NBD!! Vintage Content

[trunkshope6]

So as some of u may know i was trying to find parts for my vintage 77 stingray and got everything i needed ,set her up and installed all the hardware myself but i needed help.....

So after i hit up master builder John K who does immaculate work setting up and restoring vintage fenders and talk about my woes, we agree to meet up and i eagerly tote my 68 jazz and 77 stingray to his place. After looking at what needs to be done to my ray ,he sees my jazz ,(which is think is already the best feeling bass in the world,) making a small adjustment to the neck it is now actually the best playing jazz, i didnt realize what low action was until i played his builds, i couldnt believe how ignorant i was with set ups!

So i leave his pad with high hopes for my ray, only to recieve an email a few hours later saying its done!!

Not only did he give the frets a nice crowning he also;
Did an Amazing Set Up
Polished up the fingerboard it looks like new
Made shims for the pickup
Replaced all my mismatched screws
Fitted loosely installed bushing ,
Cut and fill the old nut making it very useable again
Screwed in all loos tuning machine screws
Made a custom neck shim

Finally, the shop that wired the preamp in forgot to install a ground wire which he adressed


I went back the next day and we both agreed it was a new bass,it played and sounded a heck of a lot better thats for sure.

It was a pleasure meeting and made my first repair a job a pleasant experience. I would stronlgy reccomend Johnk_10 for working on your vintage pieces, talking to him shed light on how to set up a bass and what to expect from your instrument. Ive never heard or felt my stingray sound so good and it instantly became my main player.

 

[J Romano]

Nice looking bass, looks brand new. Combination of the color and PG are perfect.

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Very nice. Job well done.

 

[keko]

Holy...., wow!!!

Where did You dig this one?

Congrats!
It should have great vintage tone for sure!

 

[mmbassplayer]

I love the 3 band pre on the classic Ray. Just keep your eyes out for a vintage bridge (the occasionally pop up) and you will be set. JOSH

 

[supadave]

Man that does not look more than 30 years old!!

Outstanding!

 

[Rano Bass]

What preamp do you have in there?

 

[trunkshope6]

i have a modern 3 band pre as well as a eb ray pup all purchased from some kind tbers and mmbassplayer

 

[Scotti4]

Hi Guys

I like Trunkshope6 have a 77 ray that I got in really stuffed condition. Fortunately I have had a bit of experience with rays in that I've built a replica a few years ago so have done heaps of research on what can be done to get a ray back in good condition. AS many have said on this forum EB won't provide you with replacement parts as they protect their IP fiercely and I understand this but it does make life hard for those of us trying to restore these old basses. Long ago before you could buy the control plates and 'rough' OLP style bridges I had to make my own from scratch let alone make a copy of the preamp using whatever I could. Nowadays you actually have a few choice's, there are control plates available and there are people on Ebay who'll provide you with a clone preamp and occasionally you can find an original. To restore my '77 I waited 3 years and finally found a REALLY chopped body with the bridge which I paid $500 bucks for and to my surprise it turned out to be a really early '76! Anyhow back to the parts issue, here are a few jems I've discovered that will help.

Pickups:

There are a few good ones out there (and yes often real ones come on Ebay)

1) By far the best are the Nordstrand - they just capture the sparkle of the originals
2) Lane Poor - not available any longer but great
3) Basslines - good sound but not authentic in look

There are heaps of clones: Mighty mite, Carvin, etc some good some ok lots of rubbish.

Tuners:

You can find them occasionally on ebay often than not you find one where someone had dropped in a hipshot D tuner and has a spare, also see necks below...
The best place I found to get the originals (which are schallers) is through schaller or here's a tip Welcome to Strings and Things Ltd stock them (don't tell anybody

Bodies:

Yes you can occasionally find them on ebay and other auction sites. Actually the easiest to replicate as they are wood. The early basses were made with Northern ash - yes heavy but it's where that sound comes from and is similar to the 70's jazz basses. If anybody wants a pdf of the body shape with routing plan drop me a mail (please don't bust me to EB folks this is just to help people who have a real need to fix a bass).

Necks:

In my opinion the hardest to find and fetch the largest price on ebay and yes they do come up. The reason, well they are the one element that EB protect as it's their signature and unfortunately there were often bad necks produced with truss rod problems in the late 70's so there are quite a few broken rod stories out there. I also actually have a list of 3 necks globally that I know of and NO I won't tell where they are, sorry it took a while to find them and I may need them later for my 76 restoration. You can have a neck fabricated but remember for it to be right scale length it needs to be 21 frets and most Fender maple board necks are 20 frets. A little trick I found a while ago is that EDEN in China will make you a 21 fret neck at a reasonable price and if you ask nicely they'll do it out of one piece rock maple instead of chinese maple. You can pick up bullet trust rods through all parts - not identical but look similar - or make your own. 3 bolt neck plates are hard to find as they are usually the holder of the serial number of the pre EB basses. They do come up on ebay fairly often but remember to make sure they are BASS ones not stingray guitar ones as they are a different size. You can find blank ones on allparts but they only have a few left.

