LeftyBassist.com

I just bought one of these, and am I surprised! It's a lot better bass than I expected, albeit with some still typical Chinese factory flaws. Mine was actually setup pretty well. I IMMEDIATELY removed the 'Douglas' brand, with a paper towel, dampened with lacquer thinner, one pass, and it was gone. I then removed the neck, tuners and bushings. I drew a Telecaster Bass headstock outline on it, from photographs of a few I found on the net- and ran it through my bandsaw, then on to the belt sander. I finished it off by fine sanding, and scraping it to a smooth finish. About 1.5 hours total. I put the neck back on, and a set of the huge Fender 9050 flats..with a 110 'E' and a 55 'G' - big strings. I had to adjust the neck, and the rod is about as tight as it will go. It set up great and sounds too good to be true for a $139.00 bass. I had to round the fret ends a bit...but I've also had to do that to much more expensive basses. I decided to take an OLD, brittle piece of white acrylic plastic that's been in my shop for years, and make a pickguard, just for the hell of it. I wasn't too crazy about the black one. I'll replace it with a vinyl Allparts white vinyl blank soon. I just did some practicing with it. I don't know why, other than the noise factor, anyone would want to replace the pickup. It sounds great. The sunburst finish is really well done, and is on par with the more expensive Squier 50's look basses. I'm going to take it to a gig with a big sound stage and a great soundman tomorrow. I have a few pics to show what you can do with the headstock- as others have done before me, and what it looks like with the white guard. I can't upload them to this post, they're too big, but I'll be happy to e-mail them to anyone interested.

I'm interested in seeing the pics. Why dont you send them over and I'll post them for you.

Would like to see the pictures too, as there are none listed on the www.Rondomusic.com site.

Here's one on ebay guys:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Douglas-Pisces- ... 4524wt_922

I like mine, had been wanting an early P-style bass for years.

nice looking bass! If I didn't already own ten....

Here's a live gig review... I played at the Feather Falls Casino showroom, in Oroville, California, on Thursday night. The soundman there, Joe Hammons, is about as good as it gets. Always a perfect mix and no problems. I always ask him about the bass sound out front. He knows, he's been doing this a long time, toured with many greats, and really knows his shit. I respect his opinion very highly. He likes all my Fenders, and NO he cannot detect the difference between my basswood Jazz Bass and my alder one. He dug the Douglas as well.
I was surprised how quiet the bass was, I was expecting major 60 cycle r.f. and all kinds of issues. It was as quiet as any of my other passive Fenders. The bass sounded a little dark, and not as punchy as my Fenders, for the obvious reason that the pickup is further up in the scale length, than even a Jazz Bass neck p.u.. The big Fender flats are just too big for this bass. I removed them and put on a set of Fender flatwound 9050 ml's, and it feels a bit better. I wish it had a big 'v' neck, but for $139.00, and some time in my shop - this bass is a killer deal. The rest of the band liked it, as well. I'm eventually going to build one of these with premium parts, but for now...this is a great player.

Here are the pics that Dave (lhbassist) just sent me

Thanks for posting these. You'll have to let me know the secret of getting past the 256kb. size limit! LOL!

To my fellow bassists, The pickguard is a very quickly made, thin white plexiglass test one, to see if I'd like it. It broke near the control plate, as plexi loves to do, and just when you think it wont. I'm going to make a correct- white matte finish looking single layer vinyl one soon. Not a bad simulation of a 50's look p-bass, and all for $160 or so shipped across the country out west! Strings were old stock in my shop, as well as the p.g. blank. It took about an hour and a half to rework the headstock. HUGE difference in the look of this bass. I'd like to add that the fit and finish on the body is as good as the Squier "50's Look" basses I've seen and worked on. Those basses, surprisingly, have really nicely finished bodies. I'll bet they are made in the same factory. Grab one if you are even thinking about it... these were out of stock for a while!

P.S., a fully finished, left-handed, two tone sunburst, alder body from Warmoth is how much?

Here's mine. I picked this up back in May on Ebay from Diceman Guitars- ended getting it for $175 total after he listed it with some goofy shipping charge ($50 for the bass plus $125 shipping - I just don't get why people do that). I must say, he did do an excellent job with his mods, per his description:

"LET'S START WITH THE ROCK MAPLE NECK. I RIPPED OUT THE CHEAP ASS FRETS AND INSTALLED 20 HEAVY DUTY - EXTRA JUMBO FRETS BY JESCAR. THE FINGER BOARD IS RESURFACED SMOOTH TO A 14'' RADIUS. THE FRETS ARE DIAMOND LEVELED & CROWNED, THEN POLISHED TO PERFECTION. THE ACTION IS VERY LOW AND FAST WITHOUT FRET BUZZ! I MADE A HAND CARVED BONE NUT. I ALSO DRILLED AND INSTALLED HEAVY DUTY BRASS NECK INSERTS FOR A TIGHT POCKET AND SUSTAIN TO DIE FOR. HEAVY STAINLESS STEEL 10/24 NECK BOLTS INSTALLED. THESE UPGRADES MAKE FOR ONE SOLID BASS. I ADDED AN ORANGE DROP CAP AND REWIRED WITH VINTAGE CLOTH WIRE. THE PICKUP SOUNDS MEAN AND THUMPY".

He was right- it plays beautifully and sounds great! I added the finishing touches of reshaping and refinishing the headstock, and rounding the heel of the fretboard, to get as close to the Fender shape as possible. As you can see from the pic of actual 1956 Fender headstock, the Douglas headstock isn't quite big enough to cut it to perfectly replicate the round tip end of the Fender, but it comes close.

I've seen the Douglas referred to as a "51 Precision copy" (I think due to the black pickguard), but it is actually a 1954-56 Precision copy (see pic). In 1954, the Precision underwent several significant changes from the original "slab" Precision, most importantly the "contoured body" with the forearm bevel on the front and “belly cut” on the back, and standard two-tone sunburst finish-- and pickguard color changed to white (which makes LHBASSIST's white pickguard idea chronologically correct ).

Here's mine. Modded the headstock, not so much to resemble a "Tele" but because the original shape was so bad.

man i really want one of theese but cant get past the headstock and i wouldnt have no idea on how to mod it either anyone wanna sell me their modded headstock one?

Not that hard to do, you can do it.

Neither did I, but I pencilled an outline on the headstock, broke out my sander, and a few minutes later I was done. Didn't even loosen the strings!
And left the Douuglas logo in place. I'm from the school of thought that if someone admires your playing, and then they notice your playing a $100 bass, they'll dig you even more!