fretkless P-copy frankensteining

[Augie]

Boebl's post about modding a Squire got me to thinking about the project I have been on for a couple weeks.

Starting bass: "pro-star" fretless P copy- this was an East German brand-nice neck but very cheap components. It was originally a horrid red ( I refer to its as "baboon arse"-you think the comunists could have gotten red right)

step one- removal of the red- endless sanding through a 3 step paint job -clear/red/sealer- completed

step two- removal of top/bottom- the bass look like 3piece alder with nice grain with an 1-2mm ugly cap- its gotta go, which will lighten the bass, Maybe curve out the contours a bit more. Death by sanding!-pending

step 3- rout out the pups to replace the P (really nasty original pup) with a carvin HB-4 bumhucker-planning stages

4-finish will be probably a walnut stain tung oil, matching stain headstock-planning

5- i really want to set it up with a custom timber or sheet metal scratch plate and get a single stacked pot with a pull switch (like on SSII's, Jazzmans etc) and set it up Vol/Tone (with original paper in oil cap) with the switch as a coil tap.

So ti will be walnut stain fretless, matching headstock timber scratch plate, humbucker in the swet spot, single pot. hardware to remain original chrome (its not mine so its up to its owner to decide if he should get a badass for it)

Comments?.....Abuse? (before youdo I'll take some pics soon at the moment its just a paintless P-bass)

 

[Grgzilla]

Hahahaha Baboon arse red.:lol:
The biggest,dumbest,smelliest ape of them all! *Homer Simpson.
Leave the P rout & bung in a Seymour Duncan Quarter pounder.
This is my knee jerk response to anyone asking,"what should I do to my cheap P-bass copy?"
Body- either leave the veneer on, or remove it, chamber the body, then re-install veneer, then oil.
If ya have your heart set on routing for more pickup space, whack that humbucker down by the bridge.
Now if ya go to this much effort, might as well replace tuners & bridge with some hipshots.

 

[Leronious]

Leave the P rout & bung in a Seymour Duncan Quarter pounder.

+1

Maybe you can do a P/MM or P/P or MM/MM or P/J/J (with the J's in the Thumb 5er position).

 

[boebl]

woah P + mirror P would be ace!

 

[Negyuh]

I am curious about the outcome of this project, Augie!

 

[Doc]

I'm with ya Augie (and Bojan)!

I'm right in the thick of putting together my FrankenSquier. I'm doing a single MM pup with MM electronics and knobs.

What I've done:
- removed frets and filled the gaps with hardwood filler
- sanded everything down to bare wood
- routed all cavities to accept the new electrics

What I'm doing over the next few weeks:
- installing 3/4" tapped steel plugs into forstner holes for bridge mounting (more surface area of metal to wood for sustain)
- getting everything painted pearl white (Cadillac "White Diamond") including the fretboard
- Jaco'ing the fretboard with epoxy
- installing custom guard
- installing the pup and electronics
- installing black Gotohs
- installing black Kahler bridge
- black flats

Will it be worth the money? Who cares? I'm gonna keep it and play it.

 

[Augie]

The pup choice was not mine, we thought just rout the gaps in the P-hole (that sounds much nastier than it really is) or carve them out, I have zero routing experience. this whole project is me teaching myself this stuff and the owner of the ax looking on and changing his mind all the time. this way there is very little carving, and hopefully a nice warm FL.

Greg- you are a bastard for suggesting the chambers. seriously that is such a good call. what i could do is use the same timber for the top and scratchplate..........might be too much. (and to easy to bugger up).
In terms of massive routing/wiring changes i really want to keep it simple and minimal, that why i want only one pot. none would be nice but a vol control is good and if you can't roll the high end off carvin pups people will actually bleed if there hear it.


Negyuh-you and me both brother, no idea where it will end up

 

[Augie]

+1

Maybe you can do a P/MM or P/P or MM/MM or P/J/J (with the J's in the Thumb 5er position).

little off topic but has anyone else seen the pic of the TJ/J/J or maybe MM/J/J CS streamer out there.....maybe i dreamt it.

If i did dream it it's my idea and you can't have it!....any of you!! (scurries off to gouge holes in his jazzman)

 

[Augie]

regarding the hardware its not really my call and all that stuff can be done post-hoc. if the owner wants the HW it will be a matter of minutes to drop in better machine heads or a straight replacement bridge. cost so far has been somewhere like 200 bucks for the bass, less that 100 for pup and about 20 bucks of sandpaper