StevieD_FenderP2009

Hi there After playing my mates Spector bass through my amp the other day, I finally (after 3 years of searching) got the "holy grain" tone I've been searching for so I spent a while looking through YouTube and the Spector website to see what pick ups they used and what pre-amp they used in the bass that I tried out. Now bear in mind the bass I played was the Spector Legend 4 Classic which features: Spector Tonepump JR pre amp EMG SSD Soapbar pick ups (which as you all will know are just the EMG HZ pick ups with Stuart Spector Design on them as they have a little bit more midrange) After finding that out, I decided that those are the parts I want to stick in my Tobias bass. But then I had an idea... I wanted to try and get something extremely close to that tone in my Precision Basses so I went through youtube again and found that the closest to that tone would be the EMG P pick ups (not the EMG PA pick ups, they're a newer alnico magnet version). With this now in my mind I was thinking... Would it be possible to put a Spector Tone Pump JR pre amp in my Precision Bass with the EMG pick ups but have it so it's still just single volume and single tone controls? The way I was thinking was to disconnect the bass pot that comes pre-wired to the TP and just solder the 2 wires together so the bass is in effect always fully open (as it normally is on a P Bass) but then have the treble pot where the tone pot would be and one volume pot wired up instead of the usual 2. My apologies if this is confusing to anyone, it's 5am, I haven't slept yet and I get cooky ideas at this time of night. I know i'd need to rout in a cavity for the pre amp to go but luckily I have all the access I need to tools like that so I could put a rout under the main section of the pickguard. I'm never planning on selling my P Basses so it's not like I care about the value of them decreasing. If you could shed any light on whether it would work or not then that would be great. If it does work and I like the results I get from the 1st bass I do it on (Terry) then i'll eventually do it to my other P Bass (Frank) and maybe even the Steve Harris signature P Bass (but I really doubt I'll do it to that one) Cheers Stevie

Dude, can you not insult my bass so much... F*ck sake... You are so nasty You're right though, it's a piece of sh*t and i'm glad I don't own it xD

If you want rid of the neck, I'll take it off you dude

I just bought a Behringer T1952 valve compressor off Gareth and he's a real pleasure to deal with. He offered me the compressor 2 weeks back, I asked if I could pay on the first which he was cool with, he sent it the next day. Thoroughly nice guy too! And yeah, in answer to your feedback for me, who knows, maybe he will And here's to hoping something happens for you and The Who haha Cheers dude!

Big update! Base coat added to the body! Haven't got a picture just yet, got told by the painter earlier Hopefully have it back soon for the last bit of work I can do before it goes back for the final part of the re-spray and finish Frank should be back within a week

The main task afterwards though is getting the headstock looking normal again haha. I need to try and some how pack the truss rod hole out and level it off again. I think i'm gunna use some black plastic piping in there too to make it like the modern day Fenders so it is less of a packing out job, but I still need to pack out some of it

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1110508' date='Feb 1 2011, 12:52 AM']That's not necessarily true. Yes that is the convention... but for a standard "in series" arrangement all you have to ensure is that (assuming you have the 2 pups connected North to South as in the pic above) you have a North (or South depending on how you chosen to wire it*) running to earth while simultaneously treating it's opposite, South (or North*) as your "hot" wire. There is nothing physically to stop you swapping the E/A and the D/G. Every now and then you get a single coil pup (which is basically what one half of a P pup is) with a weaker or stronger end which is why I suggested swapping them about.[/quote] Oh okay, fair enough. My bad

Nah there was no walnut/koa cap on the truss rod access, just a plain hole down to the nut. I don't know what to do in terms of how to fix it. The thread on the actual rod is fine and it does seem to be sitting it place perfectly (it's very tight to turn though and I can't turn it much at all right now, mainly due to not being able to fit the allen key in there much) but it was the nut that was broken so I replaced it. I'm going to try making a spacer to go between the top end of the rod holder and the truss nut like mentioned in the "maxxed out truss rod" thread. And to answer you Lettsguitars, I'm pretty sure it's anchored in there so I can't pull it out or anything like that. As said, seems like the rod is sitting perfectly in it's route but may need some grease poured down there to loosen it a wee bit so I can turn it again

