Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Showcase => Epic Basses => Topic started by: tbrannon on January 12, 2019, 10:56:34 PM
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I've taken a lot of photos of this poor bass, which will need a complete refinish and new electronics. I'm trying to decide the best (ease of use for me) way to make all the photos available here without having to reduce file size and upload.
edit: link to photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/kftefVM8XRusbBzF9
here is the link to the original reverb listing thread (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=24378.0)
I removed all the remaining hardware tonight, removed the logo, pulled the copper foil shielding in the electronics cavity that had been put over the top of the shielding paint Alembic uses..... the mystery of why it was installed and what happened in that electronics cavity is yet to be solved.
I took a video after taking the aforementioned photos- I wasn't filming with the intention of sharing publicly, I just wanted to have a rough video for my own records of the starting place for this rehab project. After I finished, I thought some here might enjoy seeing it, so I did a quick YouTube upload. Fair warning that it was filmed with my phone (bobbles and wobbles aplenty). I try to zoom in on some stuff, so there are some lurchy zoomed in moments and I certainly couldn't document every knock and ding (too many to count!). Not to mention holding a phone with one hand while trying to focus on a curved, rounded surface under shop lights was more challenging than I anticipated! You even get to listen to whatever my spotify shuffle happened to be spitting out at the time. I was holding the phone upright when filming, so the YouTube video isn't oriented optimally, but putting it up for public consumption on YouTube was an afterthought, so it is what it is. :)
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That's going to be a great project bass Toby... shoot, she doesn't look so bad! Structurally looks okay, that's the main thing for that poor bass at this point in its career. The rest is aesthetics and electronics. Can't wait to see what you do with it. :)
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Gregory,
I agree- structurally it looks to be in decent shape. The one are of concern for me is the control cavity threaded insert that is closest to the strap button on the bottom of the bass. There is a little wiggle in that insert and the wood surrounding the insert seems a bit soft, but I might have just been scraping gunk off of the mahogany at that point. I didn't really do anything more than try to scrape whatever funk was gunked up along the routed shelf edge where the control cavity sits.
At this point, the plan is Essence electronics for this. I'll have to dowel one of the holes for the epic pots and then redrill the dowel for Q switch install, but everything else appears to be in relatively decent shape. I have a LOT of work to do practicing my finishing technique, but if I pull off what I hope to pull off, this should look pretty decent when all is said and done.
First step will be to look into the finish originally used on the Epic and to start the process of removing the damaged finish. Assuming the maple top is stained permanently around the holes for the pots, the plan is to mask off the maple top and shoot it an opaque orange while leaving the mahogany natural. There is a whole lot of sanding and prep to be done and I'll have to shoot dozens of practice pieces to get to the point I can execute my vision properly, but eventually I'll get it right. I'll be picking away at it an hour here and there, so this will be a project that more than likely takes me an extended time period to complete, but even with the new wiring harness and bridge rehab kit, I should come in well under normal market price for a used Epic once done (my labor/time/efforts being free of course).
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Looking forward to updates.
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Off to a good start. 8)
On those threaded inserts... don't worry too much about them being loose, just back it out (if you can), and glue it in. Mica's illustrated post here is the ticket. http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=207.0 I had to do a couple of them on my Persuader 5-string too. Another hint; when you eventually get around to re-shielding the electronics cavity, run the screws into the inserts. (it keeps the shielding paint out of the threads)
Those deeper scars in the mahogany on the back... let me know if you need some... I've got a good stash of mahogany up in the shop, I'd be glad to send you a couple pieces to make inlay plugs from. If you choose carefully it may not even show. ;)
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This is a great project, can wait to see whole thing happening when it comes back alive!
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Off to a good start. 8)
On those threaded inserts... don't worry too much about them being loose, just back it out (if you can), and glue it in. Mica's illustrated post here is the ticket. http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=207.0 I had to do a couple of them on my Persuader 5-string too. Another hint; when you eventually get around to re-shielding the electronics cavity, run the screws into the inserts. (it keeps the shielding paint out of the threads)
Those deeper scars in the mahogany on the back... let me know if you need some... I've got a good stash of mahogany up in the shop, I'd be glad to send you a couple pieces to make inlay plugs from. If you choose carefully it may not even show. ;)
thanks for that link and for the mahogany offer, gregory. good advice on reshielding with the screws in the inserts to keep the paint out of the threads as well. appreciate your input.
