Lunch Report- Thursday Feb 14, 2013 Happy Valentines Day!

Lunch Report- Thursday Feb 14, 2013

Happy Valentines Day!
All of you with significant others, who care about such things had better remember to give a card or flowers or candy or all of the above to your S.O.!

Lunch- I have yet to determine what it will be. I brought nothing so I will have to go out or starve today.

Today’s Report-
I wanted to tell the story of a 1971 Precision Bass neck that I came across at a local music store last summer. The rosewood neck was hanging behind the counter and the clerk working there mentioned that the rod was bad and they used it as a conversation piece because it was no good as a bass neck.
I offered the clerk $25 for the neck, he called the owner of the shop and they accepted my offer. I now own a broken bass neck.

I didn't know the extent of the break or where it was in the neck. I also didn't know the date until deciphering the date code on the heel of the neck.
All of this info was very important to determine what kind of rod was in the neck originally and what I would have to do to fix it.
I have pictures of this neck but I misplaced my camera cord so this report will be pretty heavy on text today. I will try to get pictures for tomorrow.

At the base of the neck, I had a hole where the adjusting nut should’ve been. I took a length of wire and inserted it in the hole, so that I could determine where the broken rod ended or began as it were.
I found no rod in the neck. Someone had completely removed it.

The next step was to take a strong magnet and find the end nut that he rod screwed into. It should be under the fingerboard behind the first fret. The magnet stuck to that point, proving that the nut was still there.

I wanted to restore this neck because I have a 1971 Precision bass body that will be a perfect match. I researched how to do this repair and if you do a Google image search on Precision Bass Truss rods, you will see the process of completing this repair, as it has been done by others in shops around the world.

Today’s Questions:

Would you or have you ever bought broken guitar in order to fix it yourself and save money on the purchase? A broken G&L possibly?

Have you ever bought an upgraded power cord for your amp?
Do you believe that a better power cord will make a difference in your sound?

How do you heat your house? Gas Oil, electric or other?

Do you have a heat pump? What do you think of it?

Last edited by bassman on Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:29 am, edited 2 times in total.

Bought a few rough bodies years ago to practice finishing. Found out ya can't rush finshing.

Have you ever bought an upgraded power cord for your amp?

Always part of an amp overhaul. Buy a 10' heavy duty extension cord and cut the outlet off.

Do you believe that a better power cord will make a difference in your sound? Nah.

I'll leave that to the stereo audiophiles. They are crazier than guitar players.

How do you heat your house? Gas, Oil, electric or other? Nat. Gas

Do you have a heat pump? What do you think of it? Leaves me cold and makes the lectric meter spin.

jamie

I'm Having a bologna sandwich and potato chips
I started buying broken or unplayable guitars when I was in high school and trying to fix them . This was in the 70's most were cheap junk that nobody wanted.
Power cord never gave that much tought
Heat I use propane. cutting wood got to be to much work.

Cuzin Willy

valentine's day is best handled by breaking up a week before and getting back together a week later. forgiven a lot easier than not doing something special for valentine's day. a lot of savings, potentially enough for another g&l.

My wife said let's not get each other anything for Valentine's Day. Unlike a lot of people (I suspect at any rate), I know she means it. The woman's frugal to a fault. I could make her dinner but I caught whatever our kids got and have a double-eye infection. I'm cashing in my marital karma this year.

Lunch: I had a salad and some cottage cheese sprinkled with chipotle. I'm still dieting.

Your Q's:

Would you or have you ever bought broken guitar in order to fix it yourself and save money on the purchase? A broken G&L possibly?
No. I'm not too handy. I'd like to be, and am learning basic Man Skills. I'm what you call book smart and my dad was an Army vet and a welder. That said, a buddy of mine is superman with woodworking and has built his own guitars (not sure he's finished them but that's more a time issue) and we're someday planning on working together to make me a guitar. I want a coutoured 25.5" LP-style w/ a blended heel. Some day.

So, short answer, no.

Have you ever bought an upgraded power cord for your amp?
Nope. Never even thought of it.

How do you heat your house? Gas Oil, electric or other?
Gas for most of it, electric for the built-on family room/master suite.

Do you have a heat pump? What do you think of it?
Nope.

-Cheers

The cats and I took care of Valentines yesterday. A day early gets you the best roses!

