1964 RM1999 Completed Restoration!
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 5:03 pm
For those of you with long memories my old '64 RM1999 "green monster" had been at Larry Davis's shop and was finally completed last month, as I finally got myself back in some form of order!
This restoration/rebuild was documented in detail on Facebook, but as I know a few of the old school here don't partake I thought I'd share the finished result. The bass had a completely new neck made, (using measurements from a '64 RM1999 that Larry had worked on previously) as the one on the bass had been replaced sometime in the 60's or 70's when it was refinished green. I had really wanted the original fretboard be used here and thanks to Larry's patience and skill here it was. A new upper bout, to correct the poorly Macca sanded version, was also crafted, also using an original '64 spec. The tailpiece area was filled as this had been routed and packed in order to try and keep the bass playable from the reconstructed neck. This was obviously far more involved than my brief overview here, but as you can imagine was a major undertaking.
The period correct FG was then sprayed and all the original hardware and electronics which I thankfully had never changed in over 30+ years of having the bass, was refitted. The end result was a wonderful sounding and looking RM1999 that finally looks like it did back 50+ years ago when it left So Cal!
This restoration/rebuild was documented in detail on Facebook, but as I know a few of the old school here don't partake I thought I'd share the finished result. The bass had a completely new neck made, (using measurements from a '64 RM1999 that Larry had worked on previously) as the one on the bass had been replaced sometime in the 60's or 70's when it was refinished green. I had really wanted the original fretboard be used here and thanks to Larry's patience and skill here it was. A new upper bout, to correct the poorly Macca sanded version, was also crafted, also using an original '64 spec. The tailpiece area was filled as this had been routed and packed in order to try and keep the bass playable from the reconstructed neck. This was obviously far more involved than my brief overview here, but as you can imagine was a major undertaking.
The period correct FG was then sprayed and all the original hardware and electronics which I thankfully had never changed in over 30+ years of having the bass, was refitted. The end result was a wonderful sounding and looking RM1999 that finally looks like it did back 50+ years ago when it left So Cal!
Thankfully all good in the end! 