I have had a roll of Velvia in the GX680 for a month or more, so I took some pictures of guitars to burn it off the last couple images. I used the tilt-shift to get the entire neck in focus in an attempt to learn how that works and I’d like to claim that I now have it perfect, but you can see I cut the end off of my new bass, so obviously I tilted but didn’t appropriately shift. That sounds like a metaphor of some variety. Alas, it’s literal.
By new, I mean the bass is only new to me. It’s actually 35 years old. I snagged it at a yard sale two weekends ago. It was filthy. So filthy I am kicking myself for not taking before pictures now that it’s done.
It had been hanging neglected for two years since it’s previous owner, Phil, passed away, and was completely covered in dust and grunge, displayed lying in the dirt. I wanted a P Bass to replace the Squier I have now, and literally decided to start looking 3 days before the yard sale, so I was primed to buy. I figured a mid-80s Made in Japan jazz neck was exactly what I would get if could choose anything at all, so I snagged it figuring it would be an ugly duckling that played great. Except, when I washed the grunge off, it isn’t ugly at all. The hardware is near mint and the paint is as good as you’ll find for a 35 year old instrument, only showing its age by having been sun-tanned to a darker, golden cream that’s even nicer than the original cream color (which I can compare as it is hiding under the pickguard). Not a bad score. And it plays perfectly after I set it up. I took Phil’s ridiculous chickenhead knobs off and returned it to it’s appropriate dress, but I left the shamrock sticker. A random sticker and ridiculous knobs pretty much summed up Phil’s entire aesthetic. He was eccentric, and a good guy. It’s nice to have something of his around the house, so it will continue to wear his random decorating as a small tribute.
The first four images are on Velvia 50, which I love more than I can adequately express. The slides are even more amazing than these tiny, compressed files can begin to show. This film stock is amazeballs. The last three are digital images, just depth of field tests, here so I can show them to a friend.
Behold!
