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Pimped budget basses.......


Rayman
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I'm the current keeper of the Fecker Pretender put together by BassBunny and previously owned by BeerDragon
[attachment=28097:FeckerCat.jpg]
[attachment=28098:FeckerHeadstock.jpg]

The chassis is SX/Noname Pbass.

I've had a few SX's (Come on WaynePunk, post the Bart Bass) and usually just put Gotoh 203 bridges on them but this one's had the works. To quote BB's original sale thread:

"The cavity has been lined with Copper. The scratchplate has been foil backed. A Wizard Thumper has been installed along with CTS Pots, Switchcraft Jack and Sprague capacitor. All wiring is in Vintage cloth covered wire and the pot/capacitor values were decided upon after a chat with Andy at Wizard pickups. The bridge has been replaced with a Wilkinson Vintage bridge with Brass Saddles. New string tree and Fecker transfer, (laquered over), complete the picture."

A bit of neck shimming from me to line things up a little nicer for me and it's great. It goes to jams where I want to be happy to hand a bass over to anyone without worrying. Can't really do that with a Shuker :)
It's got a big fat warm P sound and the decal always gets a laugh.

Edited by OldGit
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[quote name='OldGit' post='529992' date='Jul 1 2009, 09:36 PM']I've had a few SX's (Come on Punkie, post the Bart Bass) and (apart from the Bart Bass) just put Gotoh 202 bridges on them but this one's had the works. To quote BB's original sale thread:

Pics later[/quote]

The Bart bass.




Gotoh 203 bridge
Fender tuners
No name aftermarket PUPs (currently being fitted with active pre-amp)

It's amazing it really is after several ideas of getting it re-finished icluding having it booked in at pro shop I have given up and decided to put a PUP cover on and and bridge cover (if anyone wants to sell one?) for the vintage look, I think it could be the best money I've ever spent on a bass.

I nearly bought the Fecker from you too, I'm getting a natural ATK BTW.

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[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='530001' date='Jul 1 2009, 09:48 PM']The Bart bass.




Gotoh 203 bridge
Fender tuners
No name aftermarket PUPs (currently being fitted with active pre-amp)

It's amazing it really is after several ideas of getting it re-finished icluding having it booked in at pro shop I have given up and decided to put a PUP cover on and and bridge cover (if anyone wants to sell one?) for the vintage look, I think it could be the best money I've ever spent on a bass.

I nearly bought the Fecker from you too, I'm getting a natural ATK BTW.[/quote]

That one has a really nice slim aftermarket SX Jazz neck without the orange tan they usually have.
It also had an Artec 2 band active EQ for a bit .. Didn't like it :) Is that what you are putting in Wayne?
Thought you were cornering the market in P basses :rolleyes:

Edited by OldGit
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[quote name='bh2' post='532279' date='Jul 4 2009, 09:51 AM']Hello skips... my first post here...

Modded MiM 2002 P Bass that I bought off the bay a couple of years ago (I needed a passive bass for some outdoor gigs)



Cheers![/quote]


Gah thats sooo nice! I want to do that to my P now.

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heh... to be honest... there was nothing wrong with it... I know these can be a bit of a gamble... superb neck... action was a bit low and intonation was a bit out... but I'm damn happy with it!

A little setting up and good to go!

Tuners (I like to call them machine heads... were a tad loose so I swapped them out with Wilkos... lock solid.)

I got the covers from Allparts... cheap.

Normally a fretless guy, but this is a peach!

£350 all in. Not bad IMO!

Arrgh... going on now... I thought I might have to swap out the pups... but no! They are amazing.. fender p growl an all... in the studio, the engineer (P Bass man) said it was the quietest P ever... I'll keep it as is I reckon!



I like to see some hardware on the backside... I can't abide these lightwieght machines... no mojo!

I love the pearl scratchplate...

Edited by bh2
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The black MIM is not dissimilar to yours - love it.
The Squier VM P TB is 'pimped' insofar as it has slightly better machines, a proper string tree, and the bridge cover.
The 51 is not really a budget item, although not that pricey...pimped with covers and tugbar.
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[quote name='OldGit' post='529992' date='Jul 1 2009, 09:36 PM']I'm the current keeper of the Fecker Pretender put together by BassBunny and previously owned by BeerDragon
[attachment=28097:FeckerCat.jpg]
[attachment=28098:FeckerHeadstock.jpg]

The chassis is SX/Noname Pbass.

I've had a few SX's (Come on WaynePunk, post the Bart Bass) and usually just put Gotoh 203 bridges on them but this one's had the works. To quote BB's original sale thread:

"The cavity has been lined with Copper. The scratchplate has been foil backed. A Wizard Thumper has been installed along with CTS Pots, Switchcraft Jack and Sprague capacitor. All wiring is in Vintage cloth covered wire and the pot/capacitor values were decided upon after a chat with Andy at Wizard pickups. The bridge has been replaced with a Wilkinson Vintage bridge with Brass Saddles. New string tree and Fecker transfer, (laquered over), complete the picture."

