Fenderbird Resurrection

[Dr. Aquafresh]

Killer!

[gearHed289]

Looks cool! Kind of like a "vintage modern space age" take on a Fenderbird. Just looking at it, I bet it plays nice. What's the name of that color?

[dadagoboi]

Looks cool! Kind of like a "vintage modern space age" take on a Fenderbird. Just looking at it, I bet it plays nice. What's the name of that color?

Thanks, I'm calling it Fenderbird 2010, even though I started the build in 1982.  It does play good, the neck is a 1 5/8" wide 'C' shape Charvel LH Pbass from the early 80's.  The color is Fiesta Red, a Fender custom color that JAE called Salmon Pink.  It's more like a pinkish orange.  I mixed it from clear Nitrocellulose tinted with red, yellow and white Universal Tinting Color.  I'm pretty sure it was originally a '55 Ford color.

[Highlander]

Works for me...

[dadagoboi]

Decided the bridge needed some help.  Removed 1/4 inch (6mm) from the back and moved it and tailpiece forward.  Couldn't get the EMG pre to work so each pup now has a tone pot with .1 mfd cap.  I like the sound of the EMGs, will be installing SSB-4s to compare

Before


After


Strat jack plate has been part of the project from the beginning, allows the cord to be captured under the strap and make it less likely to pull out accidentally...that's my story and I'm sticking to it   For 'strap locks' I prefer fender washers and long screws for any bass that gets used on stage.

[Basvarken]

Great work Carlo! It looks fantastic. 

But the pickguard needs some fine tuning IMHO.

The area where the bridge pickup surround meets the pick guard.
And the part where the pick guard almost meets the edge of the lower horn.

Here's a suggestion:



Second alternative for the bridge pickup area.

[dadagoboi]

Thanks, Rob!  It will be corrected if/when THIS Bird goes into production or if I take it to NAMM.  The guard was cut before I decided to do the pup rings.  I think it has to split the distance between the pups and the top curve has to be slightly different, basically your second alternative.

This bass presented problems in that it's been around since '83. It had been hanging on my wall sans electronics taunting me for years before I stumbled upon LBO.  The neck should attach to the body one fret lower, the pups are not centered vertically and the bottom horn is still too big IMO, even though I've trimmed it twice.  The original control cavity doesn't allow any more trimming.  Those are TB+ size rings and toppers, bigger than 60's dimensions, that would also affect the appearance.  Everything is always a matter of mm.