MEVWCW: More Excellent Vito Wayne Custom Work

Iron1

AmbassaDOOM of Red VVinter
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For those who remember, I inherited my brother's Ibanez EXB445 bass when he died a little over two years ago. Back in the 90s when he first got it, he mentioned several times how he'd love to have it custom painted a deep metallic purple some day.

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Well, as you should know by now, Liveevil does incredible custom guitar finishing. When I mentioned the bass to him in an off-hand comment one day, he asked me to send it to him so he could do it up for my brother's memory.

So, I took it apart and shipped off the body.

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Took a few weeks and he sent it back my way. It showed up yesterday afternoon.


As soon as I had it apart, I went on the hunt for some better pickups as the EMG Selects it came with are neither all that or a bag of chips...

Found a deal on some killer Bartolini's and slapped them in once I had the body back.

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I haven't finished wiring it up yet as I ran out of time last night. But once the weekend arrives this evening, that's top of my to do list. Then, this monster gets first crack at my next song. And, the Barts running thru the CHUG pedal as a preamp should sound utterly massive.

LE got me into naming my guitars for some reason, and since my brother ran Sound Wizard Studios, this one is hereby named The Sound Wizard. The purple works great for that, I think.


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Thought yours looked familiar. Mines an EX as well. Just four strings rather than 5. And black.

When I bought mine way back in the 90s. The store had two hanging there. The black one and a candy apple red….. which I really liked….. except for the crack in the finish. So I bought the black one.
They're really nice basses, for sure. Too bad Ibby stopped making them.
 
For those who remember, I inherited my brother's Ibanez EXB445 bass when he died a little over two years ago. Back in the 90s when he first got it, he mentioned several times how he'd love to have it custom painted a deep metallic purple some day.

f1VytdV.jpg
View attachment 87639

Well, as you should know by now, Liveevil does incredible custom guitar finishing. When I mentioned the bass to him in an off-hand comment one day, he asked me to send it to him so he could do it up for my brother's memory.

So, I took it apart and shipped off the body.

9kWb8jK.jpg

Took a few weeks and he sent it back my way. It showed up yesterday afternoon.


As soon as I had it apart, I went on the hunt for some better pickups as the EMG Selects it came with are neither all that or a bag of chips...

Found a deal on some killer Bartolini's and slapped them in once I had the body back.

fl60m0e.jpg

Qn7svLl.jpg
View attachment 87638
I haven't finished wiring it up yet as I ran out of time last night. But once the weekend arrives this evening, that's top of my to do list. Then, this monster gets first crack at my next song. And, the Barts running thru the CHUG pedal as a preamp should sound utterly massive.

LE got me into naming my guitars for some reason, and since my brother ran Sound Wizard Studios, this one is hereby named The Sound Wizard. The purple works great for that, I think.


eddie.gif
I’m glad you like it.
It was a fun project for sure.
 
Question. Since I basically have the same model bass…. What’d you have to do to strip the old paint?
If the body is straight and you don’t need to do wood repairs, You don’t need to strip it all the way down. Sand it until all the gloss is gone. I use 400 grit and a sanding block to get it smooth and level. The base paint will act as your primer.
If you need to do repairs then that is another story.
 
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