Not Sure What To Call It.......??? The "Pitza Kustom"

[Acebassmusic]

Once upon a time, not long ago, in "bits box" in my cupboard I realised I had amassed a number of items that should really be put to good use. First thing I did was to sell / give away some on here whilst looking out for a donor bass that I could mess with. I've modded basses before but mainly bolt on bits / electronics etc and my idea was to go a step further with more permanent changes. 😧😮 A suitable donor bass was found and over a period of a couple of months I proceeded to:

• Strip the full body and neck
• Re-profile the body giving much better access to the 24 frets / fit a battery box
• Fill body & re-route for pickups, electronics
• Re-shape the headstock & fit a Warwick Just-a-Nut
• Re-profile the neck at the heel end to flow into the body better.
• Relocate and fit bolts and inserts for the body / neck joint.
• Fit a Babicz bridge which took the spacing from 16.5 to 19mm
• Install the Seymour Duncan NYC pickups and Mike Pope preamp I'd had in a box 😮 and fitted 2 micro switches which give each pickup the option of parallel / single / series routing.
• Re-paint the headstock and body in colour shift paint (purple / blue / red) and clear coat the neck.

So I'm not sure what to call it it's not really a build compared to what others do on here (and as the build diaries area implies), its not a NBD, not a bitza per say as that implies bolting things together whereas I've taken a hatchet to mine 🙂 .....probably a "partial bitza". Anyway I've enjoyed tackling the processes, made a load of mistakes and learned lots. I'm also quite enjoying playing it. The bass paint finish isn't flawless and this is where I would spend a bit more time on should I do another. What seemed good enough during the build really showed up when the colour was added 😥 However I can't see anyone but me noticing anything wrong when it gets gigged down at the "Dog & Duck".

Anyway here's some photos to have a gander at......I'm sure someone will be able to tell what the donor bass was........

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Acebassmusic

[itu]

Although the bass is relatively new, I could call this a kustom.

Well done, is the neck from Ibanez?

[MoonBassAlpha]

I'm guessing it was a Ritter

[Richard R]

Like the paint. That's going to look great under lights 🤘

[Hellzero]

Pitza, then !

[LeftyJ]

On 27/06/2021 at 23:47, MoonBassAlpha said:

I'm guessing it was a Ritter

Not enough neck screws 

Turned out cool! 

[rushbo]

53 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Pitza, then !

Hellzero wins the internet.

There's one too many strings and way too many knobs 'n' switches for my tiny brain to cope with, but dang, that's pretty! The body shape is gorgeous.

That's lovely work AceBass. 

[Acebassmusic]

5 hours ago, rushbo said:

Hellzero wins the internet.

There's one too many strings and way too many knobs 'n' switches for my tiny brain to cope with, but dang, that's pretty! The body shape is gorgeous.

That's lovely work AceBass. 

Pitza Kustom.....I like it 🙂

Thanks all for your comments. I'll drop a few "in progress" pics in here showing where and how it came together. @itu well spotted! I did think of changing the end of the neck / fretboard to help disguise it but yes the body and neck started as an Ibanez SRX 305. Some subtle (and not so subtle) reshaping here and there and voila the Pitza Kustom 🙂 Theres a photo which, with the sun shining, accentuates what I call the "Pickup Hiccup", where I moved the pickups but didn't finish the top off as well as I could. It looks much worse in the pic than it actually is.

 

 

[Acebassmusic]