Our 100th blog post!!!

Slowly but surely activity is beginning to pick up in the Bass Monkey workshop as the pace slows down in the Grease Monkey garage.



Lonnie leaving for work, a typical Friday morning commute...NOT!!!

Lonnie continues to fine tune the Mustang, the more he drives the car the smoother it runs. Like any antique sitting for a while it needs the kinks worked out and the lubrication to settle in. For now he is pleased with the progress and he is satisfied to drive the car daily to work when the weather is good. I like when we cruise the loop in town, all the young kids stare and the old guys give us thumbs up and laugh. Last night we cruised around laughing like two fools. The toy like foreign cars pulls up beside us and rev their engine. As if to say “Lets race Grandpa”…we just smile. We don’t need to prove anything. They would be waiting for the light to change green when they see smoke and our tail lights. Its great when age brings you wisdom and respect…you just don’t have to impress anyone.

Now on to the workshop…we have a 1949 Kay S-9 in the workshop for a mini make over before the IBMA’s at the end of September. The bass is in beautiful original condition, a gorgeous blonde. She is getting a new ULSA ebony end pin, a Hi-Tech Clef tail gut, new Zyex strings, the Bass Monkey speed neck treatment, minor seam and edge repairs. 

The bass sounds great with Innovation Honeys so we will see how it sounds with the new Zyex strings. This is not a string we are familiar with so it will be a nice to hear the difference. I’ll take the opportunity (with the owners permission of course) to test drive the bass and strings. I have been asked to break it in a bit before it travels to Nashville for its début...I’ll let you know how that works out!

Getting started on the 1949 Kay S-9 Swingmaster

The old parts, new parts and re-used parts

Detailing the edges by filling in the chips.  Finishing and color matching to come

The saddle is pulling out of the pocket.  Lonnie will clean up the saddle, re-glue with fresh hide glue and ream a new hole for the new ULSA ebony tapered end pin

The tapered end pin reamers.  The smaller one on the left to start to hole and the larger one on the right to finish the job

The saddle is cleaned and glued.  The next step is to start the end pin fitting

Come back soon.  This project will move quickly to meet the deadline.