NBD ... used but new to me .. !

bought from VicRock ...

very nice 2000 Fender MIA Hot Rod Precision ... OHSC

now going thru the usual battery ... clean fretboard , level/polish frets , strap locks , adjust to my liking , find the right strings for the sound I want ... gonna try some LaBella flats ... my last 4 strg, that I just sold, had Ti flats on it ... wanted just a touch more tension .... might change out the pots ... like many , they only seem to actually work during the last 20% of their rotation ... !?

 

after a few tweaks ... new pots/caps harness - concentric vol/tone for each pup ... plus a pickup selector switch ( thanks to bassman_al .. !! ) frets leveled /polished ... fret board cleaned along with everything else .... new MOP pickguard ( so I could keep original pots & pickguard intact ) ... trying out some Low Tension LaBella flats ( will comment later after some break in ... previously always used Ti flats $$$ ) ... basic setup done ... time to play around .. !!

 

a couple more parts on order ... not that I want to tear it apart again , ... but ...

new bridge pup ... Fender Super 55 Split Coil ... want something as quiet as the P-pup and a bit louder . I hope.

new 3-way switch ... SwitchCraft short frame 3-way toggle for pickup selector ... not a big fan of the micro switch ... it's just kinda small , and doesn't really fit/fill the previous tone pot hole it's in ... it'll do the same job .

still not 100% sold on the Low Tension LaBella flats ... but I know they need to break in for a while ... so far I'd say they're OK ... but thus far I'd still prefer my old Ti flats ( if they where in the same price range !! )

parts should be here soon ... desire to solder will hopefully soon follow .. !!???

 

I ordered / have a new , hopefully a bit stronger , bridge pup so they might blend a bit better ... the new Super 55 Split coil should do the trick ... the new pickup selector switch showed up today ... I think the selector helps to preserve the true P-bass sound when wanted , as it really seems to take the other pup/knobs out of the loop ... the current stock bridge pup seems a little weak ..?? I've never had a P/J type setup in my 40 yrs of playing ... so I really wasn't sure exactly what to expect ... my new parts are here ... but a few other new toys have shown up ... yesterday I rec'd a new Visual Sound Rt 66 V3 ( Comp / Overdrive ) tried it out on guitar and it sounded very good and extremely flexible .... tried it with my passive 5 strg quickly ... going for very light Comp and just a little tube like warmth ... the Comp is very flexible having a blend knob , mixing in just a little lite Comp in filled/evened things out very nice ... haven't tried any extreme settings yet ... tried a similar thing on the Overdrive side , mixing in a tiny bit of dirt in with the clean signal worked pretty well ... having bass/tone controls help also ... it did fatten things up a bit ... and was somewhat touch sensitive ,... a little like tubes ...

hopefully tomorrow another gadget will show up ... a new MXR M81 preamp/Eq ... since all my basses and guitars are passive , I thought this would be a useful tone/extra Eq/ boosting pedal ...!!?? we'll see .

but tonight , i'll probably be messing with another toy ... NUGD ... rec'd a slightly used PRS SE Zach Meyers gtr today .... hard deal to turn down ( list $1,100/ street $680 ... used from Music123 $375 )
it is surprisingly clean ... but I won't touch it until the strap locks are installed ..!! so please stay tuned , i'll report more asap ..!

 

just put the Super 55 Split Coil in ... probably getting over confidant in my soldering skills , but i put it all back together without checking anything ... hey , it's just a couple wires ..!!??

i'll get it plugged in and checked out later tonight ... hope it works ..! and hopefully i'll have a better balance from neck to bridge ( and dead quiet if bridge is solo's ) ...

more later ...

 

ah crap ... small ground buzz ... I think one of the wires from one of those giant orange caps is touching something ... ! the larger stacked pots and caps and switch make things a tad crowded ... i'll tear it back down tomorrow and patiently neaten things up in there ... !!

 

couldn't find or figure exactly what I had done to start the 'ground buzz crap ' ... but I did want to get the Super 55 Split Coil bridge pup in there ... so I took the newer stacked pots/switch out ... removed the original harness from the old pickguard ... mounted/ soldered things back together ... now all is well . !?

one thing I have learned ... P basses are a little more tricky to mod than J-basses ( especially with a rear cavity ) ... it is working fine , sounds good/better/quieter with split coil in bridge ... but it's back to the original knobs .... V/V/T ... which is just fine .. ! i'll keep my left over parts for the next J project .. !

 

finally broke down and ordered a new set of Ti flats ... and some F-one fretboard cleaner/moisturizer ...
and while the strings where off , I installed a new Sprague orange cap on the tone pot .. took the tiny ceramic cap off ... back together , ... we'll see how it works/feels later ... gotta start getting the new flats broke in !