Back in '97 or so, I used to live near a place called Chauncey's. Chauncy's was your typical little bar/burger place. Nothing special. Except, that they had a pretty interesting wall decoration. A Walnut 4001, made in September 1976. The person who had hung it there had - I hope you are sitting- drilled 3 holes in the bass. One in the headstock and two in the body. Sickening, since the rest of the bass was pretty decent looking, though encrusted with nicotine and dust. I asked the waitress about it and she said that a friend of the owner had given it to him to hang on the wall. I asked if he's ever consider giving it up and she said that he really couldn't, since it was on loan only. I wondered what he would think when he saw the "mounting system".
I often thought about pressing the issue but never did.
Fast forward 8 years. I am now living about 1/2 hour from where I used to. Complelely different life, really. Divorced and remarried, teenagers instead of toddlers. Occasionally when visiting my folks, I drive by the restaurant and think about the bass every time. Never stop in. Wonder if it's still there.
I start a little band, playing in my basement. No drummer yet, even. My bass player brings a drummer friend by. He sees my bass player pull his Fakenbacker 4001 out and says,
"I used to have one of those."
"You play bass, Paul?"
"Nah, I bought it cheap from a guy."
"What happened to it?"
"It's hanging in a bar. I lent it to the owner. He drilled hols in it to hang it up, so I guess it's not worth much now.."
!
I tell him the story. That I have seen the bass and that it is still a pretty damn nice bass.
Sunday, my bass player calls. Says,
"You got a soldering iron?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I'm working on my new Rickenbacker 4001 and I need a solder real quick".
"Grmbhuhuh?!"
"Yeah, I got a 4001. Paul went over to that bar and asked for it back, and gave it to me."
"hogtriph?!?"
"Bob, you OK?"
"yeah...get your *** over here and bring that bass."
He brings it. He has done a lot of cleaning. Save the holes, it is a gem. Super clean.
I would love some thoughts on filling these holes and what you think the best way to do so would be without refinning the bass. He does not want to do that. It's really pretty damn nice in person and he wants to leave it pretty much as is.
I was thinking that we could round out these 1/4 inch or so holes to 3/8 and then fill them with walnut or rosewood dowels.
Thoughts? I'll post some pics.
A great story- leading to a question
Moderator: jingle_jangle
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soundmasterg
- RRF Consultant
- Posts: 1923
- Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:06 pm
Interesting story!
You could do that with the dowels. Another option would be to fill the holes with dowels, except leave a little gap on both sides and glue a walnut veneer in the direction of the grain on top of the dowel to make it look more real. You could bring the bass with you and source out some walnut pieces at a local wood supply place and then just carefully cut off some thin pieces. They would probably have some scraps around that would work well.
You could do that with the dowels. Another option would be to fill the holes with dowels, except leave a little gap on both sides and glue a walnut veneer in the direction of the grain on top of the dowel to make it look more real. You could bring the bass with you and source out some walnut pieces at a local wood supply place and then just carefully cut off some thin pieces. They would probably have some scraps around that would work well.
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dale_fortune
- Intermediate Member
- Posts: 1241
- Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 6:00 am
Hey, that's not bad. You'd could tackle that fix and make it look OK. Drill out the holes to make them uniform, purchase matching material for the dowels and install them with good glue. You might be able to stain, seal, and finish to match it up with the original finish. Great story! I wish one of my stories would come true involving an Eko Florentine bass.