FretKing Esprit 4 Modified

[Guest 6feet7]

As I couldn't afford a GUS bass and would love a thunderbird which wasn't neck heavy and prone to breaking I thought that this was the next best thing. Needed some moding though.

First the pickups were replaced with Seymour Duncans and some routing for a Gibson humbucker put right up next to the neck. One of the tone controls was changed for a 5 way rotary pickup selector switch. The rather crappy gibsonesque bridge was replaced with a tunomatic and thru-body stringing - bit like a flying V (had to add the chrome cover as the posts for the tunomatic had to be moved back a bit and the old holes plugged so the plugs needed covering), the plastic nut was replaced with a brass one and the rather boring black scratch plate replaced with a white one and a thunderbird decal added.

Now its got decent J and P bass pickups with a Gibson bass humbucker (and combinations of), looks sort of Thunderbird/Explorer but is balanced and less likely to have its neck break.

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='6feet7' post='479125' date='May 4 2009, 05:17 PM']As I couldn't afford a GUS bass and would love a thunderbird which wasn't neck heavy and prone to breaking I thought that this was the next best thing. Needed some moding though.

First the pickups were replaced with Seymour Duncans and some routing for a Gibson humbucker put right up next to the neck. One of the tone controls was changed for a 5 way rotary pickup selector switch. The rather crappy gibsonesque bridge was replaced with a tunomatic and thru-body stringing - bit like a flying V (had to add the chrome cover as the posts for the tunomatic had to be moved back a bit and the old holes plugged so the plugs needed covering), the plastic nut was replaced with a brass one and the rather boring black scratch plate replaced with a white one and a thunderbird decal added.

Now its got decent J and P bass pickups with a Gibson bass humbucker (and combinations of), looks sort of Thunderbird/Explorer but is balanced and less likely to have its neck break.[/quote]

so how does it sound?

[Mr. Foxen]

That looks great, but I think I'd have extended the bridge plat to cover the hole for the J pup I wouldn't have put in.

[Rayman]

That's FAB, with a capital Faahhh, I [i]love[/i] those, and I reckon your mods have made it even better. Good job, it looks smart.

[ahpook]

that's lovely !!

they're fine looking basses anyway, but those mods...hmmm.

[i]niiiice bit o'wood[/i]

[BigRedX]

Simon does some very nice work indeed.

Personally I'd have gone with an EB0 large style humbucker at the neck even if it was just cosmetic to fit in looks-wise with the wider J and P pups. The plate around the bridge is an inspired move!

Now I've got GAS for a modified Europa Bass in either the new version or one of the few original models made with the Gibson-esque pups, to complement my Esprit V Custom guitar.

Good luck with you quest for a Gus G3 - what configuration are you after?

[EBS_freak]

Hurrah! We have a proper bridge! Nice mods.