Lunch Report- Thursday June 19, 2014

[bassman]

Lunch- I just brought a banana for lunch- I'm trying to cut back.

bassman background- My name is Bill and there were a lot of Bill's on this board at one time so I usually go by bassman. I have been posting to this board on and off since 2002. I lurked for a while and then joined in. This will be my 15th ? time doing the LR, I think, and I am trying to keep it interesting.
I am a bass player and I have enjoyed G&L basses since 1989 when I bought my first G&L, a used 1980 L-1000 bass.
I am married, I have 3 kids in their late 20's now and two of them have left home and bought their own houses. My youngest is still living at home.

I play in two bands currently and I work on my own basses doing setups and repairs as needed. I really enjoy working on instruments and because of this I have bought some basket case basses just to see if I can bring them back to a useful existence.

Questions for today:

Do you work on your own bass or guitar? To what degree do you repair your own stuff?

Have you ever repaired your G&L?

Have ever sent your guitar of bass back to the factory for a warranty adjustment or repair?

[sam]

Howdy Bill, thanks for the report today.

Do you work on your own bass or guitar?
guitar only, and I do minimal work, i.e. replace bridges, tuners, remove pups for replacement if needed and that's about it. None of that 'lectrical stuff for me.

Have you ever repaired your G&L?
Tried to repair / rebuild a Climax years ago and would up selling off all parts.

Have ever sent your guitar of bass back to the factory for a warranty adjustment or repair?
Never had to, mine have all been good to go and stayed that way.

[JagInTheBag]

Microwave Burrito and a PB&J...ate with my 5 year old.

I do not work on my own instruments. Built one from a bunch of spares in my college dorm room, but no, I have a good luthier.

Only G&L I ever needed to repair was my '87 Skyhawk, it was a "collectors piece" that had seldom been played. The neck had giant shim in it and the trem was blocked. My luthier reset the neck and trem, she plays like a dream.

[Philby]

Hi Bassman,

I've only got time for a banana and apple today. I'll make up for it tonight with beer and pizza to welcome in the weekend.

I've bought enough tools over the years to do most repair work myself these days - levelling and crowning files, nut files, soldering iron, various pots and pickups, bone and TUSQ nuts, caps etc. I enjoy doing it myself and my set-ups aren't in any way inferior to some that I've paid a lot of $$ for.

As for repairing my G&L's, I've had a non-functioning MFD in my S-500 re-wound and re-potted by a professional pickup maker. I re-potted all my other MFD's after hearing how much quieter the repaired pickup was.

I've never had to send a guitar back to the factory for warranty work, which is just as well considering my distance from most factories. I had a Grover tuning peg on my Cole Clark tele seize up and, being a local company, I was able to go out there and buy an exact replacement for the princely sum of $5. They gave me a factory tour to boot! What a great bunch of fellas.

[KenC]

Hi Bill,

I do most of the work that any of my guitars or basses may need. As far as G&Ls go, the only one that was somewhat tricky was the '82 SC-2 I found at Atomic a couple of years ago. It had been sitting in its case in a closet for thirty years, and needed quite a bit of adjustment before it was even remotely playable. It plays like butter now. I have a pair of "rescue" G&Ls that I just can't ever get around to restoring. One is another '82 SC-2 that somebody tried to turn into a metal guitar. Everything remained in order structurally and circuit-wise, but the cosmetics were "enhanced" to a previous owner's liking. I really just need to buff it out and find period-correct tuners. The bridge is also a later version (chrome instead of black), so I will need to either replace it or bake on a crinkle finish. The other rescue is an '81/'82 L-1000, which was spray painted metallic purple and then put back together wet. I just need to reverse the spray paint job on that one and get a decent finish on the body. 95% of the metallic purple is gone now.

As far as non-G&Ls go, I built my first real bass from a couple of mangled Fenders and aftermarket pickups back in the early '80s. It became fretless at one point, and I got far enough on a refret job to make it playable. At some point I need to take it in to a professional for a real fret job. A couple of nights ago I replaced the '80s-vintage Schaller tuners that a previous owner put on my '69 EB-0 with a period-correct set. The holes in the headstock had become a bit enlarged, but I was able to shim everything nicely with paper. It is holding its tuning OK, and looks much better than it did before.

I haven't sent a G&L back for warranty work, but then again I've never owned one new enough for that. My '91 ASAT bass went back to the factory just before it was first sold in '92 for a replacement neck. I'm not sure what the reason was (and neither did the seller/original owner, who didn't know the neck was a replacement). One thing that really impressed me about that neck replacement is that pre-BBE construction techniques were used, so the only way to tell the neck is newer than the body is by checking the dates.

Ken

[bassman]

Sam-

Do you work on your own bass or guitar?
guitar only, and I do minimal work, i.e. replace bridges, tuners, remove pups for replacement if needed and that's about it. None of that 'lectrical stuff for me.

