Customize Your Playtech Guitar for Under 30,000 yen! PB450 Edition #30kPlaytechChallenge

Cheena：We are hosting the #30kPlaytechChallenge, a Twitter project dedicated to figuring out how to easily modify Playtech for less than 30,000 yen! In the first installment of this gorgeous double feature, we will talk about modifications to the Playtech TL250 and the Playtech PB450.

Related Articles
＜First installment of the #30kPlaytechChallenge＞
Customize Your Playtech for Under 30,000 yen! PB450 Edition
Customize Your Playtech TL250 for Under 30,000yen! TL250 Edition
＜Part 2＞
Customize Your Playtech for Under 30,000yen! ST250 Edition
Customize Your Playtech for Under 30,000yen! JB420 Edition
＜Part 3＞
Customize Your Playtech for Under 30,000yen! LP400 Edition
Customize Your Playtech for Under 30,000yen! AB420 Edition

This is the PB450 version.

PLAYTECH / PB450 Green Electric Bass

It uses the same 38mm nut neck as the JB420, making it harder to get the bare thickness of the 42mm neck.
Please note that parts prices and foreign currency rates are posted as they were at the time of writing this article, so please check when you actually try them out.

Regulations are as follows:

• Do not touch the wood as much as possible.
• Simple modifications such as drilling a few holes or extensions with a reamer are acceptable.
• Basically, the scope of the project should be within the range of the actual instrument.
• 30,000 yen does not include the price of the instrument itself.
• Make the most decked out guitar that you can.

That's all.

Nemoto：I have a feeling this one will be a lot of fun.

Cheena：The simpler the original, the more you can do to it.
I think it is within the scope of the regulations to add a pot or so, so let's do it.

Nemoto：I'll go first then.

HIP SHOT / BT3 Nickel

HIP SHOT / Four String Retainer Chrome

SEYMOUR DUNCAN / SPB-3 Quarter Pound P-Bass

ROTOSOUND / SH77

Total of 4 items ¥29,911 (price as of 2022.8.16)

Based on the punchy sound of the SPB-3, a flat string is used to create a muffled sound. It's designed to be down-tuned, so a 4-string retainer is installed and drop tuners can be used for further bass, and so on. I don't know about you, but I enjoy a snarling, blurred bass sound. Of course, it has zero versatility. I want you to play it hard with all notes down + drop C + thick pick. If you play it in regular tuning + fingerpicking, you'll get some upright feel.
I'm completely jumping off point to say this, but if you change the pots and capacitors, it can be a regular rock bass. That's why I chose Steve Harris's sig strings.

Cheena：It's a muddy bass... If you want to make it even firmer, put in a 0.1μF Ceracon, even a few bucks a piece.
The versatility when spending more money might be better than you think, as you can go back and forth between firmer and rock bass at hand with a double pot and selector.
Then I'll attack the high notes in that direction as well.

GRAPHTECH / PS-8304-00

GOTOH / S203Ti

Bourns Pro Audio / PDB182 Blend-Balance Mini Pot 20% Tolerance 500kΩ-Solid

EMG / Stack Knob /Dual Black Satin

EMG / Flat Dome Knob Black Satin

MONTREUX / Dual pot A500K/A500K CC [1397]

DIMARZIO / DP127 BLACK Split P

Total of 7 items ¥26,420 (price as of 2022.8.16)

The 1st and 2nd string saddles are made of titanium, and the 3rd and 4th strings are made of TUSQ to accentuate the sound quality of each string, and the Vol and Tone are changed to 1-shaft 2-string and 2-shaft 2-string 2-string, respectively, and the low-pass and high-pass are applied on the bass and treble sides of the pickup. Naturally, this is for slap only.
If you play walking bass, the difference in sound quality is too big to use.

Nemoto：That's good! It's fun to play with each other.

Cheena：With normal pickups, you can't do humbucking with this wiring, and the noise resistance is a bit lower with a high pass. I would have loved to put an EXB on an EMG-P, but it's hard to remove the entire pickguard to change the batteries...

Nemoto：You're right.
I think I'll go for the next custom.

Cheena：I'm thinking of going for a more general type of precision bass. ......Quarter Pound is my main focus, and I'm going to attack the hardware side of things. ESP Custom Lab Pickup Fence and S_IX Finger Step to help with playing, Pure Tone Jack PTT1 and ESP Strap Lock to prevent shields and straps from falling off, Hip Shot String Retainer, and a lighter Fender Fatfinger. Hip Shot String Retainer and a Fender Fatfinger to compensate for the light weight of the neck. Add a D’Addario Micro Clip Free Tuner.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN / SPB-3 Quarter Pound P-Bass

ESP / Custom Lab PICKUP FENCE

S_IX / Finger Step/S ブラック

HIP SHOT / Four String Retainer Chrome

FENDER / Fatfinger Guitar Nickel

DADDARIO / PW-CT-21 NS Micro Clip Free Tuner

6 Items Total: ¥25,870 (price as of 2022.8.16)

Nemoto：This is a good custom. Very versatile.

