Yeah I guess this all makes sense at this kind of price. The maple neck doesn't bug me at all. I absolutely love the profile - feels like home, and if I had to sacrifice that just for maho... well I wouldn't want to. I took this to a rehearsal once before I tore it down, and played it 4-hours straight. It plays and sounds fantastic (and that was still with the Artec), and has a lot of what the 76 that I normally play there has - and that's all that matters to me. This is gonna be my outdoor-gig/dive-bar alternate bass. I just got a kick out of it - totally expected their usual mahogany content to be under there
what color you going to paint her and any mods?
I liked the original color... I mainly just wanted it to "feel" like the older tbird (that "gummy" lacquer feel). I originally was going to scuff the poly up and spray an oly white over it, but then I saw reranch had ocean turquoise. Kinda reminded me of what pelham blue looks like when it ages, but a little lighter. I couldn't resist! That's when I decided to strip the whole thing and do it from ground zero-
I also got some of their amber-tinted clear. I'll experiment with that on a test piece. If it doesn't come out looking soylent-green, I might hit it lightly with that.
For the pickups, I'm routing the bass to be a TB IV, and I'm going to "Rommel-ize" a set of late model TB+ soapies that I have sitting here. Instead of peeling them, I'm gonna try "exfoliating" them on the belt sander, and then loading the Greatdealz NOS 70s covers. I'll do a nice wiring job on it too.
I run the ashtrays on my 76. Usually I don't like those on my player basses, but they actually make good finger rests - so I have a set for this too. I finally broke down and bought a $30 tugbar from Greatdealz. Picked up some bone nut blanks for $5 - I'm going to try my hand at that for the first time. I've already swapped tuners to some reverse Kluson-style vintage clovers (think they're from one of those road-worn Fender necks)
Oh yeah- and I have 'guard coming from Terrapin. It's .09" Mint/B/M with laser etched/backfilled insignia (much like the one on Barkless' F-bird, except with the original graphic). I still want one of Scott's hot-stamped .06" jobbers when he cranks out a batch.... and one of Bill's repro tailpieces to top it off. For now, I'll just use the BaCH's original one.
I'll post pics as I make progress... just taking it slow and easy.