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New build: how about a Precision this time?

joeyl

joeyl

Jun 3, 2006
5,492
153
El Paso TX (formely New Orleans, LA)
#1
I always had Jazzes but recently I saw this on TB and I bought it (from a dude from my home state)

IMG_1122.jpg


the body has some scars but the white paint has faded to a nice hue, purplish or creamy depending on the light.
Like a lot of Fender bodies that I have seen, the body neck screw holes are too tight and the screws don't slide in. Seems like they just ram the whole screw from the body side into the neck and call it a day. Using my drill press I enlarge the screw holes in the body.

IMG_1123.jpg


IMG_1124.jpg


I also bought a Precision neck that was brand spanking new from Black Bart. I was going to use it to replace a bad neck on one of my basses but I could not resist to slap it on that P body and here they are:
I also have a fretless Warmoth neck coming and they may have to compete for that body.

IMG_1125.jpg


It looks pretty bad ass with the P pickup missing and I may keep it that way :D Maybe I will get an unrouted P pickguard from Warmoth?

more to come when I get some time to fiddle with it.
 
#3
so my daughter is born, my wife went back to work and now I am staying home with baby. This means that between diaper changes and playing with baby, project MM Precision is back on

First the body was full of holes, all sorts of holes and it seems like most were not drilled with a bit but rather by driving screws in haphazardly

Holes_zps637a686f.jpg


Holes2_zps56543416.jpg


Holey crap! :)


So out come the good quality toothpicks

Toothpick_zpsee326977.jpg


and the proper screw locations are re-drilled with the drill press (I hate wonky pickup screws because if they are really off, they press against the pickup earholes without lowering it)

Newcleanscrewhole2_zpsec9afd0a.jpg


You can see how far off the screws were

Newcleanscrewhole_zpsefe28349.jpg


And here is what is going in:

92-03 era MM Stingray
John East MM 2-band preamp :)

OldMMSterlingpickupJohnEastMMPreamp_zpsdabcb7d8.jpg
 
#5
I may in the future, if I snag a good deal on a P pickup for example :)

Since it is a replacement MIM pickguard and the neck is MIA, there is no truss rod access hole in the pickguard.

I used tape to mark where the truss access should be

trussrodaccess_zpsb9f33019.jpg


Used the drill press to make 2 holes like such

trussrodaccessdrill_zpsceae5a70.jpg


Dremel to cut off the "points"

dremelcutoff_zpsdc07331b.jpg


Clean up with a flat file and then 220 sandpaper, I am not too concerned for it to be perfect since it is a beat-up body.

trussrodaccesscleanup_zps91bf7e15.jpg


trussrodaccessfinal_zps6099f6b8.jpg
 
#10
the bass came with passive Duncan designed MM pickup, no preamp. The pickup did not sound bad but not great either. I am putting in the Stingray pickup and the John East preamp.

Yes, the MM pickup is not in the sweet spot, I think it is off by an inch and a half last I measured. So it is probably not going to give a classic MM sound by itself, we will see once I put it together.

Filthybass, it is a public forum so ask away ;)
 
#11
I like the idea of MM electrics and PU in Fender basses.
I thought about a Jazz Bass made from replacement parts and scrap - and then build a MM PU in the sweet spot plus a Jazz stacked HB in the neck position.
Would be the MM-sound plus the Jazz Bass sound in a very comfortably playable bass.

Please go ahead, I'm curious about the final version of your bass...:-)

Greetz
 
#14
ok so the preamp wiring to the output jack is too short if I want to move it further into the massive rout that is underneath the pickguard.

Preampincontrolcavity_zpsba259be7.jpg


just need to lengthen the green and gray wire. I did not have any more hookup wire, so I went to the local Radioshack. Unfortunately they only have the colored wire in 22 AWG stranded, I like to use 24 or even 26 because it is thinner and more flexible. But I was anxious to get this going so.
22gaugespools_zpsdf4ec811.jpg


Since there is no gray, red will do. Here is the proper way to splice wires together (as I have been taught)
twist the wires together, heat them with the soldering iron and flow solder into the joint. You should still be able to see the individual strands coated in solder, then you know it is not a cold blob of solder.

soldered_zps75d5eb09.jpg


use your fingers to feel if there are any strands standing up that could poke through the insulation. If there is, flatten them with pliers, then it is ready for insulation.

heatshrinktubing_zpseb28fa3c.jpg
 
#17
Still needs shielding and proper battery clip but I could not wait to hear it so I put it together.

Assembled_zps2cd7af88.jpg


I may make a cover out of pickguard material and keep the battery in the P cavity :)

I don't have any recording devices but it sounds great.
With the preamp flat it sounds like a soloed Jazz bridge pickup that is really beefy.
I can tweak the bass and treble and it sounds kinda like a Musicman...

BTW I am really impressed by the East MM preamp. very musical and boosting lows and highs to the max does not produce any weird overtones or high end hiss. I may use the same preamp in my other basses
 

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