franzbassist Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 (edited) I recently picked up a very nice Player Series P Bass in a lovely butterscotch finish. Weighing in at 8.5lbs the bass is super-resonant and sounds great. The previous owner had put a white pearl scratchplate on it, but other than that it was stock and in very good condition. However, as an eternal tinkerer, I decided to pimp the bass up and made a few basic modifications: Hipshot HB7 tuners - much more stable and accurate tuning with these Hipshot Kickass bridge - a new interpretation of the classic Badass bridge, very impressive! Dunlop straplocks - these go on all my basses Fender pickup and scratchplate screws - all changed just to get rid of some rusted screws Fender thumbrest - I don't use them, but I love how they look on a P bass in the tugbar position CTS 250k Mojotone vintage taper pots - the original Korean pots were nasty .047 orange drop capacitor I did toy with the idea of changing the pickup, but it sounds pretty good so I have left it alone for now. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. Edited September 15, 2021 by franzbassist 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Looks spot on! New scratch plate is a big improvement. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBass3901 Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 Absolutely love it! Pretty close to my ideal P. Only thing that irks me is how close the KickAss/BadAss bridge always looks to the back of the bass. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 10, 2021 Share Posted September 10, 2021 The Players are good basses stock but are also ideal to tweak like this to get everything as liked, congrats. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 On 10/09/2021 at 11:41, BruceBass3901 said: Absolutely love it! Pretty close to my ideal P. Only thing that irks me is how close the KickAss/BadAss bridge always looks to the back of the bass. It looks worse than it is in that picture. Here’s a better angle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moving Pictures Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 How hefty is that bridge? I just picked up a black and maple Players Precision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 (edited) 1 minute ago, Moving Pictures said: How hefty is that bridge? I just picked up a black and maple Players Precision. It's weighs twice as much as the standard bridge. It's a really excellent lump of metal. You can also change the brass inserts for steel if you want more attack (not included though) , and Hipshot supply two spare brass ones as well so you can vary the height to personal taste. Edited September 15, 2021 by franzbassist 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moving Pictures Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Thanks! I’ll put that on my list of options. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 (edited) Not thought about cream pick up covers and knobs? Edited September 15, 2021 by TheGreek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted September 15, 2021 Author Share Posted September 15, 2021 10 minutes ago, TheGreek said: Not thought about cream pick up covers and knobs? I think that would make it too vanilla for my tastes Mick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 (edited) Lovely bit of work making the bass your own. I’ve done that to a couple of basses and it’s quite satisfying. I’m saying that I’ve got a Hot P Seymour Duncan I’m not using if you do fancy something hotter as a pick up upgrade and a tone styler. I’ll be listing them in the next few days once I dig them out of storage boxes. Don’t worry mods I’m all paid up. Edited September 15, 2021 by krispn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Nice... But i'm a Thumb Rest on Top kinda' guy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velarian Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said: Nice... But i'm a Thumb Rest on Top kinda' guy... Indeed, it wouldn’t be a thumb rest if it wasn’t on top. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiram.k.hackenbacker Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 17 hours ago, PaulThePlug said: Nice... But i'm a Thumb Rest on Top kinda' guy... 15 hours ago, Velarian said: Indeed, it wouldn’t be a thumb rest if it wasn’t on top. Very much so. I don't really see the point of 'tug bars'. Does anyone actually use them any more or are they just for the sake of 'period correctness' on certain instruments? I think it would just get in my way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 3 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said: I don't really see the point of 'tug bars'. Does anyone actually use them any more or are they just for the sake of 'period correctness' on certain instruments? I guess if you play "old school" with your thumb, then a tug bar gives you a place to put your fingers. Otherwise, it has nice "pose appeal"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 On 16/09/2021 at 00:35, TheGreek said: Not thought about cream pick up covers and knobs? Absolutely right, this is screaming for cream covers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 The Hipshot KickAss is a nice thing, whether or not it adds anything to the tone or not (*subjective) is questionable, but it does feel nicer than BBoT and isn't likely to rip a hole in your wrist if you're a pick player and play close to the bridge. Dunlop Straploks are a given! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Question for the OP. Given the outlay for the new parts, wouldn't it just have been better to save some pennies and just buy something new that's closer to what you're trying to achieve here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: Question for the OP. Given the outlay for the new parts, wouldn't it just have been better to save some pennies and just buy something new that's closer to what you're trying to achieve here? I didn't buy the bass new. Even with the new parts it came in at well under the cost of a new stock Player Series P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 23 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said: Very much so. I don't really see the point of 'tug bars'. Does anyone actually use them any more or are they just for the sake of 'period correctness' on certain instruments? I think it would just get in my way. Back in the day, it was the first thing you took off and threw away, along with the ash trays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 A friend of mine told me that back in the day a lot of people used the tug bar for playing with the thumb, but they removed them when slapping became popular because they got in the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee650 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) On 10/09/2021 at 10:46, M@23 said: Looks spot on! New scratch plate is a big improvement. It's always surprising how a small thing like a pickguard change can transform the look of a bass 😁 I have a black Highway one P bass, which came with a black pickguard, I swapped it for a reliced tortoiseshell and it looks so much classier. Edited September 17, 2021 by lee650 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velarian Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 1 hour ago, lee650 said: It's always surprising how a small thing like a pickguard change can transform the look of a bass 😁 I have a black Highway one P bass, which came with a black pickguard, I swapped it for a reliced tortoiseshell and it looks so much classier. Funny enough I have a black p-bass that had a tortoiseshell pick guard that I swapped for a black one, it looks so much classier 😂😂😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 31 minutes ago, Velarian said: Funny enough I have a black p-bass that had a tortoiseshell pick guard that I swapped for a black one, it looks so much classier 😂😂😂 I'm all about the black pick guards. Single ply, of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 Well, if nothing else this thread has highlighted that the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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