I bought my first real bass as a load of bits. Hayman had gone bust and there were a load of necks, bodies, electrics, etc at the Fender Soundhouse, which coincidentally had a fire, so I bought all the bits for a 40/40 and put it together. That was a good learning experience - I had adjusted truss rods, string height, and intonation on guitars before. I don't do fret work or nuts, but I'm happy doing electronics.