The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: uwe on February 06, 2008, 11:05:16 AM
-
Remember my sparkle charcoal Epi Embassy with the loveless neckbreak fix (that's how I bought it from Chicago Music Exchange), basically a not very stabilizing "volute" they had pasted to the back of the original (broken and splintered) neck? It came off eventually - unsurprisingly -, so off the Epi went to my luthier for some deutsche Wertarbeit. Some carbon and maple and voilà, this is where we are right now:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/epi1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/epi3.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/epi2.jpg)
-
Your luthier continues to impress me. That's a very nice job.
-
What an ugly break. :'( But that repair ought to make it much better than new. Even though the carbon fiber will suppress some of the mojo. ;D
-
Another great job by Herr Luthier. I'm sure it'll be better than ever before he's done.
-
Now, that first pic is sure a sad sight! I am very satisfied to see that the patient is getting better, and soon will be well enough to get into the groove.
-
That is some very nice work, I'm sure you pay him well......he deserves it, that's talent.
You owe us a shot when it's all back together.
-
Your luthier performs alchemy!
What an ugly break!
Another miracle performed. One step closer to Sainthood.
-
Nice looking work, can't wait to see the finished product.
-
Oh, it's actually finished and looking and sounding perfect, played it last night, just haven't gotten round to a pic yet!
-
Amazing. Was the trussrod replaced also?
-
Come on now. No pics, never happened. :P ;)
-
I think I remember that Embassy. What did they end up charging for it?
-
Some carbon and maple and voilà
i'm no luthier....
why carbon and maple? Obviously if you are painting it, no one will know anyway, but what is the advantage of these materials?
Why not just carbon, or just maple? or even mahogany? Is there a technical reason? price reason? availability reason?
Just wondering.
As I always say, a decent restoration is good for the soul ;)
-
Maple is stiffer than mahogany. I can't see any carbon fiber in the pics but either rod or cloth used properly will increase stiffness. So he's trying to make it better than new at its most vulnerable point.
-
So he's trying to make it better than new at its most vulnerable point.
Every post that Uwe puts up with his work indicates his luthier does that with every job he does for him. I wish I had someone like that I could use!
-
The carbon rods are underneath the maple. Mathias (the luthier) would have preferred to just use just maple and as much of the original mahogany as possible, but in this case he thought the neck would need all the strength it can get because even the initial, badly repaired break was extremely ugly with wood splinters having been glued together in desperation. He shaved all that off - there is only just a thin slice of mahogany remaining where the maple and carbon was added.
Mathias first repaired a neck-broken bass for me more than 20 years ago. That repair was one of his early ones and not exactly pretty or inconspicious, but it lasts to this day. Since then his woodworking skills have improved in leaps and bounds and all his newer repair work is just as lasting and also invisible from the outside.
I still owe you guys a pic - haven't forgotten it, just have to lend a camera here in the office!
Uwe
-
So did he just match the paint?
It was metallic charcoal?
Metallics can be pretty hard to match.
-
By public demand as it looks now:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/DCP_2639.jpg?t=1203520141)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/DCP_2637.jpg?t=1203520184)
Yup, he just matched the metallic charcoal. Already in its previous state (with the bad repair) the fin had been matched (badly and non-sparkling) as the bass' headstock obviously broke after it had been refinned.
-
He will have to be sainted as he has worked many a mircle. Amazing match
-
Very nice! And if a Johnny Cash tribute band comes along, you're all set. 8)
-
I think I remember that Embassy. What did they end up charging for it?
It was 1,925 Dollars including shipping to Germany at the time. I thought that was ok, they were frank in the description that the neck repair was no cosmetic miracle and it did after all hold up two and a half years so ...
My luthier charged me 300 bucks for the repair, I gave him 375, I think he undercharges! Horrible businessman the guy, but gifted woodworker.
-
Excellent work.
As the dollar slides further toward peso status, you should be able to pick up more bargains that would be high priced to Americans.
-
Very nice! And if a Johnny Cash tribute band comes along, you're all set. 8)
Hell yeah!!!..Thats what I need. I'm in a Johnny Cash band. If I could have one Gibby that would be the type of bass I would want. For now I just have to keep playing my un-politicially correct 78P.
