A little over a year ago, this wonderful old Series I came my way. I bought it somewhat locally... a cash deal and handshake later, I drove the 100 miles home from Crozet, Virginia with #80-1684. "Joy", namesake of a close friend. I haven't said anything much about her, just the occasional tease or hint around here... she needed some work, and little-by-little, a good bit of it is done now.
Structurally, it was in fine shape; nothing broken anywhere, just a lot of casual wear. The fretwork was shot... completely worn out. This bass had been played and loved a lot, but generally well cared-for. I carefully polished that old 80's finish just enough to restore the satiny glow. The brass hardware cleaned up pretty nice too. My friend and mentor Ward Elliott expertly installed 24 new frets, using Jescar Evo Gold fretwire. (just like we recently did on #77-621) All that bling got me thinking... so I swapped out the original chrome Schaller M4 machines for a matching vintage set of gold M4's I had stashed away, a perfect retrofit. Aunt Mary fixed me up with a new set of five witch-hat knobs. A new G & G hardshell case from Alembic too, by way of Will Gunn Guitars, another perfect match.
The worst issue I couldn't rectify; both pickups were cracked beyond repair from improper mounting. While the neck pickup still was strong and sounded great, the bridge pickup unfortunately, was noisy, weak and microphonic. The copper coils were corroded green, and showing through both shells. No adjustment could balance or cancel the noise. Sadness. A phone call to the Mothership got me a solid, but temporary fix... a pair of AXY 4 FatBoys in the Classic shells was soon in the mail. As a bonus, they could eventually be repurposed in another bass. I installed these in place as soon as they came, and turned the humcanceller trimpots off on the preamp card, so the bass could be played as usual. I gotta' tell you... they might not be Series pickups, but once that signal has been processed through Series electronics... you have to have very good ears and some experience to know that. This bass sounds... other-worldly. And the setup is remarkably stable. I've made only two minor adjustments to the truss rods for each season this past year. I'm humbled every time I pick it up to play. It makes for a fine counterpoint to my other slightly older Series I... they have starkly different voices, one with roundwounds, this one wears flats.
Soon, the rest of "Joy's" 40-year makeover is to be completed by the only folks who I would trust it to... #80-1684 is going home to get the full RF upgrade, a matching set of new Series pickups and humcanceller, and while on the workbench of the Wizard, I've asked for the original Q-switches to be swapped out for [wait-for-it] CVQ's to go with that added Master Volume, almost a Series II conversion. Some additional TLC may be applied where deemed appropriate. The bass is in such fine, but played-in condition, that I really don't want to do too much here... I think it would be disrespectful to remove the honest playing wear it has. After all, I don't mean for it to be like new... I mean to play it until I can't anymore, hopefully leaving my own mark while being part of its history. I'm simply trusting Mica's advice here... she knows both me, and her basses... she will know what to do.
She left the old Alembic shop at 45 Foley St. forty years ago today, so before starting the long trip home to the new shop now at Rohnert Park, I thought I'd share a few details and pictures.
MBI4 #80-1684
•Birthday: 9/18/1980
•Medium-scale, 4-string
•Ebony fingerboard, fretted
•Inlay: mother of pearl ovals
•Standard Point body
•Walnut top and back laminates
•Mahogany body core
•Maple & two Purpleheart laminate neck layup
•Maple and Walnut veneers on headstock
•Electronics: Series I w/Master Volume
Bon Voyage, Joy... the time will come.
