Dave D Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 .... I had to get carried away!! I've been fancying a 'real' jazz for a while as a companion to my Stingray. I was after a cherry red with rosewood neck, block inlays, matching headstock, but I think it's only the anniversary model that's like that. So the idea was to go for a Squier in cherry with rosewood, colour in the headstock, change the pick ups...... Hang on, this could get expensive, and I'd end up with a worthless bastardised jap jazz! Maybe I could make one from parts? So I looked for a body to have a finish put on locally. I live about 5 minutes from Dan Macpherson of DM Guitars, so I gave him a call to price it. What a lovely chap. We had a chat a couple of times no it seems a lot cheaper for him to make and finish a body, than to buy a Warmouth, have it shipped, pay the duty etc. then I can do the assembly, fit the hardware etc. I'm not one that can tell you what a bass is made from by the sound of it. Nor could I honestly say why one pickup sounds better than another. So based on the fact that my Ray sounds great, I decided to copy a few elements of their design in mine. So here's my plan (comments are welcomed) The body (probably ash like the Ray) will be a traditional jazz shape, routed from the back. It will have a flame maple veneer finished in a gloss tobacco burst. Pickup will be a single Stingray soapbar by Seymour Duncan with 3 way eq. I toyed with the idea of 2 pickups, but it works fine on my Ray with just the one, and it'll stop my endless fiddling on stage! Probably will go for a black Gotoh bridge, but maybe 4 individual saddles like the Shukers seem to favour? Neck will be a standard jazz profile (38mm at the nut?), matt finish, with a rosewood fretboard, dot markers on the side only, headstock to match the body, and black Gotoh tuners. And finally a set of DR black beauties to finish the job. I reckon that I should get a few quid change out of a grand, but it'll be totally mine without compromise, and I don't have to pay it all in one go. I can buy and fit the hardware as I please. I'm off to see Dan on Monday to finalise my body options, so I'll update the thread as I go. As I said, I get carried away, and have already decided that the next one will be a 5 string with a light trans blue quilted maple top with cream binding, maple neck and board with MOP block inlays, jazz pickups, chrome hardware......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) Sounds nice but out of interest, have you seen or tried the Cory GB94? It sounds very similar to the bass you're describing. It's a fair amount cheaper too (one on EBay at £399 currently an used by wonderful Bassists as Pete Trewavas; my hero). Edited January 4, 2013 by Old Horse Murphy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave D Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 Looks like a nice bass but not really how I've envisaged mine. I think the satisfaction of a self build is a big attraction to though. Thanks for the reply though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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