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Let's See Your Hot-Rodded Cheapo Basses!

#381
God's Favorite Bass said:
Good to know! I put this together with a CV50s body and the neck, reverse tuners, bridge from a MIM Cabronita, and a Duncan SCPB3 pickup. Like I said, I have another body but can't find another Cabronita neck and I'm not stripping one of my Cabronitas so that sounds like a promising solution.
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There are $60 necks on eBay that look real good. While not perfect still very nice and can save you a lot! I love the vintage reverse Tuning machines my favorite!:thumbsup:
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https://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender/1951-Precision-Bass-Neck.gc
 
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#384
I posted in here a while ago with my pawn shop Hamer slammer SB4f in progress mods, might as well do a nice update post now that they are basically complete.

Before: Ugly burst over photoflame, no arm bevel, zero 17-20fret access, no belly cut, chintzy bridge. Loved the short scale, how it played and the sound. 200 bucks was a good way to tell that I indeed like short scale basses.

20190703_165955.jpg 20190703_170034.jpg

No arm cutaway was killing my injured wrist, so of course I continued to mess with my wrists for countless hours sanding, laminate glueing, sanding, finishing, sanding and more sanding for months.

And now:
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Burl laminates are "Laurel Burl" scored off ebay for 60$ for a set of 4 sheets.
Hipshot badass bridge is... badass. allowed 19-20mm spacing from the original set 18mm, still fiddling with that. Arm/belly and upper fret cutaways made all the effort worth it.

Still needs a few little bits of hardware in the right colour to match, but basically done(For now).

Down the road I may replace the pickups (Nordstrand soapbars or lace alumitones would fit well i think) and if I get really ambitious might just make a new neck(with luthier friend assistance). Wont be much left of the original guitar by then though, be 95% custom.

Here is the build thread for more pics, description of techniques involved, etc. Major body mod/refinishing my Hamer SB4f - Project Thread
 
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#385
diablo_man said:
I posted in here a while ago with my pawn shop Hamer slammer SB4f in progress mods, might as well do a nice update post now that they are basically complete.

Before: Ugly burst over photoflame, no arm bevel, zero 17-20fret access, no belly cut, chintzy bridge. Loved the short scale, how it played and the sound. 200 bucks was a good way to tell that I indeed like short scale basses.

View attachment 3662225 View attachment 3662226

No arm cutaway was killing my injured wrist, so of course I continued to mess with my wrists for countless hours sanding, laminate glueing, sanding, finishing, sanding and more sanding for months.

And now: View attachment 3662228 View attachment 3662229 View attachment 3662230 View attachment 3662231 View attachment 3662232 View attachment 3662233 View attachment 3662234 View attachment 3662235 View attachment 3662236
Burl laminates are "Laurel Burl" scored off ebay for 60$ for a set of 4 sheets.
Hipshot badass bridge is... badass. allowed 19-20mm spacing from the original set 18mm, still fiddling with that. Arm/belly and upper fret cutaways made all the effort worth it.

Still needs a few little bits of hardware in the right colour to match, but basically done(For now).

Down the road I may replace the pickups (Nordstrand soapbars or lace alumitones would fit well i think) and if I get really ambitious might just make a new neck(with luthier friend assistance). Wont be much left of the original guitar by then though, be 95% custom.

Here is the build thread for more pics, description of techniques involved, etc. Major body mod/refinishing my Hamer SB4f - Project Thread
Click to expand...
DUDE
 
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#391
0A711C75-0908-4D33-94E2-46A3E3044A12.jpeg

2010 Fender Standard Precision Bass (MIM) on your left (~450 USD), 2013 Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass V (MII) on your right (~250 USD). I do not consider MIM Fender instruments “cheapo,” rather the industry standard, but I include mine here because I got mine used at a price that qualifies based on the arbitrary standard of 500 USD I set when starting the thread (cheap for many players, if not for me, haha) … aaaaand it completes a perfect pair! I added Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickups (~60 each), Hipshot Kicka$$ bridges (~60 each), and black/dayglo orange/black pickguards from Pickguard Planet (~50 each). So close, they even share a bag! Please accept the ultimate in dad band bass player tee shirts as penance for pushing the limits of “cheapo” here.

I don’t even have a picture of the four string stock, because I already knew the white (mint?) guard had to go when I ordered it, but please enjoy a few “along the way” shots:

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VMPV upon arrival, a Father's Day gift ... to myself

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black/white/black guard on the Squier (since passed along to another TalkBass person), black/red/black guard on the Fender (otherwise stock); the black/red/black guard was really cheap (not in a good way), and the red didn't match up well with the red in the burst

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black/dayglo orange/black guards and Kicka$$ bridges on both; M&V Atlas pickup in the Squier, SD QP in the Fender; I had originally planned to go with M&V Atlas pickups in both, but due to a long delay in the production of the 4-string pickup (which they warned me about; they were moving shop), I had the opportunity to A/B the M&V and the SD for a couple of months and ended up going with the SDs in both. It was not an easy choice, and I'm hanging on to the M&Vs in case I change my mind or find other instruments to put them in.
 
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#392
Not sure what's up with the errors in the last one, but whatever; I've posted all those "along the way" shots before elsewhere if you really want to see them.
 

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#393
The mm copy that I brassed out is no more, I totally ball..... the neck messing with the nut, so acquired this on the bay. Started as a westfield active and I transferred all brass fittings over and back to passive.
IMG_20200116_132749203.jpg

I still have the natural body which one day I will make into a working bass again though I don't know what, any ideas.
 
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#398
DJ Bebop said:
It was cheap at the time, not worth anything now.
My hot-rodded 62 P Bass of Doom :)
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Riff Ranger said:
Whoa!—what’s the story here? :woot:
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I bought it back in the early 70s maybe 72. Paid a $100 for it. I played it as it came, an original P bass but, it was the 70s. I saw lots of players of the era that had modified there early Fender basses, Berry Oakley, Doug Rauch, Larry Sims, Alphonso Johnson and the like. Because of them, I started to experiment with adding pickups, then Alphonso Johnson inspired me to go fretless. This was B.J.P., Before Jaco Pastorius :) As he hadn't made the scene yet.
It's all very straight forward. I added a Guild humbucker and a Fender Jazz pickup v-v-v and two in-out phase switches, string through the body and de-fretted. Hope that helps :thumbsup:
 
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#399
DJ Bebop said:
I bought it back in the early 70s maybe 72. Paid a $100 for it. I played it as it came, an original P bass but, it was the 70s. I saw lots of players of the era that had modified there early Fender basses, Berry Oakley, Doug Rauch, Larry Sims, Alphonso Johnson and the like. Because of them, I started to experiment with adding pickups, then Alphonso Johnson inspired me to go fretless. This was B.J.P., Before Jaco Pastorius :) As he hadn't made the scene yet.
It's all very straight forward. I added a Guild humbucker and a Fender Jazz pickup v-v-v and two in-out phase switches, string through the body and de-fretted. Hope that helps :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
That’s so cool :cool:
 
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