So I Have This Sterling.....

[maddog]

ewwwww.

not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[bovinehost]

You deserve better than this, send it to me immediately, I will take proper action.

Excellent news, Tony - so you'll finish the cleaning, replace the tuners, do a setup, install some flats and send it back perfect? I love you, man.

....after a few days with my Bongo 5H, strange things are hapening here at the farm, its almost as if there is a bass player in the house.

What's his name?

Jack ~ you're not going to replace the G-string tuner as well?

I will when I get to it. It needs to be replaced, but it IS working.

go join stanky.

Be they male or female, I'm not showering with anyone named "Stanky".

 

[Dr Stankface]

go join stanky.

Oh that was just wrong...

 

[Oldtoe]

Lemme at that bass, hombre.

 

[tommyindelaware]

aaaaaaaaauh...................u 2 are bonding..........

Folks, let's just start by saying that the deal really wasn't that good on this bass.

The photos did not do justice to the 1/4 inch of GUNK on the fretboard. I've spent the last 90 minutes doing an initial cleaning, and it looks a LOT better, but it still has a ways to go.

This poor thing was apparently never wiped down, much less cleaned.

The headstock looks to have been gnawed on by angry beavers. This is no big thing; I expected it to have some wear on it. The cloverleaf for the D string is entirely missing in action. The G string tuning key is bent to hell but does turn and hold tuning. I have another D string tuner enroute.

The strings were unidentifiable. Maybe rounds, maybe flats, who knows? I cut them off because I'm pretty sure they presented some type of biohazard..

There was rust on the pickguard. It came right off, but got my attention initially.

The pole pieces are fugly, but I did plug it in and it does seem to be functioning fine. The switch tip on the selector is also MIA.

The back of the neck was equally nasty. Most of the 'dirt' came off, but I'll be sanding it down a bit and re-applying gunstock oil before too long.

There are a couple of scratches in the finish (no surprise) but aren't terribly obvious with the sparkle finish. The output jack might also need to be replaced; I plugged it in just long enough to ascertain that the pickup and selector were working.

Whew!

Okay, back to work. I took some 'before' photos and will try to get them up tonight or tomorrow.

It really is a pretty finish and deserves to be put right.

Jack

 

[kbaim]

This seems like a lot of problems for a new bass.

Wait...this isn't the guitar forum.

 

[bovinehost]

Lemme at that bass, hombre.

Dang, you want to work on it, too? You boys are sure nice.

As always, Mister Ben, you are welcome to come on over and have at it. The blue sparkle is much more sparkly than the black/white sparkles I've had. It was sitting on a stand this afternoon in the living room, and I found Jeremy lying on the floor looking up at it, mesmerized. "It's really pretty", he says.

aaaaaaaaauh...................u 2 are bonding..........

As long as it ends up playing like it should, Tommy, and I don't see why it wouldn't, I think I might have my first long-term Sterling.

(This is the first one Sterling bass I've had since I got to know the actual human Sterling, so I feel a little funny talking about 'long-term Sterlings'.)

 

[AnthonyD]

Worth the effort... Diamond in rough likely to be shining bright when done!

 

[RockinRayDuke]

Is this the first Sterling since the black sparkle that you and I both owned?

I wanna come play it once you get it together.

 

[smallequestrian]

Jacko,
I can't remember which tuner you need, but I have a tuner you can borrow until you get motivated enough to get another one. I have my e string tuner free, because I have the hipshot installed on the Ringo bass. Let me know, I might be able to get it to you tomorrow night when I pickup the Girl. If not tomorrow night it will have to wait till Monday as I am going out of town this weekend.

 

[bovinehost]

Is this the first Sterling since the black sparkle that you and I both owned?

I wanna come play it once you get it together.

I had a white sparkle after that one - got it from Romano, in fact.

The black sparkle:

The white:

You'll like this one, Ray. It's way sparklier. As soon as I get the new tuner, it should be ready to roll, hopefully by this weekend?

Jack

 

[bovinehost]

Paul, thanks for the offer but I think I have it covered. If it's not done when you get back on Monday, I might revise my answer!

Cheers to you and The Girl.

Jack

 

[Big Poppa]

Im still wearing kevlar underwear with the long term sterling comment

 

[Motojunkie]

I don't see any photos, so this bass doesn't exist.

 

[LisaIs]

I was watching that auction Jack. My interest peaks with anything sparkle but it sounded like it had been gigged hard. However it amazes me that people don't clean things before they sell them.