Wood tail piece on 1976 S1 bridge? and other questions..

[edwardofhuncote]

Ed, hit my contact button (the little envelope under my avatar to the left there...) and I'll send you a couple sheets of veneer for your project. No need to whittle any off your bass! You'll have some nice uniform thickness pieces, you can trim to whatever size/shape is needed. If I didn't think you could do it based on your last Spoiler project, I wouldn't offer. If you take a little time, and practice first, the repair will be very hard to see. At worst, it'll be way better than what you have.

Sometimes the stamps went a little bit deeper or not deep enough, but your bass is 1976 issue. The last 1973 serial number was 40-something... 73-47 I think... it's early. 

*correct about the logo; hand-cut silver until the cast bronze ones appear later in '77. Here's mine.

[keith_h]

Greg is much more professional in his work than I would be. My thoughts were getting some small pieces of matching wood to mix with some epoxy to make a filler. Since you are sanding the bass you will be removing the oxidized layer of wood so a match should be pretty close. You will be able to see it but it should hide the repair somewhat. I would also consider going bold and making a highly visible repair with an inlay of some type.

The serial numbers on instruments are hand stamped so aren't always perfect. From the picture it looks like a 76 to me and 412 would fit with that year as well.

[JimmyJ]

Wow, only 6 numbers away from my long-lost original 5-string 76-418.  Ask him if he knows where his brother might be?

Great that you are bringing this one back to spec!  We wish you the best of luck with the rebuild.  The hum canceller is glued in place and I believe a rubber mallet is involved in its removal.  (Yikes!)  I also think you should take the opportunity to simply ship the electronics to HQ to be refurbished and brought up to modern specs.  They can't do the full noise reduction tuning when it's not in the bass but they could certainly get it all working properly.  Just my opinion, and only if you want to invest the time and $$ into that part of the revival.  You could also just order a pre-wired pickup selector switch if that original Grayhill is failing, or has been spilled on.  Unless there have been previous-owner modifications you are unlikely to find any cold solder joints.  The factory work has always been NASA-spec stuff.  Individual components can fail but I'd bet the wiring itself has never been an issue.  Like, ever.

Carry on.  Keep this thread going as we cheer you on.

Jimmy J

[pauldo]

Ed,
That looks great!

Gregory is a friggin’ wood wizard.  That’s some high-level skill sets happening there. 

Scraping the battery compartment seems reasonable (says the guy who has an exposed strap-location hole on his Distillate and swears it doesn’t have a negative impact on the tone nor playability of it).   

[Artgeckko]

Hello!
Edwardofhuncote,
Thank you! I will certainly reach out to you!
Many, many thanks for all the input from the stalwart 'Alembic ambassadors'- Edwardofhuncote,JimmyJ,Pauldo, Keith... 
You guys are really an amazing resource!  I know I've leaned on you all before!  I'm still a novice for these instruments, but its been a fun journey learning, and damn they sound great!
I have a few days pause in this project, which is good, but I feel as my dogs do when I grab the leash for a walk...Want to work on it!! Patience is not my strong suit.
JimmyJ, I think I will keep the hum canceller in place as opposed to a rubber mallet. That sounds potentially hazardous.
Do think the selector switch has been done post Alembic (via Alembic thread and from inspection...don't mean to cast any shade if member is lurking, heaven knows I've done worse solder joints, but the Alembic work is pretty self evident and spectacular)
Will send an email to Alembic an get an idea of the cost of updating electronics. 
Do they need the hum canceller, or for that matter all the pickups for refurb?
Will get back to it over the weekend.
Heres another shot of the finish removal of the back of headstock (Zebrawood)...Heat gun technique worked very well.  very light lifting of grain thankfully!
Thanks again for the chats and the encouragment! Talk soon. 
Ed

[garyhead]

My idea was born out of the old "stick a toothpick and glue in the hole" method.  I thought taking the wood out of the battery compartment was the closest match.  I'm no where near the level of Greg but I see I'm not at your level either.....I wouldn't be able to get that finish off with my skillset.  Keep the photos coming.....Love a good Alembic restoration.

[Artgeckko]

Update -
Happy Easter!
Been a busy weekend.  Hope you all are well!
Here is a few shots of the finished sanded body(600 grit) and a few of the pickup selector switch.
Please let me know if it is original equip?  Seems to have some serious oxidation or? 
Did some cleaning of the wires and switches and its not budging on the switch...
Did put an email into Alembic regarding getting the electronics checked out, but it was a holiday weekend...
Edofhuncote sent you a email message from this site hope you received it?
I did have a piece of maple in garage that I used a spoke shave on for some very thin ( curls..)pieces of maple for veneer of strap scar. Think your idea will work!
Did some epoxy filling of the pickup ears / screw holes which were cracked and had some serious chucks missing out of the bottoms? 
Also, had a jeweler fill in a gap on the bridge saddle piece.  Will see how that turned out this week.  Think he used silver instead of brass, so might be a redo.
Did a lot of polishng and cleaing of parts, and didn't want to take out the hum canceller pick up, but I couldn't get to the wood cleaned up well between, so out it went---NOT easy at all!
Coming together little by little.

