| Author | Message | ||
| muller1007
Intermediate Member Username: muller1007 Post Number: 149 Registered: 5-2002 |
I purchased my 1978 Series 1 bass about six months ago. I found it for sale on an Ebay kind of website in The Netherlands. On the pictures in the ad the bass seemed in pretty poor shape. The finish seemed dull and had some visible dings and scratches on it. The brass parts and the silver logo appeared to be entirely discoloured and corroded. The hat knobs looked worn. Also, it had four visible screws per pickup, instead of the Alembic system of pickup height adjustment (two screws under the pu, two on top). The seller said that the bass probably needed an upgrade because of noise being picked up. On the other hand, it did have some very nice features, like medium scale, red side leds with a dimmer, an omega cutout and the pu selector switch was neatly moved to the controls. The DS-5 was included and so was a new 5-pin cable. And best of all, the price was incredible!!!! So after a split second, I decided to go for it. I was the first bidder (bid the asking price) and the owner granted it to me. When I picked it up, the bass was just as it seemed on the pictures. It appeared to have lacked some tender loving care over the years. But wow, what a feeling to go home with a Series 1 bass sitting on the backseat of my car. I had, however, quite some overhaul work to do on the bass. Here are some pics of the bass before the overhaul:    In the past months I treated the bass to a nice fix up: - cleaned and polished the brass parts, silver logo and gold Schaller tuning pegs - cleaned and buffed the finish to a lustre - cleaned and lemon oiled the fingerboard - re-fixed the Schaller straplocks - replaced the batteries - replaced all of the hat knobs by new ones - replaced the (oddly fitted) pickups screws by original Alembic pickup screws and fitted them correctly - replaced a variety of different control cavity screws, by new ones - had a master volume pot added, using all original Alembic parts - had all electronics checked - replaced the DS-5 with a DS-5R - put on fresh strings - purchased a Mogami/Neutrik stereo to mono cable to play the bass with both pickups on battery power. Oh, and the noise the previous owner mentioned was largely solved with the humcancelling trimpots. It still picks up some interference if you listen really closely, but I think it's totally negligible. No need for an acute upgrade. Here are some pics of the bass after the overhaul:   In a few years time I'll probably drop it off at Alembic to have it completely refinished and have the electronics upgraded, but for now it's just a stunning bass and it plays like a dream. Definately worth the trouble and money spent. Duncan | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 2251 Registered: 7-2004 |
Duncan: Looking good! I thought the before pics looked pretty sweet, but the after is beautiful. Congrats and enjoy. What happened to the original DS-5? Might you, perchance, be looking to sell it? Bill, tgo | ||
| muller1007
Intermediate Member Username: muller1007 Post Number: 150 Registered: 5-2002 |
Sorry Bill, swapped the DS-5 for the DS-5R. It's somewhere in Ireland now. Duncan | ||
| rraymond
Advanced Member Username: rraymond Post Number: 213 Registered: 6-2002 |
Wow! Excellent work, it's a beauty! Reid | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 4920 Registered: 5-2002 |
Looks great!! | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 822 Registered: 11-2004 |
What a beautiful shine the wood has now. Very nice. Rich | ||
| jet_powers
Advanced Member Username: jet_powers Post Number: 323 Registered: 2-2003 |
Wow! What a difference. I didn't realize how dull the finish on my Persuader was becoming. How exactly did you buff it out? JP | ||
| muller1007
Intermediate Member Username: muller1007 Post Number: 152 Registered: 5-2002 |
The finish and all the visible parts, were almost completely dull, probably due the touch of dirty and greasy fingers, dust and and smoke over the years, without ever cleaning it. Leaving it to develop a matt film over the finish, the fingerboard, the brass, the silver logo and gold tuners. For cleaning the finish I used a lightly moist microfiber cloth to wipe most of the dirt film off. Next I cleaned it with Alembic Supreme Polish and buffed it to a brilliant shine with a polishing chamois. I thought I would need a polishing machine, but this was sufficient. Cleaning the silver logo and the brass parts was quite a time consuming job. I had to use soft (to prevent scratching the finish) wooden tooth picks, to get old dirt and old dried up polish residu off that was firmly stuck inbetween. To get back the shine on the gold Schaller tuning pegs and the silver logo, I used "Jewelry Wipes" from Connoisseurs (www.connoisseurs.com). That made them shine brightly and it provides a anti tarnish shield. The brass parts were polished with Brasso fluid brass polish, which shines and protects (and leaves no residu). I cleaned the fingerboard with a lightly moist microfiber cloth. Next I cleaned it more intensiveley with lemon oil, using cotton buds and wiping it clear with a soft cloth. Then I rubbed the fingerboard in with essential lemon oil en let it draw into it and feed the ebony for a few hours, and wipe off any residu afterwards. Well, that about covers it. Oh yes, and I put some Vaseline on/in the straplocks, to prevent them from becoming squeaky. I know what's best for my baby ;-) Duncan | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 1163 Registered: 9-2002 |
Great work, Duncan. I love finding used basses like this: Really sound and just needing lots of TLC to restore them to this kind of shape. Those 'After' pictures are what makes it all worthwhile to me. J o e y | ||
| terryc
Intermediate Member Username: terryc Post Number: 167 Registered: 11-2004 |
what a difference some effort does...see my other thread in troubleshooting..The Knowledge |
