The Bass! There Are No Such Things As Universial Parts

I had a friend ask me about this Cort bass he acquired.  It was just a neck and body.  It was missing the pickguard, pickups, and electronics.  I told him it would cost more to get it up and running than to buy a used Fender MIM Jazz Bass at Guitar Center.  So in an act of kindness/vengeance he did something very kind/evil to me.  He gave it to me.

This is kind of two-fold good/bad.  I love all things musical.  But even for a roughed up bass that needs more work than it deserves, I just can't let go.  I can't let it go.  So I started work on it.

First off, the frets were shot.  I can do a re-fret in my sleep, so that was the first thing to be done.  And to be honest, the old frets came out easier than any other instrument I've worked on.  So this one really needed some work.

Okay, that's the quick version.  I didn't want to bore you with detail.  Let's say, it's done, Boo ya!

Next, look at this:

You know, the problem with this P-Bass?  It's not a PJ Bass!!!!!!  So I decided to add a Jazz pickup to it.  That means I moved the output jack.  You can see where I drilled the hole for it. 

Let's move on.  Here's the nice little hole I drilled for the Jazz pickup.

I decided to give the Dragonfire active pickups a try.  I was thinking about GFS pickups, but let's be honest, Artec makes all the overseas pickups, I figure there couldn't be too much difference between the two, but that will be in another post.

Here is me fitting the Jazz Bass pickup.

And here is me trying to fit the pickguard to the body.

This is going to be tough.  The Cort has it's own type of pickguard.  So I am making due with what I have.  I had to widen the pickup route for the pickup.  I may have to route out the wood to fit these P-Bass pickups.  I will also have to route out a spot for the truss rod adjuster.  I will then have to make all new holes for the screws.  Not to mention, a new bridge is on it's way from Hong Kong. 

Here's something that I have never encountered before.  When Dragonfire pickups shipped the parts, they included the correct pots.  However, they didn't send any washers, lock washers, or nuts.  What's up with that?  I've never had that happen before.  Never.

So obviously my work is far from done.  What does that mean?  Another blog post of course!  Stay tuned.  I may get a working bass, I may get a pile of junk, who knows?