absolutpepper Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Hey I just bought a fretless VM Jazz bass (from the forum - cheers Chris!) and while I do like the Jaco-esq aesthetic I cant help but feeling that since its not actually all that accurate it would be better to customise it to a more personal taste. The ideas are - Fit a tortioseshell scratchplate; black thumbrest; replace tuners; replace pots and shield cavity; upgrade pickups with Di Marzio's; fit neck pickup cover (not bridge cover); chuck on a good set of flats; replace dials with black plastic ones. Chris, the previous owner, installed - very well I might add - a Gotoh 201 bridge so thats covered. Question is, does anyone have experience of modding a VM bass - I read on TB that most tuners, dials, etc are not a direct fit. Can anyone recommend me good tuners (BTW I only replace the stock ones if the tuning is an issue) that are drop-in replacements and also what about a pickguard? The official fender one is super pricey so I reckon there must be cheaper ones there. Also a advice on flatwounds would be appreciated. New to the fretless world, really like the bass but feel it could go from being good to fantastic without much work. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstriper Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 I have a nice red tort pick gaurd and I might also have some spare flatwound strings if you're interested. My personal favourite strings for fretless are TI jazz flats but I haven't got any spare of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absolutpepper Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hey Thanks to a very kind basschatter I may have secured a donated torty pickguard. What a nice place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absolutpepper Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 [quote name='absolutpepper' post='721206' date='Jan 22 2010, 02:15 PM']Hey Thanks to a very kind basschatter I may have secured a donated torty pickguard. What a nice place![/quote] As above got a great 3 ply torty pickguard along with a nice fender decal from Jez (cheers). Installed last nite and looking great. Also got recommended some Status Flats so they'll be making their way to me at the moment. Stuck on a set of nickel Schaller straplocks too. Next thing - a chrome jazz pickup cover and thumbrest. Photo's soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absolutpepper Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 (edited) Here's what's been done so far. The bass was stock except removed headstock decal and Gotoh 201 installed - VM Fretless Jazz: Fender Decal (courtesy of Jezza), 3-Ply torty scratchplate (also courtesy of Jezza), Gotoh 201 installed, replacement Fender tuners installed, new dials fitted to replace the nasty chrome ones, black neck plate fitted to replace squier one, new chrome schaller strap locks fitted and a set of Status Flatwound strings popped on. The photos show what it looks like so far (albeit the quality of the pics leaves something to be desired). Next up is a set of pickups (probably Lindy Fralins) and a chrome pickup cover and I think i'll be done. Chris [attachment=42801:Photo_4.jpg] [attachment=42802:Photo_5.jpg] Edited February 16, 2010 by absolutpepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Looking good Chris! Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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