Fender Highway 1 Bass Mod

Requirements

• Neck Fixes
  • The neck on this bass was bowed and twisted from the shop. The issues relating to this were addressed to the player's preferences.
• Electronics
  • MK Custom '62 style Jazz Bass pickups
  • I installed a '62 Jazz Bass control plate assembly (2 x CTS Concentric pots, cloth wire, '62 Jazz Bass wiring), but replaced that with a standard VVT Fender Jazz Bass configuration.
• Hardware
  • Badass II bridge
• Finish
  • Sand down poly on neck
• Setup
  • Fretdress
  • Intonation
  • Nut shaping

Electronics

The original Fender Highway 1 assembly plate.

The original Fender Highway 1 assembly plate differs from '60s and '70s equivalents. Here is a comparison with the Highway 1 plate (above) and the plate I eventually upgraded to (below).

New MK '62 vintage style Jazz Bass pickups and assembly plate

New MK Fender VVT configuration Jazz Bass assembly plate. Fender knobs, CTS pots, cloth push back wire.

Hardware

The original bridge replaced with a Badass II bridge.

Neck Fixes

Removed frets, fixed the neck bow and twist, reradiased the finger board to around 12", refretted the neck.