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Old 04-22-2010, 03:20 PM
Adam Linz Adam Linz is offline
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Default Replacing Brass Plates

Hey everyone. New to the forum. Thanks for all the great info over the years. Just got a 3/4 Morelli and was going to replace the tuners and the plates. The Plates and tuners on it are fine, they are Nickel Plated Brass. Just wanted to give the bass a couple of upgrades and get some shine on the scroll.
That being said, can anyone give me some advice on getting plates cut.
My luthier doesn't feel 100% about doing it himself so should I find some metal works people? There are many here in the Twin Cities?
Should we give the bass something special or stick to tradition? Exotic pattern or round turns on top like some of the Italian instruments I've seen.
Anyone done this before?
Thanks for any input and again thank you all for untold amounts of info. You are all great. Adam Linz Twin Cities, Minnesota
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Old 04-22-2010, 03:53 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Exclamation why?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Linz View Post
Hey everyone. New to the forum. Thanks for all the great info over the years. Just got a 3/4 Morelli and was going to replace the tuners and the plates. The Plates and tuners on it are fine, they are Nickel Plated Brass. Just wanted to give the bass a couple of upgrades and get some shine on the scroll.
That being said, can anyone give me some advice on getting plates cut.
My luthier doesn't feel 100% about doing it himself so should I find some metal works people? There are many here in the Twin Cities?
Should we give the bass something special or stick to tradition? Exotic pattern or round turns on top like some of the Italian instruments I've seen.
Anyone done this before?
Thanks for any input and again thank you all for untold amounts of info. You are all great. Adam Linz Twin Cities, Minnesota
A Morelli is a German shop bass with good wood and decent machines. Why would you fix what's not broke?

Show me the bass please and then I will advise further s this is a good or bad idea.
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Old 04-22-2010, 05:59 PM
Adam Linz Adam Linz is offline
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Default

Hi Ken. Thanks for getting back to me. The gears are great and the plates are great. I just wanted to put on something newer and a little better. I like the look of the brass and fell in love with the look of the Morelli on your sight after the plates had been polished and the new tuners were in. WOW! Beautiful.
This is the first really nice bass I've owned and I've been playing professionally
for the last 15 years. I just want to make it the best sounding and best looking bass I can cause chances are I'm gonna have it for a long time. I really love it.
I got the bass for a steal of 5K and took to my repair guy who said nothing needed to be done to it at the moment. Maybe a neck reset down the road, but nothing immediate. Got the C Extension on 2 weeks after having it and that made a huge difference.
I have a student in need of some tuners and plates for an old German bass that he has. This very talented kid is also from a very poor family, and I thought hey we can do double damage here. Get me some new shiny plates and tuners and put these excellent nickel plated ones on his bass. His tuners are so shot that it's hard to keep the bass in tune.
I know that the upgrade seems a little selfish but if I can help out my student and turn the Morelli into an even more gorgeous instrument I'm up for it.
No digital camera. I will try to have a friend come over with one have him help me post some pics. Thanks again for your time and thoughts. Best, Adam Linz Twin Cities MN
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Old 04-22-2010, 06:14 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Default ok..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Linz View Post
Hi Ken. Thanks for getting back to me. The gears are great and the plates are great. I just wanted to put on something newer and a little better. I like the look of the brass and fell in love with the look of the Morelli on your sight after the plates had been polished and the new tuners were in. WOW! Beautiful.
This is the first really nice bass I've owned and I've been playing professionally
for the last 15 years. I just want to make it the best sounding and best looking bass I can cause chances are I'm gonna have it for a long time. I really love it.
I got the bass for a steal of 5K and took to my repair guy who said nothing needed to be done to it at the moment. Maybe a neck reset down the road, but nothing immediate. Got the C Extension on 2 weeks after having it and that made a huge difference.
I have a student in need of some tuners and plates for an old German bass that he has. This very talented kid is also from a very poor family, and I thought hey we can do double damage here. Get me some new shiny plates and tuners and put these excellent nickel plated ones on his bass. His tuners are so shot that it's hard to keep the bass in tune.
I know that the upgrade seems a little selfish but if I can help out my student and turn the Morelli into an even more gorgeous instrument I'm up for it.
No digital camera. I will try to have a friend come over with one have him help me post some pics. Thanks again for your time and thoughts. Best, Adam Linz Twin Cities MN
On My Morelli/Prfetzschner I re-used the old plates. The old Gears were de-riveted and used new Krutz Gears in their place after cleaning, polishing and spray lacquering the old plates. This was not easy and was not cheap. For you, I would suggest single plate gears and not bothering with the Plates if looking to upgrade the looks of the bass. All the old holes will need to be plugged and the varnish touched up. If you want plates then just get the nicest Rubners you can get with the plates. A Morelli in my opinion is not worth a $1k+ Gear upgrade like on a highly valuable Italian or English Bass. My Loveri had plate gears when I got it and did the singles after. On the Gilkes I did the same thing as on the Morelli. The difference though was that the Gears/plates on the Morelli were the original. The Loveri and Gilkes gears/plates though old like the Morelli were not the originals.

Talk to your bass Luthier about this. Let him help you and walk you thru the options.
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