Les Paul Bass Restoration

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Author Message   Orphius Username: Orphius Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - 9:50 pm:    Hi guys Thought you might be interested in having a look at a restoration I'm trying to do The photo shows an Ibanez Les Paul Recorder model Bass, no 2381, an interesting instrument in that this one was manufactured between 1971 and 1975 and has a one-piece neck, no join between the headstock and the neck shaft Originally bought out in two models, a six string guitar and the Bass It has a multitude of controls, EG: Bass, treble and volume knobs, a three position tone switch, High and low impedance out, In and out of phase switch (Phase reversal), and a neck, Both or bridge pickup selector As you can probably imagine the variety of tonal variation available from the various switching combinations is enormous For example switched to tone one, in phase, both pickups it produces a huge rich clean tone the like of which I have not heard from any other bass If that were not enough it also has a cam on the bridge that lifts a damper up under the strings, which makes it sound like a double bass A very exiting instrument, so well balanced and a pleasure to play, interestingly this instrument has no serial number and the only indicators are the number two written in red and a Japanese symbol in the neck pocket and on the rear of the base of the shaft of the neck It makes me wonder if they were following the early fender practice of writing the production number and the assembler’s initials in the neck pocket, prior to putting serial numbers on them? Any thoughts? The only fly in my restoration ointment at the moment is that I need two treble side tuners to match the originals and a cover for the tailpiece I’ve advertised for them but so far no luck, just have to be patient I guess, there must be some laying around somewhere   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - 10:23 pm:    This one literally just ended on eBay, it's close to yours: Ebay Item #330189858732   Bassassin Username: Bassassin Registered: 1-2006 Posted on Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 11:32 am:    Orphius - I don't think the tuners on your bass are the originals. Take a look at the Ebay link Chuck posted - the tuners on that bass are a generic type that appeared on many 70s MIJ basses, and I'd bet your bass originally had a set of these. The two on it now are replacements, which probably share the footprint of the originals. They're quite similar but the buttons are more scalloped & contoured on the originals. The original style ones are pretty common on Ebay, keep your eyes open & a set will come up, sooner or later. As far as the bridge cover's concerned, depending on the bridge height & distance between screw holes, something like this might fit: Ebay Item #130173777773 Jon.   Fox Username: Fox Registered: 2-2003 Posted on Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 6:31 pm:    Orphius, in fact your bass is a copy of "G" Les Paul Triumph bass, the guitar was LP Recording..That other bass is LP Pro Bass, a predecessor of LP Triumph..   Orphius Username: Orphius Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 11:29 pm:    THanks guys your suggestions and information were most welcome and give me hope that I may be able to bring this beast back to it's former glory Thanks for the info on the model etc, proper identification of early ibanez'es seems to be a common problem Yes Bassasin you put your finger right on it its the footprint of the machines and espesially the hole spacing that concerns me Interesting, I had assumed the ones shown were the originals because they fit all the holes but You could well be right about them and I also hope you are right about the chance of getting some As you will notice I have already plugged the back of the headstock on the D string in anticipation of getting the right tuners Interestingly the hole spacing is one and five sixteenths by a half inch and the shaft is three eights in diameter Thanks again   Bassassin Username: Bassassin Registered: 1-2006 Posted on Friday, November 23, 2007 - 7:46 am:    Here's a better pic of the sort of tuner I think your bass would have had: Unfortunately I don't have one to hand to measure - I would expect its measurements to be metric, like most Japanese hardware. Like I said, these things were ubiquitous, they appeared on basses from every Japanese manufacturer. It's very common for people to replace these tuners with more modern or traditional types - so it might be worth asking on a forum like Talkbass.com, quite likely someone will have a set in their spares box. Jon   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Friday, November 23, 2007 - 11:41 am:    I bought some replacement tuners for a Cimar bass from AllParts that may also do the trick. They were nearly an exact match for the ones I needed, and seem to have the same "footprint" for the mounting holes you have: http://www.allparts.com/store/tuning-keys-bass-tuning-keys-tk-7945-010,Product.asp They measure 33mm hole-center to hole-center the long way and 10mm center to center the short way. -Chuck   Orphius Username: Orphius Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Friday, November 23, 2007 - 6:37 pm:    Hi guys This is geting realy interesting, and thanks for the brilliant pics The machine in Bassasasin's pik is definatly different in that it has a Knurled section in the centre if the button shaft, whearas the ones on my bass have two groves machined, not that important I guess with the objective of getting it back to playing condition The other pik from chuck are ones that I also noticed on all parts and would have used straight away, except that even though the 33mm spacing on the long side is perfect, the 10mm spacing on the short side wont match the 12.5mm spacing of the original holes, what a bummer to be so close and yet so far they would have looked good with those sloping backs on the covers Never mind, I shall have a look at talkbass and let you know if I get a result Once again thank you very much for your help, much appreciated

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