So I’ve been looking for a fun project? and fancy converting a standard six string guitar into to a ‘shorty’ four string bass?
Donor guitar would probably be an Epiphone 67 Flying V ( what else
)
And In keeping with the 24.75 scale, this would definitely be a ‘super’ short scale bass?
New Tusq nut ~ Schaller 3D bridge ~ Lightweight tuners ~ Not sure what pickups as yet ?? Either a pair of Thunderbird type, or a couple of hot rail humbuckery things
Dowel the original bridge / tuner holes and a nice refin? Thinking Olive Green with a Black scratchplate.
My only concern, is that due to scale length etc, and lightweight body’ tonally would it sound
and could it work?
Comments
Might be worth seeing what the Pignose bass used.
I did exactly this with a cheap 70s 24”-scale bass when I’d broken my arm and couldn’t play a normal bass for a couple of months. I did a few band practices with it - it was fine, it sounded good enough and the intonation was acceptable, if not quite perfect. Not sure I would have gigged it, but my arm was OK enough to swap to a Mustang Bass by the time it mattered.
What you want to do will be a huge amount of work to both the headstock and bridge end though. Strangely, guitar pickups will work without any issues - Rickenbacker ‘toaster’ and Fender Musicmaster/Bronco Bass pickups have six polepieces, identical to the guitar ones .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I forgot to mention - although it's probably obvious if you think about it - that I had to cut the strings down, by first shortening them to the right length and then removing the outer windings back to just beyond the nut, as strings properly made for that scale length would be. Otherwise, the very thick outer wraps would not have a hope of fitting into the tuner posts! They didn't actually show any tendency to unwind themselves once nipped back around the core with pliers - perhaps surprisingly. I did start with a scrap set I'd taken off my actual 5-string...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
(Edit - it's even shorter than I thought, only 21".)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein