Nibody Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) Well.. after much being mesed around I finaly got somewhere near what I was after. Donor bass was a brand new Arctic White Hodson Pro bass £89 from Fleabay. As it stood for the money was a nice enough cheapo copy - pickups weren't bad, neck quite slim. Solid Alder body too. First up was a set of Wizzard "Trad" pickups. Cant say enough nice things about Wizard, from the quality of the pick-ups to the price, to the personal touch. This was followed by a set of cloverleaf tuners, Maple neck (both from SECO guitars on ebay). The Maple neck was nicely finished and fairly chunky. Been a while (10 years!!) since I had my precision so I dont have a lot to compare it with, not exactly a baseball bat, but rounded, comfortable and fits my hand well.. Added a 3 ply Black pickguard as well. Then to top it off a "Fecker Pretender Bass" waterslide decal also from ebay.Resulting in the Beauty below.. Quite chuffed with it, and it has just made my GAS worse!!! Edited November 6, 2011 by Nibody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) Looking good. Nice job. Glad to see that you persevered with your project. Edited November 6, 2011 by gary mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted November 6, 2011 Author Share Posted November 6, 2011 Thanks mate. I have a warm glow and the urge to build another much to the wifes disgust and horror!! Only issue I've had is slightly high action and an intonation problem. Neck has been shimmed as per fender specs - going to get my itarist and part time Luthier to have a butchers at it. Checked it by measure and theoreticaly the bridge is in the right place, but its 'orribly sharp at the 12th Frett. Could be intonation could be action height. Ideally the nut needs filing down a bit I think, it looks a bit high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 After a visual inspection realised a possible cause for the intonation issues - with the original neck on it the 16th Fret just lined up with the top of the heel of the body. With the new neck the 15th frett lines up with the heel. How did I not notice that! Suspect the bridge needs to be moved about 3/4" - 1". Odd because the distance 12th fret to nut/12th fret to bridge match up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vibrating G String Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 [quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1320650466' post='1429254'] After a visual inspection realised a possible cause for the intonation issues - with the original neck on it the 16th Fret just lined up with the top of the heel of the body. With the new neck the 15th frett lines up with the heel. How did I not notice that! Suspect the bridge needs to be moved about 3/4" - 1". Odd because the distance 12th fret to nut/12th fret to bridge match up. [/quote] The original neck was a 21 fret, the new one just 20 remounting the bridge will fix things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 [quote name='Vibrating G String' timestamp='1320662381' post='1429447'] The original neck was a 21 fret, the new one just 20 remounting the bridge will fix things. [/quote] Yes I was thinking that. As the old neck was the "overhang" style thought I might get away without doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 After a nervous relocation of the bridge, intonation is ok. Even managed to knock together a Bitsa from the leftovers.. its a dog but a laugh to noodle on I love the colour.. pity the body looks like it was in a fight with Mike Tyson. From what I can tell the previous owner had tried very heavy handedly to chisel out the neck pocket to fit a 5 string neck. And managed to mess it up/crack the body/gouge it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibody Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) ... and I did it all over again, so now I have 2! Presenting the Fecker Twins.. The Necks were £50 each from a seller on Ebay - Seco guitars. Not bad quality for no-name necks. Pity he's stopping the bass bits due to lack of interest. The White one has Wizard "Trad's" in it, the Black one Wizard "Thumpers" also a vintage style wiring harness (CTS Pots, Switchcraft Jack, Orangedrop Cap, Cloth Wiring, and some Allparts licenced knobs). Thumpers seem a little quieter than the trads to me, but that may be perception as the the White one has Flatwounds on it so sounds thicker. Due to the no-name body having a large - ish sustain block under the bridge area I had to go with the bridge option due to screw positioning but it was a happy accident, as I wanted a "high mass" type anyway. Black one is fitted with a road-worn Chrome over brass Pickguard courtesy of Steve (Dangerboy). Wanted something Thin Lizzy looking which I think I've achieved (tying in beautifuly with the "Fecker" logo!) Next step wil be upgrading the wiring on the white one as it still has the "Made in China" rubbish in it. Edited December 1, 2011 by Nibody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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