AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Hi Guys, Spotted a thread last night about working with Acrylic/Plexiglass when making guitars/basses. There was a really interesting link to a chap who built a Telecaster from this material - Neck too!!! So I got thinking - Always dangerous, I know... Since I saw Charlie Jones play with Page and Plant in the late 1990's, I've loved the idea of a Plexiglass Precision. I think I actually started a thread last year sometime to see if Nightingale guitars who built his original one (Seen in the Ashdown ad) were still in business, sad news - they're not. He now plays a similar, if not (in my opinion) clumsier looking version by Crimson guitars; no offence to any party, I just really liked the Nightingale one. I've been searching for ages for an AXL 'Classic Player Deluxe Blah Blah' acrylic Precision bass copy. In my quest I spotted several old sales threads. Think Neephead had one ages ago and sold it through here or another forum; It still shows up on google searches. Eventually I gave up - They crop up so infrequently I lost enthusiasm. But, inspired by last nights Basschattery - A bloody dangerous pastime i've noticed after 3 years, I had one last push. Google - AXL Plexibass. The same 4/5 results i'd seen before...aprt from Cash Converters Southport have one. £89.99. Spoke to my girlfriend - 'Andy, you'll only be miffed if you don't - And you can buy other bits as and when you get spare cash'. (Yes - She's a good'un) So i've bought it... I'm sat planning out a spec for the parts i'll change Everything but the body I reckon. Going to try and get a legit Fender Precision neck - The Stratosphere on eBay always has some. My Absolute ideal would be a Roadworn as I love the way they feel and look. But i'm also tempted by anything with a big 'TV' logo as a gaudy plastic bodied bass would definately fit a gaudy 70's style neck. I'll have a new totally transparent Pickguard made, either through WD or See if TheBassDoc fancies it (Howard - Still need a Shell guard doing for my Fretless! Totally my fault, life gets in the way, haven't forgot.) I do still like the slightly frosted/sparkly one Charlie had on the Nightingale...but i'll decide at the time I have funds to start ordering. I want it to be reminiscent of the old Strat fender used to take around trade shows - I cannot afford to have a neck Made from Plexiglass, i'm sure it would cost me a fortune, I don't have the patience, time or skill to make one myself. I'm going to see what the existing BBOT bridge and Machineheads are like quality wise, although Hipshot Lollipops and a badass II or Gotoh 201 are my wishlist items. I suppose a bridge adding mass to a plexiglass bass body isn't a smart move, nor will it make much, if any tonal difference. I have seen clear acrylic finger/thumbrests on eBay and will position it accordingly - dependent on which neck style I end up with, Roadworn - under (or 'Tug Bar' position) or TV Logo - Over (or 'Thumbrest' position.) This is just an idiotic extravagance (As is this entire thing, my back won't allow me to play gigs with basses over 9lbs, but still...) Pickups - Probably a Duncan vintage something or other, I can get them cheap enough and Want to sweeten the sound as much as possible. A friend of mine has the Plexi strat AXL made, and it was a bit brash sounding, so i'll see how his is once we've dropped various pickups in it. Anyhow, once it's arrived i'll post pictures of it, and although i'll update the thread, it won't be every day or even week, as i've promised myself a component each payday - Like one of those build a ship magazines... Trav x Edited October 11, 2012 by AndyTravis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Sounds like a fine project. I hope you are going to polish all the inside surfaces as well as the outside ones like the builder of the Plexi Telecaster did. This IMO sets his build head and shoulders above all the others and above all the commercially made plexi guitars and basses too. BTW I had the chance to play the sparkle bass that Crimson made for Charlie Jones and I have to say it's a pretty nasty thing. Horribly heavy with the fattest neck I've ever come across and TBH close up it doesn't look particularly good from a finish PoV either. OK for the video - provided you can have a 5-minute rest between takes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubis Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Sounds like a cool project, didn't NIle Rogers use a plexiglas strat at one point? I think Goldfrapp's bassist used a plexiglas precision Did you read all of Scatterlee's thread on building his plexiglas Telecaster? He even made thebridge and neck, all from a skip! This should look awesome when you're done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) [quote name='rubis' timestamp='1346169062' post='1786043'] I think Goldfrapp's bassist used a plexiglas precision [/quote]Charlie Jones again IIRC. Edited August 28, 2012 by ezbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1346169224' post='1786049'] Percy Jones again IIRC. [/quote] Err... I think you'll find it's Charlie Jones as mentioned in the OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hi BRX. I'm certainly going to have a go at cleaning up the internals - Will use the Tele thread you posted as a little step by step guide. Having seen the strat version of the AXL my mate snapped up for a cool £50 last month, I must say I was fairly impressed with the manufacture of these Chinese instruments. the neck suffered that Squire/generic sub £150 guitar roughness i cannot abide, but the body cuts and routing seemed clean enough. Rubis - The mate who bought the strat copy is planning on making a 'Nile' style strat. Basically, my mates were talking about a wedding/function band to earn beer money, and I reckon a plexi precision is bound to be a bit of a crowd pleaser. As stated, the neck I have planned will be lifted Roadworn Precision, purely as I love the feel of them - I have no intention of bullshitting folk "ah yes mate, this is my custom made Fender invisible bass, cost me £10k" at all. As for the weight, i'm fortunate enough to be doing a few singer/songwriter gigs where I perch on a stool, so it may see some use there - If it passes the 'Folk' image benchmarks, haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1346169745' post='1786060'] Err... I think you'll find it's Charlie Jones as mentioned in the OP. [/quote]Doh! That's what I meant to type, but it obviously all went horribly wrong. Thanks for the pointer I'll go back and edit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabrothrax Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Gorgeous! I have some serious gas for a see through bass... but left handed? No way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Vincent Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Awesome.If any left handed ones do turn up..