P basses without pickguards

[Strat]

Anybody love how the P bass looks without a pickguard? There are some seriously nice pieces of ash being hidden underneath that large piece of plastic.

We could of had the best of both worlds if the controls went through body, and guard was removable like the pickup and bridge metal covers.

78 P bass btw...

 

[P. Aaron]

Clear PG?

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Something like this with a MusicMan style control plate.

 

[Ghastly]

 

[BBassBassington]

It would be cool if someone made and sold a control plate for the P bass. I guess in theory you could just cut up a pickguard yourself though. They're super cheap and easy to find after all.

Count me in the camp who prefers to go pickguard-free and for a transparent finish. I love me some wood grain.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

this is even better

 

[2cooltoolz]

This was a parts bass I assembled. I actually chose the body from several Stratosphere had, because the mismatch had that "mutt" look. I moved to fives and sadly sold it:

 

[StevieMac]

It would be cool if someone made and sold a control plate for the P bass. I guess in theory you could just cut up a pickguard yourself though. They're super cheap and easy to find after all.

Count me in the camp who prefers to go pickguard-free and for a transparent finish. I love me some wood grain.

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[Pings Bass]

Funny, my only bass with an opaque finish is basically a p without a pickguard (technically a "Jazz Bass Special", but, you know... it's a p). I like it if it's routed from the rear for it. Not a fan of the control plate look.

 

[2cooltoolz]

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THAT is interesting!! I have this body, a 2015 American Hot Rod Precision, that might look cool with that:

Here's how it stands now (kinda cliche):

 

[funkinbottom]

 

[plaidgoat]

I hate pickgaurds. The p bass was orange but in its current state it's black, for now.

 

[Joybass]

this is even better

IMO this is what it should be. I see the whole pickguard thing as a consequence of Leo F's cheapskate way of building basses. His designs may be monumental in many other respects, but this kind of design choices could (should) have been abandoned many years ago.

 

[beaglesandbass]

Anybody love how the P bass looks without a pickguard? There are some seriously nice pieces of ash being hidden underneath that large piece of plastic.

We could of had the best of both worlds if the controls went through body, and guard was removable like the pickup and bridge metal covers.
View attachment 4225027
78 P bass btw...

There are a lot of brands that make rear routed P basses... just not fender.

 

[elgranluis]

II see the whole pickguard thing as a consequence of Leo F's cheapskate way of building basses. .

you’ve obviously never owned a pre cbs bass. Btw, pre cbs means when Leo fender was running the company.

The open routing between pickup cavity and control plate became present during the late 70s, and became more prominent once fender adopted CNC tooling. Before that , there’s a hole that connects the pickup route to the control route.

 

[2F/2F]

You want to see guardless Leo Fender beauty, look at pretty much any early to mid '80s G&L. No guards, but nice control plates, which had really attractive black wrinkle paint finishes for several years.

 

[FenderOli]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4

 

[subdude67]

Not real P basses but without pickguard

 

[Phaidrus]

Basse Maruszczyk Jake Bruno Tauzin • Tout sur la Basse avec Bruno Tauzin

 

[Barry Vestal]