Originally Posted 2013
Decided to restore the Asturcon bass, but upon inspection I found that the damn thing has been painted a million times and it\’s going to take me a million times longer than I’d hoped/wanted but in saying that it’s going to look just the way it’s supposed to.
Couple of things I’ve noticed, firstly the two ebony strips that run down the centre had been filled and the whole thing had been re-sealed with enough fibreglass resin to keep a ship afloat which is a serious annoyance as although it\’s basswood, a wood that has tight grain it can be made to look great, it just takes a little care and patience, something the previous owner obviously didn’t have, hence the glass resin over factory paint over glass resin�- no doubt used to fill imperfections.
Secondly the neck pocket had a badly cut 2mm thick piece of pine glued in to it, this just popped out with some gentle persuasion, and apart from making the neck sit higher in the pocket I can’t see why it was there. It’s gone now so time will tell, that is if it sounds crap then maybe I’ll need to put it back but I still can’t work out the reasoning behind it as the neck now sits better and lines up better? Maybe idiots should leave guitars alone instead of trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear and accept them for what they are e.g. you get what you pay for.
Obviously, this guitar had seen better days, and probably numerous owners. It sounded fine but looked crap so fingers crossed it will again look and sound the way it should.
