ST-1JR ...but it may not end up that way.

[Muzza]

Is it possible to turn an ST1JR into a short scale bass?

Absolutely!

You'll need heavier bass strings than normal to compensate for the short scale though. (And obviously you'll need a bass bridge and a 4 slot nut)

Oh, and you'll need 4 pole pickups as well.

[edit: I see you've already got the Toneriders]

[apkane]

At the end of March we took the neck over to Grandpas to use Great Grandpas drill press to sink 4 new holes that we templated up.

Once the drilling was complete, we then ferreted around for some old stain so we could add some colour to the anemic neck.

Lastly we cut and shaped the headstock after finding a suitable shape on the interwebs (it may or may not look similar to a Bill Crook headstock) and making a template with some of the cardboard from the box that the guitar came in.

Here is the neck with the new bass nut.


Now, where did that body go?.....

[Muzza]

a) Also not sure peg head would be... ...strong enough.
c) cannot even think what guage bass strings you would need

Answer a) Not a problem as there will be much less tension than a regular tuned 6 string. Because of the shortened scale, you'd need to really loosen off the strings to get it down to E A D G tuning.

Answer B) I'd start with the biggest, thickest strings you can get. If they're too thin, they'll just flap around like over-cooked spaghetti.

I'm thinking a good place to start would be E - 0.130, A - 0.100, D - 0.080, G - 0.065. Basically a 5 string set without the 0.045 G string.

[Muzza]

here is the neck with the new bass nut.


Now, where did that body go?.....

How do you intend finishing the body? If you're thinking of a solid colour, I'd recommend using the same colour on the front face of the headstock to hide the dowel ends.

[apkane]

The body will be a very fetching shade of O.M.F.G. its PINK! Now, to those of us who are not 8 y.o girls, we might think that having the headstock the same colour as the body makes sense to help hide any possible imperfections.....but we are wrong.

[DrNomis_44]

Should look really cool once it's finished, building something can definitely be very good therapy, I get a great sense of achievement whenever i build something, one build project that I'm going to be working on soon is a guitar amplifier, but not just any guitar amplifier, it is going to be one that uses old-fashioned valves, i started a thread about it in a different forum section, I'll see if I can post a link for you.


Here we go, here's the link to the thread :


http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=4590

[Dedman]

I tip my hat to you for diving into a fairly complex build first up. You seem to have it all under control, so I'm sitting back and watching with interest.

[wazkelly]

I'd start with the biggest, thickest strings you can get. If they're too thin, they'll just flap around like over-cooked spaghetti.

I'm thinking a good place to start would be E - 0.130, A - 0.100, D - 0.080, G - 0.065. Basically a 5 string set without the 0.045 G string.

Good suggestion Muzza. Just hope an 8 year old girl can get her tiny fingers down on such thick strings without too much trouble.

[cork sniffer]

Just told my wife about this exciting PINK project.
She said regardless of the result make sure it's kept safe and produced at her 21st birthday party.
We'll be watching in 13 years for the posted vid. LOL

[Muzza]

Good suggestion Muzza. Just hope an 8 year old girl can get her tiny fingers down on such thick strings without too much trouble.

She's just got to get the strings down to the fret. Any thinner will flap like, well... They'll flap a lot.
She'll be fine.
At the end of the day, it's a starting point. I'm pretty confident I'm on the money though. Have you see the size of the nylon strings on those uke basses?