Is it possible to undo a PJ job?

[Doublesixes]

View attachment 3498898 I have a 73 Precision which, back in the day (1978 or 79) was modified by adding an original Fender Jazz pup in the bridge position.

Well, after pondering for a while came to the conclusion that this setup doesn't cut it anymore for my needs as I have 3 jazz basses that cover that particular sound that sometimes I use.

I'd like to know if anybody here has reversed a PJ job on an authentic older Fender (sunburst) and if so, what kind of results were achieved. TIA

 

[getbent]

This Guitar Garage blog talks about filling in a J hole, but only in context of refinishing the whole body, which doesn't seem to be what you're interested in. Either leave it in there, take it out and leave the hole, or slap on a Jazz bass ashtray bridge cover to conceal it.

 

[Doublesixes]

Filling the hole would not be that hard but matching the color is the real challenge. On the positive side, the bass has authentic road-worn characteristics which in a way may help mitigate a less than perfect repair job.

 

[BLDavis]

Play that baby like it is and don't worry about it. Disconnect the J-pup if it bothers you and use it as a thumb rest. I think any attempt to "fix" it now would take away from the 46 years of mojo.
B.

 

[bigtone23]

It's all about how much evidence of the mod you want to leave behind.
Just pulling the wires &/or pickup is the quick and easy.
Throwing a bridge cover over it or using an empty J PU cover conceals the gaping hole.
Filling the hole and refinishing is obviously more involved, but perfectly doable. It does leave that extra hole in the pickguard to contend with, too.

Since it's a well done mod, I would probably just leave it as is. I tend to prefer my Js for that dual pickup tone, but don't mind having that option on my P/Js, though.

 

[ctmullins]

IMHO, the modification is just as authentic and historically accurate as the original instrument. If it’s just the tone that bothers you, then take @BLDavis ‘s advice and disconnect the J pickup. If it’s a visual aesthetic issue, then I can’t help you...

 

[JIO]

It can be done but is a very sophisticated fix. A section of the top (on either side of the J pu) would need to be routed from the bottom to at least under the pg and replaced with a 1/8" (at least) matching piece of wood and then finish blended into the original finish. Retaining the original finish is very difficult - a full refinish would be the most seamless solution after a carefully integrated section of wood. Fellow Tb'r @TomB had this fix done on his early 60's P-bass and it came out great.

 

[Rib 13]

IMHO, the modification is just as authentic and historically accurate as the original instrument.

^This +100000000 - I can't "Like" this one enough

 

[Warpeg]

Rotate the bridge pickup's volume knob counter-clockwise until it stops. Done

 

[JRA]

Rotate the bridge pickup's volume knob counter-clockwise until it stops. Done

filling in a J hole

what would you say to a "j hole" to bring him up to speed?

 

[Axstar]

IMHO, the modification is just as authentic and historically accurate as the original instrument.

A sort of musical spolia, I guess. Just add a brass nut and Badass II.

I've seen this sort of thing repaired by filling the J hole, routing a shallow channel into the top of the bass the width of the J route, then inlaying a patch of similar wood. Get a very matchy matchy piece of wood and you can revert back to a sunburst finish.

 

[JohnArnson]

For the optimal and almost perfect result that would not be visible in any way whatsoever you would need to, beside of course uninstall the J pickup, cut out a piece of wood, ideally of the same type as your bass body, that tightly and perfectly fits the pickup cavity left, press it down in the now empty cavity, securing it with a bit a wood glue, uninstall the remaining hardware and electronics on/in the body, as well as take off the neck, refinish the whole body, and then finally reinstall the neck, hardware and electronics.

I doubt there are any other options than a complete refinish if you don't want the result to be visible in any way whatsoever.

If it's just because you only want the P tone then just turn the J pickup all the way down and the P pickup all the way up, or if you insist disconnect the J pickup altogether.

Personally though I would see the added J pickup as an improvement, as I prefer the tone of a P/J bass, specifically with both pickups full on, over what I can get from both a P and a J Bass.

I don't quite get how your Jazz Basses are able to cover all the tones your P/J is capable of either, beside of course the tone of a soloed bridge J pickup.

 

[Aloe]

just leave it where it is, a bridge pickup is a nice thumb rest.
there's literally a hole cut out of bass to fit that pickup back in 79, you really cannot undo this.
just leave it there if you like the bass. you can turn the jazz pickup off or really low, but removing it ain't worth it.

 

[Mvilmany]

It is what it is.

 

[CallMeAl]

Push pull for series!

 

[bolophonic]

It is what it is.

Not much more to be said.

 

[matty1039]

I'm with the "leave as is" camp. Just play through the p-pickup. If it were a solid color bass I could see a fill job getting pretty close but with the burst it was take someone really talented to patch and paint it up.

I see you've got bridge cover screw holes. You could always slap a jazz bass bridge cover on it to hide the pickup.

 

[sgtpepper]

It is possible. I'm 99% sure I've seen it before here on TB and if my memory doesn't fail me, it was John Kallas @johnk_10 who did that by just making a "pickup" made out of wood that fitted perfectly into the pickup cavity along with matching the wood grain pattern. But I just can't find the thread. Another option is to cut a bigger piece of wood as somebody else suggested. The thing is that you have to refinish the whole body. Here's a video that shows something pretty similar. Hope it helps.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I’m very sceptical about being able to inlay a piece of wood and having it seamlessly match everything else. If you were interested in refinishing in an opaque colour that’s a different story. The simplest thing by far is to just remove the j pup wiring from the circuit. I would think that a jazz ashtray cover would look very strange on a p bass. I’ve seen this done once and didn’t care for the aesthetics of it.

 

[Doublesixes]

The Precision is unbelievably light, only bested by my MIJ PJ Precision Lyte which must have been made out of balsa or unobtainium

Since some here (myself included) have become weight freaks, I can only speculate how much lighter the bass will become without the pup, pot, wiring and knob. I'm willing to fill the hole with foam and just add a thin veneer of plywood to make it look somewhat original.

It's not that I'm trying to emulate an original 73 as that ship has already sailed decades ago and I will never sell this buddy of mine that has seen my hands since the 70s. Frankly, I just want to recreate in my mind the pretense of playing an intact, original P. Heck, I even keep the decrepit original case.