Modifications to a body?

[thrash_jazz]

Hi everybody,

I've managed to find a decent body used, which I will eventually build a bass out of. (It is essesntially a J-style body.)

What I was wondering was whether or not it would be advisable to modify the body. I was thinking I might shorten the lower horn and round off the top horn, and perhaps more (dunno yet). Might this completely upset the balance of the instrument? If I do choose to do this, what tools will I need? (This seems obvious, but I want to be sure.)

[FBB Custom]

It would be possible to upset the balance of the bass, but as long as you don't get too wild, you should be okay.

Something to do the cutting (bandsaw, jigsaw, preferably), some rasps to do the rounding (a coarse one and a finer one would do) and a handful of sandpaper is all you should need.

[thrash_jazz]

Thank you for the input!

Another question on the same topic: The pickup slots on the body seem to be made for a set of soapbars, but I was thinking I might want to use J pickups, or maybe one soapbar and one J. If the pickup is a little small for the slot, are there any ways to cover it up so as not to look hideous? Also, this wouldn't affect tone, would it?

Someone told me I could stick foam underneath the pickups; I was also thinking of making a wood cover, a la F Bass... Any other possibilities?

[lousybassist]

Can't you just put a single coil pickup in a soapbar cover? Or, better still, buy splittable humbuckers, to get both single coil and humbucker sounds from the same pickup?