NBD: Cleanup on Aisle 4 - Sparkly Bass Department

[Jason Hebert]

I had a feeling this one would be a little grimy and grungy, and it did not disappoint. Body is amazingly in very good condition (one minor bump), as is the neck and board with the exception of the headstock.. Little chunk of wood missing on the front of the headstock (would be nice if people would include that info in eBay sales), but what you gonna do?

Here's a quick pic for now, and I'll update once it's been sanitized.

What's the best way to get rust off pickup poles? Bridge springs? Frets (steel wool?)? Knobs?

 

[ivbenaplayin]

Gotta love them sparkles! Nice score!

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Holdsg]

Beautiful

 

[Tollywood]

Love it - the bigger the metal flake, the better! That one looks like a disco ball; no pun intended...

 

[bdgotoh]

What's the best way to get rust off pickup poles? Frets (steel wool?)?

0000 steel wool works great for frets but you have to take the neck off so you don't get steel fibers in your pickup.

For the pole pieces these work well: PrepPen Adjustable Sanding Pen : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

[Jason Hebert]

Here are a few pics from cleanup phase 1. Think this was a sweaty son of a gun?

This is some of what came off the fretboard.

AFTER!!

 

[five7]

How long did that take you. I bought an ibanez guitar off ebay that took all day to clean. Got to love elbow grease.

 

[Soulkeeper]

That's nothing compared to the 40+ year olf Höfner I fixed, um, am in the process of fixing. You could literally not see the rosewood in the fretboard due to all the grime.

That is a crazy ray you've got there. Congrats!

 

[Gravesend Black]

I'm not a fan of sparkles but this looks interesting to me. Great bass, congrats =)

 

[Jason Hebert]

How long did that take you. I bought an ibanez guitar off ebay that took all day to clean. Got to love elbow grease.

I've got about 3 hours into it right now, but I still have work to do. The bridge, knobs, pickup pole pieces, and tuners all need cleanup. Last night I had time to do the neck, frets, fretboard, and put a nice setup on it.

 

[jlepre]

WOW! Once you're done cleaning her up, and you decide sparkles weren't really your "THING" give me a shout!

Is it Silver or Gold?

Stunning!

 

[tbonesullivan]

I need to get one of those sanding pens for the poles on a guitar I have. Also I would definitely maybe take the cover off the pickup to see if the rust goes down the side of the poles. After you get the rust off a q-tip with some WD-40 should help prevent more of that from happening.

 

[five7]

Be careful with the wd-40, if you don't wipe it all off it will attract rust. Seen it happen before.

 

[bdgotoh]

Be extremely careful if you decide to mess with the pickup cover. Some are press fit and some are glued in, one mistake and you're buying a new one.

 

[Jason Hebert]

Be extremely careful if you decide to mess with the pickup cover. Some are press fit and some are glued in, one mistake and you're buying a new one.

I tried to remove it, but it wasn't coming off easy so I left it alone. I'll tape everything up real good before I sand the pole pieces.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Be careful with the wd-40, if you don't wipe it all off it will attract rust. Seen it happen before.

really? I've never had that occur with WD-40. It was originally developed as a water displacement agent to spray on rockets. It is not really suitable for a lot of lubrication applications due to how thin it is, but for dealing with rusty and grungy hardware it's always been my go-to stuff. Helped me resurrect a floyd rose from a guitar that must have been owned by a guy who sweated a LOT and never wiped down his guitar.

 

[bovinehost]

You're doing God's work on that one.

I'd leave the pole pieces alone if they're not entirely out of whack.

 

[five7]

WOW! Once you're done cleaning her up, and you decide sparkles weren't really your "THING" give me a shout!

Is it Silver or Gold?

Stunning!

It is for sale on TB.

 

[jlepre]

It is for sale on TB.

Thanks! He says if you have to ask about the weight then you don't want it. Oh well...

 

[Holdsg]

new series on HGTV - "Flip this Bass"