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« on: July 22, 2011, 02:46:23 AM »
Ok, so I'm not sure if anyone remembers my Bachbird story but here's a little recap:
A little over a year ago I ordered a BTH-1 bass through Rob. It took awhile to get it and when I did finally receive it the headstock was cracked. Bummer. I was already having some buyers remorse right after I ordered it because I really couldn't afford it at the time so when it arrived broken it was a disappointment to say the least. Nothing's worse than purchasing something when you can't afford it and then that purchase not working out. You can't help but feel like your being punished for spending the money in the first place. Ha ha. Anyway, of course I contacted Rob and he too was bummed for obvious reasons. As much as it was a hassle for me, it was also a big hassle and headache for him. He had to contact Roman at Bach and had to deal with the shippers and file a claim with insurance, etc. It also made the situation difficult because the international shipping was so expensive that shipping it back would have been a waste since the cost of shipping would be lost. It took awhile but the shipping company finally reimbursed Rob and he was able to send me a new bass. Also, we agreed that I would sell the damaged bass on Ebay and we would split the profits after all the Paypal and Ebay fees. I have to give Rob credit for handling everything very professionally and making sure that I got my new bass and with no further costs to me. I know it was a big pain in the ass for him and I really do appreciate it so, thanks again Rob!!!
Ok, so on to the project. Of course I wanted to mod the bass and seeing some of the Bach mods on here got me inspired. Initially my game plan was to go for the same thing as Chromium's Ocean Turquoise Bachbird and then I stumbled on this all black NR Thunderbird on the internet. I always liked the look of the black on black Gibson Grabbers so when I saw the black on black Thunderbird I had to go for it. Plus I was a little intimidated to go for a metallic color so I figured....black it is.
I will say that this entire project has been kind of a nightmare since day one. Plenty of missteps and mistakes were made, many moments of feeling that I was in over my head and many loooong months with no progress being made because I had no money. It got to a point where I kind of regretted the fact that I didn't just keep it stock and play it. It was too late for that though since I had already stripped it so I had to keep chipping away at it and I am glad I did because after a little over a year, the bass is FINALLY done and I absolutely love it. I will be updating this thread and will show you guys the whole process. I hope you guys enjoy checking it out more than I enjoyed doing it. That shouldn't be too hard since I didn't exactly have fun doing it. Ha ha. Of course when progress was being made I had fun but the bumps in the road almost made me throw it in the garbage. Ha ha.
Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention one important part of this whole thing. I am a total ROOKIE!!! Some of you guys are cranking out some amazing stuff but I have only refinished two basses before and the first one sucked so bad I can't even count it. I have done a few relic jobs though and I love to check out the message boards and ask a lot of questions. But, although I have been a member of this board and a member of the Reranch board for years I have never done any major guitar building or luthier work. I certainly don't have any real woodworking tools to work with so I definitely bit off more than I could chew. Anyway, stay tuned for my first update hopefully tomorrow.
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