Clever way to convert Jazz to P/J?
 

*EDIT: I have decided to try this project so this is now a project thread. I will be giving updates and pictures through the process.*

So I've been toying with the idea for a while to turn my Mexi Jazz Bass into a P/J. Basically, I just got an amazing Xotic XJ-1 5 string and I figure I'll get more use out of the old Jazz if it has a P pickup. And I'm looking for a bit of fun.

Anyway, I was looking through some old threads and I came across this:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/jaz...ssible-803916/

spaz21387 showed a picture of his P/J-in-a-jazz and said that he did the rout by buying a warmoth pickguard with a pre-cut precision rout and using that as his guide for where to cut.

Has anyone else done this? I assume Warmoth's measurements are very accurate and would put the pickup in the "right" place. Can anyone think of a reason not to do this? Thanks.

Did the same thing but used a chisel. Heck, nobody saw under the pg.

Yeah truthfully, I'm not planning on making it a clean rout :D I don't have the tools or the skills. But you did use a precut pickguard for the guide?

I haven't, but I want to now! :D I think a natural VM Jazz would make a particularly nice project. I've got a bit too much to deal with right now gear-wise, but I'll definitely come back to this.

Anyone else?

I would cover the area to be molested with masking tape, and then trace onto that. It will make your lines easier to see.

Good idea. I was wondering about how I was going to mark it.

Instead of plain-old masking tape, you might want to buy a roll of white artist's tape. It has a much milder adhesive and is less likely to leave behind sticky residue. It's meant to be able to hold pages of sketch/drawing/bristol paper together, or to mount stencils to said paper, without tearing it when you remove it. You can get it at any arts & crafts supply store (Michael's, A.C. Moore, Pearl Paint, Hobby Lobby, etc…)

An additional bonus, should you need it, is that they come in different widths. Plain masking tape is often uniform in width.

I have a couple (sort of...) I have a Jazz bass with one P-bass pickup as well as a Jaguar bass that I added a P-bass pickup to.


I believe that the Warmoth pickguard has the precision pickup in the proper position (in relation to where it would be on a stock precision) as it is on my Jazz (& Jaguar). Some of the others that I have seen place the precision pickup closer to the neck.

Moonshine :bassist:

You may want to make sure that a J pickguard with a P cutout will be in the same place as a regular P (if that matters to you). I recall asking Roger Sadowsky if I could get a P cut pickguard for my RV5 and he said it would be a little off. He said in order to get the guard to completely enclose the P pickup, the P position would have to go more forward toward the neck.

That's a warmoth guard on your jazz? Could you do me a huge favor and measure from the 12th fret to the pickup on both the jazz and Pino (I assume that's a Pino...)? I would love to know if they match. Thanks!

I did exactly this with a Mighty Mite Jazz body, Warmoth scratchplate and 6 Red Bull. :hyper:

Worked great, but the bottom pup get's reeeeeeal close to the edge of the pg. The only part of this that I had to squint and concentrate.

Okay, so lets see... 80 milligrams of caffine in a Redbull, 108 in a cup of coffee so... I'll need 4 and a half cups of coffee. Thanks for the info!!! :D

Another thing to try is adding a series switch to enable the J pickups to be run in series. It's not exactly the P bass sound, but in cases is close enough. The nice part is no body routing, purchasing new pickguard, pickups, etc. Simply buy a $4 push-pull pot to replace a tone or volume knob and wire it up for parallel-series switching. If anything it's cheap enough to try out before routing your bass.

You better take a look at this link before doing any routing:

http://www.aeroinstrument.com/pj.html

I had this professionally done a few years back. It ended up being one of the nicest basses I ever owned. If I had been actively gigging back then (like I am now), I would never have let this bass go.

Check out this thread for details: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/found-beef-301494/

This is not a bad idea. I have a Jag with Dimarzio J's These have separate leads for each coil. I have mine wired so each pickup can be switched into series mode individually. I won't say the neck pickup sounds just a like a P when in series, but it sounds a little more like that than a J. And no hacking up the wood.

I thought about doing this mod to my VM Jazz fretless. http://www.wdmusic.com/pickguard_jbbt_3.html and a p bass pup

Black pg and cream pup covers is my idea

Why not put in a P and still wire it with a series/parallel switch?

Easy job.....did it with my own bass......borrowed a router and squared off wood to fit
p pickup and ordered pickguard from WD Parts (they have EVERYTHING) and $50 later....a great playing and sound bass. Just take time on router spacing and correct depth. Have fun!