Johnny Wishbone

@Gottastopbuyinggear If you do decide to move those on I'd take them off your hands. Just about to start building this week!

We are, that’s the problem! 😂

Ooooh no! 😝

Update: the wood for my pair of cabs has finally been sourced, cut to size and is being delivered tomorrow! @Phil Starr I recall you saying that the 50l cabs are still a one hand lift - is a decent quality strap handle all that’s required?

Same as you - pointing at the V at the top of the pickguard

That I like! I did think about black but wasn’t sure - thanks 👍🏻 I haven’t checked, but if the black guard that came with the blue bass fits the yellow one ok that’d be a huge bonus! I’m going red tortoiseshell on the blue bass, no question.

I based my initial refin decision on the eBay photo where it looks a lot more washed-out. In the flesh it’s a nice bright banana yellow. As I said earlier, how many yellow basses have you seen? Not many for sure. Found a yellow Jazz on google images with a sort of “aged” white pearloid guard (example below) so think I’m gonna go down that route. Funny you about mention orange - I lusted after a metallic orange Jazz in my local music shop many moons ago (it sold before I could save up enough cash) so orange is definitely high up my list when it comes to another bitsa!

The P has a string-through bridge I really like - a kind of Gotoh knock-off - so I picked up a couple via Northwest Guitars on eBay along with some ferrules and set to drilling the body. The jury is out on whether through-body stringing makes any real difference but, for me at least, is does seem to add a certain something and quite honestly I just like the look of it. I have a rudimentary drill press of sorts so should be able to drill reasonably accurate vertical holes. Time to give it a try! The bridges are a direct Fender BBOT replacement, so once I’d banged the ferrules in there was no further drilling required. I also started shielding the cavities but then ran out of copper tape *sigh*

The quality of the P I picked up was a real eye-opener. That and the fact that, as you’re effectively spec’ing the build, it’s possible to build the exact bass you want. Kind of a custom bass for non-custom money.

Stripped both bodies and gave them both a wipe down. I was originally planning to refinish the yellow one but then I thought “how many yellow basses do you actually see?” It’s a pretty unusual colour that I think I can pull off with right pickguard etc. Having taken the pickguard off the blue one, there’s the added bonus of some nice ageing to the paint in the exposed areas. Unfortunately this discolouration also shows that there was at some point a sticker in the arm contour area that has since been removed. No big deal though. Both bodies have a few small nicks etc and I’m not going to the trouble of repairing any of them. To me, Fender style basses always look better with a bit of wear and tear to them.

Background: After 18 years and hundreds of gigs I’ve just “retired” my trusty Warwick Fortress One from live duty. I’ve seen so many reports of band’s gear getting knocked off lately that I just didn’t feel comfortable taking something of such sentimental value out on the road any more. As a replacement, I picked up a reliced sunburst P bitza and, after a bit of a fettle, it plays and sounds as good as any bass I’ve ever used. It cost me the princely sum of £100 which proved to me that it’s possible to build very useable, great-sounding basses for very little money if you’re prepared to put a bit of time into tidying up a few rough fret ends etc. I therefore sold my backup Fortress and took to eBay to see what I could pick up. I’ll not be using anything high-end (e.g. the necks are from China and cost about £30 each - they’re the same as on the aforementioned P) and hopefully I can put together at least a couple of good live workhorses that can get chucked around without too much concern. After a few near misses I managed to pick up 2 loaded Jazz bodies (the blue one is a J&D, the yellow unknown) and paid about £100 in total. I’ve always preferred the looks of Jazzes to Ps -and only bought the P bitza because it was so cheap and had a Jazz neck (great for my small hands) plus everyone needs at least one good P bass in their life, right?

I'm pretty sure "Geddy" is Pod, the guitar tech who works at Richtone in Sheffield!

Yeah I thought it was MDF. I wouldn’t have thought Fender would stoop so low!

This has the makings of one of the most useful BC threads ever.

http://r.ebay.com/1QXsg1

+1 for the Caline 5. I recently picked up two to power my big board (16 pedals) and they work a treat. Small footprint and silent. Think I got them for £17.50 apiece. Can’t fault them for the money.

I've no idea, but this is fantastic. I'm off to check out more CreepJoint!