P into a PJ....

[tonyf]

Did a Funker Derision "bitsa" project a couple of months ago and was very pleased with the results. However, I've come to realise that I really miss the back pickup so decided to convert it into a PJ.

[attachment=91585:funker derision.JPG]

I needed the routing done for the Jazz pickup so whilst my head was saying "get it done properly", my heart said "bah, don't listen to him up there, you can do it yourself and save the money". Therefore, out came the tools and the kitchen table was cleared....

As I'd not got access to a router (and even if i had, i'd probably not be comfortable enough in my own skills to work it properly), I decided to use a combination of drilling, chiselling and dremelling to route out the hole.

The first step was to pattern the hole and then start to outline the shape.

[attachment=91588:pattern.JPG]

I then started the process of drilling round the shape of the pickup recess. Used a big mo-fo drill to do the ears of the Jazz pickup.

[attachment=91586:outlined.JPG]

Then, with the red mist down, decided it'd be WAY quicker to rough out the innards of the hole with the big mo-fo drill rather than chisel it.

[attachment=91587:roughing.JPG]

After all this was done, and I'd managed to clear up the kitchen, it was down to the labourous process of tidying up the hole with the chisel and my dremel. TBH, I made a couple of mistakes which I thought I could easily have avoided if I'd have taken a bit more care. For instance, in the process of dremelling the bottom of one of the slots for the ears, the chuck of the dremel touched the paintwork on the edge of the hole and took the paint off. Still, I can always tidy that up with a touchup pen at a later date.

What do I think? Well, as it's a project bass, I'm kinda glad I at least had a go. It's not ULTRA tidy but hey, there's bits of the bass which ain't as well. It's good enough for me and it's saved me a bit of cash.

[attachment=91589:fitted.JPG]

The next step is fit the EMG (the above fitting is using a spare Lindy Frailin as a test) and modify the electronics. This may not be as straight forward as I've got the newer style solderless connection EMG P and controls fitted whereas the Jazz I've plundered from another bass is an Old Skool soldered one. I'll also need to move the jack socket to be side mounted so that's gonna be another hole to drill.

T

Watch this space.....

[LiamPodmore]

Nobody'll notice that when you're onstage, its not too shabby of a job, better than i could do, and that actually looks like quite a nice P bass. I'm doing the reverse to my Ibanez, going from PJ to P.

Liam

[Andyjr1515]

Looks pretty good to me
One tip someone from this site gave me which worked well (forgotten who...but thanks anyway) was to pop a chrome pick-up ring around the pickup - hides all the scratches and dints and looks very professional!
Other than that, I agree with Liam - it's the sound that'll be the winner
Andy

[tonyf]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1319119004' post='1410157']
Looks pretty good to me
One tip someone from this site gave me which worked well (forgotten who...but thanks anyway) was to pop a chrome pick-up ring around the pickup - hides all the scratches and dints and looks very professional!
Other than that, I agree with Liam - it's the sound that'll be the winner
Andy
[/quote]

Cheers guys.

Guess you're right about people noticing onstage. It'll sure enough look good enough once I've touched up the paintwork.

T

[EdwardHimself]

looks nice. I think you did a pretty good job of drilling the cavity out, my only minor criticism is that you could have used masking tape to avoid ripping out paint but really it's only noticeable up close. Other than that, gr8. I think the J pickup adds a bit of versatility to the P-bass.