Your _____ bass's journey, both body and soul.... (Beware- Lengthy Post, but pics!)

[Derry Murbles]

REVELATION!!!

While scrolling through and looking at the pictures of my bass, I just came to the realization that there is in fact ONE original part from the 2001 Squier:

The string retainer

When I bought each of the replacement necks (first the unmarked/no name neck, then the Fender) they did not come with hardware. I ended up just transferring the retainer from neck to neck each time, complete with the same half stripped screw.

Funny how things turn out!

 

[Az_Rocker76]

I keep telling this story everywhere but here's the story of my squier Precision.

This is how it looked when I found it a pawn shop for $90. My main bass was broken and I needed a bass fast so I got it. It was all stock even the Strings were original. I got it 2014 and its a 2006 model so the strings were done. Anyway I got it set up and fresh strings and used it for the entire year. I changed the pickups after that year and left it like that for a couple of months.

Early last year I decided I wanted a fretless and decided to make one myself so I literally got a butter knife and popped the frets out in about an hour taking it real slow. When they were out I filled the slots with wood filler and covered the fretboard with polyurethane. It came out pretty good and I played it like that for the rest of the year. I got my thunderbird however and stopped playing it as my primary bass.

In about January I decided I didn't like the color anymore and took the bass apart and stripped the paint down to the wood.
I also sanded the headstock because I was going to paint it too and was going to start from barewood; I decided not to though.Anyway I had it stripped to the wood and primered but needed the bass for a gig because my thunderbird needed output Jack repairs. I put it back together and it looked like this. Took it to the gig and only one person asked why it was "finished" in primer. After that I took it home and left it for a week.

I then stripped it down again and decided to paint it red. So that's what I did with spray paint!!

The finished product came pretty nice and the bass has been my most used one out of all the basses I've had. It has gone back and forth with me just about everywhere, been at just about every gig either as my primary or backup bass and has never let me down. I will continue to to use it until it gets completely obliterated beyond repair. I've got a feeling it'll probably outlast me though!!! Here's how it looks as of now.

That's my story about my most used, modded, and trustworthy bass!

 

[KohanMike]

OK, you asked for it, here are my mods;

Converted an Epiphone Les Paul Express 22" scale guitar into a bass. Gotoh tuners, new nut, bridge, additional layer on the pickup frame for thumb rest, Strat knobs, rotated the pickup switch to be logically forward and back rather than up and down, drilled string-through holes at the tail to accommodate short scale flat wound strings.

Bought a pink Mini 24.5" scale P-bass to specifically have it painted surf green. Added the truss rod cover and stick-on block fret markers and Strat knobs.

Modified a Rondo Hadean solid body uke by having the horns cut down, matched the head plate color to the body, added white pickguards with integrated thumb rest and white truss rod cover, replaced all the black hardware with chrome, including Gotoh tuners, Strat knobs, output jack and strap buttons. Replaced the sticky Thundergut strings with Kala steel wound nylon core u-bass strings.

Replaced the body of another Rondo Hadean solid body uke with a Hofner inspired solid body, plus white pickguard, white truss rod cover, mock tailpiece, black Road Toad Pahoehoe strings, Gibson knobs.

Modified another Rondo Hadean solid body uke longer scale into a tribute to the first electric bass guitar made by AudioVox, the Serenader, in the mid/late 1930s. Cut off the horns, added the black pickguard with integrated thumb rest, black truss rod cover, gold and black Strat knobs, gold paint, customized the headstock decal.

This mod is in the works, the 21" scale bass uke was just screaming to be made into a Rickenbacker walnut style. The original and my mock up drawing since it's not ready yet. Shape the horns, body and headstock, replace the black hardware with chrome, mock cutdown tailpiece to work with the existing string-through, mock magnetic pickups (actually just covers), pickguard with integrated thumb rest, Rickenbacker knobs, Kala metal wound u-bass strings, Ric style truss rod cover with Ukenbacker label decal, stained walnut.

This last one is next in line when Rhonda re-stocks their longer scale solid body sometime in July, mod into a Fender Jaguar style inspired by the new formula off white Thundergut strings, shape the horns and head, tortoise pickguard and truss rod cover, chrome control plate, move the knobs into position, Fender Jaguar knobs, mock tailpiece bridge to fit the existing string-through, chrome tuners, chrome strap buttons, off white paint, pearloid block fret markers, Jaguarlele headstock decal.

