1960s Harmony Rubber-Bridge Bass Conversion No 1

Update: Steve's touring, now, and releasing some gear he's not using at the moment. I've updated the photos and description where necessary.

A while back my pal Steve shared an Instagram picture of a Harmony tenor guitar converted into a rubber-bridge mini bass guitar and then he said he wanted one like it.

I tried to discourage him, noting the very short scale length, the narrow neck, and all of the other stuff my inner bass player wants to yell at people about. However, the rubber bridge insanity continues and I don't mind adding more fuel to the fire, so now here's my version! I was really happy with it when it was all done despite my skepticism and since making this one back in April I've now made 10 or so more of them for various people.

It's the same idea as the Old Style instrument but the Jake version -- using a banjo-style tailpiece, old roundwound strings in lighter gauges, a cheap double-rails, Tele-sized neck pickup, and the odd foam rubber stuff off of the bottom of grout floats I for the new saddle. The tailpiece is grounded to the wiring and it has a flush-mounted endpin jack. It's quiet acoustically but enough to practice with on the couch. Plugged-in, it sounds in the realm of a tubby old upright, though you do have to play with a bit of finesse due to the short scale. The K&K acoustic pickup under the hood is perfect as an alternate voice and, when blended together for, say, recording -- or into a stereo pair of amps for live use -- really does add enough "body" to give it an uprighty sound.

Work included a neck re-reset, fret level/dress, wiring work, bridge modification, and whatnot. It plays fast and is ready to roll and comes with some shims for micro-adjustment of string height at the bridge. The jacks are labeled "M" for magnetic and "P" for piezo acoustic.

Specs coming soon!