Squier JV P-Bass resurrection

MattNovak

Not strictly making or modding, but I wasn't sure where else to put it... I recently bought a project bass from this 'ere parish, sold by @prismrock2003 (who is a gentleman to deal with btw). 

I'm restoring it as far as possible back to factory specs - as can be seen, it's some way from those at present:

MattNovak

The good bits:

• The paint stripping job, although crude, didn't wreck the body contours. 
• It's an '82
• The original scratchplate hasn't been altered
• The tuners, strap buttons etc are original
• The factory finish is still on the neck
• No additional routing

The bad bits:

• Factory sunburst finished stripped (obviously)
• Frets removed and slots filled with 'stuff'
• Pots seized and corroded beyond salvage
• Original pickup missing

The plan:

• clean fret slots out and re-fret with correct wire
• refinish body in nitro - examples from this year were only available in white, black, fiesta red and sunburst - I will go for black
• restore the electrics, using as many of the original bits as possible (even down to the capacitor and locking rings!)
• The bass came with a SD SPB-1, which I'm told is a great pickup - I have no opinion on the originals so will likely go with what I have 

Anyway, that's where we are. I'll update the thread as things progress.

Rock on,

Matt

Funkfingers

Seymour Duncan SPB-1 is, indeed, an excellent pickup. Their Antiquity models are even better ... at a price. 

The stock pickups on the JV Stratocasters were Made In USA. I cannot recall whether the bass pickups were or not. 

For what it is worth, I have a Fender AVRI '58 Raised A poles pickup in a Squier Silver Series P Bass. This has similar basswood/maple/rosewood construction to your JV. With flatwound strings, it sounds pretty convincing. (I have a Fender AVRI '63 for comparison purposes.)

MattNovak

Good to hear, @Funkfingers - thanks. The SD pickup covers don't quite squeeze through the pickguard cutouts, I could take some sandpaper to them or buy a new pair of covers....

Whoever stripped it gave up when they got to between the cutaways! Forgot to mention the JV neck plate is present and correct:

WezV

those fret slots may not look pretty, but they could have been a hell of a lot worse.   Imagine big chips at every fret instead like most wood filler fretlesses - including the one I did when I was 16


the board will come up fine with a bit of work

Funkfingers

MattNovak said:

Whoever stripped it gave up when they got to between the cutaways!

They can tricky with either abrasive or a heat gun and scraper. Scorch marks are best disguised under an opaque colour. Dupont/Ducco "custom color" car paints would look the part but the poly needs to come off before any nitro-cellulose goes on.

Andyjr1515

Perfect kind of project.  Looks good!

MattNovak

WezV said:

those fret slots may not look pretty, but they could have been a hell of a lot worse.   Imagine big chips at every fret instead like most wood filler fretlesses - including the one I did when I was 16


the board will come up fine with a bit of work

The frets seem to have been removed relatively carefully - which is a plus. There's a few small chips here and there towards the upper register but they've been there so long they're hardly noticeable - at least not as much as 'fresh'. 

Needs a final dress and polish, but the refret was drama free:

MattNovak

Funkfingers said:

MattNovak said:

Whoever stripped it gave up when they got to between the cutaways!

They can tricky with either abrasive or a heat gun and scraper. Scorch marks are best disguised under an opaque colour. Dupont/Ducco "custom color" car paints would look the part but the poly needs to come off before any nitro-cellulose goes on.

Yeah, after having a closer look they'd used a heat gun and not cleaned the scorch marks off. I've been over the body to prep it for paint and shot a white primer just now... 

paulnb57

Nice project, great progress! Good to see an instrument being brought back to life...

MattNovak

The paint is on - I purposefully didn't fill in the knocks, the neck has its original finish and is roadworn to say the least, so a pristine body would have looked out of place. 'Sympathetic restoration' is the poncy term for it I beleive.

Need to further harden, and then buff and polish but it's looking ok:

paulnb57

Excellent!

ICBM

MattNovak said:

The SD pickup covers don't quite squeeze through the pickguard cutouts, I could take some sandpaper to them or buy a new pair of covers...

That's probably because the guard has shrunk slightly - even the MIJ ones do. It's not a sin to very carefully enlarge the holes, as long as you make it neat. You will, obviously - I've seen a few horrors that looked like they were done with an angle grinder though...

I would fit a USA Switchcraft jack too, even if the original will clean up well enough to work - they're just not very good quality.

MattNovak

@ICBM - you're right, I hadn't noticed the guard had shrunk until I noticed it wasn't laying flat on the table. I have heard stories of people taking guards off for a while and then not being able to fit them back on, can they shrink that much? 

Anyhoo - I got it finished and screwed back together over the weekend. I added what I hope is some age commensurate wear as fresh paint over a slightly battered body looked 'off'. Nothing extreme, and I'm glad I used a white primer as it contrasts nicely:

 

danishbacon

Sweet bass!

ICBM

MattNovak said:

I have heard stories of people taking guards off for a while and then not being able to fit them back on, can they shrink that much?

The original 60s ones can, yes. The more modern ones not so much, but it may only be a matter of time.

That’s a very nice job .

sixstringsupplies

That looks superb - I love tortoise pickguard against black.

Just for my curiosity - how did you get on with sourcing original pots?

MattNovak

Thanks ICBM and sixstringsupplies

I bought some fresh Alpha pots, but unexpectedly I was able to salvage the originals. They were seized when I got the bass, and would only turn with pliers - but I managed to free them off and, whilst there's more resistance in turning than normal, work fine. It means the only new soldering to the original electrics was the pickup. I was surprised too!  

sawyer

Good job! Looks cool:)

prismrock2003

Hi @MattNovak, ;

Only seeing this now! looks great! I need this back lol


Michael