 

[hondo4life]

Ukenbacker. Ha. Nice work.

 

[Derry Murbles]

View attachment 864418

The EBMM Sterling I bought new in 1995 when I was in high school. I put a sticker on it. The Rickenbacker there I bought last August. I asked the guy at the store if they could take the pickup cover off which they did. I later had them put it back on again.

Your concision is a talent to be admired!

I still would like to get my hands on a Rick at some point in my life. There's always been a sort of mystique that I've associated with them in my mind but I've never even seen or played one in person.... In due time!

I still have a bicycle (used to race 'em) that went through this same sort of "replace one part at a time process" until it was unrecognizable - and not the same brand - as the original. The only original parts left are the old-school friction shifters, which I love.

That's awesome! Did you race 24/26s? Street/dirt?

I used to ride freestyle BMX in high school and in college (until other... "recreational" activities pulled my focus and attention away from the chromoly chariot, that is). Definitely something I'd like to get back into, but more in the realm of just cruising- maybe long distance cycling. But I'll need to reign in my bass GAS before I can start dropping coin into another $1-$2k bike

I have a story!
Started out with these 2-a Squier VM TB and an Epi T-bird-

Went to Rockin Robin in Houston and traded them both for this 90's sunburst MIM Fender J (sorry for the flip phone photo)-

Got a black PG, some chrome knobs, and some ashtrays-

Wanted a different colored body, so I ordered this junk off ebay, along with some model J Dimarzio pups-

Still the same 90's MIM Jazz neck, but I was NOT happy with the knockoff body or the Jazz sound anymore, so I saved and got a body from warmoth-

After a bunch of coats of Tru-oil-

Put that same MIM 90's Jazz neck on-

And she's been my #1 ever since-

SWEET ride man! I'm a sucker for black on natural and that's awesome that it's become the number one!

I've discovered that the action on my p bass is a few mm higher than on my others, which if I address properly, will land it squarely in my "number 1" spot.

That jazz bass looks sweet too! A Fender Active Jazz that was a resident bass in a studio I used to frequent became the visual inspiration for my "redo". What didn't you like about the jazz sound? Anything specific or it just wasn't quite doing it for you? Either way awesome story/journey and glad to see you're happy with the result!

 

[billiam5billion]

Your concision is a talent to be admired!

I still would like to get my hands on a Rick at some point in my life. There's always been a sort of mystique that I've associated with them in my mind but I've never even seen or played one in person.... In due time!



That's awesome! Did you race 24/26s? Street/dirt?

I used to ride freestyle BMX in high school and in college (until other... "recreational" activities pulled my focus and attention away from the chromoly chariot, that is). Definitely something I'd like to get back into, but more in the realm of just cruising- maybe long distance cycling. But I'll need to reign in my bass GAS before I can start dropping coin into another $1-$2k bike



SWEET ride man! I'm a sucker for black on natural and that's awesome that it's become the number one!

I've discovered that the action on my p bass is a few mm higher than on my others, which if I address properly, will land it squarely in my "number 1" spot.

That jazz bass looks sweet too! A Fender Active Jazz that was a resident bass in a studio I used to frequent became the visual inspiration for my "redo". What didn't you like about the jazz sound? Anything specific or it just wasn't quite doing it for you? Either way awesome story/journey and glad to see you're happy with the result!

I think it was the Dimarzio pickups, honestly. I gigged the thing plenty with the original MIM pups, but when I switched over and thought I was upgrading, the Dimarzios sounded way too bright and modern for the blues/rock/country stuff I was playing with my band at the time. I have a Warmoth Jazz now, but with Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups and I'm very happy with it on certain tunes, but I still find myself reaching for the Precision 9 times out of 10. I've never felt a neck as comfy, stable, and playable as that 90's MIM Jazz neck. And yeah, that swamp ash is killer.

