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Best bass mod ever for you?
- Thread starter Raman
- Start date
A couple of years ago I bought a short scale Squier Jaguar and added the full Fender electrics and control plates. Luckily the body had already been routered, which made life easier. Thinking about about doing a long scale neck conversion, but not too sure about narrowing a neck (my wood working skills are pretty limited 
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I’m curious, what would one use for a non-resonant headstock button? I did a search and came up with nothing.
That’s ‘cause we came up with it right here at TB. Be the first kid on your block with one. It’s just a neoprene faucet washer backed up with a flat washer and a longer screw.
A couple of years ago I bought a short scale Squier Jaguar and added the full Fender electrics and control plates. Luckily the body had already been routered, which made life easier. Thinking about about doing a long scale neck conversion, but not too sure about narrowing a neck (my wood working skills are pretty limited
That's awesome!!!
Did you make the PG yourself?
I was thinking about adding those two control plates on mine but as dummies. I hadn't really considered them being fully functional.
But I can honestly say, "You Got Down"!!!
057912
To quote something a friend once said, "How much pretty can one man stand."
This is an OMG post. Amazingly beautiful collection.
Completely changed the hardware on this very average MIJ P-bass and took out the frets. Hipshot bridge and tuners, Bill Lawrence pickup, black knobs etc. I set the action real high and it sounds great for Jaco style and walking bass. A
I've swapped a lot of pickups, altered electronics, replaced tuning keys and an entire neck. But one thing that has brought a lot of joy and definitely got the most notice was replacing the white pickguard on a '90's Peavey with a clear one. Now I can slide whatever I want to underneath the clear and change the look of the bass on a whim. Simple but fun.
My 2nd bass was a new 1965 Fender Precision. Back in 1966 I discovered I also liked the sound of the Fender Jazz bass. So I saved up and purchased the Jazz bass pickups and complete set of pots to go with it. At the time I was working for a company producing printed circuit boards (Computers were not a common item back then), so I worked with an electrical engineer who helped me create an integrated audio crossover circuit that would fit within the P-bass body. I routed the recesses for the J-bass pickups and the pots, but separated the aluminum grounding plate under the pick-guard and installed two cord jacks. This made it electronically a P-bass AND a J-bass in the same body with a circuit that could blend the two sounds. 40 years later (with Med-Gauge Rotto-Sound strings) I can simulate the sounds of Rickenbacher and Gibson basses while still being able to produce each Fender bass in the process. Fun to play, too!
I’ve made a few “poor man” mods to my Lakland 55-02. I didn’t like the Korean preamp but couldn’t afford to replace. So when I had to have a pot replaced I had the tech remove active electronics and wire it like a passive Jazz with the series/parallel mod. I love it in the series position. I get the boost with a jazz/p bass mix. I hate knobs so I then put all pots except push/pull volume into cavity, taped off. If I could find someone to do it, I would bypass all the tone controls.
I then made a custom pick guard and ramp. I covered them in model plane film. This is cool because I can change the colors if I want. They were silver but are now black. Almost forgot, I was bored one night and sanded lacquer finish off of Lakland. I never liked the high gloss thing.
I don’t think I have ever had a bass I haven’t altered. I custom painted one of my first basses many moons ago.
I then made a custom pick guard and ramp. I covered them in model plane film. This is cool because I can change the colors if I want. They were silver but are now black. Almost forgot, I was bored one night and sanded lacquer finish off of Lakland. I never liked the high gloss thing.
I don’t think I have ever had a bass I haven’t altered. I custom painted one of my first basses many moons ago.
Attachments
1. Bypassing the highpass cap in my 4001
2. Fralin pu in my old Precision when the original died
2. Fralin pu in my old Precision when the original died
I'm not normally a big fan of modding stuff. I'm not saying you (collective "you") shouldn't mod your stuff to your heart's content; just that it's not a thing I care to do. However... my '01 4003 and my '73 4001 have both had the push/pull treble tone pot installed. The '73, like all Ricks of the period, had a capacitor in the treble circuit all the time. The '01, like all Ricks of that period, had no capacitor in the circuit at all. So, I had both of them modded to be like a new Rick; both have a capacitor that I can cut in or out, as I choose. Now, if I could only remember that the stupid thing's there, it'd be great. For some reason, I tend to play each of them as they were, before the mods; ie., the 4001 with the cap in, and the 4003 with the cap out. Which pretty much renders the whole thing... useless? 
For me, it was simply adding copper shielding tape to fully line the electronics cavity. This made a huge difference in eliminating the hum of interference. The best $7 you'll spend on Amazon.
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