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2x12 Tweed Cab

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Tech21 Trademark 60
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sx precision bass

or, Why Not To Upgrade A Cheap Chinese Guitar To Save A Few Bucks

I had an SX bass lying around that wasn't all that bad, except I wasn't crazy about the 12" radius and headstock shape. At least, that's what I decided when I found this 10" radius neck on ebay.

As long as I was replacing the neck, this seemed like a good opportunity to refinish the body in an Olympic White-sort of colour. It was originally sunburst with a beautiful - or tacky (depending on your point of view) - photoflame finish. So it's my guitar and I do what I want!

After taping up the neck pocket and pickup/control cavities, it was time for the primer.

Then the white and clear coats.

Then the Kitten car polish.

It was now time to relocate the tuners from the old neck. Not too difficult - you can see my dodgy set square in the background there which helped line them up correctly. Judging by the original (cheap) soft screws however, I don't think they'd survive another removal.

The original nut was white plastic and didn't fit too well on the new neck. With a set of needle files I fashioned a new bone nut. A bit of super glue, and it slotted in perfectly.

Next, the neck needed screw holes. You know I actually didn't get them too wrong the first time, now I realise how exact one really has to be. But of course it wasn't good enough, so I plugged the holes with dowels and had another go, this time with the strings on so I could line them up properly!

So that was it, right? Of course not. If I was going to the trouble of replacing the neck and refinishing the body, I might as well replace the pickups too. Oh, and as long as I'm replacing the pickups, I'd better replace that thin-gauge stock bridge. Therein lies the trap of upgrading a cheap guitar. Unless you're doing it for fun or you already have the parts lying around, you might be better off just buying the damn thing you're trying to copy.

So along came the $30 Wilkinson bridge. The brass saddles were larger and the bridge metal was thicker than stock. Obvious improvement there. This also gave me the opportunity to fix up the intonation. The new neck was longer than the old one, so I had to move the bridge up to reduce the scale length. Now the intonation is perfect. As evidenced by the ugly old screw holes. I didn't bother to plug them since I was planning on using a Fender bridge cover anyway.

The pickups. Cheapish alnico jobbies from an Australian online mob. They actually sound all right.

Unfortunately, they didn't fit the Fender pickguard, and I had to do a quick hack job to stop the pickguard from pressing down on the pickup screws. Not really an issue again due to the pickup cover I had, but not ideal.

The final product isn't half bad. Intonation is great and it sounds the piece. I'd have no hesitation recording with it (that was the idea all along) or playing it live. Only I won't be expecting any resale value!

Update! November 21 2007

Well the final product wasn't all that bad, but it was such a hack job it wasn't particularly inspiring to play. On top of that I finally admitted that the pickup cover, while it looks cool, simply gets in the way and covers an area of the strings that is a sweet spot in some cases.

After removing the pickup cover, the guitar immediately became more playable. And off went the bridge cover, and back came the old bridge screw holes.

Perfect opportunity to fill them and refinish the body. Ice Blue Metallic, according to the can, chosen not least thanks to the Fender connotations.

And this time the covers are off!

Free download!
New Tunisia EP
Under Deconstruction

Debut Tunisia album
Two False Idols
available in our Store
and iTunes

".. Catchy hook laden melodies, brilliant songwriting, and richly orchestrated arrangements." Prognaut.com

".. Anyone who can sound like Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree one minute and The Jayhawks or The Humblebums the next has to be worth a listen." Classic Rock Society

"Craven really has come up with something very different and ingenious here and, as such, ‘cinematic rock’ is pretty much a perfect description." HardRockHouse.com