converting a 5 string J bass to a 5 string P/J bass

[bassguita079]

hey guys and gals!!
got a question for all you do-it-yourselfers.

im left handed and needless to say there arent many P/J 5'ers out there that are in my price range. i was given a lefty 5 string J style bass. its one of those SX/Rondo Music basses and it suprisingly sounds good. my question is would there be any to route the front J pickup hole out and cut a P pickup hole in its place? im not dead sure if its at all possible...just a crazy idea i had.
anyways, any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Stealth]

Try to remove the pickguard - you might find the front pickup route looks like a box that can actually fit both a P and a J pickup. If that's the case, all you'll need is a new pickguard. If not, you'll need to route it yourself. You can route it as the pickup shape and either fill the extra space or skip it. Alternately you can route a box so it looks cleaner.

While mounting the P, consider whether you want a classical, thumpier tone (like the one on a standard Fender 57 P-bass) or a more modern, middier tone (like Ibanez basses). In one case you'll orient the pickup like this:

while in the other you'll want to orient it like this:

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Both are wired the same - the only difference is whether you want a traditional (bass coil closer to neck, treble coil closer to bridge) or a more balanced (bass coil closer to bridge, treble coil closer to neck) tone.

 

[J Posega]

I did this with a Squier 5-string Precision that had two Jazz pickups. That SX probably has really narrow string spacing, so you can probably use a 4-string pickup, but since it's an SX, you'll still have to order a custom pickguard.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

It's certainly possible, and you might not even have to do any routing. If SX was lazy and gave you a swimming pool route under the pickguard for the neck pickup, as Stealth says you may be able to fit a P pickup without routing.

If not, all you really need to do is fill the J pickup route, route for a P pickup, and get a new pickguard.

 

[bassguita079]

awesome you guys!!
thanks so much for the help! ll be getting some money in tomorrow and i need to replace the strings anyway so while ive got everything free'd up, ill remove the pickguard and take a look.
once again thanks!

 

[Stealth]

Cool! Post photos while you're at it, we might be able to figure out some other things from the view inside.