Lloyd80 Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Hi all building experts! So I have an itch to build/convert something into a bass. I have a little experience as I converted a tenor guitar into an uke bass fitted with nice labella silverback strings (highly recommended for any uke bass owners). It sounds awesome and this has given me the itch to do a bigger project. So after looking on pinterest I came across many a stratobass conversion. About 2 weeks ago I picked up a cheap gear4music strat that I was considering just refurbishing and selling. It needs a fair bit or clean up and the body needs to have the finish redone. But after all that it probably wont sell for much. So I binned that idea. So its bass conversion time! I'm looking at keeping the scale length if possible, I know this may have intonation issues. So I might move the bridge back to a scale of around 28 inches. I'm doing this to gain some experience and to have something to noodle around on the sofa with. I've sourced tuners, nut and pickups. The only bridge I found that would replace the original without any pickguard mod was a SX short scale. I cant find anyone that sells them online. Has anyone got any tips, advice or wisdom to share ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Are you going to use the same neck at 28" scale and refret it with fewer frets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd80 Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 15 minutes ago, MoonBassAlpha said: Are you going to use the same neck at 28" scale and refret it with fewer frets? I forgot that part. Increasing scale length changes fret distance. As it's my first proper conversion and it will just be for me. I think keeping the scale length is probably easier lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt P Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 another option if you don't mind spending some cash might be one of the conversion necks a that Retrovibe sell, designed to fit onto a guitar body and make it into a 30" or 32" scale bass, i've looked at them a few times but the opportunity for something else came up. the necks are designed for a telecaster body but with a bit of modding i'd imagine that fitting to a strat body shouldn't be a problem 30.6" 32" Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd80 Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 6 hours ago, Matt P said: another option if you don't mind spending some cash might be one of the conversion necks a that Retrovibe sell, designed to fit onto a guitar body and make it into a 30" or 32" scale bass, i've looked at them a few times but the opportunity for something else came up. the necks are designed for a telecaster body but with a bit of modding i'd imagine that fitting to a strat body shouldn't be a problem 30.6" 32" Matt Tha is Matt, the 30.6" would have been perfect but alas out if stock!! Damn it! Parts should start arriving over the next few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 If you aren't re-using the neck and body, is it truly a conversion? I would say it can be, especially if you're reusing a bunch of the electronics, hardware etc. If the only original thing is the body and the output jack, and maybe the neck screw plate and a few pickguard screws, then I'm not so sure at all. I'd say you should use the original scale length to keep the bridge and fret locations where they are, unless you find when testing bass strings at that scale length (presumably around 25") it's just useless in bass tunings, even with adequately chunky strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd80 Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 8 hours ago, PlungerModerno said: If you aren't re-using the neck and body, is it truly a conversion? I would say it can be, especially if you're reusing a bunch of the electronics, hardware etc. If the only original thing is the body and the output jack, and maybe the neck screw plate and a few pickguard screws, then I'm not so sure at all. I'd say you should use the original scale length to keep the bridge and fret locations where they are, unless you find when testing bass strings at that scale length (presumably around 25") it's just useless in bass tunings, even with adequately chunky strings. Thanks for the info. I have decided to keep the scale length. It will be a straight conversion at this point to see how I and it fairs! So far the new bridge, nut and tuners have arrived and I've deconstructed the cheap guitar and started sanding the body. The nut has been sanded to give it tight fit. All in all its started. I will post some pics this weekend! I promise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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