A bit of neck shimming from me to line things up a little nicer for me and it's great. It goes to jams where I want to be happy to hand a bass over to anyone without worrying. Can't really do that with a Shuker :)
It's got a big fat warm P sound and the decal always gets a laugh.[/quote]

So that where it is now.....
Glad you are enjoying it Si. It was real fun putting it together and then i realised I play 5 strings. Funnily enough the main driver for building it was for jam nights we were hosting. They collapsed before i finished it. Will have to have a go at a 5 -er.

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  • 2 months later...

Just saw this thread and thought I'd add my recently modified Squier Deluxe Jazz V.

[attachment=32886:P1020946.jpg][attachment=32885:P1020948.jpg]

It has:- Hipshot string retainer (on refinished headstock), Nordstrand NJ5S pickups, John East U retro deluxe preamp and a homemade black pearl pickguard.

Sounds great to my ears... and if I could play it better - probably to others ears as well.

Mart

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[quote name='BassBunny' post='534109' date='Jul 6 2009, 08:20 PM']So that where it is now.....
Glad you are enjoying it Si. It was real fun putting it together and then i realised I play 5 strings. Funnily enough the main driver for building it was for jam nights we were hosting. They collapsed before i finished it. Will have to have a go at a 5 -er.[/quote]


Well that was where it was :) It's gone off on its travels again :rolleyes:

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My VMJ is pretty pimped, i bought it from Boabski and admittedly he'd already done most of the mods.

Its the 4 string jazz in natural, heres a list of mods:

black tuning pegs
black string tree
black gotoh bridge
black control plate
black plastic knobs
black strap buttons

lots of black...

im planning on replacing the standard jazz neck with a DR parts maple precision neck. The neck has no decal so i'll be sticking a fender one on there and hunting down a fender neck plate to replace the squire.

I've also done a neck shim...

I'm not gona touch the electrics because im more than happy with the sound as it is.

The only mod ive made to my SUB was to remove the scratch plate and just put the screws back in the holes. Looks much better.

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I bought one of those unbranded Jazz copies of ebay a few years ago in gold. It was a great bass but for fun i pimped it a bit. I changed the pickups for seymor duncans basslines I added a badass 2 bridge and i striped the finish off back to natural. I also changed the scratch plate from n off white to a black which looks much better with the natural grain. Got to be honest i don't no why i took the gold finish off it was well cool it doesn't look half as good as it did. I will have a look for a picture.

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my '57' Vintage Icon V4 P bass

[attachment=32972:DSC00686.JPG]

[attachment=32973:DSC00687.JPG]

I bought it new, and have added the following features:

Fender 10 hole gold anodized scratchplate, customised to fit the bass by me.
Black plastic thumbrest
JV Squier Precision pups, complete with earthing plate and cloth wires ala 57.
Bridge pup cover from later 60's/early 70's, possibly fender but probably jap, nicely pitted and discoloured.
Neck pup cover, probably similar age and similar heritage, equally pitted and discoloured.
Currently fitted with Status Flatwounds, but i alternate between daddarrio nickle rounds too.

Lovely bass. Not had too much experience with other P basses, only ever played cheap p's and the standard Fender MIM and USA models in the shop, but for me this one outplays all of them :) Still toying with fitting a maple board neck to complete the 57 image, but we'll see.

Edited by Kev
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[quote name='MartyBRebelMC' post='598998' date='Sep 15 2009, 10:17 AM']Just saw this thread and thought I'd add my recently modified Squier Deluxe Jazz V.

[attachment=32886:P1020946.jpg][attachment=32885:P1020948.jpg]

It has:- Hipshot string retainer (on refinished headstock), Nordstrand NJ5S pickups, John East U retro deluxe preamp and a homemade black pearl pickguard.

Sounds great to my ears... and if I could play it better - probably to others ears as well.

Mart[/quote]

This is a really individual looking bass. Lovely! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='Kev' post='600726' date='Sep 16 2009, 09:02 PM']my '57' Vintage Icon V4 P bass


I bought it new, and have added the following features:

Fender 10 hole gold anodized scratchplate, customised to fit the bass by me.
Black plastic thumbrest
JV Squier Precision pups, complete with earthing plate and cloth wires ala 57.
Bridge pup cover from later 60's/early 70's, possibly fender but probably jap, nicely pitted and discoloured.
Neck pup cover, probably similar age and similar heritage, equally pitted and discoloured.
Currently fitted with Status Flatwounds, but i alternate between daddarrio nickle rounds too.

Lovely bass. Not had too much experience with other P basses, only ever played cheap p's and the standard Fender MIM and USA models in the shop, but for me this one outplays all of them :) Still toying with fitting a maple board neck to complete the 57 image, but we'll see.[/quote]

Bass looks awesome Kev - great work mate

Graeme

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[quote name='OldGit' post='599012' date='Sep 15 2009, 10:29 AM']Well that was where it was :) It's gone off on its travels again :rolleyes:[/quote]

I now own the Fecker Pretender, it is the dogs danglers and is used as my main gigging bass with The Above Average Weight Band down in deepest darkest Dorset.

Gerry

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