I have bought guitars to fix. They have all been new with superficial damage. The last two I doubled my money on. I bought the John Mayer new intending to find a neck. It turns out the neck is okay.

I am curious how you finish the P bass neck. I would attempt it any time probably removing some wood between the nut and first fret.

I would be curious if anyone thinks a different power cord has produced miraculous results. Power cords are designed to do more than needed.

We heat with NG but do have a warm air solar panel at the end of our house.

I do not have any experience with heat pumps. I like overhead radiant heat and heat my garage with it. It is efficient and great heat. It heats the floor and the building feels warn all the time. Here is a photo of the heater



If you look carefully at the subwoofer on the back seat of the Gold Wing, you will see Magic sleeping. They lie on the Gold Wing and bask in the heat. Its like being on the beach for a cat.-- Darwin




-- Darwin

Today’s Questions:

Would you or have you ever bought broken guitar in order to fix it yourself and save money on the purchase? A broken G&L possibly?

Yes, I'd buy a broken guitar to save money. I've bought numerous G&L project/restoration guitars. My current G&L project guitar is an Interceptor.

Have you ever bought an upgraded power cord for your amp?
Do you believe that a better power cord will make a difference in your sound?

I've never heard of upgrading a power cord for better tone. I have replaced two prong cords on vintage amps with three prong cords.

How do you heat your house? Gas Oil, electric or other?

My house is 100% electric.

Do you have a heat pump? What do you think of it?

Nope

Happy Valentines Day; it is also my wife's birthday. A 71 P bass sounds great. No big fixes by me, but did a bit of resto on a early 80's Fender acoustic & Hondo Fame. My vintage amps are stock, but the Soldano's have big cables. Gas, electric & fireplace heat...


Cheers,

Will

Hey Bill -

How did that neck date?


Would you or have you ever bought broken guitar in order to fix it yourself and save money on the purchase? A broken G&L possibly?

No. I'm not handy and between the kids and my parents, I don't have the time. I'm lucky if I have a bit of time to play at the end of the day....

Have you ever bought an upgraded power cord for your amp?

You're kidding, right?

Do you believe that a better power cord will make a difference in your sound?

No. Even if I did, I'd be the only one hearing it - so why bother?

How do you heat your house? Gas Oil, electric or other?

We have a heat pump that's at the end of it's useful life. It actually cools very well. There's a bad valve which makes it extremely inefficent when providing heat - so the "emergency heat" (read: "extremely expensive feature") kicks on when we're below freezing or thereabouts. Will replace the unit next fall, after I manage to sell enough blood plasma.

Do you have a heat pump? What do you think of it?

See above. Cools well; heats unconvincingly and very expensively.

What the Heck was I saying? - ed

Broken guitars...oh yeah. The one G&L was a Legacy that I bought two years ago. It wasn't really broken but it was a totally AWFUL setup. I was afraid the truss might have been bad, but took a $400 risk and it paid off in spades.

I also own two Les Paul Supremes. I bought them cheap because they had broken headstocks. Both had been repaired when I bought them. Headstock breaks are common in Pauls, so it was a no-brainer. Great guitars. But I didn't have to do the work myself. Paid about 1/3 of new.

Gas heat. Air conditioning. No heat pump.

Bill


Oh and a friend of mine spent $150 on a 3-foot IEC power cable for his Marshall. WOW!

Would you or have you ever bought broken guitar in order to fix it yourself and save money on the purchase? A broken G&L possibly?

No. Never. I absolutely suck at anything that requires wood.

Have you ever bought an upgraded power cord for your amp?

No. I have a bunch of these. Price is right. Holds many. And long extension chord.
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Protector-Protection/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_y

Do you believe that a better power cord will make a difference in your sound?

What!?!
I have all of the TUT books and the POP. http://www.londonpower.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=9
Every once in a while I read it again. One day it will sink in. I just realized I am not using 18ga wire for my twisted power wire. Only 22ga. Changing to 18 ga might help prevent fuses getting blown sooner than they should. Fuses are cheap , but when you run out of them, travelling to Radio shack sucks. Or just use the readily available .75A amp fuse instead of the 2A That's what I do.

How do you heat your house? Gas Oil, electric or other?

Gas, but it is 70s outside at the moment. Does coffee count?

Do you have a heat pump? What do you think of it?

No. No AC either.