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62(ish) Precision build


yepmop
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Well GAS has got the better of me and I’m now embarking on another Precision build.

I learnt a lot from my last build so I’m more confident of doing an even better job this time around.

I’m really into the old School sound and as I can’t afford a 62 RI let alone an early 60s precision, I've decided to put together a FrankenFender using James Jamerson’s 62 precision as the model.

My budget is £400 which I oommed and aaaaed about as I could get a used MIM Precision for less than this, but I think (I hope) I can get a better bass from a build.

With this low budget I have to compromise on a few things, the first one being the neck. Ideally an All parts neck would be my first choice but they are quite expensive so I decided to go for a Fender licensed Mighty Mite neck as a reasonable 2[sup]nd[/sup] choice.

The second compromise is the body, originally I was going to buy a new unfinished body and spray myself but as I really like sunburst finishes. I decided that my spraying skills are not quite up to doing a sunburst finish. I did look around eBay for a Fender precision body but could not find one to suite my requirements, so I've purchased a Sunburst body in alder from the BassDoc.

Most of the hardware is all genuine Fender;
Fender 60s vintage nickel machine heads with nickel screws and bushes.
Fender nickel string tree and thumb rest
Fender 62 RI Bridge (used).
Fender vintage P-Bass Pickup
Fender neck plate and Chrome pickup/bridge covers.
The electrics are from my other Precision build that was supplied by John (KiOgon).
I have bought a vintage non-fender tortoiseshell scratch plate but now I have it not too sure about the pattern.

I’m just waiting for a few things to arrive in the post and I can then start.

I’m just finishing off applying a 60s Fender decal so will a post a picture soon.

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The main compromise, the neck i.e.. has a skunk strip and Truss rod adjustment on the headstock, perhaps in a few years if all turns out okay may get an All Parts neck so it's more original looking but not critical at the moment.

[attachment=129818:2013-03-12 20.46.38.jpg]

Decal added and neck re-lacquered and buffed by hand (that's bloody hard work :unsure: ).

[attachment=129819:headstock.jpg]

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Now that most of the bits have arrived thought I'd start on the neck.


[attachment=130321:kit.jpg]


Thinking this would take an hour tops to add the machines Heads and Bushes I was in for a not unexpected shock!!

The tuner holes on the neck were about half to a millimetre too small for the bushes, so for a couple of hours watching TV with some sandpaper wrapped around my finger I managed to get them to fit.

The next shock which I wasn't aware of. is that you have to chisel/drill out 2 resesses for each tuner in order to make them fit flush against the neck.

So far I have done 2 and will leave the others until tomorrow.

[attachment=130322:tuners2.jpg]

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Well the new Sunburst Alder body arrived from Howard (BassDoc) well chuffed, don't think the picture does is justice enough. The neck fits snugly in so at some point in the week I'll drill the neck holes.

[attachment=131068:body new.jpg]

Machine heads now attached, sorry about the crap quality photos will try an update some taken during the day.





If I have time tonight I will pilot hole the strap holders and shield the cavity with copper tape.

Edited by yepmop
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I've now shielded the cavities with copper tape, installed the wiring harness including earthing wire for the bridge. Attached the bridge and Fender 62 Pickups



Although the bridge is from a Japanese 62 RI, I'm going to replace the bridge barrels with some vintage ones from All parts. This works out quite good as my MIM Fender Jazz has a duff barrel so I'll replace it with one from this bridge.

Tomorrow if I get time I'll drill and add the strap retainers and make a start on attaching the neck.

Edited by yepmop
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The neck along with the plate now added to the body.




Holes for the Scratch plate now need to be drilled ans thumb rest drilled and attached.



Still not sure about the Scratch Plate colour, looked good in the picture but when I received it I'm not so sure now, may live with it for now but get a Red tort one later.

Once the Holes for the scratch plate and thumb rest have been done I will then move onto the string tree, just realised I haven't got a nickel screw for the tree so a chrome will do until I can order one.

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Almost completed.

Had a problem with no sound from the pickups and was fearing the worst but after playing around I found that the input jack connection was touching the copper shielding in the cavity, so a bit of peeling resolved that heart stopping moment.

The Scratch Plate holes drilled and fitted, String Tree hole drilled and fitted. Added Chrome Control knobs.

Thumb rest Holes drilled and fitted.

Replaced bridge saddles with Vintage style.



Close up of the body



As it looks at the moment.



if time permits tonight I will start to set it up, played it through my Vox headphone amp and the sound is awesome.

After the setup I will drill the holes for the chrome bridge cover and fit it.

I'm still waiting for the chrome pickup cover to arrive as apparently there's no stock of them anywhere in the UK.

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Done the set up but did have a problem earlier that came back and bit me.

The Vintage saddle screws did not quite fit the holes in the bridge, so I used the old ones which were a little loose fitting but they seem to move the saddles up and down okay. Anyhow, when I came to do the intonation, I suddenly found out that I could only move the saddles up and down a few mm, so out came the drill and I enlarged the screw holes by 0.03 mm and fitted the correct sized screws and all is okay now.

I've left the action a little on the high side to get that vintage sound I was after. The bass sounds and plays lovely, I will do the chrome bridge cover tomorrow, then it's just waiting for the chrome pickup cover to arrive to complete it.

When all is done, I will add photos and a sound/video clip so you can here it in all it's glory.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got the Chrome Pickup cover and now fitted.

This is a crap shot with my mobile once I find where I've put my camera I'll take some better shots.

I will also takes some vids so you can hear how it sounds and list the suppliers I got all my bits from.

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Well here's the completed bass and here's a link to how it sounds recorded on the PC, I do apologise for the odd bum note timing error but they all 1 takes as I couldn't be arsed to re-record them.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qziBdK9nVAA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qziBdK9nVAA[/url]

The jury is still out on that scratch plate though.






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Great job, near enough my idea of the perfect bass. If you're not sure about the scratchplate, may I suggest speaking to the Bass Doc? I had a scratchplate made for my P Bass and he knocked me up a 4-ply w/b/w/tort job, with proper celluloid on the top layer, so it's mid-way between red and brown, and has a bit more life about it than the non-celluloid options.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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