I'll have to see how the mahogany looks once i get it all sanded back. I think once I get it back to bare wood I'll know which direction to go with the refinish. lots of decisions to make down the road, but I suspect I'm going to become very good friends with sandpaper in the coming months.
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thanks, goran! I'm pretty excited about it.
This is a great project, can wait to see whole thing happening when it comes back alive!
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I've created a shared folder in google photos for anyone wanting to see photos. you should be able to simply click the link and then scroll through photos (I think!!).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kftefVM8XRusbBzF9 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/kftefVM8XRusbBzF9)
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I've created a shared photo in google photos for anyone wanting to see photos. you should be able to simply click the link and then scroll through photos (I think!!).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kftefVM8XRusbBzF9
Link works.
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hmm, link doesn't work for me... maybe because I'm in EU...?
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hmm, link doesn't work for me... maybe because I'm in EU...?
Not sure why it wouldn't work there. If you'd like, I can share the folder directly to an email address. You can send me an email to the address in my profile if the link won't work.
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now it works... maybe something was off yesterday, thanks!!!
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The original finish is a very thin polyurethane - best to just sand it off.
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thanks, Mica!
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spent a few hours sanding last night. the thin polyurethane finish came off pretty easily. the stained areas around the controls looks like some man-made (water + battery acid?) spalting. there is also a bit of the same spalt/stain around where the tailpiece was. It appears as though it definitely is stained through the thickness of the maple top.
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I was looking up bleaching wood (https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/bleaching-wood/) for a non-Alembic project, and thought that maybe this information might be helpful to you, Toby.
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Funny, before I saw Mica's link I was going to suggest trying some extreme oxidizing on those spots with hydrogen peroxide just to see what it did... we use some pretty potent laboratory-grade stuff at work. I use it to clean up iron and manganese stains on monitoring equipment. I'm guessing that black might be tarnished brass/copper residue.
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thanks for the link, Mica! I will have a read and take a shot at bleaching those spots. Worst case scenario it doesn't come out and I go with an opaque finish. I can live with that period hopefully I can save it though. There is some beautiful flame in the top
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Gregory,
That's probly not a bad call on the copper staining. Someone had lined the electronics cavity with copper foil and things had clearly gotten wet at some point.
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Thanks to Mica and Mary I have a new wiring harness to install in this bass once I finish sanding and refinishing.
Both pickups still worked, but the original wiring harness was trashed. This bass will be getting an upgrade to Essence electronics. Had to have that filter :)
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Essence + Q/3 is a mighty fine electronics package, especially if you got extry holes already there. 8)
I can't remember who it was here that advised me once, (may have been you Toby) "forsake not the filter"... ;D
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never owned an Alembic without double filters, much less none. I had to get at least one in there :)
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I'd go for two volumes, two filters and two three-way Q switches. You may need to enlarge the back cavity, but seeing that you're already at it ...
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Great thread! Any updates ? I would be great to see the finished product : )
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I have all the bits and pieces here. But, 2020 happened and it's been on the back burner to other required projects and time burners. It will probably stay on the backburner for another few months. But, it will happen. Just a matter of knocking a few things out first.
I've also been playing around a lot on an old fretless Peavey T20 that I have and it's made me wonder about converting this one. A couple of the frets on this are in pretty bad shape, but there are also some pretty decent end of fretboard grooves (from either slap or some heavy right hand work?)... I've considered the idea of turning this into a fretless, but would love some expert opinions on feasibility based on the condition of the fretboard.
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I sure hear ya' on 2020 being a wash-out for projects, I know I sure have a backlog of fun-stuff to get on as soon as time permits. :P
Sure is good to see you back around here, Toby. :)
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I sure hear ya' on 2020 being a wash-out for projects, I know I sure have a backlog of fun-stuff to get on as soon as time permits. :P
Sure is good to see you back around here, Toby. :)
I've been lurking, but just chasing my tail with umpteen things that have had me preoccupied.
The forum is always a safe place!!