 

[Derry Murbles]

OK, you asked for it, here are my mods;

Converted an Epiphone Les Paul Express 22" scale guitar into a bass. Gotoh tuners, new nut, bridge, Strat knobs, rotated the pickup switch to be logically forward and back rather than up and down, drilled string-through holes at the tail to accommodate short scale flat wound strings.
View attachment 866511
View attachment 866513

Bought a pink Mini 24.5" scale P-bass to specifically have it painted surf green. Added the truss rod cover and stick-on block fret markers and Strat knobs.
View attachment 866514 View attachment 866515

Modified a Rondo Hadean solid body uke by having the horns cut down, matched the head plate color to the body, added white pickguards with integrated thumb rest and white truss rod cover, replaced all the black hardware with chrome, including Gotoh tuners, Strat knobs, output jack and strap buttons. Replaced the sticky Thundergut strings with Kala steel wound nylon core u-bass strings.
View attachment 866517
View attachment 866518

Replaced the body of another Rondo Hadean solid body uke with a Hofner inspired solid body, plus white pickguard, white truss rod cover, mock tailpiece, black Road Toad Pahoehoe strings, Gibson knobs.
View attachment 866521
View attachment 866520

Modified another Rondo Hadean solid body uke longer scale into a tribute to the first electric bass guitar made by AudioVox, the Serenader, in the mid/late 1930s. Cut off the horns, added the black pickguard with integrated thumb rest, black truss rod cover, gold and black Strat knobs, gold paint, customized the headstock decal.
View attachment 866522
View attachment 866523

This mod is in the works, the 21" scale bass uke was just screaming to be made into a Rickenbacker walnut style. The original and my mock up drawing since it's not ready yet. Shape the horns, body and headstock, replace the black hardware with chrome, mock cutdown tailpiece to work with the existing string-through, mock magnetic pickups (actually just covers), pickguard with integrated thumb rest, Rickenbacker knobs, Kala metal wound u-bass strings, Ric style truss rod cover with Ukenbacker label decal, stained walnut.
View attachment 866524

This last one is next in line when Rhonda re-stocks their longer scale solid body sometime in July, mod into a Fender Jaguar style inspired by the new formula off white Thundergut strings, shape the horns and head, tortoise pickguard and truss rod cover, chrome control plate, move the knobs into position, Fender Jaguar knobs, mock tailpiece bridge to fit the existing string-through, chrome tuners, chrome strap buttons, off white paint, pearloid block fret markers, Jaguarlele headstock decal.
View attachment 866525

This is quite possibly one of the coolest music related collections of anything I've seen in my life.

I can't get over that Ukenbacker.

 

[KohanMike]

This is quite possibly one of the coolest music related collections of anything I've seen in my life. I can't get over that Ukenbacker.

Thanks very much, been having lots of fun the last year so since I started playing bass. I might as well show the rest of the collection.

Missed one with a minor mod, Gold Tone GT MicroBass 23" with Road Toad Pahoehoe strings and a larger easier to use preamp, also added a modified clear plastic wire guide at the sound hole for a little thumb rest.

Custom Telecaster guitar style bass, 22" scale with flat wound short scale strings that go through the body and into a chamber on the back to accommodate the length, white Strat knobs.

Custom acoustic fretless bass uke with fretboard that extends to become thumb rests, Gotoh tuners, Kala steel wound nylon core strings that I might change to the new formula Aguila Thundergut.

 

[Derry Murbles]

I keep telling this story everywhere but here's the story of my squier Precision.View attachment 866486
This is how it looked when I found it a pawn shop for $90. My main bass was broken and I needed a bass fast so I got it. It was all stock even the Strings were original. I got it 2014 and its a 2006 model so the strings were done. Anyway I got it set up and fresh strings and used it for the entire year. I changed the pickups after that year and left it like that for a couple of months.

Early last year I decided I wanted a fretless and decided to make one myself so I literally got a butter knife and popped the frets out in about an hour taking it real slow. When they were out I filled the slots with wood filler and covered the fretboard with polyurethane. It came out pretty good and I played it like that for the rest of the year. I got my thunderbird however and stopped playing it as my primary bass.

In about January I decided I didn't like the color anymore and took the bass apart and stripped the paint down to the wood.
I also sanded the headstock because I was going to paint it too and was going to start from barewood; I decided not to though.Anyway I had it stripped to the wood and primered but needed the bass for a gig because my thunderbird needed output Jack repairs. I put it back together and it looked like this. Took it to the gig and only one person asked why it was "finished" in primer. After that I took it home and left it for a week.View attachment 866490I then stripped it down again and decided to paint it red. So that's what I did with spray paint!!View attachment 866492View attachment 866499The finished product came pretty nice and the bass has been my most used one out of all the basses I've had. It has gone back and forth with me just about everywhere, been at just about every gig either as my primary or backup bass and has never let me down. I will continue to to use it until it gets completely obliterated beyond repair. I've got a feeling it'll probably outlast me though!!! Here's how it looks as of now.
View attachment 866506 That's my story about my most used, modded, and trustworthy bass!

