Custom bass idea

[scarab]

I have an idea on building a custom fretless bass.
First buying a cheap P/J bass and removing the pickguard
Second Buying a good Fretless Jazz bass style Neck
Third replacing the Neck pickup with a guitar humbucker and wiring in a 3 way toggle switch that goes from bridge to both to neck
Is this an idea any sane man would even think of doing and that an imcompitent moron such as myself could even dream of pulling off. Leave opinions and tips

 

[mongo2]

Removing the pickguard will reveal the routing in the body. Or are you thinking of replacing the pickguard with a custom one cut to fit the new pickup?

Why a guitar humbucker? There are plenty of bass humbuckers around. What's wrong with the P humbucker already in the bass?

 

[Malak the Mad]

I have an idea on building a custom fretless bass.
First buying a cheap P/J bass and removing the pickguard
Second Buying a good Fretless Jazz bass style Neck
Third replacing the Neck pickup with a guitar humbucker and wiring in a 3 way toggle switch that goes from bridge to both to neck
Is this an idea any sane man would even think of doing and that an imcompitent moron such as myself could even dream of pulling off. Leave opinions and tips

I have some questions, but they are predicated upon one, big question…that being, "Are you planning on using a Jazz or Precision body?"

 

[ctmullins]

Why the guitar humbucker? Not saying it wouldn't work (cause it would), or that I don't like the idea (cause I do), just want to know where you're headed with this.

 

[MobileHolmes]

I'd look for a scratch and dent
Body from warmoth. Tha way you won't have all the pick guard holes, and it sounds like you aren't using anything else from the donor bass anyway. You might even be able to sweet talk them into routing for the guitar pickup

 

[scarab]

Why the guitar humbucker? Not saying it wouldn't work (cause it would), or that I don't like the idea (cause I do), just want to know where you're headed with this.

Switching to the Guitar pickup when using distortion i thought would sound good

 

[scarab]

I have some questions, but they are predicated upon one, big question…that being, "Are you planning on using a Jazz or Precision body?"

Precision body, But preferably with a P/J pickup configuration already in

 

[scarab]

Removing the pickguard will reveal the routing in the body. Or are you thinking of replacing the pickguard with a custom one cut to fit the new pickup?

Why a guitar humbucker? There are plenty of bass humbuckers around. What's wrong with the P humbucker already in the bass?

I thought using distortion with the guitar pickup would sound good, and i like the p bass body but not a giant fan of the pickups

 

[Malak the Mad]

Your idea is an intriguing one, Scarab. I'll gladly pass on as much "tinkering" experience as I have to offer. All I ask is for you to forgive me if I state/overstate something terribly obvious…I have no idea what you already know or don't know.

Precision body, But preferably with a P/J pickup configuration already in

If that's the case, you will run into the issue @mongo2 spoke of; exposing the routing underneath. To illustrate, here's a pic of a Mighty Mite P-body sans pickguard.

So if you want to go "naked", you'll have to find a Precision that is rear-routed. They're not impossible to find, but it's unlikely it'll fall into your "cheap P/J body" category.

If you can get by with a pickguard, then you have a few options for a body to start with. Squier makes both an Affinity and a Vintage Modified P/J, with the Affinity being the less-expensive option.

There is another possibility, but it will require a bit of scouring the internet for them. Squier used to produce a Precision Bass Special when they still offered the "Standard" series of basses. But for modding, I wouldn't recommend one. They drifted far enough away from the standard Fender "blueprint" that the incompatibility with other parts becomes an exercise in frustration. Mind you, they are pretty damn decent basses on their own, but only if you want to keep them relatively "stock".

One last thing, and this is purely a suggestion that should be run by someone with more knowledge of six-stringers; Have you considered keeping the P/J pickups intact and adding the guitar pup somewhere between the neck-heel and the split-coil pickup?

 

[ctmullins]

Switching to the Guitar pickup when using distortion i thought would sound good

Sounds cool! I don't use much distortion myself, so I don't have much wisdom to offer, but I can tell you that Johnny Christ of A7X put an EMG guitar pickup in his signature bass for that same reason. And I can also tell you that the Wilde L90 works well on bass guitar.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Switching to the Guitar pickup when using distortion i thought would sound good

Guitar pickups should sound about the same as a bass pickup on a bass. I put a Lipstick humbucker in my Bronco bass in the P-position and it still sounds like a bass even when I coil-split the pickup.

You might be better off with something like the Sheehan mod if that's what you want.

This has stereo output. Basically you can leave your neck pickup clean to keep the strong fundamental bass notes unprocessed, but then add EQ'ing and effects to the P-pickup output.



You can get creative with it though. Maybe a P/J bass with a stereo output would work too. Add effects to the J pickup, leave the P alone for the clean low-end. Or maybe you get 3 single coil pickups and only pipe the neck one to a separate jack for the fundamental clean tone.