NBD: SUB usa

[sanderhermans]

Got this today! just gave it a battery and string change and a good cleaning. and u must say this is even better than expected. it is a bit different from my classic stingray, but it can certainly compete with both my ebmm basses! just sounds so massive! Just cant really decide if I'm going to leave the neck as it is, or sand it down and oil it. any suggestions? (the nech has got some dings in it so that's a pro for sanding it, but keeping it original wood be good too)

 

[njhammer]

Nice find. Love my SUB too. Don't find that the finished neck is any issue whatsoever. Enjoy!!

 

[steevo]

Leave it original, these are hard to find in good condition. The only thing I've done with my sub5 is remove the pickguard like yours and put a stingray 5 pickup in which made a big difference.
I sold my stingray in favour of my sub, that's how much I love mine.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

.

IMO, keep original

 

[sanderhermans]

Yeah. I guess ill keep it as it is for a while now. Too bad the bass is not in perfect condition. So resale value isnt really a consirn for me. Guess ill keep this one for a long time..

 

[DirtyHippie]

If resale is no concern, do what you will. Also, the neck on that pink bass is crazy! For a bass neck, that has a LOT of birdseye.

 

[georgestrings]

I vote keep it as is - AFAIK, the neck finish is laquer, so it's not hard to fill in any dings that can't be swelled back out... Count me in as a fan of the MIA SUBs:



Group shot:




- georgestrings

 

[sanderhermans]

UPDATE: Just decided to go for it... sanded down the neck, and contacting a store to maybe get a fresh coat of paint on the body. just need to decide on a color if it is affordable, any suggestions are welcome!
also ordered new decals for the headstock. here are some pics of how the sanding worked out. the neck finish was pretty thick! sanded for a straight 2 hours to get it right. but the neck feels and looks so much beter now!

 

[sanderhermans]

also ordered a white pearl pickguard. hope this will look good, together with the musicman decal this will have cost me 30€ so that's pretty cool. this really is/will be a great bass for a very acceptable price! haven't heard from the paint shop yet, but not sure if I will go for fresh paint...

 

[Golem]

`

If you think sanding the neck was way much fun,
wait til you try the textured paint on the body ;-)

 

[sanderhermans]

Yep that seems like a b**** im really going back and forth about the paint because the blue textured does look like blue sparkle and its pretty special! And it is tough as nails.

 

[sanderhermans]

just picked up 50€ worth of paint and starting to take the bass apart as we speak!

 

[five7]

Hopefully you saved the sticker with the serial number on it.

 

[sanderhermans]

Yep and im putting that back on too! But also ordered a decal for the front. Should i put this underneath the transparent gloss finish or on top of it? I would think underneath the clearcoat.

 

[five7]

underneath

 

[sanderhermans]

This is the finished product!

 

[five7]

Outstanding! That was fast.

 

[sanderhermans]

Outstanding! That was fast.

well it does look like a DIY job because I didn't buff out the laquer but still it looks ok! paint does seem to be much more fragile than a real factory finish but I don't really care it looks good if you stand back a bit