Something came over me a while back to do some makeover mods to my 2 Fender Basses.
My first Bass is a '78 P-Bass I bought new back in 1981. This is my 2nd big purchase as a teenager that I saved up from bussing tables and washing dishes at local restaurants. My first big purchase was a Acoustic combo amp. I bought music gear before a car!
My second Bass is a '97 American standard Jazz Bass that my wife gave me as a Valentines day present. What a gift, huh?
To some, modifying older Basses may be sacrilegious but my instruments are mine and I have no intention to sell them and my 2 Basses have all the wear and tear from my hands only. That's why vintage Basses don't appeal to me because most of them have been owned by many players and have the wear from them, not me. These days, some are just being bought for the collector value driving the price up even more.
My Basses are mass produced so the value isn't ever going to reach the early 50's and 60's models when production numbers were much less. Also, during the 80's and 90's, it was common to modify our instruments and there is a plethora of parts for Fender Basses and others too. We thought nothing of it then and I still think that way today.
That's all just my opinion!
Here are some pics of what I recently done to my Basses.
This 1st pic doesn't show the contrast of the Gold hardware against the Black body. I just like the pic! This is truly my golden bass because of the many years and fond memories I had with this instrument!
Here you can see the Gold hardware complemented by Optima Gold strings. It would be great if EMG made gold pickup poles or if they didn't epoxy the pickup covers on where the poles could be painted, at least the EMG logo is gold. Those are EMG GZR P/J pickups. The J bridge was added over 20 years ago.
Here is a nice closeup. The bridge is the Hipshot style A and the Bass has been converted for string-thru the body.
I edited the photo to bring out the contrast in the gold hardware and strings. It's not easy to capture a photo showing all the details without glare and reflections.
I couldn't find an engraved F logo neck plate in gold so I found a guy on E Bay who can etch one on. It looks good but I would rather have a real one. This pic didn't come out good because of the reflections but the basic idea is there.
Another pick trying to show gold neck plate with F logo. Didn't come out.
These were a good find and inspired me to do a gold conversion, Gold tuners from a '80's Walnut P-Bass special in nice condition! Notice the Hipshot D-Tuner conversion that Hipshot did for me. Notice I also forgot to polish up the tuners for the pic, oh well!
A close up look at the converted Hipshot D-Tuner.
Notice I use concentric knobs. I prefer the concentric pots for a 2 knob look on a P-Bass but not concentric wiring. Pot 1 is pickup 1 volume(no tone control on lower knob) while pot 2 is pickup 2 volume and master tone.
Now for my Jazz Bass!
Basically I just did a modern spin with a 60's look.
I recently had to repair a noticeable ding on the front face of the headstock which included sanding off the original Fender logo. I never liked the Bass's original spaghetti logo anyway so I went with a 60's logo. I think it looks better!
Here I went with the Hipshot A style Fender bridge. The Bass already has string-thru ferrules so this was an easy switch. Notice I went with concentric pots to complete the 60's vibe. The pickups are Dimarzio model J which give it a humbucking tone that's almost like my P-Bass.
A better look at the concentric knobs. Just like my P-Bass, they are wired for individual pickup volume and master tone. I just like the retro 2 knob concentric look!
Also just like my P-Bass, I had Hipshot do a D-tuner conversion of my original tuner so I can have them all matching. Looks good doesn't it? Notice the serial number is still on the headstock for those who might think I may try to pass this off as an original. Surely I would never try to and there are many obvious clues that this isn't a true vintage model or even custom shop. It's my personal custom Bass!
I hope you enjoyed looking at these pics. Please post any of your comments good or bad!
My first Bass is a '78 P-Bass I bought new back in 1981. This is my 2nd big purchase as a teenager that I saved up from bussing tables and washing dishes at local restaurants. My first big purchase was a Acoustic combo amp. I bought music gear before a car!
My second Bass is a '97 American standard Jazz Bass that my wife gave me as a Valentines day present. What a gift, huh?
To some, modifying older Basses may be sacrilegious but my instruments are mine and I have no intention to sell them and my 2 Basses have all the wear and tear from my hands only. That's why vintage Basses don't appeal to me because most of them have been owned by many players and have the wear from them, not me. These days, some are just being bought for the collector value driving the price up even more.
My Basses are mass produced so the value isn't ever going to reach the early 50's and 60's models when production numbers were much less. Also, during the 80's and 90's, it was common to modify our instruments and there is a plethora of parts for Fender Basses and others too. We thought nothing of it then and I still think that way today.
That's all just my opinion!
Here are some pics of what I recently done to my Basses.
This 1st pic doesn't show the contrast of the Gold hardware against the Black body. I just like the pic! This is truly my golden bass because of the many years and fond memories I had with this instrument!
Here you can see the Gold hardware complemented by Optima Gold strings. It would be great if EMG made gold pickup poles or if they didn't epoxy the pickup covers on where the poles could be painted, at least the EMG logo is gold. Those are EMG GZR P/J pickups. The J bridge was added over 20 years ago.
I edited the photo to bring out the contrast in the gold hardware and strings. It's not easy to capture a photo showing all the details without glare and reflections.
Another pick trying to show gold neck plate with F logo. Didn't come out.
These were a good find and inspired me to do a gold conversion, Gold tuners from a '80's Walnut P-Bass special in nice condition! Notice the Hipshot D-Tuner conversion that Hipshot did for me. Notice I also forgot to polish up the tuners for the pic, oh well!
A close up look at the converted Hipshot D-Tuner.
Notice I use concentric knobs. I prefer the concentric pots for a 2 knob look on a P-Bass but not concentric wiring. Pot 1 is pickup 1 volume(no tone control on lower knob) while pot 2 is pickup 2 volume and master tone.
Now for my Jazz Bass!
Basically I just did a modern spin with a 60's look.
Here I went with the Hipshot A style Fender bridge. The Bass already has string-thru ferrules so this was an easy switch. Notice I went with concentric pots to complete the 60's vibe. The pickups are Dimarzio model J which give it a humbucking tone that's almost like my P-Bass.
A better look at the concentric knobs. Just like my P-Bass, they are wired for individual pickup volume and master tone. I just like the retro 2 knob concentric look!
Also just like my P-Bass, I had Hipshot do a D-tuner conversion of my original tuner so I can have them all matching. Looks good doesn't it? Notice the serial number is still on the headstock for those who might think I may try to pass this off as an original. Surely I would never try to and there are many obvious clues that this isn't a true vintage model or even custom shop. It's my personal custom Bass!
I hope you enjoyed looking at these pics. Please post any of your comments good or bad!
