xilddx Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 I've wanted a bass that looks like Chris Squire's modified Electra Outlaw MPC X610 for quite a while, but with the cost of getting a body made being about £300 from any decent luthier, it was a bit prohibitive. But my mate Adam agreed to make one for me for the cost of materials. Naturally I gave him double that for his time and effort, Thanks Adam So with that in mind I bought a B stock Warwick Rockbass Streamer Blackhawk from Thomann to scavenge for the neck and other parts. It was actually a starter kit so it came with a Warwick 30w amp, strap, cable, gigbag, etc. I sold everything on ebay I didn't need. All I kept was the neck and the pickups. It's time for a bit of a review of it, and some pictures and a better video of Tempus Fugit, I made too many mistakes in the last one so I did it again. Here is it, followed by the pics and review. [u][b]Parts, Cost and Spec[/b][/u] £35 : POSTAGE COSTS - for parts (I was not charged duty on anything from the USA! Lucky that ) £100 : BODY - Seraya Mahogany. Made by my mate Adam. £65 : BODY FINISHING : Tonetech Luthier Supplies Oly White pre-cat Nitro rattle cans x 3, sheets of wet and dry, milliput, tack rag. £90 : NECK - 3-piece Maple/Polished Rosewood 'board. From a Warwick Rockbass Streamer Blackhawk B-stock starter kit for £260. I sold the amp and other hardware and kept the neck and the MEC pickups so I made about £130 back. £26 : NECK INLAYS - Creative Cuts Roman Numeral Vinyl. £40 : PICKUPS - MEC from the Rockbass Streamer Blackhawk. £90 : TUNERS - x 4 Hipshot Ultralite GB7 Gold (from USA on Ebay). £45 : D-TUNER - Hipshot GB7 Gold (from USA on Ebay). £90 : BRIDGE - Hipshot Black Brass Rickenbacker Replacement (from USA on Ebay). £73 : PICKGUARD - Mirror blank from WD (£28). Made by Jon Shuker (£45). £89 : TOP NUT - Warwick Brass JAN-III £8 : NECK SCREWS & BUSHINGS - Gold- From Warwick in Germany. £9 : BARREL JACK - Gold- From Warwick in Germany. £20 : STRAPLOCKS - Gold- From Warwick in Germany. £215 : EAST PREAMP - U-Retro 4-knob Gold. This is a new product and not on his site yet. It's basically the 5 knob U-retro with the Blend and Volume as a stack. £25 : STRINGS - DR Black Beauties 105 - 45 (from USA on Ebay). [b]£1,020 : TOTAL BUILD COST[/b] (A f*** of a lot more than I intended, but worth it!) The bass weighs 9lbs 13oz so it feels fairly heavy, but the bridge alone weighs 1lb 8oz! [i][b]Body and Neck[/b][/i] The body is a three piece made from Seraya Mahogany (Philippine Mahogany). 44mm thick. My friend Adam made it for me to my design. He did a cracking job and even though he's never made a neck pocket before, he did it beautifully and it fits like a glove. It's finished in Tonetech pre-cat nitro Olympic White. No clear coat. It took three rattle cans. The body was risky because grave doubts were raised about the balance. But I knew the body was heavy at 44mm and the hardware was heavy too, also the Hipshot Ultralite tuners weigh next to nothing. In the end, this is a perfectly balanced bass. It has a Hipshot Bras Rick Replacement bridge. Simple, beautiful, great engineering. It would have been even better if it was top loading but we can't have everything. I fitted gold Warwick security locks which work perfectly and look nice. Jon Shuker made the pickguard to my 1/1 scale drawing and it is a superb piece of work. The neck is fairly chunky, nearer to Warwick necks from a few years back than their current ultra-shallow necks. I like it though and I'm used to them. It's essentially a chunky Jazz neck with a nut width of 38mm. Perfect for me as I don't like P-Bass width at all. The fingerboard is glassy, highly polished and highly figured rosewood, plastic side dots and has a Warwick brass JANIII top nut which I bought as a serious luxury item (£89 ), it is superb though I sanded off the Rockbass logo from the headstock and truss rod cover and have left it plan black. On went the gold reversible Hipshot Ultralite tuners and a Hipshot D-Tuner (Bass X-Tender). [u][b]John East Preamp U-Retro Deluxe 4-Knob[/b][/u] John is a very helpful and very nice man. We had a chat and he recommended this pre. It was easy to install as there is no soldering required. It has a Blend/Volume Stack, Bass/Treble Stack with Pull for Bright, and Mid Sweep/Boost0Cut Stack, and a Passive tone circuit knob. It's very easy to use and works brilliantly. I love this bass, it plays very smoothly and sounds a bit like a Rickenbacker. It has a tight low end which needs a bit of boosting as it's not as resonant as my Warwicks, but it feels more controllable. It balances beautifully and is very comfortable to play. Strings are DR Black Beauties. Cheers all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 8, 2010 Author Share Posted November 8, 2010 sh*t! I meant to post this in the White Basses thread :/ I look like a right c*** now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Nigel, I like this! It reminds me of the Big Al bodyshape. Cool instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Absolutely love it - it's a toss-up between this & Neepheid's Gibbo Victory restoration for BC Project Of The Year. Matching headstock face though Nige, surely! Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Looks great. I think it should go in the White Bass thread as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cetera Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Wow! That's a GORGEOUS build! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray5 Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Good job, Nigel. Nice review, pics and breakdown. I'd also put it in the "Awesome Lookin' Basses" thread, too... if there was one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBass Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 [quote name='Bassassin' post='1017299' date='Nov 9 2010, 10:48 AM']Absolutely love it - it's a toss-up between this & Neepheid's Gibbo Victory restoration for BC Project Of The Year. Matching headstock face though Nige, surely! Jon.[/quote] Thank you Jon! I LOVE that Victory restoration too, it's gorgeous! And thanks everyone else too, it's really gratifying that you seem to like the look of this bass. No matching headstock though, I really like the balance and placing of the white, black and gold elements. If the headstock was white it would upset that balance for me. It might look like I keep poodles at home too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I really love that shape. As I said before it looks better than any recent commercially available bass I can think of. Single pickup one with all black hardware for me please when they go into production. Ta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 [quote name='Low End Bee' post='1018615' date='Nov 10 2010, 11:52 AM']I really love that shape. As I said before it looks better than any recent commercially available bass I can think of. Single pickup one with all black hardware for me please when they go into production. Ta.[/quote] That's a hell of a compliment mate, thanks! I was actually thinking of investigating the possibility of a production model but whatever it was called, CS would probably want a piece Plus I don't have any contacts in the industry really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Really nice work there, looks very nicely put together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Incredible Nig, well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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