Joe Nation

Finally made a start on building my second bass, about 25 years after starting (but never finishing) my first. I've decided to buy a neck for this one to save time, money and effort. But I am aiming to make a neck next time... This is going to be a replica/reimagining of the Musicman St Vincent guitar - there were rumours they were going to make a Pino-backed bass a few years ago but it never came to be. I've only seen two other homemade ones, both look very nice but I'm going to try and go one better. Firstly it'll be a 5er, partly because I've always wanted one and also I got a deal on some Fishman Fluence 5 string pickups. The neck I found (£70 on Reverb) has a reasonably good MM-shaped headstock so the overall look should be fairly authentic. The body shape may however be slightly different, as I don't happen to have a genuine St V lying around to copy. I've looked around online at all the plans and photos I can find, and I think it'll be somewhat closer to a modified/truncated Explorer, rather than a straight copy of a St V - no particular reason for this, it just felt like a nice shape to me (I wonder if that might be where they started with the original St V design process anyway). It's still all on paper anyway so who knows? I'm also going to do front and back binding, partly thanks to Basvarken and his beautiful Explorers. Colour will be a deep metallic; I'm undecided between red, blue, green and purple but red is currently in the lead. After watching a bunch of Matt Estlea's videos about sharpening and setting up a plane, I've started smoothing the top and back of the ash body. Feels good to actually move some wood around - I recently redid our front hall with some lovely herringbone T&G, the woodworking genes kicked in hard. Next step is to finalise the body shape and geometry - any tips for establishing neck angle? (saddle height is 12-17mm over the body according to Schaller, bridge is a 3D-5). I've also got a bunch of other things to work out and research, like doing the binding. Everyone says to use acetone for gluing, leave it a hair's width proud of the wood and scrape it back, and do the finish after the binding is on. But should you scrape it flush then do the finish, or finish then scrape? And clear lacquer over the binding or leave it plain? I'm also going to paint the headstock to match the body, should I bind it too? Progress will be slow so don't expect weekly updates! If I've got the body routed out by New Year's I'll be happy.

Yet another stunner. I've decided my new project is going to have a bound body thanks to you!

You made the right choice, although the gold looks pretty cool too.

See also champ, colcannon, bubble and squeak, and about a hundred other things probably - mostly from cold/wet/inhospitable places no doubt.

To be fair, you could put cooked spaghetti in there and it'll still be one of the nicest looking basses around (except it probably wouldn't play as nice). It still amazes me that some people claim you don't even need a truss rod if the neck is stiff enough!

Actually I just really like the neck, can I buy just the neck?

That is cool, but the solid-body Sahara is even cooler: https://lindoguitars.com/product/lindo-sahara-electric-bass-guitar/

I would've thought carbon is stiffer/stronger than steel or ti (hence why we use carbon for F1 cars, space shuttles etc). But I will defer to your expertise.

Earth, Wind and Wire...

Just discovered this one, was following along with baited breath waiting for the finished article, but the photos stopped working on page 7! Argh!

Loving your work. Is there any specific benefit from having two truss rods, as opposed to one truss rod and two carbon strips? Do you need the ability to fine-tune relief on the bass and treble sides independently because of the string tension?

Depending on how thick the wrap is, I would expect it to show some surface imperfections underneath - probably not swirl marks or orange peel, but any scratch deep enough to feel with your fingers. Ideally you'll want the paint to be as close to perfect as you can get, as if it were the actual finish - but OTOH I've never done a wrap myself except really basic hobbycraft-type stuff, proper professional-grade materials might cover better. The key to a good finish, as always, is good prep.

The hardest part of a concern like this is finding your USP (unique selling point). Why should anyone buy one of your things instead of someone else's thing? G4M or Harley Benson are cheaper and have plenty of good online reviews; Warmoth have loads of custom options and a good rep; Retrovibe makes short scales and Telebackers or whatever they're called, they're unusual and cool; Squiers are actually Fenders so they're the original; so-and-so has beautiful quilted tops and hand-polished cherry bursts, they're pricey but worth it; [insert brand here] has a bunch of endorsements from famous players. What's your thing to separate yourself from the crowd? It might just be that you're small and have great quality, everything made to order and finished to the nth degree. It could be a cool gimmick or an actual useful feature. It could be not doing Jazzes and Ps at all but getting some custom body shapes made for you. Maybe you just have a really good instagram or youtube channel. But you gotta find something to stand out. Or you could just make a bass you like and sell it here or on ebay or wherever, then make another one.

I can't offer any gig-specific advice, but as a mediocre runner I have had to deal with pre-race nerves quite a bit. Don't do anything special or new on the day. Drink plenty, but make sure you have a wee well in advance. Triple check your shoelaces are double-knotted. Don't rush at the start, save something for the finish. And most importantly, you're still doing better than all the other people who didn't even turn up! (which in this case means all those people who, like myself, have spent years playing an instrument but have never actually played with other people or done a gig). Also most importantly, most of the nerves and anxiety come from the unknown - what will it be like, where will I stand on the stage, how many people will be there, what if this or that happens? Focus on what you do know (ie the material), check out the venue in advance if you can, make sure you know how the gig will run (setting-up, song list, etc), do a dry run of the day, make a check list so you don't forget anything. Break a leg, you'll be amazing.

I use that old Marie Kondo trope all the time - does it spark joy? Being in a band should be an enjoyable experience, not a chore. Even if you like the people and the sounds you make, if the thought of doing any kind of work for the band (practice, gigs, social media, whatever) doesn't make you feel good, then it's time to go. And that should be a good enough explanation too - it doesn't spark joy.