I love this! I miss having a fretless and I think that's what I'm going to end up doing with my original body and neck plate. I could either get a regular Squier neck and modify it to fretless or find a solo neck and go that route.

My p bass is also my most trustworthy! It was my only one for years and never failed me during a show.

 

[funkinbottom]

OK, here's my story. I'll try to keep it short.

In 1971 as a kid in high school, I'm 61 now, I purchased a 1960 Jazz Bass for a hundred bucks. Sorry no pics of original, but it was Dakota red with tort pick guard and concentric pots. For some incomprehensible reason, I thought it would be cool to reshape my bass. At the time, it was not all that unusual to reshape basses. Who knew these basses would be worth thousands $$$ one day. So, always liking the Jaguar guitars I cut it down to a similar shape. I also decided it needed a big silver Gibson EBO humbucker, so I installed one myself. Not the most professional install but not bad either. After a couple months of the humbucker I decided I didn't dig that sound, so off to Gordon Stevens Music. Gordon said he had a pre CBS P bass pup for $25 that someone ordered years back and never picked it up. We searched through his shop for about 15 - 20 minute and found it. I took that and my bass to Dan Torres, who at the time was "the guy" and had him install the P bass pup. Also on his recommendation (after all, he was "the guy") put in a series/parallel switch for the P pup, a brass nut and badass bridge. And that my friends is how she still is today.

No regrets really, since it is, and always has been my daily driver. Don't care about collector value, the bass is part of me. It plays, feels and sounds incredible. I'll never sell. I still only own 1 bass. (have had other basses, but none stay very long) It has seen every gig, jam, and rehearsal I have ever done. From s#*t dive bars to large venues and everything between, it's seen it all.

Well, that my story. I guess at this point it's pic time!

 

[Derry Murbles]

OK, here's my story. I'll try to keep it short.

In 1971 as a kid in high school, I'm 61 now, I purchased a 1960 Jazz Bass for a hundred bucks. Sorry no pics of original, but it was Dakota red with tort pick guard and concentric pots. For some incomprehensible reason, I thought it would be cool to reshape my bass. At the time, it was not all that unusual to reshape basses. Who knew these basses would be worth thousands $$$ one day. So, always liking the Jaguar guitars I cut it down to a similar shape. I also decided it needed a big silver Gibson EBO humbucker, so I installed one myself. Not the most professional install but not bad either. After a couple months of the humbucker I decided I didn't dig that sound, so off to Gordon Stevens Music. Gordon said he had a pre CBS P bass pup for $25 that someone ordered years back and never picked it up. We searched through his shop for about 15 - 20 minute and found it. I took that and my bass to Dan Torres, who at the time was "the guy" and had him install the P bass pup. Also on his recommendation (after all, he was "the guy") put in a series/parallel switch for the P pup, a brass nut and badass bridge. And that my friends is how she still is today.

No regrets really, since it is, and always has been my daily driver. Don't care about collector value, the bass is part of me. It plays, feels and sounds incredible. I'll never sell. I still only own 1 bass. (have had other basses, but none stay very long) It has seen every gig, jam, and rehearsal I have ever done. From s#*t dive bars to large venues and everything between, it's seen it all.

Well, that my story. I guess at this point it's pic time!

View attachment 869949 View attachment 869950

Talk about a resurrection! I thought I had responded to this last reply but apparently not!

Very cool story on the 60 jazz bass. The amount of personality oozing out of that thing is pretty awesome! I've never owned an Epiphany or Gibson bass- Closest I ever came was owning an SG bass copy from Rondo Music about 10ish years ago. I enjoyed it, but I'm not super into short scale basses (couldn't tell you why, just never got into them). It was lost in a basement flood and that was that!

I am currently working on a new build using the first bass I've ever owned. Unfortunately the only part of it that remains is the body, but at least that's a pretty significant part.

The new build is linked here if any one is interested!
Low End PJ Build (With Pics!) Complete with Questionable Squier DNA

 

[TN WOODMAN]

This thread reminds me of the grandfather telling his grandson about his 100 year old axe. Only went through 4 handles and 2 axe heads .