CookPassBabtridge

Hi All – I wanted to share my first build with you fine folk! I’ve been doing a guitar building evening course for a couple of years now – a few hours a week hence the slow progress. I actually have another bass nearing completion, but this one is the output of an intensive week-long course I did last last summer (have spent my evening class time since finishing it). I could probably write a small and very boring book about my experience of the build process but instead I’ll just share the specs and my key lessons learned, in case of any use/interest to anyone thinking about getting in to luthiery. Specs: • Swamp ash body • Maple neck • Rosewood fretboard • Schaller hardware • Sims super quad pickup with passive electronics Top 3 learning points for a first build: Keep it simple. Sounds obvious but it’s easy to get excited and carried away with the design. I tried an original body shape and a wood veneer and pearloid logo on the headstock. They look pretty decent but they added a large chunk of time to the build. I made some mistakes with the veneer and just ended up staining it black anyway. Start with an existing template (e.g. J or P bass) and go from there. The main purpose of the first build will be learning all the basic woodworking techniques, so focus on that rather than funky design ideas. Try those once your confidence and experience increases a bit. Don’t blow your budget. It’s very easy to be tempted to buy a really nice looking piece of quilt maple for a top, or some high-end pickups. Materials and hardware aint cheap and before long it can get quite expensive. The first build isn’t going to be perfect so don’t go overboard with the extras. Save them for later - in hindsight I got overexcited with those Sims pickups and should have opted for something more cost-effective. Cheap and functional is what I’d recommend. A guy in my class made a P Bass the same time as me and fitted some Wilkinson pickups to it – they sounded great. Take your time. You’ll be really keen to get your first build finished and in your hands ASAP but it is a long and tricky process. My patience was tested quite a few times by the mistakes I made, and quite a few of them could have been avoided if I’d just done things a little slower and steadier. So don’t rush, the next build will go much quicker! There are quite a few things I’d change design-wise for another build (smaller, sharper body, wider headstock so there’s more distance between the strings at the tuners, cheaper pickups/hardware etc.), but nonetheless I’m quite pleased – the bass sounds decent and provides a good benchmark for the future. Hopefully there will be a few more before too long!

Funnily enough I’ve also noticed this to a certain extent, like Thodrik I tend to crank the treble right down on my Passion and have forced myself to get used to the strings being close to the edge of the fingerboard. The rest of the bass more than makes up for this though 🙂

Goodness me, glad I stumbled upon this. I was contemplating thinning the herd in the coming months to free up a bit of cash but one bass that certainly won’t be going anywhere now is my Vigier Passion IV. They’re relatively rare enough as it is, let alone what it’ll be like once Mr. Vigier retires for good!

Yeah, I’ve put a Bartolini pre in it so was after the pups to match.

Congrats, these are very nice indeed - I have a P and a J in sunburst, suffice to say they won’t be going anywhere.

That’s interesting to know, I was about to say I’ve found it next to impossible to get any kind of Bartolini pickups for well over a year now. I wanted some Js for my Thumb bass and the only place I could find them was direct from Warwick for pretty much twice the RRP. I’ve given up now.

Now that is a PROPER bench 👌🏻

He does indeed use a signature Spector these days, but looks like it’s a 5 string Streamer Stage II in that vid.

Thanks! When I wired up the workshop I looked up what a ‘standard’ dimension for a workbench would be and set the sockets a bit higher than that. Thankfully it worked out OK. Cheers for the tip, funnily enough I actually have some leftover ply from when I boarded up the workshop so I can cut that down and put it on there without too much trouble.

Yep, again, same experience as me - part of the problem was I wanted to sound like Zender but didn't manage it. Not all down to the bass of course, but I couldn't get anywhere near.

UPDATE: I built my workbench last weekend! I went for something pretty standard as I wasn't hugely confident in what I was doing. It is a bit of a whopper length-wise, around 8ft but this was because I had the space and it was the standard length of the ply top - so minimal cutting to size. The height and depth are pretty standard (90cm and 62cm respectively). I am very pleased with it though, just need to add a couple of vices! Thanks everyone for your ideas and advice

Nail on head. I can say with personal experience that Virgin are up there with the worst in terms of customer service - they have a complaints system that takes you in circles with the aim of you giving up and just going away. So there’s no link between business size and quality of service, IMO. For what it’s worth my dealings with Bass Direct have been OK. People are more than entitled to voice their concerns with something in a constructive way, which from what I can see is the case in this thread. I feel like as a society we’ve gone from one extreme - constant complaints and review bombing - to another these days of some customers being named and shamed/called out for daring to complain about a business in public. We need something between the two. Also agree with this. I find I’ve had to be a bit more ‘patient’ than usual when dealing with Bass Direct, but that’s because I tell myself that running a relatively niche business and maintaining relationships with a number of boutique suppliers means they don’t have enough time to fill their comms with niceties. It’s a trade off I’m willing to accept to be able to access products I can’t get elsewhere, but appreciate others may have a different experience/opinion.

I found that too. I’d wanted a SS1 pretty much my whole life. Played one, bought it and then in the coming weeks discovered that I just couldn’t get on with that nasal tone. I was gutted.

Phenowood I believe - essentially a mix of wood and carbon fibre. If you haven’t already be sure to check out Pascal Mulot playing his Passion on YouTube. The man is a beast!

Ming is a top guy to deal with - quick comms, collected exactly when we agreed and paid promptly. Nice guy too - would happily deal with again.

Oh yeah, plenty! I have that combo myself and it’s certainly not lacking in grunt. A lot of people say the bubinga body is ‘better’, but I can’t tell much of a difference myself plus you’d be looking at an extra £1k or so for it.

That looks like a relatively new one to me, possibly only a few years old (if that). I think it’s Ovangkol body/neck and wenge fretboard. But difficult to tell without seeing in person.

Stingray for me, that thing cuts through a mix like nobody’s business. Sorry to go outside the realms of the original question but the most aggressive bass I’ve ever played/owned is my Ken Smith - if you’re not careful with the preamp you’re almost fighting to keep it under control. The Sadowsky VTC is also super aggressive if not used in moderation.