The original logo varies (see musicmanbass.org). I have recreated vector original artwork for all. Waterslide decals are the best to use as they are authentic. Please don't use the cheap vinyl cad cut ones, the artwork is really awful. You can use lazer printed (not inkjet) ones. If you have the money make them out of rubdowns - do your research if you don't know what that is.

Bridges

The HOLY GRAIL for pre EB restorations!! There is just too much to comment on why but for more information look at Gav's great site at musicmanbass.org. I LOVE stingrays but he eats me for breakfast!! Note, there are quite a few and not all fit the same - string spacing and holes etc.

In my opinion the best thing to do is to have one made for you. The reason being is that they are actually pretty easy to make and you can get them close if you have a good lathe and someone who knows how to bend brass. Yes use brass as it really helps the tone. Have it chrome plated. Finding the hex bolts is tough but if you search hard like I did you can find a company that will have a 'similar' allen key bolt to use. The string mutes are also easy to make (yes they come up on ebay too) and to get the mutes use old computer mouse matts.

If you are in the same position as trunkshop6 I'd suggest not using the Leo Quant but instead opting for a hipshot as it looks 'reasonably' authentic and has a great tone. 4 stg Vintage Bass Bridge Chrome > Store > Hipshot Products.

DON'T use the cheap copies they look and sound rubbish.

Preamp

I used to think it was impossible to find a pre EB epoxy preamp but they do come up on ebay quite often. In fact you can make one easily and there are HEAPS of schematics out there. To coat them in black epoxy is also easy and you can find supplies online. Get good pots and components as it really helps the tone.

I do personally think that John East has produced a really brilliant replication of the '76 tone in his MM range. Have a look at Welcome to east-uk.com, home of the J-Retro and U-Retro Bass Preamps. John is an old mate and a nice bloke, he also has an uber rare radio knob ray - don't anybody!!
To that point you can find a copy of the radio knobs here: Dorman Products - 76891

Strap buttons, string tree, batery plate can all be approximated with ebay purchases.

Please do your homework and follow the above as it's taken me YEARS to do the research. I can now say I can replicate a stingray down to the final detail if I need and you could do the same with the above info.

Anyhow, please feel free to pass on as I know there are a few of us out there.

Cheers
Scotti

 

[trunkshope6]

i was actually fortunate enough to find all the eb parts quite easily ,all the other things just started to come easily like the tuners and pickguard, this baby actually had a badass 2 but it was pretty corroded and needs new adjustment screws so i went with the gotoh which is a fine bridge

 

[Scotti4]

Glad it worked out for you. I assume you're in the US? Maybe a little easier there but for those outside it is possibly a tougher job. Glad it worked out. I'm on the process of creating a 76 replica which should be along soon and it will be pretty much identical bar - will post pics soon.

Regards
Scotti

 

[Rano Bass]

Nice info Scotti4, thanks for sharing.

 

[trunkshope6]

Yes I'm in the US but fortunately I only got one of the parts locally, everything else was through forums

 

[oli@bass]

Hey Scotti4, thanks a lot for that info. I think the content of your post should be placed somewhere on Rod Trussbrokens website. It may be tremendously helpful to those looking to restore some old beauties.

 

[IvanHardy]

that looks so amazing. and i gotta admit that bridge looks nice on that bass. i would've gone with a black or white pickguard though. where do you find the guy that did the set up for your bass?

 

[Scotti4]

That Hipshot Bridge...

Guy's here's the hipshot bridge I was talking about... obviously not identical and not of the pre EB styling but has enough similarities to make it work with an EB bass if push comes to shove.

4 stg Vintage Bass Bridge Chrome > Store > Hipshot Products

As I said I can make a replica if need be.

 

[trunkshope6]

that looks so amazing. and i gotta admit that bridge looks nice on that bass. i would've gone with a black or white pickguard though. where do you find the guy that did the set up for your bass?

Actually had a black one on there but it went along with a ray i had to let go, it looked great, but i love how the tort looks against the mocha, reminds me of cinnamon or some kind of spice.

The guys name is John Kallas, and is infamous on the tb forums for his jaguar and ric basses he made,hes also a gifted tech that im very lucky to live near , his name is Johnk_10 on talkbass and if u need any work done hes a really good qualified option