Ruined with Precision, non-Warmoth content

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I did some sidework for a friend who owns a music store, so I made an arrangement to get paid in gear. 

I acquired this:
2011 American Special Precison Bass, brand new, never sold, hung on the wall for 3 years.



I turned it into this:




The relic'ing was done via 0000 steel wool taking all of the gloss down to a dull matte, then 220 sanding around the usual wear areas, then back to the steel wool to remove any sanding marks and smooth it out.  It was about this time I opted for a heavier distressing and ditching the white pickguard for a black one.







I also wanted something a little more custom, so I added a MM style humbucker in the bridge.  I used a trim bit in my router to make an MDF jig from an existing MM route in another bass.





....then I made a thicker jig to compensate for changing depth with multiple passes to route the body.



....then did the appropriate measuring for center lines, squareness, etc., lined it up, and routed that pickup.



This is after one pass, and it will be taken down to the depth of the hole in the center.



Voila!





I also added a Gibson style 3-way right angle toggle.
With a 1/2" Forstner bit, I drilled through the pickguard in the body.


...removed the pickguard to view the switch placement.



...and routed for the switch using what was basicially a P-90 jig from a few years earlier.



The finished layout.




This bass also came with somewhat of a cutout for the truss rod adjustment, but is an insult after getting used to the truss trench that Warnoth offers, so I made one.  Some consider them an eyesore, but the less work involved for simple adjustments, the better IMO.






I also did threaded inserts for the neck and bridge attachments.



Lastly, the electronics.  This came standard with the "Grease Bucket" tone circuit.  After much reading, couldn't really tell you what it does.  But I decided to recreate it.  It's basically a 2nd (.1 mf) cap on a different portion of the tone pot.  I do long shaft 500k pots and .047 caps on most rewires, as well as create a metal buss for all component grounding so I don't have to solder to the pots.




Let the questions, comments, criticisms begin! 

 

[mayfly]

wow!  you really did a good job wrecking it buddy!  Did you improve it as an instrument?  Probably sounds better with the new pickup...

BTW - needs some cigarette burns  :headbang:

 

[stratamania]

I like it, individual and the MM pickup work is cool along with the truss rod.

What's the headstock look like ?

That's a good place for cigarette burns as suggested above.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Well, I do smoke.  And being in Texas, there is no state wide smoking ban in effect.  It is left to the individual cities.  Pretty much just the big cities, Dallas, Houston, Austin are smoke free.  As for the neck, I haven't cigarette burned it yet.  It's not a Nitro finish on there, but I did degloss some with the same technique; sandpaper and steel wool.

What's weird, my Warmoth with similar pickup configuration, those pickups (both SD Baselines P and MM) don't voice well together.  On this, a Fender P pickup paired with a Carvin made MM, they do.  I co-host 2 open jams during the week where we provide the backline, and had 3 bass players whose playing and opinions I actually care about, they all played it and liked it.  Each of them each preferred a different pickup selection.  One guy was all the vintage tone of the P pickup.  The 2nd, more of SS tone minded guy left it in the middle.  The 3rd was a MM diehard, so he played that pickup, pointing out being closer to the bridge and all passive, still got close.

FYI, if ordering that MM pickup from Carvin, it comes with no directions or color codes.  The info on their website is wrong for that pickup.  Instead follow the SD color codes for that one.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Also, this model has a 2 piece maple neck.  That is, a maple fretboard glued to a maple neck and no skunk stripe, which is unusual for Fender.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Love the MM pickup! :headbang1:
Great job.  Nice addition with the T-Rod access too!

 

[stratamania]

:icon_thumright:

 

[swarfrat]

I'm not opposed to reliving in principle and in moderation. But that stripe near the bridge doesn't look natural. If I ever try, I think I might paint it satin black or white, get your hands dirty and play for a few weeks. Then proceed to relic based on wear marks

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I'm not opposed to reliving in principle and in moderation. But that stripe near the bridge doesn't look natural. If I ever try, I think I might paint it satin black or white, get your hands dirty and play for a few weeks. Then proceed to relic based on wear marks

That's kind of what I did.  A few other basses I have with matte finishes, they gloss up where the wear is, and it's where the thumb rests on the bass side of the pickups.  I also did the distressing with the pickguard on it.  With several Fender custom shop models, and even the Nash stuff, the wear goes under a part that protects, like a bridge or pickguard.  Also, I wanted some of the wear look like it was done before the extra pickup was added.  As is, none of the hardware is distressed, so it looks like an old body with new hardware.