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Have only ever caught glimpse of 3 right handed ones for sale in recent times. Never a lefty. Sorry - Reading that thread though about the telecaster, i reckon a lot of skilled luthiers, or even a decent plastics company with a CNC router or a bass as a template could have a go at working this type of material... Probably not for £90 a body though, probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Just some pics of the body from the website I got it from. It's out for shipping as we speak. Gutted i'm too brassic to add anything at the minute, but I can get on with cleaning it, and figuring out specs etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Here's a photo of the original Charlie Jones all plexi sparkle bass: [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/DSC01293.jpg[/IMG] As you can see the finish where the frets are seated into the neck and the truss rod channels leave a lot to be desired when you compare it with the telecaster build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hum. Really wonder where the Nightingale one went. It may have been too heavy, or just ended up knackered. I just thought the concept was better applied on his original 90's bass. A mate text earlier and said "Why didn't you just buy one of the ampeg Dan Armstrong basses when they reissued them?!" Simple facts are, they were expensive, even to me who works in a shop with an ampeg account, and to be fair, I can't do short scale at all - Had about 4 short scale basses and just can't deal with them. The Wesley acrylic ones are nice enough, have seen them. But the advantage of Fender types is relatively inexpensive and readily available parts, so I can tweak them as I go. I know BRX isn't a Fender fan generally speaking, but this should be a bit more his thing, eventually, haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) [size=4][sup]Just Rummaging, Spotted what appears to be a fairly recent Pic Of Charlie Jones playing his Nightingale rather than the Crimson...[/sup][/size] Edited August 28, 2012 by AndyTravis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I have a Wesley (purple) acrylic J-style bass. I don't recall if they did a P-style one too, but the J bears little resemblance to a Fender, as it has a smaller body and a 24 fret neck with an elongated heel which gives much better high fret access - something to consider if you go for a Wesley body as a standard Fender replacement neck won't fit. Also Crimson have made at least one more [url=http://crimsonguitars.com/gallery/charlie-jones-perspex-bass/]plexi bass for Charlie Jones[/url] with a more conventional wooden neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hope this isn't out of order, just my opinion, but both of the Crimson ones look a bit High School technology project in their design. Just really doesn't appeal to me at all. Everyone's different though, so I suspect to 50% i'll be wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-FENDER-VINTAGE-LUCITE-PROTOTYPE-ELECTRIC-TELECASTER-STRAT-JAGUAR-GUITAR-/170863843969?pt=Guitar&hash=item27c8475a81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Wow - Not seen that before. Lots of pennies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 Had the email, CityLink will arrive at some point tomorrow with it. Think next payday I'll do pickup and pickguard changes. Got a wiring harness from an old japcrapper knocking about; will see if the pots are 'better' etc, if not I'll go down the cts pots/switchcraft Jack socket route. Or...EMG, hmm. Undecided. See what suits the wallet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 Also, wondering if covering the any wiring in white heat shrink wrap or tape would look better or worse... Any opinions welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 It's arrived, not too bad, couple of scratches, but it's nothing major; You can only really see them if you're up close. The will probably buff out. I've stripped it of parts and will flog or swap out these parts on here or through eBay. Looks good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Great! Now I want one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99ster Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) This one on the Gruhn site is pretty cool: "Custom-ordered by Garry Beers of INXS, made in Fender Custom shop by John Page and Michael Stevens, serial number P003 (001 was a Strat, 002 was a prototype body for this instrument), used in "Suicide Blonde" video and promo photos for X album, a one-of-a-kind instrument, with letter from Beers.." For sale at $25,000!!! [url="http://www.gruhn.com/photo/BF2858.jpg"]Plexi P Bass[/url] Edited August 30, 2012 by 99ster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 [quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1346333163' post='1787964'] Great! Now I want one... [/quote] Mate, the body alone weighs as much, if not more than my Fretless Jazz - I'm hoping for some helium filled parts to finish it off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 [quote name='99ster' timestamp='1346333785' post='1787975'] This one on the Gruhn site is pretty cool: "Custom-ordered by Garry Beers of INXS, made in Fender Custom shop by John Page and Michael Stevens, serial number P003 (001 was a Strat, 002 was a prototype body for this instrument), used in "Suicide Blonde" video and promo photos for X album, a one-of-a-kind instrument, with letter from Beers.." For sale at $25,000!!! [url="http://www.gruhn.com/photo/BF2858.jpg"]Plexi P Bass[/url] [/quote] Yeah, I put a picture of it on the initial post, it's really cool. I wish I could get a plexi neck too, but It's going to be too expensive/difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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