Three out of three, done!

I was nearly devo earlier on today when I thought the neck of the guitar was bent!

I ended up looking on eBay at replacement necks (around $60) and kit guitars (about $160) but then started looking if it was possible to straighten a bent neck.

After a bit of mucking around, I worked out the tension bar in the neck (which keeps the neck straight against the pull of the strings) was done up too tight, and that was why the neck was bowed.

It might even be the reason why the previous owner threw the guitar out (I picked it up off the side of the road three years ago). So I scored a bass guitar for about $24. Sweet!

Three out of three, but...

The good news is the strings for the bass guitar arrived. And they're the right length! #Winning

However, I stuffed up with the nut (the little bit at the end of the fretboard which holds the strings up). The one I ordered is too short, so the strings rub against the frets, producing a most unpleasant sound. #NotWinning

I'll have to rip that nut off and order a new one, which probably won't arrive until after I head off interstate.

A bit disappointing, but should only be a minor hurdle (assuming I don't break anything getting the old nut off).

Two out of three

Project Repair The Bass Guitar is proceeding well, I have two of the three components I ordered in hand (tuning knobs and nut, waiting on strings). None of the parts are the right part, but they'll be 'good enough' parts, at least enough to get noise out of it.

For a total spend so far of around $20, I'm hoping to end up with a functional (if ugly) bass guitar. I'm not counting the files, they're tools that I'll be able to use on other projects.

I'm not planning on joining a band or playing in public (or playing properly if I'm honest), but I'm hoping it'll satisfy my creativity itch. And if it doesn't, then at least I'm not too out of pocket.

Test drive

Not something I do too often, but today I had a chance to take a PT Cruiser out for a test drive.

Very nice car to drive, they nailed the gearbox on this one. Was able to do a bit of city driving just using first and second (less gear changing ment less effort and stress driving in city traffic), and long legs for driving on the highway. Was comfortably doing 100km/h in fourth, with fifth gear still in reserve. I'm a tall person, so I appreciated the headroom.

What I didn't like was the placement of the window controls (all four in the middle of the centre console) and the dim setting on the dash / radio were too dark. Not sure if this is a setting that can be changed by the user, but it was dark enough that I essentially just had a blank, black screen that couldn't be read.

Admittedly, when I turned the headlights off and they went back on normal settings, they were bright and easy to see. But for safety, I drive with the headlights on and in sunny conditions, couldn't make out the screens.

Also, I definitely didn't like the layout of the engine bay. I had to replace the battery (hence the reason for taking it out for a drive), and it was very awkward and required other parts to be removed in order to remove the battery.

One of the main reasons I dislike cars designed by computers...

Back home

Back at home again, so much warmer!

Been back about a week or so, didn't have much to write about. I've finally gotten around to ordering bits to repair the bass guitar. We picked it up off the side of the road in  ... uh ... 2016? A while back anyway. Missing a few bits but the body and neck seem straight. It has one string on it and when I tested it, it seemed to be working.

Spent about $22 so far, so that's not too bad an investment. Until I get these bits on, I won't know for sure if the guitar is good or not. If it isn't, I'll re-assess and decide if I want to put more money into it or just walk away.

I'm trying to sell the acoustic guitar, so if that sells, that'll cover some of the cost and also free up a guitar stand (reducing required expenses).

Fingers crossed!