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Upgrading my cheap P-Bass copy

ThunderBassist Jay
Posts: 1084
I bought this bass second hand for small money. I optimized it by reworking the tuners, replacing the nut, improving the neck to body joint and many other small issues. Now that the bass has been stable for the past four months, it deserved a black pick guard. Some pictures…
Let's rock!

The pickups had to be slightly moved towards the bridge and to the left.

I applied some neoprene alongside the pickups, because the slots in the pick guard are a little wider. I don't like gaps. An apple corer can be a useful tool.

Some minor routing was required to fit the output socket into its new position.

New screws were definitely required.

So there we are, old and new!
johnny [staff]
Posts: 1013
nice! looking much better now!
Quote:
nice! looking much better now!
Thanks, I totally agree. Due to the slightly shifted positions of the pickups, they are now better aligned with regard to the strings. This morning I set everything up to my preferences. It's just like having a new bass.
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
Very Sid Vicious. I'm a firm believer in using a cheap guitar as a base for customising
Quote:
Very Sid Vicious.
The bass, yes, the player, no.
Quote:
I'm a firm believer in using a cheap guitar as a base for customising
As long as the neck is good, any bass can be made playable.
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
Jay, you should check out my ‘Tech Guy’ thread and see photos of my bass build from scratch. Here's a pic of the first bass I built;
Leiria
Posts: 330
Very nice. Looks great now. Love seeing this kind of threads/posts. Ever thought of putting a badass bridge in it?
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
I'm defo changing the bridge for a more conventional one, heavy duty with locking saddles but not a badass
Quote:
Very nice. Looks great now. Love seeing this kind of threads/posts. Ever thought of putting a badass bridge in it?
I'm not a fan of extra heavy bridges like Badass. If the stock bridge makes good mechanical contact with the body, it does all it has to do: setting intonation and action and providing mechanical contact through the saddles to the body. The same goes for string through. I don't see the advantage.
Marko1960
Posts: 3143
People who play Telecasters over Strats know the difference through stringing makes, the bass in the pic is string through and the tone is miles better than my Stingray which has a stop bridge
Quote:
Jay, you should check out my ‘Tech Guy’ thread and see photos of my bass build from scratch. Here's a pic of the first bass I built;
I checked out your Tech Guy thread. Impressive. One day I'll build a fretless, headless 5 string bass with 19 mm string spacing at the bridge. One day…

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