Four String Bass Converted Into A Five

[@lttz1006]

"some crap I bought" and then pulls out a damn rickenbacker xdddd

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

Some people just prefer the narrower string spacing cause some modern bass necks feel like boat paddles. The John Myung Signature Bongo is a 6-string bass on a 5 string neck.

[@martyforrer3863]

I have just done this. An Artist 5 string neck on an SX 4 string body. I used exactly the same method. Works great!

[@martyforrer9146]

I put an Artist 5 string neck on an alder SX P 4 string body. It's so good it has become my main bass.

[@DrNoClu]

I've recently bought a customer returned Artist 5 string, I'm planning on swapping for a 6 string bass neck and converting it into a 12 string bass.

[@Drunken_Hamster]

From the centers of the highest and lowest strings, what is the spacing at the nut and bridge? Also, try reversing the P pickup while keeping the centerline the same. What I mean is to route the body so that the bass side of the P can be moved rearward to where the treble side usually sits and vice versa. Provides a more balanced tone IMO. No more pingy high strings and the bottoms aren't quite as wooly, either.

[@tygerpyro500]

Ahh yes, I’ve been greatly looking forward to a video of this concept. Great job, love the videos. Keep them coming

[@matthewzarro1543]

Great vid, can't wait for a fretless Rickenbacker

[@93californication]

The man. The myth. The Ligind

[@schm4704]

That's a bold idea, wouldn't have thought it was possible. It sounds fantastic, too!

[@remyboyzz399]

This video was an absolute joy to watch! Never seen your channel before so this was a great introduction; will definitely tune in to see what you do with the other bass!

[@ulgroktheorc]

Great video! Also love you bursting out laughing while jamming! Making music is just so much fun! Having good times is what it's all about!

[@beefyjoe]

How is the neck dive on this? I would assume that a 5 string neck and the weight of the tuners would counter weight the smaller and lighter body of a 4 string bass.

[@jakirabrophy5016]

Hey I’m from nz here, what website did you use to get these basses? Been wanting a Rickenbacker for years! And also fun project basses.

[@chriswareham]

Japan has quite a humid climate in the summer, which would account for the corrosion you're seeing on the bridge. The winters can also be pretty cold in the Eastern part of the country. The Hammond Organ company partnered with a Japanese company to produce transistor organs because their classic tonewheel organs would behave erratically in the Japanese climate. I remembering reading about this in the autobiography of Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of Roland (and Ace Tone before that) as I believe he was involved in setting up Hammond's Japanese subsidiary.

[@fanbladeinstruments]

That's really interesting, thank you for that. I've spend a little bit of time in the back of a tonewheel Hammond and I can only imagine that those mechanisms would get very messed up indeed. Cheers.

[@mrfatbobrider1969]

I woulnt mind the old Artist bass if possible

[@stereoroid]

What to do with the heavy P body? Get out the hacksaw and turn it in to something like Geddy Lee’s “Teardrop” PJ from the 70s!

[@bankyWI]

Great video, thank you. Looking forward to more!

[@ChefZak]

it sounds and looks soooo good. I can't wait for the fretless ric!

[@jafo1970]

Great vid, as always -- thanks! Now I'm itching for a fretless bass again...

[@infrasound]

What site did you find these on, i've been looking ro a while to ickup a bass and they're all $1000, not Y1000. :

[@fanbladeinstruments]

Jauce.com Bear in mind that the ¥1000 is super low even by their standards, I actually bought it expecting the translation to be wrong and all I was buying was the stand it was on, but no, I got a bass. Looking on there now the really good deals on well made budget basses are sitting around ¥4000, not including shipping and other fees, and there are a lot of them - Jauce ain't working for free here!. All tolled, I've just bought 2 cheap and cheerful basses for a total purchase price of NZD$80, plus fees and shipping to my door the total will be closer to NZD$450 (USD$280), which is still pretty freaking good for what I've bought: a 'Selder' branded P-bass with an amazing flame maple neck and a very tasty looking 'K-Garage' branded Jazz copy. If you've got the $1000 to spend though then there's everything you could want in vintage Japanese guitars and basses, I've never seen so many Tokai and Greco basses in one place before. It's amazing, happy shopping.

