Modding a bass into a[GASP]- guitar

[bassteban]

NOT my idea, & I am not certain this goes here- maybe somewhere between here & setup/repair, etc.
Anyway, a friend asked me if I thought it would be possible to bolt a six-string guitar neck onto a hollow bass body(Skyline, to be specific), as well as new bridge, etc. I'd already tipped a couple of glasses of wine, so I had no clear thought(s)on the matter. I told him just about anything is *possible*, but whether or not it's worth the effort is always debateable. Your thoughts, oh exotic hardwood sawdust-covered ones of TB?

[Marton]

Well, that COULD be possible, but that sounds like one of the worst idea ever.

[BobWestbrook]

Just step away from the bass, and nobody gets hurt.

[bassteban]

I'll repeat my disclaimer- this is NOT my idea, and in the light of day I'm pretty skeptical myself, but I will take some measurements & see if I hit a nice thick *no-effin-WAY-wall*
Has no one here ever been dumb/drunk enough to consider or actually try this?

[stflbn]

My possible concerns/questions would be...

Existing neck route would obviously be way to large.
Existing pickup routes? (I hope he's not planning to use the bass pickups)
Bridge for guitar scale length would need to be moved way forward and likely into area of bridge pickup route, etc etc etc.

Not to mention the odd proportion of tiny neck and large body.

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by stflbn

My possible concerns/questions would be...

Existing neck route would obviously be way to large.
Existing pickup routes? (I hope he's not planning to use the bass pickups)
Bridge for guitar scale length would need to be moved way forward and likely into area of bridge pickup route, etc etc etc.

Not to mention the odd proportion of tiny neck and large body.

Yeah, even in my half-drunken state last night I thought of these concerns & mentioned them- my friend(a formerly-active TBer who[again I say GASP] switched sides..)was not dissuaded. Whatcha gonna do?

[colcifer]

Simply because the end result (if it were to work) would resemble an early Alembic experiment, I say go for it so long as you have the know how. It probably won't work but it sounds like a lot of fun and you just might get a nice guitar out of it.

[Armbruster]

I refuse to give my advice to this 'project'.

Disgusting.

[J. Crawford]

Thumbs down from me.. especially ruining a Skyline.

[Armbruster]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

Thumbs down from me.. especially ruining a Skyline.

I'm thinking we should call the cops on this guy.

[JAGGL3S]

WHY??!!!!

[chokeslam512]

Originally Posted by Armbruster

I'm thinking we should call the cops on this guy.

You will have to call the cops on me, as I will be the one with the assault/murder charges.

[bassteban]

Although the guy is a couple of states away, I will make every effort to NOT allow any permanent mods to be done to the bass. My thoughts are(come w/me to magical fairytale unicorn land)if there is a neck that would bolt right on, and the stock PUs *work* or there are identical-dimensioned gtr PUs, AND there exists a gtr bridge that can be slapped on(again-I won't in a million years be doing this to any $50+ ax)AAAND all the scale/spacing/etc issues are not insurmountable, then um, I guess- go ahead...

[Beej]

Well, its absolutely possible. With enough time and money, nearly anything's possible. You could custom build a neck to fit the pocket perfectly, move the pickups, bridge, etc. You might have to remove the top and then refit it on the body again and do a complete refinish, etcetera, but hey nearly anything's possible...

[bassteban]

Oh, I absolutely agree, Beej. My own feeling is that a good luthier very likely could design & build a neck that would match the Skyline's existing neck pocket, & position the nut, frets, etc properly. My bad ears might even like that coupled w/the stock bass PUs, and a functional bridge might even cover the stock screw holes. That said, a custom neck would be WAAAY beyond *worth it* to me, let alone all the other hassle(s). This thread is very likely the length & breadth of my involvement in this 'project'.

Edit: I'll say it again- I will take no part in ANY even semi-permanent mods/butchery(related to the subject at hand)on any bass worth over $50

[Beej]

Okay further navel gazing:

The skyline's neck ends at the body at the 21st fret, this is about 10.10" from the bridge's zero witness line. If you custom built a new guitar neck on a 25.5" scale, it could replace the existing Skyline neck if the new neck ended at the 16th fret, which is approximately 10.11" from the bridge's zero witness line. This way, you could put a new neck in place and keep the existing bridge location. You'd then have to modify the existing bridge to have six saddles instead of four. You'd basically put a guitar neck on a bass body with the least amount if disruption to the body.

One giant con though is the fact that you'd then have a guitar with only 16 frets, and speaking with my guitarist's hat on, that would make me angry enough to noodle incessantly between songs in the practice space at full volume while our bassist pulled his hair out trying to talk to the drummer.

The second giant con would be that the "guitar" would have pickups outside of their most usable positions and the sound might suck enough for me to add some off-rhythm copious wah pedal usage to my incessant angry noodling...

[VinKreepo]

^^^ ROFL

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by Beej

Okay further navel gazing:

The skyline's neck ends at the body at the 21st fret, this is about 10.10" from the bridge's zero witness line. If you custom built a new guitar neck on a 25.5" scale, it could replace the existing Skyline neck if the new neck ended at the 16th fret, which is approximately 10.11" from the bridge's zero witness line. This way, you could put a new neck in place and keep the existing bridge location. You'd then have to modify the existing bridge to have six saddles instead of four. You'd basically put a guitar neck on a bass body with the least amount if disruption to the body.

One giant con though is the fact that you'd then have a guitar with only 16 frets, and speaking with my guitarist's hat on, that would make me angry enough to noodle incessantly between songs in the practice space at full volume while our bassist pulled his hair out trying to talk to the drummer.

The second giant con would be that the "guitar" would have pickups outside of their most usable positions and the sound might suck enough for me to add some off-rhythm copious wah pedal usage to my incessant angry noodling...

This^is what I will pass on to my bud- thank you.

[Darkstrike]

Hmm, haven't them Skyline Hollowbodys got guitar humbucker sized pickups?


I've done it in reverse, putting bass necks on guitar bodies, can't see why this wouldn't work.

Heh, if it were a shortscale, you could make a baritone using the existing neck, heh, as is might be a bit much, a 34" guitar.....

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

Thumbs down from me.. especially ruining a Skyline.

Originally Posted by Armbruster

I'm thinking we should call the cops on this guy.

I'm sure Lakland will make more, geez, its one bass...