untune

That would be great, let me know if anything comes of it

Funnily enough I'd checked both of those options out, but to be honest the price is just ridiculous... I mean, $185 for an empty chrome cover? I could probably smelt one from gold for cheaper than that I've pondered the option of having something made, it's a bit awkward though as if you look at the picture, the gap between the actual route on the left side and the scratchplate screw is tiny, so chrome rings are out of the question unless they're more Thunderbird style with the thin lip at the sides... I had a thought when looking at the darkstar thouh... perhaps it would be possible to have a thin flat chrome cover that is almost vaccuum formed to the shape of a soapbar with a tiny lip round the edges, with a hole in the top you can see the black plastic through. Then it could sit over the top of a soapbar and would look a bit darkstar-esque, only without pole pieces. Did you get hold of any chrome covers? The only alternative I found was that Artec make a chrome coated plastic soapbar. These are fitted as standard in BaCH Thunderbird copies, so I emailed them to see if they'd sell them individually as I've heard that it's supposed to be a pretty solid pickup. They replied with a very enthusiastic yes but they said they were waiting for more stock, so I'm not going to hold my breath...

Thanks Yeah I checked out the mini HBs but alas they're gold and also, wouldnt be able to mount them in the cavity very neatly. I keep thinking this would look cool with a Darkstar but no chance of getting one of those! I should have some more pictures in the next few weeks.

This looks great dougie, sorof a psychedelic Phil Lynott with the neon strings! The dreaded Marlin has been pimped

Butterscotch (or some form of yellow) was my other option, but it would of only looked *really* good if the body was ash... also that's a tinted lacquer job. I've just managed to scrape what I need to have it finished solid white, and the black and white combo is one I've always really liked. My dream bass used to be a white precision with a black scratchplate - that's now metamorphosized into this My other two 'dream' basses if you will are a sunburst precision with black SP, and a black jazz with a tort SP. And a 51 Precision in butterscotch. Haha, three then. Cheers for the comments so far though, should be ready in about a month! I've just worked out that the additional finishing cost has overshot my original budget quite considerably, so if anyone has a set of decent tuners going cheap please drop me a PM!

Hi all... People may have gotten used to me prattling on about bits for my project lately - specifically in the case of soapbars and humbuckers and the like. Well anyways, just so people are aware that it's not all in my head I thought I'd share a quick picture that the luthier sent across this weekend. I've always been a sucker for stuff that looks individual or unique and thought a bass would be a nice project to keep me busy. I spent a few weeks designing a custom jazz bass after seeing the Mark Hoppus signature, and fancied one with a single humbucker in the mid/neck position and nothing at the bridge, with a once piece jazz pickguard. Not being a fan of Hoppus in the slightest, however, I gradually changed it bit by bit to put a some distance between them and make something a bit more unique. I think I went through every possible combination of jazzmaster, jazz and precision scratchplates on a jazz body before I finally settled on something while I was trying to track down a neck. I eventually managed to sort one through a contact on BC and at the last minute decided that if I wanted a jazz, I could get a Squier CV or something. If I was going to lay down some real cash on something custom (suppose I can call it a bit of a treat for myself as uni is finishing soon and I've not spent a considerable sum on a 'luxury' item for myself since I was working full time, about 4 years ago) then I'd go for something more outlandish. Anyways, I knocked up a design in a night and pretty much settled on it when a mate threatened to terminate our friendship if I didn't get it made. Alas, this is the design... it's probably going to be a bit of a marmite one this. I always liked the telemaster guitar but being rubbish on guitar, I'll never own or have need for one. My original plan was to do all the painting myself, but working out what I'd need to spend on a mask etc, paints, supplies, plus not having anywhere decent to do any painting... I decided to have it finished properly. It's going to be slightly off white, sortof an aged olympic white. That wasn't really factored in so I'm going to be selling a guitar to pay for the finishing, but I don't play it anyway. So yeah, here you go. All I'm missing parts wise are a set of tuners, straplocks and a pickup. I also have no electronics yet, aside from a tasty PIO cap from nick It's routed for a standard 4 string humbucker the same size as an EMG35 or a Seymour Duncan SSB-4. I'm just not a fan of the EMG tone. I'd LOVE a chrome pickup like a 60's Thunderbird but you can't have it all.... I'll eventually get something made but for now something cheap and cheerful might do the trick. I wanted a Wizard but according to Andy the 4 string GEM is too wide...

That's nice!!! I really want one of those pickups The horns and binding remind me of a Ric, a little bit

As was taked about in the metal sheeting thread not long ago, I'm looking to get a surround made for a pickup, and the only option is to get it from abroad. However, all the stuff is going to be chrome. Chrome is all well and good, but i'm not a fan of 'shiny' and prefer a dull metal look, ie nickel. Is it possible to get nickel stuff made? I've no idea where to start looking... Google wasn't very helpful! Either way, if anybody knows where I could get a few (relatively) simple bits made (pickup ring and possibly a control plate) then could you pass on any info? Cheers

Hi Musky, I've tried it a few times but every time I do, something is slightly off, whether it be the angle the photo is taken etc It's for a custom build and I'd rather be accurate than leave it to chance as it's to help determine cavity route size/location

Nice tone, like it, very mellow and chilled out