My bitsa Precision, weighs 6.1 lbs.

[tom1946]

Hi all, just thought I'd show you my bitsa P bass that weighs 6.1 lbs, no neck dive, schaller tuners and an SPB-3 pickup with a KiOgon loom.

Sounds very loud plays really well: I also made a blue one except the pickup is a Dimarzio 127 and the tuners are Wilkinsons, also no neck dive and the same weight.

Happy boy.

 

Edited December 23, 2017 by tom1946

[discreet]

So you finally got the lightest P Bass in the world! Well done.

[tom1946]

No... I actually have 3 of them, red, blue and just finishing a black one. 

[ambient]

I don't really know what that is tbh, but I'm guessing it's a lot lighter than my 6.5kg bass :).

[discreet]

9 minutes ago, tom1946 said:

No... I actually have 3 of them, red, blue and just finishing a black one. 

What do they weigh?

 

[tom1946]

6.5 kg?

They all weigh the same, 6.1 lbs.

[discreet]

16 minutes ago, tom1946 said:

They all weigh the same, 6.1 lbs.

Wow, so two of your P Basses = one 70s boat anchor P Bass.

[therealting]

6.1lb?! What’s the trick?

[Grahambythesea]

Have you been drilling holes in them, or are they made of balsa wood?

[tom1946]

No holes and not balsa wood. 

[howdenspur]

6 minutes ago, tom1946 said:

No holes and not balsa wood. 

...and no neck dive? I'm intrigued Tom🤔

[tom1946]

Clever innit?

[therealting]

Are they full size / scale?

[discreet]

1 hour ago, tom1946 said:

Clever innit?

Yes. Are you going to tell us then, or what..?

[JohnDaBass]

Hi Tom,

It would be great if you did a 'Build thread'

Really interested in the source of necks. 

Great looking basses. 

Well done!

[tom1946]

Ok guys I'll tell you what I did.

I discovered by accident that Gear4music do what is called the LA bass for about 90 quid, it comes with a rosewood neck which I hate but I bought one anyway to see how bad it was. Imagine my surprise when it arrived and it was as light as a feather! When I checked the spec' the bodies are made of Paulownia wood which is very light so I wondered if they had a maple neck that was also 61mm. They had so I bought one to try out and it fitted! very tight but some very light sanding made it fit spot on.

There was a little neck dive, nothing much so I bought some wilkinson schaller stylee tuners which fixed it. I bought a loom from John (KiOgon) and a pickup of choice to finish it and it's brilliant.

Issues with doing this job.

The first one I did the neck wasn't exactly straight and the strings ran off a bit but it was easily fixed by using a Schaller 2000 bridge that has lateral adjustment so the strings could be lined up exactly. There are other cheaper ways to sort that though.

The fret edges can be a bit sharp but that's easily filed and smoothed, also the maple necks are a bit paddle shaped, my friend Dave on here very kindly made me a headstock template so shaping it was just a jigsaw and a bit of sandpaper away.

I'm very pleased with my cheap lightweight basses, my gas is now satisfied.

HTH

Tom.

Oh the necks are only £35

Edited December 23, 2017 by tom1946

[discreet]

I can verify that Paulownia is very light, having just put together a Jazz using a body made of it... thanks for the info.

Edited December 26, 2017 by discreet

[tom1946]

Can you say where you got the jazz body from? I only have precisions and I'd like to make a jazz.

cheers.

[kodiakblair]

Great to see them finished Tom  Hopefully Santa will give you reason to lose the jigsaw.

 

BTW I picked up a couple of those "guided " template/trimmer bits. Will let you know how they do when I use them in anger 

[discreet]

Will this be the next 'Sue Ryder Bass' craze??

1 hour ago, tom1946 said:

Can you say where you got the jazz body from? I only have precisions and I'd like to make a jazz.

PM sent.

 

[howdenspur]

Just noticed, G4M also do a Jaguar style (the Seattle) with P/J pups also in Paulownia. Nice in white...

[discreet]

Definitely going to have a go at one of these. A finished, painted, lightweight P body for £90? Plus a free neck and a few bits and bobs to move on? Bargain!

[discreet]

@kodiakblair: You've already got your eye on that neck, Davie??

Edited December 24, 2017 by discreet

[tom1946]

On 23/12/2017 at 22:23, kodiakblair said:

Great to see them finished Tom  Hopefully Santa will give you reason to lose the jigsaw.

 

BTW I picked up a couple of those "guided " template/trimmer bits. Will let you know how they do when I use them in anger 

Yes, let me know how they are Davie.

It was me who started the Sue Ryder thing, I bought quite a few of them and passed them around here for cost. The G4M's are a bargain tho'

Have a great Christmas everyone. I hope God's peace will touch you all.

[kodiakblair]

17 hours ago, discreet said:

@kodiakblair: You've already got your eye on that neck, Davie??

I've gotta be careful Mark. There's that many rosewood boards here I reckon I'm responsible for CITES not the Chinese furniture industry 

 

@tom1946

Will know by tomorrow. I've a control cavity needs to go deeper,didn't get a chance to buy slug tape for shielding yesterday. I'll be at B&Q 1st thing 

 

Merry Christmas