Twanger's Corner.

[johnrunnacles]

Nice one, Brian! Thanks for more detailed info on your project.

And Welcome, indeed, Floydbassman. Great to have you aboard! I have a Satellite solid "precision" bass dating to probably the 1970's which I am looking to move on. Is it likely to be worth anything?

JR

[floydbassman]

Hi Brian, this is a great thread.. I will try and get some pics of my guitars and basses up later tonight if my smartyphone behaves itself..As you can see from my user name,I play bass, and at the time I joined this forum and club, was in a Pink floyd tribute band. We still do the occasional gig but all the band members are doing other projects.I do a fair bit of depping for various bands at the mo whilst getting myself back to speed on six and twelve string guitar for a classic rock band I want to form.Hence wanting an SG type guitar. I used to have a Westbury SG type guitar back in the 80s. I sold it when I got my Strat but wish I kept it because it was really well made for a £100 mail order catalogue instrument. It even had Dimarzio pickups. Hi John. That satellite bass sounds interesting. A lot of the 70s copy guitars and basses are getting suprisingly good money pureley because of their age. A friend of mine got an Antoria bass from a boot sale job lot of stuff he bought. Put it on fleabay, expecting to get about £30 for it. He got £600! Have a look around online to see what they are going for. It does not matter too much if the pickups and electrics are not up to much as it is a lot easier now to upgrade that side of the guitar. If it plays ok, thats the main thing. Even a few knocks here and there add to the patina and charm to these old instruments. Fender even sell "pre aged" guitars complete with worn paintwork, a classic example being the Rory Gallagher replica.

[johnrunnacles]

Thanks for response, floydbassman.

If anyone would like to give me £600 for the old Satellite, consider it a done deal! I'd even hand-deliver it (UK only, mind!)!

As to condition, I guess in bike terms you might say its in concours condition, despite not having a case to protect it for all of those years. Can't speak for the electrics though. I'm more of an acoustic player - never played any other way!

Thanks for advice. Will keep an eye out on fleabay (There have been one or two Satellites on there, but none so far quite like my old gal).

Good luck tracking down that SG.

JR

[Brian Thompson]

'70's Satellite 'Precision' Bass.

Hi Jonah,

Anything like this one mate....?

http://picclick.co.uk/Blonde-Satellite-1970s-Vintage-Precision-Bass-Guitar-Mij-311676172923.html

Brian.

[johnrunnacles]

Dead spit ........ almost!

Pretty much, Brian. Only difference I can see is the fingerplate. Mine has the same shape but is in white ............. which surely puts another £200 on the going price?
You did well to find this from my sketchy description!
Well done, that man!
JR

[Brian Thompson]

'70's Satellite 'Precision' Bass - White Scratch Plate.

This'll be the one then John....!

(Apologies for the 'Sideways-O-Vision' (TM) pic..... My new computer won't do what I tell it to sometimes....maybe I should let Boris have a go with it.... However, if you click on it once you've opened it, it then opens the pic in a new tab and seems to go the right way up....computers eh.....!!)

Brian.

[johnrunnacles]

Yep, that's more like it, Brian. Pretty, ain't she?

Thanks for pic, which is now filed for future reference, should I need it (?)

JR

[Brian Thompson]

My pleasure mate, glad it was of use.

Brian.

[johnrunnacles]

Thanks Brian. Just spotted, your specimen is missing the cover for the tailpiece/saddle, which is intact on mine.

Just realised, too, why I missed the earlier one on fleabay. We were holiday-making in the Lakes at the time, following on from the Nostalgia scramble at Sedburgh on 21 August ..............

JR

[Brian Thompson]

'I know...I'll use it as an ashtray to go on top of my amp....!!'

It's amazing how many of those covers were taken off and lost over the years John.....I'm thinking of the original Fender Jazz bass bridge and string covers here (huge chrome 'things'!) and the early strats and telecaster bridge covers.....they used to call 'em 'ashtrays'....still do, and to be fair, they were probably more useful in that role....!!

Those bass covers tended to get in the way, especially as playing styles and techniques changed/evolved when people started to play more with fingers and thumbs instead of picks. With the guitar bridge covers, they got taken off mainly to make palm muting easier (and changing busted strings!) and it was easy to do as they just clipped into place. The bass jobs usualy required a screwdriver.....(or a drummer!)

Nice that your bass still has it's cover though...these original parts are now often very sought after, for the above reasons.....

Brian.

[johnrunnacles]

Looking like a bargain to me ......

.......... guess that'll be another £100 on the going price, then, Brian?

Getting ever-closer to that £600, floydbassman!

tongue-in-cheek-in-Burstall!

[floydbassman]

Some pics of the Guitars and Vox Ac30.

[Brian Thompson]

Great Pics!

Hi Brian, this is a great thread.. I will try and get some pics of my guitars and basses up later tonight if my smartyphone behaves itself..As you can see from my user name,I play bass, and at the time I joined this forum and club, was in a Pink floyd tribute band. We still do the occasional gig but all the band members are doing other projects.I do a fair bit of depping for various bands at the mo whilst getting myself back to speed on six and twelve string guitar for a classic rock band I want to form.Hence wanting an SG type guitar. I used to have a Westbury SG type guitar back in the 80s. I sold it when I got my Strat but wish I kept it because it was really well made for a £100 mail order catalogue instrument. It even had Dimarzio pickups. Hi John. That satellite bass sounds interesting. A lot of the 70s copy guitars and basses are getting suprisingly good money pureley because of their age. A friend of mine got an Antoria bass from a boot sale job lot of stuff he bought. Put it on fleabay, expecting to get about £30 for it. He got £600! Have a look around online to see what they are going for. It does not matter too much if the pickups and electrics are not up to much as it is a lot easier now to upgrade that side of the guitar. If it plays ok, thats the main thing. Even a few knocks here and there add to the patina and charm to these old instruments. Fender even sell "pre aged" guitars complete with worn paintwork, a classic example being the Rory Gallagher replica.

