Here’s my more or less finished piccolo bass conversion of a 1970s Japanese Univox short-scale Surf bass. Or Punk bass.

One of the many outright copies of the iconic Mosrite ‘Ventures’ guitars and basses.

It appears everyone in Japan wanted surf music after the Ventures and Beach Boys.

All this cloning didn’t help the Mosrite company any, and the Ventures tie-in not much either.

Then when Johnny Ramone and the Punks showcased Mosrite axes it was too late to help Semie Moseley much. But OTOH he could escape Bakersfield.

So because of celebrity worship not many players get to ever touch the remaining super pricey collector value actual Mosrites.

So, lucky for us players we have decent (if different from Mosrite in sound) Japanese basses by Aria, Univox and several more firms still kicking around out there for us average Joes to marvel at and enjoy.

My soldering skills are muy mal but apparently it’s forgiving because it’s alive!

The right connection would be obvious to anyone who knew the least thing about electricity or wiring. But I’m not that peep. I don’t know the first thing about it.

So I did what I always do, procrastinated. I found better neck plate screws that closely matched the plate’s chrome plating using the better Phillips head drivers, and reinstalled the neck and plate.

The neck trussrod needed no tweaking and when I installed my brand new-old-stock wide leather strap it needed no adjustment either!

Finally the spirit of Sloth and Fear briefly lifted and I tricked myself into a sudden fit of work, testing each possible solder point at random.

I’m stupid but methodical and eventually jingle jangle! From both pickups! Diagnosis is the hardest thing. Usually.

However you’ve never seen me wield a solder gun. Run Away! This time I only had to solder each wire twice instead of my usual thrice. Getting better.

Howsoever, notwithstanding my usual fumbles, solder splattle on shirt, finger scorch, solder on back of pick-guard, etc, it got done despite my ineptitude.

Luckily the scorch was right on my index finger bass callus, which now sports a groovy groove, sizzle like bacon, never felt a thing.

So no harm done. I’m plucking no worse than usual and every project I’ve done includes an injury or two. No blood or bacon sizzle, no glory.

It took a good bit of compromise intonation work but by chance both the neck torque and string height setup were good.

As warned by the seller the trussrod Allen head nut was very tight. So I removed it entirely and put a dab of bike grease on it and screwed it back on. Hope it doesn’t lead to the neck unbowing.

I’m liking this instrument a lot. Handy, short form factor, plenty of sound, twangy roundwound tones that point out my failings at playing but really stand out and ring. Can sound piano like too.

Short-scale is OK with my arthritis; and string tension is OK as well, only the E string feeling a touch loose, again not a problem.

It sounded a bit boomy on my fine new Orange Crush 50 watt bass amp. [Update 17 July, 2023: Nope, sounds best on the best bass amp, the Orange Crush. The smaller amps sound tinier and need adjustment or the strings sound uneven. The Orange Crush bass crushes it.

And while this tiny Marshall student guitar amp sounded more guitar-like, the tone was a bit thin- like a student amp. And with more humming and no equalizer controls.

My old Roland Cube Rx bass amp sounded best with the high pitched Univox conversion, maybe because of the small 4″ cones. I probably won’t need to buy a better guitar amp.

Not much humming to speak of either on Roland or Orange amps, despite me just shoving two bare wires back in.

And with the ground wire disconnected as well. It worked that way when I bought it, didn’t it?

I am primitive unfrozen bass builder, me know naught of wiring. I am strong like bull but also smart like tractor.

I was lucky on this project that I could get everything working again, only needing to buy new piccolo bass strings and a wide strap:

Original Cost- $62: Strings- $20: NOS Wide leather strap- $15: Grand Total = $97 USD [Not counting varnish, sandpaper, screws, solder or tools.]

Lucky too I could sand down to the still usable existing factory paint job and that I could get both pickups working.

I just hope my crappily soldered wires hold up and the trussrod doesn’t loosen itself.

Now I need to expand my melody songs beyond Song of Joy and Aura Lee.

Unless noted, all text and images by todgermanica.com.