BigJim

Thanks bro. It’s darker in person but is still stunning

Just to say I'm not a luthier, I'm a hobbiest builder! So I got VERY bored very quickly and had a neck lying around that was on another bass I replaced the neck on and pickups, bought a bridge and knobs etc and built the body... I'm writing as I'm uploading the pictures so I can remember everything and you can follow it and the pictures! I wanted a double P as I had a Fender CS '57 p pickup I had bought off a mate and a Dimazio P pickup which came in a project bass I got at the tail end of last year! First came the wood... I found a STUNNING 1 piece swamp ash body so that sealed it and had some red stain and guitar finishing oil so then started the process... So I started to research double P pickup basses and it came down to the BC Rich style, 80's Fender Elite P basses and the Warwick styles... I didn't like any of them! So I started to look at where my thumb sits on a P and where I should put them... So I came up with a reverse P at the front (with the bass half sitting where it would normally sit on a p bass and the treble pickup infront of it at under the D and G strings) and a P pickup behind in the "traditional" style with the bass half infront of the treble half. I cut the body using a P template, but planed it down to 41mm so it's a bit thinner than a standard P to counter the weight of the wood! I made a template for the neck I had (a Brandoni P bass) I got in 2002 when I had a frankenstein parts bass put together for me which was my first proper bass (which I think started my obsession with replacing and adjusting things). Then routed it. I then had to think about pickup positions and where I play so I took one of my other P basses and played it for a bit thinking about positions and took the covers off the fender pickup and taped them to the bass so I could see if I was happy. So came the result! So then, being a man of... larger stature and built for comfort, I had to think about contours, arm and belly! So here comes the axle grinder!!! So I then pilar drilled where the controls would be and I always LOVED the way a '62 jazz is wired with a stacked volume and tone for each pickup and wanted that look and vibe for this build seeing as I'm having 2 pickups! Then came the routing of a rear mounted control plate as the front of the bass is stunning! I used a piece of offcut from the body when bandsawing the shape out and routed the rear for this! You'll notice a knot in the wood in the rear and this was soft and plyable so I chisled it out and sealed it with glue. There was also a small crack in the wood so I did the same too that! Whilst I was looking at the bass I contemplated leaving it natural as it's just too stunning not to see the grain! Whilst I routed the neck pocket, I noticed that one the neck it's got the old fender style truss access with a phillips at the base (what I call the body end) of the neck so I took a little bit of the body away and built a template for a scratchplate/truss rod cover so I could access it... this meant making a custom shaped guard but still wanted to make it out of wood, so with a lot of sanding and shaping with a file, I made the template! Then I saw I had some Sepele lying around so I made the plate from that! Then I had to go home as it was the end of the day and I decided that my workshop needed to be shut during this time so I took home some stuff so I could do it at home! Then came a LOT of sanding... A LOT and thank god for random orbital sanders is all I can say! So I progressively took it back to 320grit! Then the red came out so I started to stain... but I forgot to use my gloves so it looked like I had murdered a small animal (clean version)! Whilst applying the stain, where I had stabilized the wood on the crack and the knot, the stain didn't take so I took the body back and started again! The stain was looking great and applied 2 coats to the bass... then I found some silver car spray paint in the shed and had a mad idea... what about a silver accented grain... stinky poo... I've gotta sand it all back again... it'll be worth it... let's do it... so I did, it's not like I'm on a time scale or can go out and gig it at the moment! So here comes the silver spray paint... And now to sand it back again after leaving it to dry... That's when I thought "Holy stinky poo, this is gonna be stunning!!!!!" So I started to apply the red stain again... 4 coats in total before oil! That's when it was confirmed I did the right thing!! This is where I discovered that the misses goes mental when red stain (which will wash away once it rains) goes on the patio! So at this point, I was waiting for the stain to layer up, I made the scratchplate silver, sanded it back and then stained it... Then came the oiling! This was long and I almost lost patience but the results are STUNNING! 5 layers of finishing oil (also Crimson Guitars) later and it was time to put the bass together... but I had forgot to locate the bridge (Sir Richard Head III!!!!!!!) So it was a quick trip back to the workshop as all the main tools including long enough rulers are there... just to locate the bridge!!!!!!! Assemply, wiring, setup, pickup height... BOOM, it's done and STUNNING! Kind of a P on steroids but with some really cool combinations of tones from the pickups and being able to change the tone on one of them and leave the other one, it's mental! Really cool! And here's a picture with my other P basses (the Kay is having new tuners, I just haven't installed them yet)! I hope you enjoyed this! I may be doing a couple more during this mad perio of not being able to gig!