Hi Tim,

So glad that you're enjoying 'Twanger's Corner' and many thanks for the extra background info and great pics, very worthy additions indeed!

Loving the Shergold twin neck, a rare beast these days and reminded me instantly of Mike Rutherford! Lovely to see one in such fantastic condition. Like the strat too, and your bass(s), all very nice indeed. Beautiful wood on the bass....spalted maple? As for the Vox, a proper amp indeed!! I've got a very early 'JMI/Jennings Musical Industries' AC10 (there's a pic of it elsewhere on this thread)....I just love it. Those little EL84's are so sweet....class A all the way!! A mate has an AC50 head, probably one of the best amps I've ever played through....a real monster. Great for bass too...as long as you don't value your bone marrow too much..... My main amp is a Laney VC30, a 'modern' take on the AC. Of course, Vox produce similar 'modern' style variations of the old classics, but I bet they don't have the build date written in pencil on the chassis and the soldered joints covered with a dab of varnish like our's have....

Amazing what old Antorias are fetching these days, but can't say I'm surprised. I had an Antoria SG too, back in the day, and I gave it to my then girlfriend's brother when I went to stay with them in Germany.....he couldn't beleive it, and I bet he still has it! Lovely things, and probably amongst the best early 'copies' going, certainly until Tokai came along....and the lawsuits followed.... Be great if you find one of those at a decent price, but as as you mentioned, there's some great 'kit' guitars around these days, and with a few hardware and electric upgrades you can end up with something pretty special...I'm very tempted myself, but I fancy a big old jazzer....

Great input to the thread Tim, and many thanks once again for sharing stuff with us on here.

Brian.

[Brian Thompson]

1960 Gibson SG Junior....the end is in sight!!!

It's all starting to come together quite nicely now, and there's not much more to do before it's time to give the fretboard some attention, get the strings on and set it all up...yippee!

Pic 1 shows the scratch plate, all finished now, with mounting holes drilled and countersunk. I tried to follow the original Gibson pattern as faithfully as I could, but with the additional extension to the top 'horn' on the left being a 'custom' feature, I ended up just making the holes equidistant on that side, as that is how the are on the left side. Very happy with how it turned out, I have to say, and those 30 degree bevels blend in perfectly with the curves on the body....well worth all the effort.

Pic 2 shows the rear control cavity, and as I was having to make a new cover plate for it (and thanks to the butchery previously visited on this fine old guitar....) I also had to add some wooden dowel 'posts' to accomodate the mounting screws so they would be in the correct position. having cut them the length I simply bonded them in place with JB Weld and mixed up some paint to match the mahogany colour, just to tidy it up really.

Pic 3 shows the cover plate in situ following cutting it out the same way I did the scratch plate. This time though, I had to make a template to suit...After a couple of failed attempts, I came up with the idea of taping some tracing paper tightly over the area, then by pressing my thumb carefully into the edge of the recess I was able to get a line to work to. I then cut it out with a scalpel and traced the outline onto the masking tape I'd again used to cover the single ply black material with. Then, as for the scratch plate, I dremelled and filed it carefully to shape until I got a decent fit in the recess. I must say this was one of the trickier parts of the job, and I wasn't happy with the fit of the first one I made....The second attempt turned out ok though, and I'm more than happy with it. As the plate sits just below level with the back of the guitar, I used 1.5MM thick material, and used a scraper to ease the 'ledge' down a little here and there to get a nice fit. A few fine brush strokes of satin clear varnish to tidy up all the wood work, mounting holes drilled and countersunk on the plate and it was all done and dusted, ready to fit.

Pic 4 shows the finished back plate.

Pic 5 shows one of the two original aluminium strap pegs fitted. I didn't want to polish all the wear and scratch marks out of them so I only gave them a quick clean and polish with some solvol and added some black felt washers and new screws. Great to have and preserve these original parts just as they are, just nicely cleaned up.

Brian.

[Brian Thompson]

1960 Gibson SG Junior...a couple more pics....!

Pic 1 shows the front body cavity and the new 'Wilkinson' GTB 'wraparound' bridge posts installed. The term comes from the way the strings are installed at the bottom/front of the bridge unit, then wrap around over the top on their way to the headstock/machine heads at the 'other end' of the guitar. I also took the opportunity to tidy up the wiring a bit and gave the cream plastic 'bobbins' on the pickup a bit of a polish while I was at it. The pic gives some indication of the level of butchery undertaken by whoever was responsible to the body in trying to fit an additional pickup in the 'neck' position.....why oh why.....

Pic 2 shows the bridge itself installed on the posts. This bridge is far superior to the original, in that it gives a greater range of adjustment for the intonation of the strings (intonation adjustment was explained earlier in this thread if any non-guitarists are interested to know more.) In addition to the two grub screws that allow the whole unit to move back against the posts, note also the moveable saddle section for the G and B strings (the ones that tend to need the most backwards adjustment), as well as the overall diagonal line effect to where the strings 'sit' on the top of the saddle. I feel this level of accurate adjustment is more important for this particular guitar than 'originality', and this lovely bridge just adds to it's 'Hot Rod' vibe in my opinion....I love it!! Very nicely designed and engineered, a tasteful update on the original concept.

Time now to get the scratch plate built up with the pickup and switch etc, and get it all lined up and marked out ready to drill the mounting holes in the body. Nearly there now....!!!!

Brian.