How best to fill a pickup hole - creative input welcome

[onestring]

I have a made-from-parts P bass that's about 15 years old. It is beat up and a little ugly and has absolutely no value to anyone but me. You couldn't sell it for $20 at a yard sale. To me it's priceless and sounds and feels like golden magical ice cream.

So, disclaimer: if pristine is your thing, abandon hope all ye who enter this post.

This old P bass once had a J pickup near the bridge. I made the hole for it with a chisel. It's not quite as bad as this watt bass, and it's smaller, but it's pretty rough around the edges.

I took the J pickup out about a year ago. It was never useful to me and I prefer just having the P pickup. Now I'm resolved that the J will never go back in and I want to fill the whole hole. The bass is alder with on oil finish over the remnants of an old paint job in the pores, so finish is not a big concern.

I'm looking for your thoughts on:
1) serious tips on the cleanest, best-looking way to fill the hole, and
2) the craziest but most realistic alternative you can think of (I was imagining Fimo studded with rhinestones but I don't think I can bake the bass...)

I will end up going one way or the other.

 

[Wademeister63]

You can route a nice neat rectangular pocket in that spot and cut a nice neat rectangular plug from a similar wood to fit. Glue it in, sand flush and refinish...

Craziest, most realistic? I duuno, plug the hole as above and paint a dummy pickup in that spot...

 

[omnimutant]

2) the craziest but most realistic alternative you can think of

1. Chisel it out a bit more and turn it into a Pezz dispenser holder.
2. Put some funky reflective tape liner in it and install some kind of tube shaped light in it.
3. Hit up Toys 'r us. I'm sure you can find some kind of nifty cheap toy that will fit in it.
4. Rig up some electronic noise toy you can stuff in there. I'm sure the noise would carry through to the P pickup and could provide for a nifty effect.
5. You can get some cheap pin hole video camera's that run of a AAA recharge on ebay for like 25 bucks. They use flash Memory. Look under RC stuff. That could be pretty cool to have a Bass Cam!

 

[tinyaka]

fill it with clear casting resin....floating something cool inside. army man toy? an insect of some sort?

or just make it a fish tank.

 

[GlennPagano]

Fill it with a different pickup. You can use it as a cigarette holder (if you smoke) You can use it as a pick holder (if you use picks)

 

[onestring]

tinyaka, that may be the ticket. though i like the bass cam idea too!

 

[Drucifer]

If you use wireless, you could route it out for the transmitter and wire it in. Or put some kind of effect in there.

I like the light idea, maybe you could put a backlight behind the army man.

 

[salman]

You can just throw the pick up back in there and use a fade knob, or the volme knob for that pickup and just switch it off...that way you can't hear it and you can still use it as a fancy thumb rest

 

[Stealth]

Metal plate over the cavity. Claim it's a genuine homebrew pickup and wire it up to a carrot switch.

 

[Diogenes]

Clean up the old pickup hole so that a block can be inserted to plug it up. Use glue/sawdust paste to seal any seams.

The craziest "fix" is to fill it with oatmeal... that **** hardens like concrete (and has been rumored to make good frets).

 

[mikeyswood]

Why not make a pattern and use a template bit to get a perfect fit?

 

[ctmullins]

If it were me, I'd fill it with a pickup.

You could design a retractable foam mute - that might actually be useful.

Or enlarge the hole and stuff it full of fuzzbox guts. Or a MIDI controller.

Or design some sort of inductive circuit such that the movement of the strings generates a small bit of voltage, then attach some tiny christmas lights that will pulsate in sync with the notes you play.

Edit: Duh, I guess that's exactly what a regular pickup does. So maybe reinstall the J and use it to run a light show?

 

[onestring]

OK, it'll either be some fun chachka in clear resin, or a mute (great idea ct).

I might be able to rig a Ric-style mute on screw posts, though I'd have to figure out how to cantilever the foam over closer to the bridge. Hmmm....

I appreciate the thought to just put a pickup back in there, but nah.

 

[tinyaka]

if yo go with the resin do i win a prize? can we start a good idea club? haha.

 

[AltGrendel]

I think you should install [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]and some batteries.

 

[salman]

How about stuffing a Gumby doll...ahem..action figure in there. Can't go wrong with Gumby. Or you can enlarge the whole a bit, put a metal lid on it (with a hinge of course) and use it to store knick-knacks. Though the strings might get in the way, so maybe just a pickup instead...who knows, maybe someday you will get bored of just a straight P sound.

 

[mkrtu9]

I think you should install [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]and some batteries.

that would look like the night rider's bass!

 

[Floridabwoy]

This.

 

[AltGrendel]

Going with option one, why don't you strip off the finish, fill the hole with wood and then laminate some wood on the entire top? Like a nice koa or spalted maple laminate?

 

[kenfxj]

fill it with clear casting resin....floating something cool inside. army man toy? an insect of some sort?

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