 

[dmraco]

Nice work.

I am refinishing a fender american for a friend of mine.  I cannot believe the amount of epoxy (or what ever it is) used to fill the grain and smooth the body. 

It must be 1/16 in inch thick!!!!!

 

[Cagey]

Fender is notorious for thick finishes. It's where polyester/polyurethane got its reputation for sound deadening. You pick up some of their issues and you'd almost swear it was a plastic guitar. I'm not sure it has the effect on tonal characteristics that some attribute to it, but I do know that if you want to strip it and refinish it you've got a long row to hoe.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I know what you mean.  The neck finish on this one was a thick "coating.". In the past, I've had 2 bursted Teles.  One was a 95 MIM, The other, a 97 CIJ.  Both got dinged from time to time.  When they did, a thumbnail shape chip of clear coat fell off, leaving the burst unaffected.  It's like they bursted it then dipped it in a shellac.  The finish on this body was relatively thin.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I've done some more ruining to this bad boy; string thru bridge.  Never been a fan of the top load bridges on basses.  It's totally unfounded and much ado over nothing, but the 5 small #6 bolts holding the bridge on and having 120+ pounds of tension wanting to oval out and slingshot the bridge towards the nut, I'm not having it.  Again, unfounded because in the 60 years of the P bass and 50 years of the J Bass with top load bridges, not aware of it ever happening..... not once.  But, I'm not on this forum because I buy stuff off a shelf and leave well enough alone. Here's the run down. 

The center to center string spacing is 3/4" and the ferrules are 3/8" in diameter.  That's enough info to make a jig.






Using another bridge with same mounting holes that had been modified for a string thru holes, attach to the body, mark the holes, and drill.






Where they go through the back, eyeball the spacing of the jig you made, attach with double sided tape and drill the depth of the ferrule.







If you're so inclined, and I was, make another jig with same spacing and 1/2" holes for recessing the ferrules.



At this point, place the original bridge back on, drill through from the back to mark the underside of your bridge, remove, drill and bevel the string thru holes, attach and setup.  Done.

 

[DocNrock]

Nice work, man!  :glasses9:

 

[alterbridgefan]

Nice.

The relicing could use work. First of all, use ashes or something similar to dirty up that wear.... Real marks would never, ever look that clean. Also, add dents and chips, and rough up the wear around the edges a bit. That all would help a lot. The key to good relicing is not to be precise, but to be careless. Obviously, you'll want to figure out realistic wear, etc. but the main thing is to make it look like the damage was done at shows and not on a workbench.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Yeah. To be honest. That doesn't look like wear.

It looks like you played it while wearing a shirt made of sandpaper.  :icon_scratch:

 

[dmraco]

Nice work with the pickups!!  That should sound great.

 

[Day-mun]

Good "believable" relic jobs are hard to pull off; to Preston's point, I think this is a good start... but it certainly doesn't look bad. In my opinion, the main reason to relic a guitar or bass is so that it no longer is a cause for concern when playing out; the damage is already started, so if ya catch the edge of a cymbal or rack it against a mic stand it isn't the end of the world right there on the stage. -This does that.  :icon_thumright:

If it's desirable to get really authentic, there are tons of how-to videos out there so you can stain the wood where the finish is broken through, tarnish and rust hardware (w/o damaging it structurally), and get weather-checking (on nitro finishes) to get all the subtle details that make the whole thing look like the real deal.

@ STDC: great job on the MM route! -And I like that you dulled the finish with the pickguard ON; it's an important detail to have that bit-o-shine in the lee of the 'guard's edge!  ccasion14:

 

[DangerousR6]

Looks awesome Gary, but id does need some staining in the bare spots to give it more of that naturally played wear. Use some blood, sweat and beers... :headbang1:

 

[Cagey]

And hooker dust!