sticker remover spray, detached the existing aluminum foil shielding.

Cleaned Pickguard - Top

Cleaned Pickguard - Underside

That grimy sunburst body has not been forgotten, folks. A firm rubdown with a piece of cloth and naphtha has removed most of the crud and rust, paving the way for, you guessed it, a few rounds of polishing with GetSun Carnauba Car Wax. No, this is not a promo for GetSun. It's just that this particular product gets the job done without harming polyester finishes.

Polishing in Progress

Remember that grimy hardwood fretboard and tarnished frets? Well, they're a thing of the past. At this stage of the overhaul, I'm stopping at scraping, as conditioning with lemon oil will have to wait until just before new strings are installed.

Scraping the Fretboard

After straightening the neck, I discovered five high frets (2, 4, 6, 10 and 12). Oh yes, we're in for some spot leveling. Nothing out of the ordinary, folks. It's basically marking the tops of the frets in question followed by leveling, recrowning, and polishing. You know the drill. 

High Frets Marked

Leveling the High Frets

Recrowning in Progress

Polishing the Frets

Spot Leveling Completed

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 3 - Electronics

Basically, being a PJ, this bass features a P-style neck pickup and a J-style bridge pickup. However, something is decidedly different, electronics-wise. Now, one would expect to find, as I did, two volumes and a master tone. Not on this bass. Both pickups are connected to one volume pot (master volume), which means both are always on, and there's no way to select either pickup on its own.

Master Volume and Tone Pots

Master Volume Pot Wiring

Output Jack and Bridge Ground

Both pickups are functioning normally despite being covered in corrosion, dust, and grime. No worries, though. A good clean and polish should do them a world of good. However, those corroded screws and springs will have to go. I'll most probably be replacing the screws and putting in high density foam in lieu of springs. 

P-Style Neck Pickup - Top

P-Style Neck Pickup - Underside

J-Style Bridge Pickup - Top

J-Style Bridge Pickup - Underside

  

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 2 - Hardware

Now that we've taken a look at the neck and body of this RCE PJ Bass, let's move on to the hardware, most of which is metal. At the headstock end, those four open gear tuning machines have begun to rust, are deeply pitted, and do not turn smoothly.

Open Gear Tuning Machines

Meanwhile, looking at the vintage-style bridge, the first thing that comes to mind is corrosion. The rectangular neck plate fares a little better, though, displaying lots of scratches but hardly any corrosion. Taking the bridge apart reveals rusty intonation screws, intonation springs and saddle height adjustment hex screws.

Bridge, Neck Plate and Gasket - Top

Bridge, Neck Plate and Gasket - Underside

Rusty Bridge Components

As one might expect, a bass of this style utilizes lots of metal hardware, including screws, washers, nuts, springs, and the like. As can be seen in the image below, corrosion and grime are the order of the day. The two knurled control knobs, for example, have lost most of their chrome plating, revealing bare rusty metal. Well, we'll have to determine what can be saved and what will simply have to be replaced.

Various Rusty Components

This bass features a three-ply WBW pickguard secured to the body with 11 screws. Removing this pickguard took hours, as most of the corroded screws were impossible to turn. Worst of the lot was one screw at the lower horn. It was not only stuck fast in the wood, but also to the pickguard itself. While I did eventually manage to pry the pickguard off the body, this screw took with it a sizeable sliver of wood. Now, the screw was still stuck in the pickguard despite my best efforts. I had to use a mini blow torch to heat what was left of the screw, and quickly push it out. In the images below, I've circled the screw hole in question. 

Pickguard - Top

Pickguard - Underside

Overhauling an RCE PJ Bass - Part 1

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 1 - Neck and Body

Folks, what we have here is an honest-to-goodness fabriqué en Chine RCE PJ-style bass. It's definitely been around for quite a while, as RCE was the predecessor to modern-day RC Stromm. Right then, let's begin by taking a look at the headstock, maple neck and hardwood fretboard.

Headstock Face

Back of Headstock

Neck Heel

Hardwood Fretboard

Moving on to the body, exposed wood in the neck pocket and body cavities suggest that it's solid wood mated to a figured cap that's 1/8" thick (I measured). On the whole, the largely intact sunburst finish is marred by rust, grime and crud. Cleaning this up is surely going to take some time.   

Front of Body

Neck Pocket

Lower Horn

Neck Pickup Cavity

Bridge Pickup Cavity

Control Cavity

Looks Like Solid Wood

Bridge Ground

Back of Body

Bolt-On Neck Joint

DARS S-Style Electric | Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

To date, we've serviced all reusable components on this DARS S-Style Electric. Now, about that grimy black body. It surely needs loads of TLC. After a thorough cleaning, out comes the GetSun Carnauba Car Wax, and a polishing we go.

Polishing the Body

With the body taken care of, we can now focus on the electronics. All components have been soldered into the circuit, and everything works as it should. As can be seen in the second picture below, I haven't yet reinstalled the tremolo bridge. 

Pickguard Wiring Completed

Pickguard Reinstalled

Aha, now we've got the tremolo bridge and springs reinstalled, and things are looking good. All that elbow grease has finally paid off, methinks.

Tremolo Bridge Reinstalled

Close Up of the Tremolo Bridge

Tremolo Block, Springs and Claw

I've been postponing this task, as it's not exactly enjoyable. No more delays, then. We start off by giving the frets a good polishing with 0000 grade steel wool. Works like a charm, now let's remove all that icky stuff from the maple fretboard. After fruitless attempts with facial cotton squares and naphtha, I've enlisted the help of an old toothbrush, and this works way better.

Polishing the Frets

Cleaning the Maple Fretboard

Fretboard After Cleaning

The naphtha has evaporated completely, allowing me to apply my favorite wax, Home DIY Series Beeswax & Carnauba. I've waxed the headstock face, fretboard, and back of the neck. After a little buffing, everything should feel nice and slick.

Waxing the Fretboard

I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but the frets were adequately level after straightening the neck. That's why no fretwork was needed, save for cleaning and polishing. Setup was with a set of D'Addario EXL120s, as per the owner's request. Now, here's the DARS S-Style Electric, ready and waiting for his owner to come take and him home.

DARS S-Style Electric - Front View

DARS S-Style Electric - Back View