Fender Frankensteins

[MarkoYYZ]

Please forgive the poor lighting, but I have a few Frankenbasses that belong in here.

1) Fretless P
I believe it to be a Squier body that was originally white, but then had the faces sanded clean - leaving the edges white - and a tinted clear put over top (bought it like this). With an aged cream/pearl PG, it looks pretty good. VM fretless neck, standard bent-plate bridge (for now) with an upgraded Quarter Pounder pickup.

2) Fotoflame J
Japanese Fotoflame J body mated to a Squier VM Jazz neck. Rosewood with pearl blocks and black headstock that mates nicely to a black PG. I tried a white pearl PG and while it looked OK, this just suits me better. Currently sports a black BAII bridge which will be switched out for chrome, to tie it into the control plate and tuners. Pickups are not original to the body, but still from a vintage Fujigen J-bass that was parted out.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Marko gets #56.

Remember kids, it has to have a least one major part (neck, body) that is from a real Fender to make it here.

 

[ExaltBass]

I've posted these before, but for those who missed them...

My go-to Franken... 'The Fendowsky'

Inspired by my friend Jeff's NYC Sadowsky P-J... it started life as a 2002 Sunburst HWY 1 body - with several other necks tried out in the process, ending up with a gorgeous 'Genuine Fender" P neck that feels much like Jeff's Sad, a Hipshot Drop Tuner, Sadowsky Bridge, Sadowsky P-J pickups, Sadowsky Active pre (with VTC), Sadowsky knobs, a Sadowsky cloned custom brown tort pickguard and an awesome Shoreline Gold nitro finish by Ben Lindsey to match Jeff's.

'The Chevy Bass' - color styling inspired by the Chevys of my youth (the late 50's) The body was an eBay disaster... shipped directly to Ben Lindsey Guitars for Sherwood Green paint and (a lot of) bodywork. As I have other P-Js, but no 5 string, I had this setup for BEAD tuning - ordered Lollar P-J pups (10% overwound J), a custom antique pearl pickguard, added my Fender Custom Shop built American Standard Precision factory prototype neck, a Babicz bridge... THE BEST BRIDGE for BEAD. This bass was a total Franken-success.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

Neck question. How many of you have new necks tinted? Not sure if I am going nitro or satin finish, but am note sure if I should tint it, or just go natural maple - not looking for a relic look.

I sort of like tint but not too heavy. If you are gun shooting try acrylic lacquer which shrinks and does everything nitrocellulous lacquer will but doesn't get fudged up from certain stand/case materials or solvent contact. Same characteristics as nitro but more durable and faster cure time. Just a thought. I always shoot acrylic and it is soooo much more forgiving.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Number 57 goes to
faulknersj, he of the the "found the stolen bass in pawnshop/taco" thread.

 

[wolfmancharlie]

Well I promised I'd post pics here when I got her done. Bulldog , I'm already a member here, but just wanted to post her here too. The neck is 1982 Fender Jazz. Had a great time with this one . Research was wild , took months to pick out what I wanted to do , but love the end product.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Now THAT is a true Franky. #58 to wolfmancharlie

 

[jvgreene]

Parts Bass!

Squire Affinity body
Hipshot 'vintage' bridge
CTS pots and Orange Drop cap
Seymour Duncan SPB-1 pickup
Ebay pick-guard
Neck is a recent (like 2012 I think) MIM P

Love the sound, hate the feel. Combination of factors: It's not very balanced (a little neck heavy), the frets feel too tall to me, and I don't like the strings I put on it (105-45 D'Addario nickel). Other than that I think it's a pretty successful attempt for my first Frankenfender!

I'l probably put this pickup in my p-special and sell the body semi-loaded and buy an older/heavier Fender body for it. Also research how to massage the frets down a bit.


In this pic I have a Bill Lawrence P-46 installed:

 

[buldog5151bass]

JVgreene, please, re-post. It did not make it here.

 

[Ric5]

 

[buldog5151bass]

Some nice work.

 

[Gorn]

That rounded Fender headstock is fantastic.

 

[bluesdogblues]

That rounded Fender headstock is fantastic.

You mean wolfmancharlie's right?..Agree

 

[Gorn]

You mean wolfmancharlie's right?..Agree

Yah, it's awesome. That's the coolest cosmetic mod to a Fender style bass I've seen so far. It's so subtle that I bet most people don't notice it at first.

 

[bassclef112]

This is my resurrected Tele Bass. It was my first "real" bass, bought brand new in 1970. I used up the original body with pickup experiments and mounted the neck on a Koa Jazz body in 82 where it lived for quire some time. I finally decided to get my Tele back, so here it is. I'll take a number!

1970 Tele neck with original tuners
Warmoth Swamp Ash body with belly cut
Duncan Antiquity SCPB
Hipshot A bridge
Original 1970 covers

 

[Tbone76]

Yah, it's awesome. That's the coolest cosmetic mod to a Fender style bass I've seen so far. It's so subtle that I bet most people don't notice it at first.

I also like the Tenn. State quarter he used as a string tree. He gives a reason for it on his thread about this bass.

 

[buldog5151bass]

bassclef112 is #59.

Meanwhile, I am still waiting on the body for my build. The body they sent had a small knot on it, so I returned it. Everything else - neck, etc. is just sitting there waiting.

 

[jvgreene]

JVgreene, please, re-post. It did not make it here.

I can see it, and I have a like, so it must be working now.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

bassclef112 is #59.

Meanwhile, I am still waiting on the body for my build. The body they sent had a small knot on it, so I returned it. Everything else - neck, etc. is just sitting there waiting.

GRRRRRRR that sucks man!

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

This is my resurrected Tele Bass. It was my first "real" bass, bought brand new in 1970. I used up the original body with pickup experiments and mounted the neck on a Koa Jazz body in 82 where it lived for quire some time. I finally decided to get my Tele back, so here it is. I'll take a number!

1970 Tele neck with original tuners
Warmoth Swamp Ash body with belly cut
Duncan Antiquity SCPB
Hipshot A bridge
Original 1970 covers

View attachment 446808

Uber-yummy!