Strat-o-bass Mark I

[MeYatch]

As some of you may remember, this is a project I've been wanting to do for years. I got a Squier Bronco Bass on craigslist for $70, and a loaded strat body on ebay for $46, so my total investment right now is $116.

Eventually I'm going to get some pickup covers with no holes. I don't really buy into the notion that having 6 pole pieces for 4 strings causes any problem.

I had to enlarge the neck pocked a little bit to fit the bronco neck, and apparently I didn't do it evenly, because the G string is practically hanging off the end of the neck.

On the plus side, it sounds pretty cool. All 5 pickup positions offer usefull tones.

[bassist_25]

That is freakin' sweet, as Peter Griffin would say! Is that a standard scale bass or short-scale?

[MeYatch]

30" scale. I may eventually build a 34" scale with a P bass body, but that would require a custom pickguard, so this seemed easier.

[shell_shooter]

That is pretty cool, wonder what it would sound like with a hotrail in there.could you pull the tail piece and plug the holes and shift it over a little to line up on the neck or would it throw the string alignment out of whack with the pickups.Just a thought but its still cool

[MeYatch]

I could probably move the bridge, but the G string is already not really going over the pickups very well.

[felix'apprentice]

id like the hear that thing. how'd you come up with that idea? pretty cool!

- kayla.

[MeYatch]

this guy makes them, but they are crazy expensive

http://www.landingbass.com/L300.html

[MOONDOGGY]

That's also way cheaper than the MM Big Al basses. I've been hankering a 3 single coil Strat setup since I first saw those Landings and wondered why it took so bloody long for someone else like MM to make a full scale version.

Keep me posted if you do a full scale version w/ active EMGs!!! I'll gladly take that off your hands.

[MeYatch]

Keep me posted if you do a full scale version w/ active EMGs!!! I'll gladly take that off your hands.

What EMGs are you thinking? I can't find any jazz bass pickups that are rounded. The look is a major part of what I'm going for so I don't want to make a full scale one with jazz bass pickups or something.

So I was inspecting the bass some more, and I think my problem is the string spacing. I'm using a bridge from a full scale bass, and its making the strings too far apart. I'm gonna order a vintage style threaded saddle bridge to correct the problem.

[MOONDOGGY]

Yeah, I was thinking EMG Js. But you're definitely right; rounded single coils would pull off the look a LOT better! I'm wondering how difficult it would be to take the covers off regular J p/ups and make rounded covers with mounting holes on the ends instead of the sides.

And if you can't find one of those threaded style barrel bridges, the Kahler fixed bridges have been going pretty darn cheap new on eBay. They're not exactly Strat-looking, but they have more spacing adjust-ability than any other bridge I've seen.

Please keep us posted on Stratobass Mark II and each version thereafter!

[MeYatch]

once I get this one where its actually playable the next step will be to replace the body with one of higher quality, and then probably try a few different strat pickup sets to see which one sounds the best.

[MeYatch]

We braved the elements and played a show last night. I brought the Stratobass along to see how it sounded through my main rig, and compared to my gig basses, which I keep at our practice space.

I have to say I was pretty damned impressed with it. The strings on it are old as balls. They may be whatever strings shipped on the bronco when they were new, but they are the only short scale strings I have right now. I did a little mini-setup at the gig. The pickups were much lower than I needed them to be, since they were set up for guitar, and there was a significant volume drop at first. I mostly used the neck + middle pickup setting. I would describe the sound rather nebulously as cross between a P bass and a J bass. That pickup setting puts the pickups a lot closer to a P bass location, but you still get some of the phase cancellation of a jazz bass. which is a major part of the tone I love, and why I play jazz basses almost exclusively.

Are strats wired in parallel like a jazz bass is? I'm not really sure.

It still needs some setup. The bridge screws are sticking up and a little uncomfortable, I think I'm going to have to get shorter screws, because I can't imagine raising the neck up any more than I already have. The string spacing is still too wide, but its settled in a little and its pretty close to where it should be.

Does anyone know if there is a 5 hole fender bridge with adjustable spacing?

I am thinking about using a vintage style threaded saddle bridge, but I'm worried that the strings might not stay in one place.

At some point I'm going to get no-hole covers for the pickups, and I'd like to get a pickguard without the cutout for the bridge.

Anyway, here's a gig photo.

[MOONDOGGY]

Check this thing out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Bass-Guitar- ... 3a55f7e50a

A Tele/'51 P style bass w/ the 3 p/up configuration.

And this cool guy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CUSTOM-DANELECTRO-3 ... 45f000f141


You should start putting together 3 p/up basses and selling them full time! With MM's Big Al, Landing guitars, and this one, it's becoming apparent that they are catching on. It's definitely a trend and it'd be smart to jump on that train early!

Any progress on making another one?

[MeYatch]

I don't really have anything planned right now. I ordered a musicmaster bridge to correct my string spacing issues, and some no hole pickup covers. Eventually I'll get a decent body to put on it, this one is plywood.

If I were to do a long scale I would probably use a P bass body, and I'd have to get one from warmoth or something, because I don't think the strat styled pickguard would cover up standard precision routing.