Tiesco Bass Rebuild (completed)

[threewordname]

Over the weekend I took everything apart and cut the 45˚ chamfer on the front, and then used a rasp to cut the forearm contour. I'm starting to think this is just a heavy piece of pine, because it only took me about 30 min to get a decent sized contour cut. I spent most of Sunday night sanding to get it ready for paint. I'm trying to be patient and not rush this part. I know I will kick myself if I leave a sand through or a run somewhere on this guy. Without further boring words, here are the photos.


and with 2 coats of duplicolor olympic white



I don't think i went too heavy, but after two passes, the can is almost empty. how many cans of this stuff do people usually use?

[mackerelmint]

Dag! How'd I miss this tasty thread for so long?? Rad!

[threewordname]

Not sure how you missed it! I've been posting incremental progress for the past few months! I totally forgot to post my color inspiration for this build:



I could watch live videos of The Ramones all day every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WgdD3F73CY

[threewordname]

After 2 cans of olympic white, I brushed on 4 coats of minwax polyurethane. This warmed up the white just the right amount, where its not so stark, but it doesn't look like a banana. Waiting for it to dry between coats was fucking torture.


After the final coat, I let it dry for 2 days, and then it was AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! The completed photos are below:

[blimpage]

Looking damn good! I love the chamfered edges, I was wondering if they'd stick around rather than being sanded smooth.

You mentioned at the top that loved the sound of the original bass but hated the feel. How does the new one sound and feel in comparison?

[Con-Tiki!]

Very cool.
I used the exact same finish combo, Duplicolor and poly.
Those two things don't bond, when mine began to wear, the poly flaked off like a sunburn, leaving the pristine white.
Just something for next time.

[threewordname]

Luckily the poly seems to be sticking so far. If it starts to flake, I can always sand down and respray.

Thank you for the kind words. It plays more like a modern P Bass now. What was bugging me before was the narrow string spacing, possible bad truss rod, and the tiny tiny frets. I had gotten the action to a playable range, which is a feat on most tiescos, but the tiny frets made it exhausting to play.

The new neck is a modern C shape, which I like alot more than the skinny D shape (don't Google that) on the original.

The sound is still about the same, maybe a little bigger from the extra mass in the body, but that might be placebo effect. I love the middle pickup by itself, or both in series.

I recorded a Screeching Weasel song yesterday, using this guy for the bass line. It's nothing fancy, but I'll post it once I have it mixed.

[threewordname]

I recorded a demo for a new song with this bass. The guitar parts are all with my pine tele, which has a build thread on here somewhere. The song is about my old neighborhood in Allston, it's neither a blues song or a boogie song.

https://threewordname.bandcamp.com/trac ... bug-boogie

I can upload an isolated bass track if anyone is really interested in my limited bass skills. If you want comparison, all the other songs that are uploaded on that page are recorded with the original body/neck.