• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Basket case body rehab !

#62
Love this bass. I think I'm about 61% pro-cover, 39% bare bridge...looks good to me either way. I will admit that it occurred to me that if El Corazon could be inset into the cover in the EB-0 mudbucker position, it would involve a radical non-reversible mod to a cool pickguard but it might look cool in the same way that Phil X's custom ESP does, with the computer fan grille over the unused neck pickup hole.

This bass would have looked really great on the "Winona's Big Brown Beaver" video, with those giant plastic-y cowboy suits and everything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Flooflox, burl0029 and Dark Horse
#63
Joe Ty said:
I would have left the single coil rout, only because I'm GASSING for an early 50's P, but I love how it's looking, overall!!
Click to expand...


Yeah, I would've stuck with a single coil except that it was such a poor routing job on this body that there was space around it, and it was just sloppily done. I couldn't live with it. And because it was oversized to start with, it couldn't be cleaned up effectively and still had a single coil in there unless I did some major surgery. It was just easier to use the MFD pick up. Besides, I think it'll be really cool. And when I do get a coil tap the switch on there, I should be able to get a pretty similar sound to the single coil P as well.


This is what it looked like before :

IMG_0456.JPG




And here's what it looks like after I was done routing:


IMG_0484.JPG
 
#64
Dark Horse said:
Yeah, I would've stuck with a single coil except that it was such a poor routing job on this body that there was space around it, and it was just sloppily done. I couldn't live with it. And because it was oversized to start with, it couldn't be cleaned up effectively and still had a single coil in there unless I did some major surgery. It was just easier to use the MFD pick up. Besides, I think it'll be really cool. And when I do get a coil tap the switch on there, I should be able to get a pretty similar sound to the single coil P as well.


This is what it looked like before :

View attachment 2745723



And here's what it looks like after I was done routing:


View attachment 2745731
Click to expand...

Gotcha, obviously you had no choice. Kind of like a restaurant trying to uncook your steak.

That MFD has some character to it, already, so it will definitely be cool.

Edit: I vote "no cover" as well as they just get in my way. Not a biggie...easy enough to remove.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Dark Horse
#66
Dark Horse said:
it is been a while since I have been able to get to my actual shop, so until I can do that I figure I will try and work on a few things that are here at my house. One of those things is a "basket case" body that I got dirt cheap many months ago. It's been kind of just sitting there waiting for me to do something. The routing work is terrible, the side Jack is drilled all wrong, and in General is just messed up. However, it has a very cool candy apple red finished it has great lacquer checking, and overall the relic it isn't too bad. It will look Pretty cool when built-up. But first I have to correct all those mistakes.

First thing to correct is the poorly routed neck pocket. I should've gotten a picture before I rerouted it, but if you look at the other routes you'll get the idea. Anyway, here is a photo after I fixed it.

View attachment 2744537


With that done, I turned my attention to the pick up cavity. It was routed really badly, and there was no cleaning it up if I was going to use a single coil Precision pickup in there. I thought about leaving it, but in the end I just decided to use one of these G&L MFD pick ups that I have sitting here, I figure it should make for a great sounding bass ! So I went ahead and made a routing template for it, and routed the cavity.

From this:

View attachment 2744539


To this:

View attachment 2744542



Perfect fit !!!!

View attachment 2744546 View attachment 2744548


Next up is the horribly routed control cavity. Unfortunately it's a bit offline (but still workable), so the best I can do is clean it up a bit .

Before ....

View attachment 2744606


Here it is "cleaned up" .....


View attachment 2744608 View attachment 2744609


Finally , the side jack. It is drilled way too small, and way out of line. Unfortunately, I don't have my drill press here, it is at the shop with most of my other stuff. If I had it here, I would clamp the body and then use the drill press to drill a nice clean hole. But I'm not that patient, this guitar is already kind of a basket case, and it's going to be weeks before I can get to the shop because I'm Leaving on tour. So, hooked up a router bit into a drill, clamped down the body, and try to get the whole more in line. It's definitely not perfect, but the electric socket fits in there and it's 100% better than it was.

Before ....


View attachment 2744645




After .....

View attachment 2744646

I'm not too worried about it anyway since it's a relic. But it's a lot better than it was before.


On to the pickguard!
So I have a pick guard that I made a while back that's been floating around, and figured I would use it. Seems like an easy nothing, except for one big problem. Whoever made this body in the first place did not use a proper template for the body, so the lines are a bit off of what a classic 51 precision bass would look like. So I'm going to Need to do some modifications to the pick guard in order to make it work.


First up was to make the neck pocket a proper fit. It did not line up with the pocket and body lines, so I clamped down the pick guard and used a bottom bearing router bit to make a perfect neck pocket.

Before:

View attachment 2744656


Here's a photo of the router bit, and after photo of the pickguard pocket ....

View attachment 2744657 View attachment 2744658


I still have some pickguard lines to clean up, but here's a mockup of what the bass will look like when it's done .....

View attachment 2744663 View attachment 2744664 View attachment 2744665


I'll be sure to post pics when I get it completed!!!!
Click to expand...
Well this is cool as hell. :thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dark Horse
#72
Boy oh boy DH, this scratches so many itches for me it should be illegal! If that little sweet tart isn't just about the trampiest and sluttiest red headed road mutt I've ever seen I don't know what is. Love the tin card, I can take or leave the cover, I'd probably tell her topless.
I see it being rode hard and put away wet. I gotta go get a smoke.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back