Members Bowen Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 So this nasty looking filthy black bass followed me home yesterday morning. I go online to try and figure out what is is, and after searching dozens of Ibanez catalogs I find that it is a 1979 RS900 Roadster. This bass had obviously been badly repainted down to the pickup painted pink. A quick wipe of Naptha removed some of the black paint. I was glad because I did not want to sand all of that slopped on black crap off. I was surprised to find another bad paint job under the black paint. Naptha did not touch the 80's white/pink/blue splatter abuse. I decided to work on the headstock first. I was REALLY hoping that the original finish did not get sanded away by the parachute pants wearer who applied the 1986 mini-truck driving popstar wannabe finish. As it turns out, madonnafan used nitro lacquer clown vomit on top of Ibanez's nitro lacquer clear. Out comes the scraper and sander. The white had burned into the underlying clear coat, and the headstock had been sanded to prep for the culture club paint job. Some of the logo was chipped, some was sanded away. Oh well, this bass was nearly free so I can't complain. (I can be offended though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hi.flyer Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Damn, I hope you rescue this thing... it looks totally trashed, but I can tell it's a cool bass underneath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 You could have a vinyl gold leaf decal printed to replace the original. Sorry to see a vintage piece in such horrid condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hamer-Bass-Head Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 I've always liked those.... best of luck and keep us posted!!! btw Bowen? that's an interesting handle:badump: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 If you give up on the body, I will take the neck entirely from you, seriously. I have a body and pups to fit it, but no neck and it's not worth it to have one custom made for it's non-standard neck pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bowen Posted January 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Next comes the body. This is a pretty heavy body and I cant wait to see the woodgrain. I am hoping that it is a natural, but the violin finish will be okay too. Strip the body: The pickup is the original "Super 4" pickup, the mounting is really cool. There is a thick aluminum plate that mounts to the body on the bottom of the pickup cavity. The pickup then screws to the plate. The routing on the body is very well done with no tearout, everything is shielded and lacquered. Removing the black paint SWAK! Scrape, sand, cough cough cough. (actually I was wearing a dust mask and working in front of a 1500 CFM shop air filter unit) Here is the woodgrain, I am re-offended that anyone would paint this. I suspect that someone saw debbie gibson at the mall and in a fit of sexless rage he came home and started sanding and painting his big brother's bass. The white paint was signed (unintelligible) and dated 4-1-86. Here the back is cleaned off. There is a little sand through of the finish here and there, Some of it was my fault and some was already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Thats a nice wood grain there. CAn't wait to see more!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 thats been Analine wood died. This is a good thing becuase it gets way deeper into the grain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bowen Posted January 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Alright, Yesterday I went to lunch and stopped taking pictures until I started in on the pickup. At this point the body was completely sanded to 400 grit. The pickup: This was the hardest part. The pink appears to be nail polish and a test with acetone, naptha, and lacquer thinner all melted the pickup's plastic posthaste. I tested at the bottom edge of the pickup. Alcohol did nothing to the pink polish. 2 hours of micro mesh to the rescue! Again a gap in the pics....What a jerk. So I polished the everything with a buffer and automotive polish. It got really really shiny but it looked like our economy. It was too shiny considering the areas with missing finish. Some 0000 steel wool flattened the shine some, fret level/polish, toss it all together, tune/intonate/adjust and huzzah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dDigitalPimp Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 really nice work man. id love to get into a project like that sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super Bass Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Wow, what a transformation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bowen Posted January 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 PS..... Total time: about 9 hours Wife: pissed Bass: This thing is incredibly solid and sounds great! It is heavy but not back breaking. With the active EQ the sound is very versatile. I am really impressed. This feels like a very high end bass with smooth controls, great action, perfect balance. The tone is very punchy and tight with lots of growl. Cost, Bass: nearly free. Supplies: about $15 for sandpaper and 2 ebony knobs. I need another project..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 If it were me I would make stencils for the headstock decal and denote the position of them by making a tracing. I would completely sand the guitar to bare wood. Get some analine wood bleach to rewhite the body and redye the wood and refinish in clear but I like to restore cars to good as new so thats just who I am. Now thats one hell of a ratrod bass BTW and it looks weathered in a nice genial way which gives it charecter. Unfortunately it will never be "New" again which sucks but very nice job on bringing a classic back to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Very cool, greta job, and thanks for posting the pics. Show the wife the love you got here and she'll calm down some.... or maybe not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Lookin' goood!3 knobs = V, T, B? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassplayer7770 Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Very cool! Why's the wife pissed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bowen Posted January 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 If it were me I would make stencils for the headstock decal and denote the position of them by making a tracing. I would completely sand the guitar to bare wood. Get some analine wood bleach to rewhite the body and redye the wood and refinish in clear but I like to restore cars to good as new so thats just who I am. I considered doing that because there are no serious dents in the wood. If I still have this in summertime that would be an option. My workshop/garage is uninsulated and with temps from 25 to 45f spraying finish is not feasible. I will put on a headstock decal if I can find one. Ibanez silkscreened the logo originally. The controls are volume/ bass/ treble. Thanks for the compliments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bowen Posted January 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Very cool! Why's the wife pissed? I spend too much time working on guitars! My employer gave me mandatory time off until further notice and I've been buying, cleaning up, then selling/trading guitars which is great fun but makes very little money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 If you sent me the neck I would stencil/airbrush/gold leaf it for ya. Its not hard to do honestly if I had a good picture to work with. I considered doing that because there are no serious dents in the wood. If I still have this in summertime that would be an option. My workshop/garage is uninsulated and with temps from 25 to 45f spraying finish is not feasible. I will put on a headstock decal if I can find one. Ibanez silkscreened the logo originally.The controls are volume/ bass/ treble.Thanks for the compliments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 looks great man. good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted January 21, 2009 Moderators Share Posted January 21, 2009 Looks like incredible work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roguetitan Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 WoW! There was actually a good looking bass under all that crappy paint jobs. I cant believe someone would take such a nice bass ant turn it into a crappy looking POS:rolleyes: You have it looking good again though... Excellent work mang:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluedogaudio Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 That's awesome!!! Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bryan316 Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Somebody didn't CARE about good looking woodgrain. Same as I don't care for pickguards, same as some people do. Same as some people care for wide string spacing, others want narrow. The guy figured it's a cheapo bass, I'll customize it. Little did he know how desirable this bass was, and someone would want it offa him for a good price. Let's talk price. What would you look to sell this puppy for? What would someone here offer for this? HCBF Auction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members james on bass Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Very nice!! I like it just the way it is now and if it was mine I wouldn't go any further with the finish. So.... how much ya askin?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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