As promised, headstock truss rod photos: I just need to add that I can't get a normal 90 degree allen key into the hole properly at the minute becuase of how far out the truss rod nut is so if anyone has one of the really long allen keys that Fender sometimes supply with their basses and guitars (I think it's a 3/16 allen wrench nut), could I either buy it off you or borrow it and send it back? Pic 1: This pic is taken to show you how much had to be drilled out of the underside of the truss rod hole Pic 2: Right above the truss hole Pic 3: shot from the tip of the headstock to show how much I had to drill out to access it =/ Cheers

[quote name='henry norton' post='1111406' date='Feb 1 2011, 06:30 PM']Well, if it really is an '87 Fender it'll either be a Fender USA or Fender Japan - either way it's worth sorting out, and it does have a nice fingerboard too. Replacing a truss rod is quite tricky but not impossible (and much easier than if it was a one piece maple with a skunk stripe). We need to see a few more pictures to show what's been done to the truss rod hole, headstock etc. Also, are there any markings on the heel of the neck as that should tell you where it was made? And good luck with it by the way [/quote] Cheers on the good luck It was apparently made in the USA which wouldn't surprise me as it looks like the most amazing pieces of wood that have been used to build it. I got the full story on the bass from the original owner after asking what he meant by "the neck may need some work as it is quite bowed"... His reply was "Hi Steve, ever since I bought the bass back in 1988 it hasn't had a proper set up as I didn't know what to do with it* so I've just changed the strings a couple of times** and the neck has just bowed over time. It doesn't seem to serious*** so you should be able to fix it easily**** * Take it to a guitar shop and have it set up maybe? ** I hope he means more than "a couple of times" in 23 years as that's disgusting... *** Well mate, I've got a f*cked neck on my hands **** Well it hasn't been easy and it's still not fixed. The truss rod nut had to be drilled out as he's obviously attempted a truss adjustment recently and stripped the thread/allen key grip of the nut. I'll upload some pics in a few minutes for you all **EDIT** I've also tried a new Fender Mexican truss rod nut on the truss rod and it didn't fit but I tried an American truss rod nut and it fit perfectly

[quote name='ezbass' post='1111378' date='Feb 1 2011, 06:11 PM']That looks like it's been faced with a lovely single piece of laminate over the 3 piece body. I hope you're going for a translucent finish so that it'll show through, filled in dings 'n all.[/quote] Haha nah, i'm going for a solid finish. I would of done a translucent finish if it wasn't for the filler etc on the body And I'm glad you think it's a nice grain too

[quote name='henry norton' post='1111324' date='Feb 1 2011, 05:35 PM']What are you going to do with the broken neck???[/quote] Not sure yet man. I'm really thinking of trying my hand at removing the fretboard and laying a new truss rod in it (as I have a truss rod from a P Bass neck that never got installed as the project didn't go ahead) but the bad thing is, where I had to try and widen the whole to get to the truss nut to it could be removed, it doesn't look right so If anyone has any suggestions on A: how to remove a fretboard without damaging it B: relaying a truss rod C: Sorting out the truss rod hole then I'll probably use it as it's such a beautiful neck and feels really nice to play I'll upload a picture later of the truss nut hole so you know what I mean about it. Never know, it may work. If I don't and you want it, I'll have a chat with you. Obviously I wouldn't wanna give it away for free as it's an expensive neck but I wouldn't want much for it

Right, just got the pictures off my iPhone that I was taking during the sanding which I did yesterday. So here you go Pic 1: Sanding has started. Looking better than Fender's roadworn finishes too xD Pic 2: Coming along nicely. Front paint removed and holes/dents filled in. Just gotta give it a going over with very fine sand paper when done Pic 3: Completely finished! The grain of wood looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm led to believe it's Alder but I may be wrong Pic 4: The back nicely smoothed out. The previous owner decided to make it a string through body bass... he did a terrible job. Out came the ferrules, in go the pieces of alder dowel and finish. The guy who does all the painting at the workshop told me the best thing to do was to sand in a little dip across where the back of the ferrules were then put the filler over that so I get a smoother finish. Worked a treat! Pic 5: This shows you where the guy put the string through holes on the top on the body. They're all filled in now and perfectly flat with the body. Also, I've filled in the holes for the bridge cover as I will be putting new holes in on the bass to hold the bridge cover down even though I'll be fitting a Badass II to it, it's just nice to have them there for if I decide to re-fit the original bridge Pic 6: Side of the body. Really is a nice grain of wood. I was contemplating leaving it natural but I prefer the paint job I'm having done on it Pic 7: Modelling shot xD All smoothed out and looking rather tasty. Not gunna eat it though, I need to use it Also there's a couple of areas where i just went through the very top layer of sealant Pic 8: One more for the hell of it... Next update coming within the next week hopefully

