Hey Guys, wanted to share a few pics of a recent project bass. I am not a P-bass player, I've not been able to dial one in for a sound that I personally enjoy. But I was feeling the itch to try a P again. I started looking online for inexpensive P's and then remembered a company that made P & J copies that had a split 2x2 headstock called Kona. The bass stuck out to me as it was a classic P body shape and layout but looked interesting due to it's split headstock and it's cheap enough to try and if it sucks I have a new wall decoration.
I ordered up a Kona P copy, in fact it came as a learners box kit.
It arrives, open it up and sit down to give it a test drive. The first thing that grabs me is the deep C cut the neck, which is actually my preference. I love thick necks and can't stand the thin cut speed necks. The more I play it the more comfortable it gets so I'm thinking okay, I can work with this and I order up some replacement hardware and dress up pieces.
First bits to go are the tuners in favor of a set of Hipshot tuners. Next the pickguard is replaced with a copper 50's style P pickguard. Also install a set of Duncan SPB-2 pickups I've had in my spare parts drawer for years.
I file the edges of the frets, set it up and install a set of a Dunlop Super Bright strings. At the same time there is talk a new music project amungst friends, a covers bar band. Something I haven't done in years but could be fun. I take my modified Kona P to a rehearsal and then to a gig. It's a solid, fun little bass that handled the abuse. There is just one problem...that P tone. I found myself twisting knobs and EQ's all night hunting for the sweet spot which to my ears just never got dialed in.
I'm looking at the bass on the wall one morning and I go "This thing needs a MM pickup", I dig out a Duncan SMB4A MM pickup from the junk drawer and the mock up make's it look amazing.
Layout the pickup housing and scribe exactly where this pickup will sit:
While things are apart I also decide to install wood inserts for the neck & bridge.
I give myself a C+ for the install, it got a little sloppy and claimed some of the paint around the pickup edge. Some black nail polish and cleaning up and it's good enough.
I spent some time mixing and matching wiring and coils, series & parallel, in & out of phase to see what combination seemed to work best. At first I started with all coils in parallel, then I took the south most coil of the MM out of the curcuit. It sounded good but I found myself needing the tone knob rolled off like 95% to tame those highs. Then one day I wire it for P-pups in series (normal) and MM pickup in series, then the two pups wired together parallel and ran the wiring straight to the jack for wide open throttle. That combo sonically woke up the bass.
It seems the MM pup is the dominant sound source, the instrument has shifted to a mid's and high's bias. Playing/plucking over the P-pups shifts that bias back towards the "P" bass tone range but still has the high end bite. I'll be pickup, pot and cap rolling for a while to further dial things in.
Added a black pinstrip around the headstock to help tie in that otherwise blank neck into the black body:
Thanks for checking out my story on turning a learner P into a stage worthy P/MM -Mykk
I ordered up a Kona P copy, in fact it came as a learners box kit.
It arrives, open it up and sit down to give it a test drive. The first thing that grabs me is the deep C cut the neck, which is actually my preference. I love thick necks and can't stand the thin cut speed necks. The more I play it the more comfortable it gets so I'm thinking okay, I can work with this and I order up some replacement hardware and dress up pieces.
First bits to go are the tuners in favor of a set of Hipshot tuners. Next the pickguard is replaced with a copper 50's style P pickguard. Also install a set of Duncan SPB-2 pickups I've had in my spare parts drawer for years.
I file the edges of the frets, set it up and install a set of a Dunlop Super Bright strings. At the same time there is talk a new music project amungst friends, a covers bar band. Something I haven't done in years but could be fun. I take my modified Kona P to a rehearsal and then to a gig. It's a solid, fun little bass that handled the abuse. There is just one problem...that P tone. I found myself twisting knobs and EQ's all night hunting for the sweet spot which to my ears just never got dialed in.
I'm looking at the bass on the wall one morning and I go "This thing needs a MM pickup", I dig out a Duncan SMB4A MM pickup from the junk drawer and the mock up make's it look amazing.
Layout the pickup housing and scribe exactly where this pickup will sit:
While things are apart I also decide to install wood inserts for the neck & bridge.
I give myself a C+ for the install, it got a little sloppy and claimed some of the paint around the pickup edge. Some black nail polish and cleaning up and it's good enough.
I spent some time mixing and matching wiring and coils, series & parallel, in & out of phase to see what combination seemed to work best. At first I started with all coils in parallel, then I took the south most coil of the MM out of the curcuit. It sounded good but I found myself needing the tone knob rolled off like 95% to tame those highs. Then one day I wire it for P-pups in series (normal) and MM pickup in series, then the two pups wired together parallel and ran the wiring straight to the jack for wide open throttle. That combo sonically woke up the bass.
It seems the MM pup is the dominant sound source, the instrument has shifted to a mid's and high's bias. Playing/plucking over the P-pups shifts that bias back towards the "P" bass tone range but still has the high end bite. I'll be pickup, pot and cap rolling for a while to further dial things in.
Added a black pinstrip around the headstock to help tie in that otherwise blank neck into the black body:
Thanks for checking out my story on turning a learner P into a stage worthy P/MM -Mykk
