Turning basses into bonsai

Josh88

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When a friend/mentor of mine offered to sell me a few trees from his collection I needed to free up some funds. Since selling the kids got vetoed, it was time to part ways with some of my bass collection. After saying goodbye to two of my old musical friends and spending a good bit of the profits on making the wife happy, I was absolved to drop some tree cash. Here we have a lodgepole pine collected from the Mt Hood area, and a mugo pine that began its life as nursery stock. Both trees were given their initial styling by my buddy along side Ryan Neil. They are both due for a rewiring and repotting over the next year. Im thrilled to add these beauties to my collection and get some more experience working on refinement techniques. I hope those two basses enjoy their new homes and the music they will make, and I hope these trees enjoy their new life with me and we both benefit from our time together. Down to 7 basses left in the collection now, so for their sake I hope no great opportunities to buy trees pop up too soon!
 

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Tieball

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Nice trees. I look for to hearing about your maintenance and care. Well...if anyone thinks you’re a crack pot (cracked pot)....you have proof.
 

Josh88

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I don't know if I could sell my guitar.
I've had it for a long time.
There are a few that I will never part ways with. These two I had bought just to have for studio use, but neither had been played in a long time. They deserved to make some noise again.
 

MichaelS

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Here are the two beauties I gave up to get those two beauties.
What year are they? I have a '65 Jazz that I stopped playing 15 years ago and I can't bring myself to sell it.
 

Josh88

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What year are they? I have a '65 Jazz that I stopped playing 15 years ago and I can't bring myself to sell it.
Nice! I have a '63 Jazz with a natural refinish nicely done likely sometime in the 70's. Leo Fender sold the company to CBS in 65 so a lot of 65's and anything before is considered quite valuable for still being built under his care. Especially if it's all original bits and pieces. Those early Fenders are something special. The best available materials and as I understand it, they've been slowly loosing moisture in the wood becoming more and more resonant and clear over time. About 6 years ago my dad built me a bass that we designed together, and it's just beyond anything else I own, and as nice as all the other basses are, they just don't get played any more. Nice to see another bassist on here! And I really appreciate the work you do with your trees.
 

MichaelS

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Nice! I have a '63 Jazz with a natural refinish nicely done likely sometime in the 70's. Leo Fender sold the company to CBS in 65 so a lot of 65's and anything before is considered quite valuable for still being built under his care. Especially if it's all original bits and pieces. Those early Fenders are something special. The best available materials and as I understand it, they've been slowly loosing moisture in the wood becoming more and more resonant and clear over time. About 6 years ago my dad built me a bass that we designed together, and it's just beyond anything else I own, and as nice as all the other basses are, they just don't get played any more. Nice to see another bassist on here! And I really appreciate the work you do with your trees.

Unfortunately it was not in original condition when I bought it. It was pretty beat up and the fretboard was so thin I had to get a new one put on and get it painted. I also changed the pickups and the bridge to make it more playable but I still have the originals. The original machine heads are left handed (turn clockwise to tighten the strings - strange!)) You are right about the resonance of the old wood. Very sweet. I also had a 59 telecaster bass once. That was pretty rare over here. In fact the only one I ever saw.
 

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Josh88

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I completed the first big job with the lodgepole last night and removed the wire, which has been on too long. It was by far the most extensive and difficult unwiring Ive done as it had really bitten into much of the bark. I feel like removing wire is perhaps an even greater lesson in wiring than applying it, as you get a much better sense of how the wire applies torque to the branches and how to best support the branches against those forces. I'm very pleased to say that no branches or buds broke in this process, which to me is a big win for my first work on a tree this well developed. It was also great to spend a few hours examining the tree and getting to see the potential for its next wiring and styling.
 

Thomas J.

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I sold my 66 Strat in 1970, biggest mistake I ever made. At least now I have some nice trees to console me whenever it haunts me. :-(
stratotom1967 001_pe.jpg
 

Josh88

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IMG_2014.JPG This is the kind of artwork we like to display on the walls of the "formal" dining room.
 
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