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p Bass that has had more facelifts than Joan Rivers

bassgod76

bassgod76

Garbage bassist, but I love this goofy instrument
Mar 13, 2003
5,329
1,133
South Florida
#1
So, this is my first bass. She was a bergundy MIM Fender P Bass. I was 18 years old when I bought her new. I was poor and it took me 3 months bagging groceries to acquire the $306.24 needed to make my music dream a reality. Of course, I had no additional funds for a gig bag or amp. :hmm:

Since the original purchase in December, 1994, I have done a few upgrades. A new pick guard here; a new set of knobs there, etc.

In 1997, I swapped pickups to EMG P

In 2004, I removed the frets

Last year, I decided to add a bridge pickup, BAII bridge, Hipshot tuners, and EMG PJ. Also, I routed out an 18 volt battery box, and painted the body black.

Six months ago, I added an EMG BTS active preamp.

Here she was, two months ago.
P Bass before bottom.jpg

I've never really cared for P necks, so I scored a sweet deal on an MIM Jazz neck, fretless with lines

Fretless Neck.jpg

Also, I'm not happy with the mid-range or lack thereof in this bass. I've decided to add an EMG variable mid controller. Due to the limited cavity space, I will need to rout a larger area for controls and I will have to re-create a new pick guard. It will be a challenge, but its my first bass. First step; tear down.
Stay tuned!!!!
 
#3
I removed the hardware, and clipped necessary electronics out.
bass back.jpg
I, like a dufus, countersunk Dunlop straplocks into the body. I've since switched to Schaller so I plan to plug these big holes.
bass hole.jpg
The clear coat was so soft that a towel would leave imprints on the finish. Along with doweling the holes, I plan to sand down some of the clear coat. I have my work cut out for me :p
 
#6
By removing the pick guard, you can see how tightly packed the preamp is in the cavity. It was so tight, that I was forced to have the volume knob in the last position. Not cool. You can also see that two different pickguards I used in the past required additional mounting holes drilled. I plan to plug those, as well.
Bass electronics.jpg

The chalk dashed outline is where the expanded pickguard will stop. I figure some routing and careful planning will not only allow more room in the control cavity, but will make it feasible to add a vari-mid EQ.
Bass body chalk.jpg
 
#8
I did some additional work on my Joan Rivers bass. Last time she went under the knife, I added a J cavity. I routed the proper depth, so the pickup was able to be adjusted. For some reason, I didn't increase the rout depth in the P cavity. When I put it back together, the P pickups had no room for adjustment. So, last night, I added depth to my P cavity.

BassProut.jpg



I also, filled in all the pickguard screw holes, since I had a misalignment issue with the previous pick guard which required additional holes to be drilled. Tooth picks and wood glue!

Bassholefill.jpg
 
#9
The surgery continued as it was time to rout out the additional cavity room for my mid controller. First, I drew it out with chalk. After getting it right, I used a razor to cut into the finish. I didn't know if the router would chip off the finish.

Basscavityoutline.jpg



After the razor, routing begins.

Basspartialrout.jpg
 
#11
I outlined in chalk how the new pick guard will be shaped.

Basspickguardoutline.jpg


I'm going to use a thick pick guard (3/8") like the David Gilmour guitar. The thickness and rigidity of the pick guard will keep the long, active pots off the bottom of the cavity and it will stiffen the control cavity cover more than standard pick guard thickness.

Gilmour2.jpg



More to come. Stay tuned!
 
#13
chuckocaster said:
that new guard will look nice on that. sort of like a marcus miller, but not quite. i have an MIM strat that's alot like your bass. too many hours and dollars to even try and count. no use now, cause it's all paid off in experience.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do it for fun. No resale hopes for me. I just love being in the garage, making a POS bass come to life. pickguard fabrication starts today.
 
#14
So I started the pick guard fabrication. It took 5 hours of measuring and patience, but I think I have a usable template.
so first, I retraced the pick guard back on to the body using a red wax pencil. The chalk line wasn't very exact, and came off too easily.

Then I traced out the regular pick guard on foam board.

JoanRivers25.jpg


Next, I taped a piece of paper on top of the foam board tracing, by the cavity area. I made reference lines with the old pick guard, so I'd know where to perform my next step.

Then, I taped the paper to the body, using the reference marks on my paper to line up with the body.

From there, I rubbed a pencil lead across the cavity rim. This gave me a nice outline of the new cavity and where I needed to draw the new pick guard.

JoanRivers24.jpg
 
#15
Then, I took the paper, and re-taped it to my foam board, using the reference marks to align it. From there. I cut the foam board out, with the tracing attached as my guide to cut the new cavity template. If you look at the cavity area, you can see where the old pick guard stopped.

JoanRivers26.jpg


Next, I simply traced my foam template on to Plexiglass. This way, I have a more accurate, durable template.

JoanRivers27.jpg
 
#16
Now it's time to break out the band saw. Took a little while (especially the pickup holes). Here is the rough cut out.

JoanRivers28.jpg


I used pickup covers to make sure I had the pickguard properly cut and aligned. The Dremmel tool is a lifesaver. After and hour of sanding and shaving, I got pretty much my target objective. I also added a little more scoop in the back of the pick guard (next to the bridge p/u area), as a straight line looked ********.

Basspickguard.jpg


I had a slight moment of idiocy and cracked the template, so I will practice with my new template on a piece of Plexiglass before I try this on a piece of actual pick guard material.
 
#17
I was considering a black pick guard, but a black body with rosewood fretboard looks horrible, to me. Keep in mind, this bass will have all black hardware and active EMG pickups.

Let me know which of these colors would look good as a buffer between the black body and brown fretboard.
Mint
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Red Pearl
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Vintage Pearl
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Pearl
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Parchment
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Or this with w/b/w layering?
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#18
eyeballkid said:
so, what youre saying is you now have $1500 and 120hours put into a $300 bass? oi vey!... love is mad.
Click to expand...

Into a bass he has had for 15 years.....thats like 100$ a year , thats very cheap and he is keeping his 1st alive and lets it adapt with him. Very cool in my book


Red pearl for a guard color! but thats because i like to be flashy lol
 
#19
I spent a few more hours in the garage, practicing my pick guard cutting. I was going to first try another whole template, but the most complicated part is cleanly cutting out the pickup holes. I started with this.

JoanRivers22.jpg


I ended up ripping off the film and practicing hole work. I was using this larger chisel tool, at first, but it was like taking a bazooka to a knife fight. Instead I opted for a low-speed Dremel with mini saw blade. I continued a couple of times learning that taping around the hole is essential to prevent any scratches. The bottom one is my last one. Besides the scratches from a runaway Dremel, the cuts look a lot cleaner.

JoanRivers23.jpg
 

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