[@MrEliakimRAS]

That was a spicy conversion - never saw someone widen the space on the body for a larger neck. On the topic of weight: what is an acceptable margin of instrument weight for you? When does it get too heavy to even consider playing it for 2+ hours straight? Thanks in advance!

[@fanbladeinstruments]

Great question, looking at the effect of a bass guitar on a human body it really becomes a question of weight vs balance. More weight = bad for your shoulders, Bad balance (neck dive) = not very good for your posture. With some designs that are naturally neck-heavy there is a tendency for cheaper instruments to try and correct the balance by adding weight, it becomes a tradeoff but there is a sweet spot that differs for every person just as it differs for every bass. For myself personally, with 20+ years of neck and shoulder problems, any bass heavier than 3.8kg instantly qualifies for the wide padded strap, anything over 4.8kg just never gets used. My favorite basses are all 3.6 - 4.4 except the violin basses which are barely 3.2 but have definite balance issues. Hope that helps, thanks.

[@MrEliakimRAS]

@@fanbladeinstruments It helped a lot! Thanks for the quick answer!

[@jesseberend2588]

Hey mate, what sites would I use to browse the Japanese secondhand market? Based in Australia

[@fanbladeinstruments]

Jauce.com. Be aware that they'll sting you badly for shipping and a whole heap of other banking fees and other things, but the basses are so cheap that it still works out.

[@daviddaniels6473]

I found you because I bought a Glarry J5 that was absolute crap. I also happen to own a Guitar Fetish 4-string Pbass body. I'm thinking of a 5-string PJ. Anyway. Your presentation was brilliant! New subscriber here.

both are looking great. i wanna see a video with the other one :)

[@tg509]

For the heavy body, chamber it?

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

I've been researching converting a 5 string bass to an 8 string....watching this video gives me the idea of turning a 5 string bass neck into an 8 string neck and then transplanting it to a PBass body! I've just done an exchange rate check and your KGarage Bass comes out as being £6 sterling! Where did you get these? :)

[@MrEliakimRAS]

Wow, an 8-string 34" guitar - that's rad!

[@limaofarofa]

On the subject of conversions, any strong opinions on a Jazz Bass to Bass VI conversion with a short Tele bridge and a couple of Jazz Bass rails pickups? I'm undecided on whether 4+2 hack job with actual bass tuners versus the whole 6 in-line split shaft guitar tuners and recut head scenario, which seems unescapable.

[@mrfatbobrider1969]

4 n 2 is cool I have that setup on my ernie ball O,L,P MUSIC MAN guitar

[@fanbladeinstruments]

Interesting... I would take the tuners off, fill the holes with dowel, then veneer the headstock front and back so you could put the tuners where they need to be to maintain direct pull over the nut. Assuming you'll have a new nut with the strings crammed closer together then they'll be pulling sideways over the nut to get to the tuners in their current location, then you're at risk of tuning problems. Might I also suggest using a precision neck if you can find one, I feel like a jazz neck would get very cramped and the extra width will definitely help. Good luck, and please film it, I'd love to see how it goes. Cheers.

[@mrfatbobrider1969]

Howdy,whats he name of the website for purchasing the Bass from ?

[@fanbladeinstruments]

I use Jauce.com but there are a few others, be aware that they clip the ticket coming and going, transaction fees, auction fees, storage, packing, shipping, insurance, and a couple of others for good measure. I say $12 for that one bass, which is technically true, but all up to buy and ship both instruments to me was almost $600NZD - Which is still a whole lot cheaper than buying the same instruments on TradeMe and the selection is endless. I've only scratched the surface of the weird and wonderful basses they've got.

[@katelynseng8341]

I WANT A LES PAUL 5 STRING SOOO BAD

[@CaterinaGluzmann]

8:00 Load up your guns bring a friend

[@fanbladeinstruments]

Haha, busted. Yep, that's the riff except every chord is a Maj7. The .WAV file for that track is actually called 'Smells like teen armpit'.

[@mariaroncalli863]

DENmark?🤔

[@TexturaI]

I'd end up ruining both basses lol

[@FinC1_]

What to do with the heavy body? Put the worst parts you've got on it and truly make a masterpiece of shit

[@fanbladeinstruments]

So... turn it into an Ibanez Gio then?😜

[@springy-2112]

DEMocratic people's republic of Korea ? 👍🏻☮❤