Sam- That's great that you work on your own guitars and I don't consider replacing bridges tuners and pickup to be minor work. The Climax project sounds like a good story. Maybe we could hear more about it- if you haven't already covered this in a LR/ response.

JagIntheBag-

I do not work on my own instruments. Built one from a bunch of spares in my college dorm room, but no, I have a good luthier.

Only G&L I ever needed to repair was my '87 Skyhawk, it was a "collectors piece" that had seldom been played. The neck had giant shim in it and the trem was blocked. My luthier reset the neck and trem, she plays like a dream.

Jag- If you can build one from spares- you are far ahead of most people. I'm glad to hear the your '87 Skyhawk was rescued, I hope your Luthier didn't charge too much for that neck reset on a bolt-on guitar.

Philby

I've bought enough tools over the years to do most repair work myself these days - levelling and crowning files, nut files, soldering iron, various pots and pickups, bone and TUSQ nuts, caps etc. I enjoy doing it myself and my set-ups aren't in any way inferior to some that I've paid a lot of $$ for.

As for repairing my G&L's, I've had a non-functioning MFD in my S-500 re-wound and re-potted by a professional pickup maker. I re-potted all my other MFD's after hearing how much quieter the repaired pickup was.

Philby- It amazing what you can do with a little applied effort, common sense and the use of good tools. I have no doubt that you can do a great set-up and you are your own best technician.

KenC

I do most of the work that any of my guitars or basses may need. As far as G&Ls go, the only one that was somewhat tricky was the '82 SC-2 I found at Atomic a couple of years ago. It had been sitting in its case in a closet for thirty years, and needed quite a bit of adjustment before it was even remotely playable. It plays like butter now. I have a pair of "rescue" G&Ls that I just can't ever get around to restoring. One is another '82 SC-2 that somebody tried to turn into a metal guitar. Everything remained in order structurally and circuit-wise, but the cosmetics were "enhanced" to a previous owner's liking. I really just need to buff it out and find period-correct tuners. The bridge is also a later version (chrome instead of black), so I will need to either replace it or bake on a crinkle finish. The other rescue is an '81/'82 L-1000, which was spray painted metallic purple and then put back together wet. I just need to reverse the spray paint job on that one and get a decent finish on the body. 95% of the metallic purple is gone now.

Ken- I know we both check out Atomic for used G&Ls. I haven't bought any G&Ls there since my '82 S-500. I haven't been seeing any basses there that peaked my interest. I know that you have had that L-1000 for a while. Ironically, I am now refinishing a Jazz bass body that was done in metallic purple. Lovely color isn't it? LOL I am going for a metallic gold since the body is permanently stained from the previous finish. We should get together some time. I would like to see your projects and I know that you are not that far away from me.
-bassman Bill

[darwinohm]

Thanks for the report Bill. I have had very little time to post recently but do check the board.

I do all my own work including restorations. When you do your own work they always play perfectly. I even check the relief and adjust before a gig if necessary.

I have done work on some of my G&Ls. I have taken care of fret sprout on a couple and salvaged a couple of truss rods that no longer adjusted. It is all common sense.

I have built partscasters and the results were as I expected. It is very relaxing to tinker around with guitars. My next project will be finishing the neck I just bought for my Tribute M-2500. I am changing from a Rosewood to Maple fretboard neck and want a gloss finish. I may even do a tint but have not decided. -- Darwin

[bassman]

Darwin -

I would like to hear about the neck you bought for your Tribute M-2500. Where did you find a neck for a G&L 5 string bass?
I am looking forward to to play a M-2500 or M-2000 to see what they are all about.

I followed your refinish project on your MM Stingray 5 Bass and I am sure that you have the skill to do great setups.

Have a great weekend everybody.

bassman

[darwinohm]

Bassman, the G&L online store recently sold Tribute necks for $30, an unbelievable buy. They do not have a nit but but the fretwork on the neck I received was very nice. I actually went back to order a couple Asat necks and they were already out. -- Darwin

[bassman]

Thanks for the info, Darwin. That's an incredible deal for a 5 str. bass neck or any neck for that matter.
I went online and ordered a 4 string neck for my ailing L-2000. They still have some of those.

Wow, G&L has really expanded the online store and I had no idea they sold so many items. I guess I should frequent this place a bit more often.

Good luck with your 5 string neck project. Lets see that M-2500 when you are finished.

[darwinohm]

Glad they still had some left. Mine was even satin sealed. -- Darwin

[JagInTheBag]

"Jag- If you can build one from spares- you are far ahead of most people. I'm glad to hear the your '87 Skyhawk was rescued, I hope your Luthier didn't charge too much for that neck reset on a bolt-on guitar."

My luthier charged me $30 to set it up and make it gig-worthy again. He can do it faster and better than I can, and at a rate far cheaper than what I bill clients for the expertise I have. It is a beautiful thing.