Yeah the guy who sold it to me told me he fitted it to the bass instead of the original P bass pick up cover. To be honest, i'm glad he did because I can easily rest my thumb of the top of it and play between the 2 covers

[quote name='bartelby' post='1111198' date='Feb 1 2011, 04:19 PM']I like it like that!! Add a Badass II and a jazz pickup, remove ashtrays and that's what my next bass will be. Black/chrome/maple...[/quote] Ah ha, i'm doing half of what you've suggested, I'm going to be sticking a badass II on it but no jazz pick up. I will be getting a jazz bass at some point though [quote name='gary mac' post='1111247' date='Feb 1 2011, 04:53 PM']Looking forward to seeing the finished job. But prior to taking your next lot of pics, kindly tidy your room, it's tooo distracting [/quote] LMAO! Ah man that made me laugh so much. It has been tidied a bit since then you'll be glad to hear xD And cheers, i'm really looking forward to the finished job

Hi guys Thought I'd put up my first build diary on here as I'm currently restoring an '87 P bass that I recieved in rather horrible condition... Here's a picture of "Frank" Strung very loosely in this picture because of the massive problem with the truss rod... aka it's f*cked! Some pics I took when I was bored and started to dismantle it The fretboard: Gorgeous piece of Rosewood. Wish the neck was still usable Headstock: Very badly applied Fender logo (logo was replaced after the original owner had the headstock sanded down to apply a tint to it) that got damaged when I was trying to remove the truss nut (as it had no thread on it) The offending artical: The truss rod nut removed and binned. Replacement one installed... truss rod was actually broken This is why the neck is useless The body: fitted my chrome pickguard to it to see how it would look with the chrome pick up and bridge covers. Result? Taaaaaasty. Full pic 1: Full pic 2: Temporary neck fitted. DR Parts 1 piece maple neck from my orange P Bass fitted to it so I could try the bass out and see how it properly sounded through my rig. Sounds absolutely amazing but lacking some high end punch compared to my usual tone. They're the original 87 Fender pick ups as well, so I've slung them in my Orange P bass as I use that for more jazzy recordings I do. Out come the pick ups. Full pic 3: Silk bed sheets -drools- haha New pick ups: Seymour Duncan SPB-1 pick ups. Haven't fit them yet as I've completely dismantled the bass So after dismantling it, I took it off to my mum's boyfriend's workshop (he owns a classic car restoration company, Bedford Classic Car Restoration if anyone's interested) to sand it down and start the re-finishing. You'll love the finish once it's done, I'm not telling you what it'll be yet haha. I would of kept it all black but it was so badly dented that it needed a re-finish. Sanding pictures to come in next update

Did you get the pick ups brand new or second hand? Also, you really do need to make sure you have the pick ups the right way round as I've used SPB-3's before and accidentally put them in the wrong way round. The sound was completely unbalanced when that happened. You need to make sure the wires are this way round coming from the pick ups Black at the top White/yellow at the bottom Black connector from bottom joint of top pick up to top joint of bottom pick up Also, what pots are you using in the bass? If this doesn't work and they are brand new, I suggest you take them back

Cheers guys! You've been alot of help there. Shall be getting one ordered once I've paid for a couple of other things

Ah yes, my bad. I can't take a picture of my one as it's at my dad's house but I've found a stock photo of the back of the bass. I know the ones on mine are no different to the picture i've uploaded

Hey I'm looking to put a hipshot bass xtender de-tuner on my Steve Harris fender p at some point but I'm not really sure which one to use to match the rest of the machine heads. It's obviously got the original machine heads on it as I haven't changed anything on the bass at all. I think they're the American Vintage Reverse machine heads that it comes issued with but I may be wrong. I'd be very appreciative of your help Cheers Stevie