Precision scratchplate ponderings - colours, screwholes

[ras52]

Hi, here's the scratchplate (or pickguard) of my 77-ish P:


[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/81099488@N00/6527965389/"][/url]

I love this bass but have never been happy that it looks like the "Sid Vicious Signature Model". Then I saw this, and thought, "Hm, white+tort looks OK... maybe a change of scratchplate would work some magic".




Not so sure about tort with maple though:



So hit me with your ideas of what might be tasty (bearing in mind that mine is now clotted cream rather than white)...

And then I counted my screws As with what appears to be the current standard, I have 13, but I'm one short on the top (where the thumb-rest was) and instead have one in the middle! So would a replacement plate actually fit without modifying the bass, which I want to keep as original as possible?

[Ou7shined]

Do you know how many guys would give their right foot to have your bass just the way it is?

[discreet]

1. Sid's bass was rosewood - not maple, so forget it.
2. Tort was NOT an option for late 70s basses.
3. Advise yourself. You have a classic bass there, don't f*ck with it.

[Dom in Dorset]

These guys will send you a paper template to check if it fits before you buy:
http://www.guitarselectric.co.uk/USAMex_PRECISION_BASS_SCRATCH_PLATE_in_7_Colours/p207303_2960412.aspx
You can always keep the original should you ever decide to sell the bass

[tony_m]

Boring as it may seem, +1 to all the above!

Classic bass, leave it as it is.

[mckendrick]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1324164619' post='1471498']
3. Advise yourself. You have a classic bass there, don't f*ck with it.[/quote]
Word up. Far too much of that going on. Largely unneccessary and so devaluating.

[Lozz196]

Yep, keep it all original. As maple neck, more Paul Simenon than Vicious Sidney.

[ras52]

OK, so at least I've found a way to unify the Basschat community

Fear not, I was never planning on anything destructive, and on reflection agree that the "aged" white wouldn't look good with tort anyway. (The "aged" red staining on the back from its long rest in a plush case during my sabbatical is another matter!)

There's another interesting thread lurking here... what does your choice of colour say about you? My favoured basses are and have been either natural or black, so it feels weird taking this one out. Yet, viewing it as a classic workhorse, it's the only one I held on to when I hung up my bass playing boots about 20 years ago.