'51.75 Tele-P Morphs into Tele-Ray (or Tele-Fleeeee)

[JohnDaBass]

In September 2018 I assembled a ’51.75 Tele-P Bitsa.

See link.

 

I was incredibly pleased with the outcome but found myself just using the series setting of the Jess Loureiro Pup.

Having absorbed so many comments about the “Flea” bass and the positive views of the Sandberg basses I thought it might be an idea to add a Stingray Pup to the Tele-P.

I own a USA MM Sterling which sounds and plays really well, so I was familiar with what I could expect from adding a Stingray Pup in the correct position.

I took some advice from here and purchased a Warman MM style Pup.

https://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/product/mm4-4-string-bass-humbucker-13-09kohm-4-wire-overwound/

Over the last year or so I have put together a ’52 P Bitsa and a Jazz bass Bitsa using necks from JinWan on eBay. I was so impressed with the Jazz width necks, bound fingerboard, MOP block inlays and gloss finish that I ordered a third neck for another ’51 P build. The first ‘51P neck had a perfectly shaped headstock but the second one had a more ‘bulbous’ headstock shape which was closer to a Telecaster guitar shape than a ’51 P shape.

 

As I was “upgrading “the ’51.75 Tele-P I thought I should use the new neck as it looked much more like a Telecaster.

 

I marked out the position of the Stingray Pup and ensured it was in the

correct “sweet spot” 335mm from the 12^th fret. As previously stated the body was originally a 32ins Squier Telecaster Bass which a previous owner had modified the neck pocket to allow for a 34ins neck to be fitted so the bridge had to be repositioned to provide correct intonation. I added a ‘string through’ bridge and rear ferrules.

 

 

 

I ordered a new loom for the “God Father” of Tone our own @KiOgon  which provided a 3-way Pup selection switch master Vol & master tone control.

To be honest I did a pretty poor job of routering the Stingray Pup cavity causing some breakout of paint at the edges of the cavity. Maybe I will refinish the body sometime in the future?

 

 

After assembly I was astounded at the variety of tones on offer from such a humble gathering of parts in this Bitsa.

Firstly, the unplugged sound was vibrant, full and clear. The combination of the large body size mass of Basswood coupled with the extended neck pocket ( 6 neck fixing screws) and through body stringing made the bass really sing.

Position #1 is the Jess Loureiro in it’s series mode, gives a powerful warm, clear, typical P Bass tone,

Position #2 is both Pups in parallel and adds a huge amount of depth and mid drive. Probably my most favourite setting.

Position #3 is the Warman Stingray on it’s own and is identical to that familiar Stingray sound. I was astonished how powerful, and tuneful the Warman replicated the Stingray sound. I am convinced it would need a real expert ear to differentiate in the blind test. Following @KiOgon recommendation I can only endorse his views , these Pups are fantastic value, powerful and sound identical to a MM Pup.

  Here are some pix of my TeleRay in it's new case ( curtesy of @Osiris}

 

 

And one of the headstock with my poser decal!! protected with @Andyjr1515  wipe on finish method. The back of the headstock has a Sharpie signature again sealed.

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by JohnDaBass
spelling

[kodiakblair]

Jinwan neck, Jess Loureiro  and Josi Warman pickups.

 

These are few of my favourite things 🙂 

 

Bass is no slouch either 😎

[Andyjr1515]

Looks lovely

[Pea Turgh]

My search skills are lacking - can you post a link to jinwan on eBay please?

[JohnDaBass]

1 hour ago, Pea Turgh said:

My search skills are lacking - can you post a link to jinwan on eBay please?

Here you go

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maple-20-Fret-Bass-Guitar-Neck-Replacment-maple-fingerboard-gloss-nut-38mm/324263030005?_trkparms=aid%3D1110012%26algo%3DSPLICE.SOIPOST%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200818142651%26meid%3D225ccf0b2b8248c8ae0133c738c5b401%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D324185781683%26itm%3D324263030005%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DPromotedSellersOtherItemsV2%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c101196.m2219

[JohnDaBass]

1 hour ago, Pea Turgh said:

My search skills are lacking - can you post a link to jinwan on eBay please?

And

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maple-20-Fret-TL-Bass-Guitar-Neck-Replacment-maple-fingerboard-gloss-nut-38mm/324155164253?_trkparms=aid%3D555021%26algo%3DPL.SIMRVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225076%26meid%3D0947c2155bc345168d2d3d2c9ad3ea22%26pid%3D100040%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D18%26sd%3D324155164253%26itm%3D324155164253%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2046732%26algv%3DSimplRVIAMLv5WebWithPLRVIOnTopCombiner&_trksid=p2046732.c100040.m2060

[uk_lefty]

On 07/09/2020 at 12:25, JohnDaBass said:

And

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maple-20-Fret-TL-Bass-Guitar-Neck-Replacment-maple-fingerboard-gloss-nut-38mm/324155164253?_trkparms=aid%3D555021%26algo%3DPL.SIMRVI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225076%26meid%3D0947c2155bc345168d2d3d2c9ad3ea22%26pid%3D100040%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D18%26sd%3D324155164253%26itm%3D324155164253%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2046732%26algv%3DSimplRVIAMLv5WebWithPLRVIOnTopCombiner&_trksid=p2046732.c100040.m2060

Are the Jinwan necks all made to Fender measurements? Have just seen a good value J body but not sure I can get a decent neck for it... 

[hooky_lowdown]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

Are the Jinwan necks all made to Fender measurements? Have just seen a good value J body but not sure I can get a decent neck for it... 

Pretty much yes, the spec says 63-64mm heel, 63mm is Fender, 64mm is Squier. The only issue you'll have is the tuner holes, they're 18mm, and most tuner bushings need a 19mm hole, which doesn't sound like much difference, but you will need to enlarge each hole ever so slightly. No idea why these Chinese made necks don't have 19mm holes?!?

[JohnDaBass]

2 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

Are the Jinwan necks all made to Fender measurements? Have just seen a good value J body but not sure I can get a decent neck for it... 

The three necks I purchased fitted really well to Fender size bodies. A Guitarbuild.co.uk P body, a Squier CV Jazz body and the Squier Tele Ray body. I had no issues with tuner hole size. I used Fender MIM tuners, Squier tuners and Fender US tuners. Maybe I was luck I'm not sure but quality of the necks is pretty good, but the '51 P headstock shape  can vary.