All that said, did get a little playing time in today...Good to have a reward!
Talk soon
Ed
 



 

[Artgeckko]

One more...
The build card says core mahogany.  It looks very tan/brown compared red. Different kind of mahogany? 
Its has has the streaks like you would see in Ash, but seems softer, like alder...
Neck is birch opposed to maple?  Think side grain maple will work for screw hole patch.
The other interesting thing is the cracks in the original finish were "printed" on the wood(as grey lines) this took a bit of aggressive sanding to reduce.
Didn't get rid of all of them, but definitely reduced.
Trying to not remove the history, just refresh it a bit!

[edwardofhuncote]

Lookin' like a good start Ed... I expect Jimmy J will have some say about that switch. I agree, corrosion there from something. It does look like the right switch, but admittedly it's been a few years since I looked at one removed from a bass. For sure they can get you another if needed.

The "printed" lines you saw were most likely the result of oxidation. The unprotected wood sorta' got a little burned where the varnished parts didn't... no real harm done there. I bet when that purpleheart receives a coat or two of finish it darkens right back up and the oxidized lines won't show much, if at all. Likewise, the mahogany core will redden up... it's naturally a kinda' tan/brown. For whatever reason, it still is on my Custom fretless... the body core so far has stayed a kinda' orange hue. I probably have some birch veneer strips too, I'll dig around in here today and look for some. Alembics in those earlier years would often have different woods used for necks than what we think of as a standard now. It's just one of the reasons I find them so fascinating and individual. My older Series bass has a center laminate of beech, with purpleheart laminates on either side of it, and maple to the outermost. There's not a huge difference between them visually, until you see them side-by-side.

*I haven't gotten anything from the Clubmail... it's known to be glitchy. Try it again, and if it doesn't work I'll message you my contact.

[JimmyJ]

You're making fine progress there, it's looking good!

That does indeed appear to be the OEM p/u selector switch but it looks like it's been through a hurricane!  Here are a couple pictures of one of mine from an 1982 Series I.  Note the tight solder work, no bent lugs, and general cleanliness.  What does the cavity under that switch plate look like?  It should be silvery and clean.  If I were you I would place an order for a new pre-wired switch.  I believe the color coding of the wires has remained consistent over the years so it would just be a matter of matching the other end of the wires to their original destinations.  That would definitely clear up any issues with that switch. 

Keep going, you're doing great!

Jimmy J

[hammer]

So glad you made the decision to refinish.  After a couple of coats of spray that purpleheart is going to look as amazing as the refurbished Hyak that was done by Alembic.

[edwardofhuncote]

So glad you made the decision to refinish.  After a couple of coats of spray that purpleheart is going to look as amazing as the refurbished Hyak that was done by Alembic.

Oh wow, I remember that one... now that was a restoration for the books! Weird coincidence; I just rotated my Hyak into the on-deck stand this weekend. I'm experimenting with B-E-A-D tuning on it. I gotta' get back on that project too, one of these days. I'm just not motivated to mess with things that work! 😄

[Artgeckko]

That's a beauty of a bass!
Can't say I've seen one of those before. (Hyak)
Always a new discovery on this club!
Learned a valuable lesson regarding purple heart and danish oil...it darkens the purple heart a bit brown...Backpedalling...one step back...ugh.
Seems a water based poly and shellac a better option?
Edofhuncote...Sent another message but I think possibly not making the jump( outtage at Alembic?)

[edwardofhuncote]

Nah, nothing in my inbox yet, so I sent you a message using the Club messaging system. It's the little 'thought balloon' lookin' thingy there next to your icon... the message should appear in the upper bar under "messages".

[Artgeckko]

Hello Club
Update and a question.
First the question.
Bottom of hum cancellation pickup shield wire is a bit frayed right at pickup epoxy.
Wiggle it a bit and huge hum…not a lot of room to fix.
Have to do fix prior to reinstalling.  Suggestion?
Considering allowing a drip of solder to splash at the spot solidifying the shield, then applying small amount of plumbers epoxy (putty) to reinforce the join? It’s a little weird of a fix, but think it would do job?
Appears that with a bit of contact cleaner on the four trim pots on circuit board, the noise (bad on the right most trim pot(bridge pu), was the main offender.
Btw, most of the plastic slotted screw on those trim pots broken or stripped. Ugh.
But after re-soldering the 5pin to check seems to have diminished? Fingers crossed.
Here’s where S1, 76 stands.
New tuners ordered.
Brass parts cleaned and polished.
Bridge saddle filled…looks okay(jeweler silver brass filled), I think.
Body stripped, sanded, danish oil applied, then removed(purpleheart gets brownish with oil)
Oil removed, re- sanded, lesson learned…
Frets leveled and cleaned.

Electronics, 5 pins-  less noise than with 1/4” and batteries.
Pickup issue(help?!)
Edofhuncote to the rescue! He’s sending veneer of birch and purpleheart on way…many thanks!!!!
(That part of repair will be tricky!)
Picked up new wood carving chisels…for this fix
Pictures to come soon. Playing today! Been a bit.
Huge thank you to Edofhuncote! 
Any suggestions or words of advice very welcome!
Talk soon
E