I've posted quick notes about this bass in other threads, so here is the dedicated history of...
The Cheese Bass.
A Fender Squier Precision sunburst purchased used, spring 1989, Daddy's Junky Music Manchester NH, $250. I have no shots of the original, but when you've seen one Fender sunburst...
This first photo is the original mod.
You can make a face out and once you know it's Geddy's portrait from maybe the Bones tour program, you see it.
My art project was xeroxing (that's the original word for "photocopying" to any youngin's out there) musicians I liked, buffing wax crayons into the image and then gluing it to the bass body. Geddy and Kate Bush are the only two that spring to mind. Front and back, images of all sizes with Geddy the focus.
Next slide...
Some months later the images had been chipping off and I also learned of Geddy's teardrop bass. So I took a drill and drilled the arms off one hole at a time. Having done the arms, it only made sense to continue over the entire body, all different sizes. You can also see that I sharpie'd the neck long before.
From there the next step was ripping the frets out with a pliers with wood putty filler applied and sanded down. No finish was added to the neck. Meanwhile, the body went yellow to match the swiss nature of the body.
And then this the picture that has been posted her in the In praise of weird basses I think it's called.
That is an R2 unit sticking out of one hole on the right. The pick guard is like a milk jug plastic or some such where I also stored my picks. The handy carry-handle on left is a MUST-HAVE feature for those who would ever carve holes in your bass. The neck strap/binding there was used as a reverse whammy bar.
With this bass I learned why you need that lower arm -as you can't sit with this in your lap and play!
As to the sound. You hear all sorts of stuff about resonance being in the body, but this thing played quite well. Perhaps the sustain dropped some negligible amount. Cheese bass retained all it's classic P sound style with the added fretless nature. The P sound accentuated the fretless nature. An improvement! (and lighter too!) This baby became a serious slapper!
On moving across country 20yrs ago I gave this to a fellow musician and friend of the time. Clearly it was (is?) unsellable. While I have no direct contact with him these decades, I am considering passing word that I would pay an honorarium and shipping to get this back -if it still exists.
Why post this now? This Fender became an art project as I wasn't happy with it and wanted to be happier. I didn't know at the time that Precisions in general were what I didn't like for the tone, neck and weight of them. I didn't know those were features of the style until years later.
Anyhow, last year I bought a $90 shipped ebay/china special. I had been playing a fretless for the last 18yrs and a $100 beater would tell me if I wanted to go all in on a proper fretted 4. The answer was yes and now I have two new fretted. That leaves the beater with nowhere to go, but one place.
Yes...
Watch this space for "Cheese II, the revenginization of Cheese One". An All Too-Cheesy thread coming soon to a bass board near you!
The Cheese Bass.
A Fender Squier Precision sunburst purchased used, spring 1989, Daddy's Junky Music Manchester NH, $250. I have no shots of the original, but when you've seen one Fender sunburst...
This first photo is the original mod.
You can make a face out and once you know it's Geddy's portrait from maybe the Bones tour program, you see it.
My art project was xeroxing (that's the original word for "photocopying" to any youngin's out there) musicians I liked, buffing wax crayons into the image and then gluing it to the bass body. Geddy and Kate Bush are the only two that spring to mind. Front and back, images of all sizes with Geddy the focus.
Next slide...
Some months later the images had been chipping off and I also learned of Geddy's teardrop bass. So I took a drill and drilled the arms off one hole at a time. Having done the arms, it only made sense to continue over the entire body, all different sizes. You can also see that I sharpie'd the neck long before.
From there the next step was ripping the frets out with a pliers with wood putty filler applied and sanded down. No finish was added to the neck. Meanwhile, the body went yellow to match the swiss nature of the body.
And then this the picture that has been posted her in the In praise of weird basses I think it's called.
That is an R2 unit sticking out of one hole on the right. The pick guard is like a milk jug plastic or some such where I also stored my picks. The handy carry-handle on left is a MUST-HAVE feature for those who would ever carve holes in your bass. The neck strap/binding there was used as a reverse whammy bar.
With this bass I learned why you need that lower arm -as you can't sit with this in your lap and play!
As to the sound. You hear all sorts of stuff about resonance being in the body, but this thing played quite well. Perhaps the sustain dropped some negligible amount. Cheese bass retained all it's classic P sound style with the added fretless nature. The P sound accentuated the fretless nature. An improvement! (and lighter too!) This baby became a serious slapper!
On moving across country 20yrs ago I gave this to a fellow musician and friend of the time. Clearly it was (is?) unsellable. While I have no direct contact with him these decades, I am considering passing word that I would pay an honorarium and shipping to get this back -if it still exists.
Why post this now? This Fender became an art project as I wasn't happy with it and wanted to be happier. I didn't know at the time that Precisions in general were what I didn't like for the tone, neck and weight of them. I didn't know those were features of the style until years later.
Anyhow, last year I bought a $90 shipped ebay/china special. I had been playing a fretless for the last 18yrs and a $100 beater would tell me if I wanted to go all in on a proper fretted 4. The answer was yes and now I have two new fretted. That leaves the beater with nowhere to go, but one place.
Yes...
Watch this space for "Cheese II, the revenginization of Cheese One". An All Too-Cheesy thread coming soon to a bass board near you!
