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Post subject: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 9:09 am
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So, I've got my Roger Waters bass for a while now and I feel the insatiable urge to customize it.
Now I already have a design in my head.
A dark red pickguard, bridge and pickup covers and a thumb rest.
Now I realise I will have to apply some extra holes and screws for this.

Anyone have tips how I go about this?

This is the goal (body only, im keeping the roger waters neck)

Image

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-'89 Precision Lyte MiJ
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-Ampeg 2x15 cabinet
-Dean Metalman Z Bass (for that heavy rocking)
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(Police Line - Do Not Cross)


Last edited by Drakeskullnl on Mon May 05, 2014 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 10:54 am
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It's your bass and you can do what you want. Are you going to relic it too?

While I'm not a fan of plain black basses, I do like the Black-On-Black-On-Black scheme of the Waters P. Which is exactly what you intend to wreck and ruin.

There's a reason why Roger (and many, many others) took off all that chrome $@!& and threw it away. When it came time for my '76 Precision's first string change (from factory flats to Rotosounds) all that chrome crap came off and got thrown in the trash! Along with the tugbar. Ugh!

Happy Moding!

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One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 11:05 am
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You strike a very valid arguement there, but I do have thing for Black/Red (like the tat on my back... a fender prec black/red).

Of course i'm not going to toss out the original parts (reverting to no-chrome can be healthy sometimes), but I am just wondering what the best approach is to actually putting the mods on (seeing that I am lacking a few holes).

Also i'm not going to relic it. Any damage looks have to be genuine in my opinion. Either you play on it and you can see the wear, or you keep it clean, you don't pre-roadworn look a guitar... that feels a bit... i don't know... (no offense) poseur?


Last edited by Drakeskullnl on Mon May 05, 2014 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 11:31 am
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You're just going to have to drill some holes. Six to be exact. :wink: It's no big deal, if you know what you're doing. When you get your pickguard be sure to specify 'tugbar' (on the bottom as in your photo) as opposed to 'thumb rest' (on the top).

You will want to put some self-adhesive copper foil/tape shielding on the back of the pickguard and also line the control cavity.

Are you going to reuse the tone and volume controls and jack?


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 12:09 pm
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I'm going to keep the original knobs on the RW bass, I dig the black in that.

My current shopping list is this:

http://www.thomann.de/nl/fender_pickgua ... les_tt.htm
http://www.thomann.de/nl/fender_thumbrest.htm

(supplying the rest in a second post)


Am I fogetting something?
Also, how deep and wide should the extra holes be approx? (I'm already planning to bring this project to the best guitar tuner in the city to ensure everything goes right, but still I'd like to know for future projects)


Last edited by Drakeskullnl on Mon May 05, 2014 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 12:09 pm
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http://www.thomann.de/nl/fender_vintage ... _cover.htm
http://www.thomann.de/nl/fender_pbass_pickup_cover.htm
http://www.thomann.de/nl/fender_pickguard_schrauben.htm


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 2:12 pm
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It is your instrument and you can do with it as you wish of course. However just let me offer the following before you start modding this.

You paid a premium price for an Artist Series instrument with very specific features. Once you mod it by changing anything other than strings it is no longer what it was intended to be. That excludes it from ever being a collectible class instrument, even in 50 years. Even if you put all the original parts back on it will be detectible to a knowledgeable collector or appraiser that it had been modified from stock at one time. Others in original configuration will always be worth more, perhaps a multiple of what a modded one would be worth.

Instead of modding this Artist Series instrument I'd look for a used MIM Standard, swap the pickup to the SD SPB-3 if you like that pickup and mod away. As it is now your instrument might bring $600 in original stock configuration, but once you mod it then it is worth about what a Standard is worth which is HALF of what a stock Waters is worth.

So for about the same money that this instrument LOSES in value when you mod it, you can buy a used MIM Standard to mod to your heart's content and have TWO instruments.

I would NEVER mod any special issue like this one. If you want to do mods then mod the Standards. That advice goes for any model other than a mass production model.

Your call though.


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 4:06 pm
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100 % agree with Brother Dave....


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 4:48 pm
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We've all modified a Fender bass or two. Check out this thread on what various folks here have done to their Precisions. :twisted: http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=84514&start=60 Look for my pix on page five :wink:

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2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 7:49 pm
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linnin wrote:
We've all modified a Fender bass or two. Check out this thread on what various folks here have done to their Precisions. :twisted: http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=84514&start=60 Look for my pix on page five :wink:


That's true. I've got modified ones but they were not Fender Artist Series or Fender Commemorative instruments when I modded them.


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:27 am
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What Dave said about modding this bass -- I'm sort of on the fence. I can see his point, but I think we need to understand this is a volume-production instrument and has been for quite some time, rather than some limited-issue/limited-time CS run.

Color scheme: I like the tort guard on black with rosewood fretboard, but not so much with a maple fretboard. To me the tort/black/maple combination looks more like "parts" than a cohesive whole the way the tort/black/rosewood does. And the rosewood/black lets the tort guard "pop," while the maple/black would almost look like a wrestling match between the neck and the guard. But everyone sees things differently, so . . .

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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 6:32 am
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I knew I would get some resistance by announcing my project, but wow, this is almost discouraging.

But as some of you have said, it is my call afterall, plus I am not planning to part with it.
I will gladly share the results with yall, even if you call it blasphemy, heresy and butchery, but I hope you guys will like it.

The only question remaining, is my shopping list complete (as posted earlier) or am I missing something?


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:53 am
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Yeah, your shopping list looks good to me, Drakeskullnl. Do What You Like. Like What You Do. That's the secret to a happy life. Personalize your Precision and make it your own. Happy Modding! 8)

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2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 1:57 pm
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That's a signature bass. If you mod it, you'll "ruin" it. You may love it but if you ever decide to sell the bass after your mods... you're screwed. Brother Dave said it all but I wanted to reiterate the point.

If you're bored of the bass, sell it or trade it and mod the crap out of your new bass. Better yet (for you), put the Waters' bass in it's case and then in a closet and buy another bass (like Dave said) and mod the crap outta THAT one.

Don't ruin that bass. Some guy out there would LOVE to own a sig bass.

That's my two cents but, of course, it's YOUR bass. Burn it if you want. :)


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Post subject: Re: Roger Waters Bass customization
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 3:50 pm
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If you are gonna keep it, go ahead and do what you like. I have a '66 P-Bass I bought for $150 in 1970. In '73 I decided to customize it. So..........on goes an EB 3 humbucker right up by the neck.Put a 3 way toggle on the lower bout of the pick guard, added another set of tone and volume controls and a BadAssII bridge. Back then this cost me around $100. What I got was the best sounding, playing bass I ever played. However...........everyone said I ruined it. Well, I did kill the vintage value of a really fine bass but I still have it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

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I play a 1980 fender bass with maple neck and bad $@! II bridge, i bought it new. I also have a 1966 p-bass with rosewood fret board, bad $@! II bridge and a big fat EB-O pickup. I've had this bass since i was 15 years old.


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