1981 LPC
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This thread is in part a copy of a thread in the Tonefreaks/Pickup subsection. It has snowballed so I thought it better to continue it here.
I've been playing bass and guitar off and on for the past 25 years. The short scale P-bass copy (of sorts) pictured below had been sitting in my moms attic for over 20 years. I used it in a band when I was 16 or so (before buying a second-hand Samick Valley Arts bass with active pickups). As you can tell it had, let's call it a "custom paint job".
It's missing the second, smaller pickguard, both tug bars and one pot knob. I don't know what make or model it is. Based on looking at pictures online I would say it's a seventies bass by either Aria, Teisco or Sears. Best guess, I think it's a 1975 Aria A-100. Same pickup, finish, pickguard, knobs, tug bars as seen here in the 1975 Aria catalog: Catalog picture
My seven year old daughter expressed an interest in learning to play. She does have a good ear, so I want to cultivate that. This being a short scale bass, I think it's suitable so I decided to restore it. Well... to fix it up as a father and daughter project.
I took it apart on a Saturday and spent a good many hours scraping and sanding the body. Polyurethane is tough stuff. The body has a multipiece pancake construction - something I absolutely love. It makes for cool looking curves and belly cuts. I did my best to take out dings and other damage, sanding nice curves by hand. Sanding with 120, 280, 400 and 600. Same for the headstock.
I finished both with two thin layers of a clear wipe-on poly, sanding in between coats. My daughter did not want it pink or any other silly colour - she has class and wanted a natural finish. To my surprise we even managed to save the pickguard with the same process of scraping and sanding, and finished it with a rattle-can clear coat. It came out much better than I expected. Partially assembled the acoustic sound is surprisingly nice - round and warm. That's with 25 year old strings....!
I've been playing bass and guitar off and on for the past 25 years. The short scale P-bass copy (of sorts) pictured below had been sitting in my moms attic for over 20 years. I used it in a band when I was 16 or so (before buying a second-hand Samick Valley Arts bass with active pickups). As you can tell it had, let's call it a "custom paint job".
It's missing the second, smaller pickguard, both tug bars and one pot knob. I don't know what make or model it is. Based on looking at pictures online I would say it's a seventies bass by either Aria, Teisco or Sears. Best guess, I think it's a 1975 Aria A-100. Same pickup, finish, pickguard, knobs, tug bars as seen here in the 1975 Aria catalog: Catalog picture
My seven year old daughter expressed an interest in learning to play. She does have a good ear, so I want to cultivate that. This being a short scale bass, I think it's suitable so I decided to restore it. Well... to fix it up as a father and daughter project.
I took it apart on a Saturday and spent a good many hours scraping and sanding the body. Polyurethane is tough stuff. The body has a multipiece pancake construction - something I absolutely love. It makes for cool looking curves and belly cuts. I did my best to take out dings and other damage, sanding nice curves by hand. Sanding with 120, 280, 400 and 600. Same for the headstock.
I finished both with two thin layers of a clear wipe-on poly, sanding in between coats. My daughter did not want it pink or any other silly colour - she has class and wanted a natural finish. To my surprise we even managed to save the pickguard with the same process of scraping and sanding, and finished it with a rattle-can clear coat. It came out much better than I expected. Partially assembled the acoustic sound is surprisingly nice - round and warm. That's with 25 year old strings....!
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