Shaggy

I use medium DR Hi-Beams (s/steel rounds) on my '65 IV; they can be quite dark-sounding basses so a "bright" string suits and really emphasises the growl. TBH half the time I use whatever's to hand though, recently been using the Hartke Nickel rounds that you can get for £14 for a pack of 3 on ebay, and they're not too bad at all!

Hmmm - also bought a DiMarzio pickup off me........is Etienne cornering the pickup market on BC?????? As last time, an absolute pleasure to do business with - Thanks!

Really classy - love the "flower" MOP fret markers too! What did he use as template / inspiration?

[quote name='steve' post='831734' date='May 8 2010, 08:30 PM']Excellent job Greg, that looks fantastic, definately a big improvement on how far I took it[/quote] Well I took it to full circle really - back to a standard P - although better than its original black incarnation I hope! (wh'd have thought that body was underneath) Yours was far more original, and had that MM vibe going on too. You could definitely be a pro guitar electrician (are you?) - neatest circuit I've ever seen. [quote name='Beedster' post='831774' date='May 8 2010, 09:44 PM']That's great Greg, well done mate. It's exactly the bass you described when we first talked about the deal. That, my friend, is a keeper. Chris[/quote] Wait till you see the proper finished "vintage" one......cheers for all the help Chris . And you of all people should know there's no such beast as a keeper! [quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='831798' date='May 8 2010, 10:23 PM']If brandoni still sell maple/ebony fretless P necks, I'd recommend you look at one. About half the price of an allparts and excellent quality if they're still like mine: After reading this thread I quite fancy putting a piezo bridge in mine.[/quote] That looks just the job, and reckon the piezo body pictured might get a 3TS finish as well looking at that, no point having two natural ones! Really sold on piezo, I'll dig out the US link for where steve sourced it - surprisingly affordable. One drawback is I wanted the full ashtray "bling" and the bridge cover won't quite fit over the piezo bridge.

Wasn't really sure whether to put this in the build or the porn section, but as far as I'm concerned it's an iconic version of [b]the[/b] iconic bass guitar , so in here it goes! I recently acquired a very lovely 1978 Fender Precision maple fretless neck in a trade with our own Chris Beedster - he'd previously had my '71 P/J fretless P in another trade, and I was starting to miss it. Also, I've always had a soft spot for a maple fretless Precision - my very first fretless in the early '80's was a "bitza" copy one that I gradually modded to death. The neck is an absolute stunner; the original finish virtually like new except for the board that was re-dressed and finished by Martin Simms, the finish seamlessly blending into the original. I also had the tuners and string tree off him, that are original to the neck. Anyway, intention was to gradually rebuild a vintage P-bass with authentic late-70's Fender parts; but in the meantime WarPig on BC was selling a bitza fretless P that caught my eye: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=82997&hl=bitza"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=82997&hl=bitza[/url] . In particular; the potential of the very lovely natural ash body, and the fact that it was fitted with a piezo bridge. Seemed to me a cheap way of putting together a nice fretless P quickly, and also of trying out a piezo which I've wanted to do for a long time. One of my "must have" features for fretless is 2 p/ups - the blend between the 2 is where the tone is at. In this respect a dual P/J setup is ideal, but aesthetically I reckon it marrs the classic simple lines of a Precision. So it was a very straightforward project to amalgamate the two, plus a tort pickguard from Cetera - result in the pics. Verdict? Very, very nice - heavier and clubbier than my old '71, but very playable indeed. Tone on the P pickup is what you'd expect from a "vintage" Fender P, the piezo has something of the nasal J p/up bite but with an extra acoustric woodiness. With the tone rolled off it, a very convincing "upright" sound, and it's got me trying jazzy stuff I've never explored before. The original bitza donor body was put together by our own steve, link here; [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13159"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=13159[/url] -it did seem a damn shame semi-dismantling it but I know from experience that it's generally cheaper buying other people's projects than assembling your own from scratch! Steve made a hell of a good job on the electrics - he made the piezo buffer circuit himself, also of finishing the beautiful body. I've since bought a nice '79 natural Fender P body in good nick on the 'bay, which I'll start loading with vintage parts. From an investment / selling on point of view the neck logically should be on the "vintage" body - and will be - but the current set-up is so nice I'll probably eventually get some Warmoth / Allparts ebony-board neck to go in the piezo body (the original zebrano neck from the bitza is lovely, but needs to be on a darker exotic-wood body I think) So - it's been a fun and relatively cheap way of acquiring a bass I've always coveted, and it's an "all-BC special" - thanks to Chris Beedster, steve, Warpig, and Cetera for the entertaining deals and input!

Bought a P pickup from Nigel; smooth deal -totally unfazed by my shameless haggling :blush: Great communication and instant despatch - top fella

Stunning looking bass Bassbod – about time crème p/up covers made a comeback too! Strangely enough I’m also currently making a bitza out of the other neck Mr Beedster was selling (the fretless maple P one) – a nostalgic revival of the “Sting” bass that was my first ever fretless in the early ‘80’s and also I’m missing not having a Precision more than I thought I would. [quote name='Beedster' post='818846' date='Apr 26 2010, 08:17 AM']Looking at this thread again, and realised that it's strange seeing that neck on another bass, it's like seeing your bird with another guy [/quote] In the words of Jacko, if you were a “lover not a fighter" your birds wouldn’t leave you! (wait a minute, remembers - you’ve got one of mine……… )

This is a good starting point to see what's around; [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=73230"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=73230[/url] The vintage semi's (Starfire / EB-2 / Rivoli etc) are very different beasts from the modern ones (Warwick Infiniti etc); and from the sound of it it's the latter you're after. IMHO piezo and fretless really bring out the most of the acoustic nature of a hollow-body, and there are some superb ones at the moment.