Here’s the first mockup. As you can see, I have a very long ways to go. Tons of sanding, filling, etc… I haven’t routed for the 2nd pickup, but I think I’m going to tilt it as shown to resemble a telecaster (but reverse, because I want to keep some highs in the bridge pickup on the B string)
I used a tele plate and a 4 way switch, and then rigged a 3rd pot in so I could control the tone like a jazz bass, but with the extra option (neck, parallel, series, bridge).
The pickups not in the body are the Chinese ones, the ones in are fender. I’m going to design it around the fender ones, as they are probably closer to ‘normal’ and I’m way more likely to use them, or something like them, than the Chinese. Once i get the thing routed, then i'll put the chinese in, do a sound check, etc... once the contest is over, the fenders go in, until i can afford to throw some nordstrands in.
Here is where i ask for some input. For the bridge pickup, i was going to route the same 'tele bass pickup' shape, but since i'm thinking about tilting it, i'm having 2nd thoughts that it might look bad. Input? Should I just route for the pickup (and not the extra little room that I did on the neck pickup)? I don't want it to look like a jazz bass. I'm not going to use the pickup covers, at least not to start with.
One last thing. I found a beat up old saddle that I was thinking of looking at to see if I could get a big enough piece of leather for the pickguard. Seemed like a nice finishing touch. Haven't seen it yet though to be able to tell if I can use it or not.