-
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the JC bass player play a mudbucked short scale Newport as opposed to a twin pupped long scale Embassy?
Of course, just by looking at the headstock you guys could not see whether mine was a Newport or an Embassy. It is the latter, my Newport is seafoam green (original fin) and sans any neck break. The Newport neck is quite a bit stubbier and the batwing headstock on it not as long by about half an inch.
Uwe
-
I think it was an Embassy, but I'm no Gibson historian by any means. I'll try to find pictures but I know it had a mudbucked pickup neck position and I think a smaller pickup by the bridge.
-
It was a Newport alright, you can see it here in the upper lefthand corner at 1.48/1.49:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L05KOAhZA1A
When they made the movie it was a nice touch how the bassist/actor there also played a Newport they had dug up.
Uwe
-
If you have a tribute band, it'd be fun to get an old project bass and refin it black like that. You can usually find Newports for around the same price range as EB-0s - which is a lot less than an Embassy these days!!
Very nice job on that break-fix!
-
More pics. Which one is this?
-
I'm pretty sure it was an Embassy. It's in the footage from the Folsom Prison gig, and that was recreated pretty accurately for Walk The Line.
The album cover has the unmistakeable headstock:
(http://img.timeinc.net/time/2006/100albums/albums/JohnnyCash_FolsomPrisonSanQ.jpg)
and...Here we have it. Looks like a Newport, after all.
(http://www.talentondisplay.com/graphics/10jcroadshowSM.jpg)
-
Thanks for clearing that up...So I guess that Gibson made a one or two pickup version? The one in the Cash pic has two pickups and this one has only one.
-
Two pickup Newports are pretty rare. They have one somewhere on the net for a lot $$$$$$
Has the black plastic pup too.
-
The Newport had a pickup cover that didn't actually cover a pickup. You can tell it's a Newport by the two knobs, and you can visually see that it's a shortscale.
It goes something like this:
Gibson EB-0 and Epiphone Newport - single neck humbucker, short scale
Gibson Thunderbird and Epiphone Embassy - two humbuckers, long scale, thinner (fragile) neck.
-
Yes, there were a few Newports out there that were basically EB-3s with a minibucker added, but - thankfully! - no varitone.
But I've never seen a one pup Embassy, so that must have existed in one version only. No "shadow" TB II then.
-
"and you can visually see that it's a shortscale"
I like that concept ... visually seeing as opposed to, errrm, non-visual seeing? ???
Ducking ... ;D :D ;D
-
Well Cool. Now I just need to find a black newport:)...
-
"and you can visually see that it's a shortscale"
I like that concept ... visually seeing as opposed to, errrm, non-visual seeing? ???
Ducking ... ;D :D ;D
Hmmmm...just remember that I am a Weimer. We did it to your country before, and we can do it again. ;D
-
I fear another raccoon infestation approaching! Will you be parachuting them this time? :-\
-
the controls look the same in both pics, so I think there's a handrest on the black bass.
-
(http://www.gbase.com/files/store_images/music83/1625543/photo1_cc2d7.jpg)
-
fear another raccoon infestation approaching!
You complain about raccoons, when you gave us Starlings, House finches (sparrows) & buckthorn.
Distribution:
· Came to north America before 1800 as an ornamental shrub and, in the early 1900s, began to spread in farmland, yards, gardens, savannas, clearings, abandoned land, along roadsides, and especially in both moist and dry upland sites including open oak woods, woodland edges, prairies and open fields. Now occupies an area from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan to Missouri to New England.
Site and Date of Introduction: European Starlings were first introduced to the United States in 1890. Rumor has it that one hundred starlings were released in Central Park in hopes that all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works would become established in the New World. In the case of the starling, the wish became reality. In the intervening hundred years the starling population has grown to an estimated 150-200 million birds.
Mode(s) of Introduction: European Starlings have been intentionally introduced all over the world, generally for aesthetic purposes. Ironically starlings are now widely regarded as pests for various reasons, including the fact that their huge flocks, noisy habits and prodigious waste are considered aesthetically displeasing. In New Zealand some claim that biological control of insect pests was a factor in release, but studies have shown that the starlings are not as effective as was hoped for in this area.
Ha, we got even by infesting you with Mcdonnalds & raccoons!-quick which is worse?