DIMARZIO / DP122 CREAM Model P

ALLPARTS / BB-3351-010 Grooved Omega Bass Bridge Chrome

Total 27,300 yen (price as of 2022.8.16)

Next is this one. In a word, it’s very '70s or '80s.
I wanted to use Badass, but it's not worth the 30,000... Badass doesn't have grooves, so it's not easy to do.

Cheena：This is the clone without grooves.

ALLPARTS / BB-3350-010 Omega Bass Bridge

The cutting range is huge, so it is safer to rely on the machine or add 2000 yen...

Nemoto：Ironworking is not as efficient as woodworking, so it takes a lot of time, but I think it's harder to make mistakes. I think it would be better to pay 2,000 yen rather than go to the trouble of buying an ironworking file.

Cheena：That's true...a nut file would cut a little easier, but the original is not for metal, so it gets tanned quickly.
Well, let's go next.

To match the piccolo bass string, the Vol pot is 1MΩ and the Tone is a 3000pF capacitor...just connect three 1000pF in parallel. This is for a low cut.
A push-pull pot or lever switch allows you to use a definite low cut and an adjustable 0.047μF at the same time, and you can easily create a solo bass in the guitar range.
If you use the octaver without low cut, you can also play the bass register.

Bourns Pro Audio / PDA24 Long Life Pot 15% Tolerance A1MΩ-Solid

MONTREUX / Sprague Orange Drop 716P 0.001uF 600V [888]

ALLPARTS / EP-4181-010 Chrome On On Round Bat Mini Switch

DADDARIO / EXL280 Nickel Wound Piccolo Bass 20-52

6 Items Total Amount: ¥5,560 (price as of 2022.8.16)

I just tweaked the wiring, so it only cost me about 5,500 yen. If you want to add pick ups with a high level of detail, you should change the pickups.

Nemoto：I like the way you think. I want to match it with fretless.

Cheena：Good idea.

Nemoto：But I don't have a suitable fretless guitar now.
I'll order one someday.... Wait for me....(tear)

Cheena：So you start from ordering a fretless... By the way, modifying a fretless can be done quite easily if it is unpainted. I would like to look at it as a higher-end model of Playtech.

Nemoto：Playtech used to have a maple fretless fretboard, but before I knew it, it was discon...Please release it….

Cheena：If you want to make a fretless fretboard and you have a micro nipper or a bite cutter, you can remove the frets, then fill it up with the appropriate material, and paint it. I guess it is not that expensive in terms of modifying costs.

Nemoto：That's right. Now let's move on.

Haeussel Pickup / P-BASS OLDSTYLE JB Doppelmagnete

FENDER / Pure Vintage Precision Bass Ashtray Cover Set

ALLPARTS / BP-2125-001 BASS SADDLES

Total Cost of 3 items: ¥20,140 (price as of 8.16.2022)

I think it was the '56?' 57PB body, but there was an OPB pickup on the PG (maybe a prototype of '57PB) that I remember, so I did it. I thought that if I put an OPB pickup on a regular Zaguri, the strings would not pass over the pole piece because it would be at an angle, so I chose a double-mag pickup. The fence was installed for appearance. They’re old specs, so it's natural. If I want to put it straight, I'll have to extend the cavity. It's okay if it's messy because it will be hidden by the fence anyway.
Since it's a vintage spec, let's make the saddle spiral. It can be shifted between strings to match the pole piece.
With the extra budget, I think I could add a bridge cover and finger rests, or maybe I could rebuild the pickguard without the fence.

Cheena：Is it a slant spec? What to do, I've seen some pretty cool ones: ......
The only thing I can think of to try to counter it is to replace the PB450LH with a new nut, change the pot to an A curve, and relocate the pins to a reverse P placement.

ALPHA / ALP-500B

MONTREUX / Custom CTS A1M Split [890]

GRAPHTECH / PQL-1214-00

It's not fun just to make it right-handed, so I decided to use a 500K or 1M pot, which produces treble more easily (in general, the higher the resistance value, the more high frequencies are produced). Also, I'll drop the height of the knob a little to make it harder to hit my arm.

MONTREUX / Strat Volume Knob Metric BK [8865]

MONTREUX / Strat Tone Knob Metric BK [8866]

About 2500 yen.

It doesn't look good, but it can be even lower if it is a preset knob for Jazzmaster/Jaguar.

MONTREUX / JPN JG/JM Preset Knob (1) [9289].

Of course, be aware that a kit pre-wired for right-handed users may not work.

Nemoto：What's that, that's just plain cool.
I always liked Reverse P, but I like it even more after owning MTD.

Cheena：The knob is in the way, so you can take it off. Then the volume will be controlled by the pedal, and the sound quality...let's change it depending on the position you play.

Nemoto：I think we're done here with what seems easy to make. There's more if you can zag it or something....
Shall we close it up now?

Cheena：Yes, I would say so.
We have suggested 7 custom ideas so far.
Of course, we can't cover all of the modifications, but please check out our other articles and our personal Twitter posts for the #30kPlaytechChallenge.
Also, we are running a Twitter project to encourage everyone to take the challenge! We are looking forward to your submissions. (See below for details)
So, thank you very much.

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