Finally got my beater bass back into playing shape!!! It’s my first bass ever. I got this guy about 14 years ago and I still love the ‘lil bastard.
I cannibalized it about a month ago in order to source some parts for my last P Bass project but about 2 weeks ago I decided it was time to fix him up. The main problem was that I’d lost a couple set screws for the saddle. Without these set screws I couldn’t get the string height right and the bass would be pretty much unplayable. The challenge is that these are some random ass screws. Home Depot didn’t have any… neither did Orchard Supply. Finally, I swung by Gelb Music on Saturday and Ed rummaged through a bunch of drawers ’till he found a screw that fit the bill.
So the bass i nowhere near stock. He’s got quite a few modifications:
- Warmoth J Bass neck with Tele style headstock
- Badass 2 bridge
- Lindy Fralin pickups
- Sadowsky style knobs
- Schaller tuners
- my name’s painted on it
The only thing stock on the bass is the body. This Epiphone PJ has come quite a way over the years. He’s quite the player; feels great and sounds great!
I’m still not done though. I think I’m gonna make this guy an active bass again. He needs a preamp… it sounds good but I gotta admit I’m a preamp addict now. They add some bite and give you a tremendous amount of versatility. I haven’t decided what preamp I’m going with (maybe an Aguilar OBP-1 or OBP-3) but I have decided to install an on/on/on mini toggle for pickup switching (neck, both bridge) instead of using a pan knob.
I’ll report on the whole preamp thing later once I figure out what I’m gonna do. ‘Till then here’s some pics for ya:
