Johnny Wishbone Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 (edited) Background: After 18 years and hundreds of gigs I’ve just “retired” my trusty Warwick Fortress One from live duty. I’ve seen so many reports of band’s gear getting knocked off lately that I just didn’t feel comfortable taking something of such sentimental value out on the road any more. As a replacement, I picked up a reliced sunburst P bitza and, after a bit of a fettle, it plays and sounds as good as any bass I’ve ever used. It cost me the princely sum of £100 which proved to me that it’s possible to build very useable, great-sounding basses for very little money if you’re prepared to put a bit of time into tidying up a few rough fret ends etc. I therefore sold my backup Fortress and took to eBay to see what I could pick up. I’ll not be using anything high-end (e.g. the necks are from China and cost about £30 each - they’re the same as on the aforementioned P) and hopefully I can put together at least a couple of good live workhorses that can get chucked around without too much concern. After a few near misses I managed to pick up 2 loaded Jazz bodies (the blue one is a J&D, the yellow unknown) and paid about £100 in total. I’ve always preferred the looks of Jazzes to Ps -and only bought the P bitza because it was so cheap and had a Jazz neck (great for my small hands) plus everyone needs at least one good P bass in their life, right? Edited August 4, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 Stripped both bodies and gave them both a wipe down. I was originally planning to refinish the yellow one but then I thought “how many yellow basses do you actually see?” It’s a pretty unusual colour that I think I can pull off with right pickguard etc. Having taken the pickguard off the blue one, there’s the added bonus of some nice ageing to the paint in the exposed areas. Unfortunately this discolouration also shows that there was at some point a sticker in the arm contour area that has since been removed. No big deal though. Both bodies have a few small nicks etc and I’m not going to the trouble of repairing any of them. To me, Fender style basses always look better with a bit of wear and tear to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 And on a likewise note I also use cheap basses for the majority of gigs these days. Some of my basses are not so much valuable but irreplaceable (or very difficult to replace). The quality of bitsas (and many 'cheap' basses) is quite remarkable and once the volume is raised any subtlety is lost on for me. Tha 'banana' / 'custard' yellow body looks good to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 (edited) 14 minutes ago, 3below said: The quality of bitsas (and many 'cheap' basses) is quite remarkable and once the volume is raised any subtlety is lost on for me. The quality of the P I picked up was a real eye-opener. That and the fact that, as you’re effectively spec’ing the build, it’s possible to build the exact bass you want. Kind of a custom bass for non-custom money. Edited August 4, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 (edited) The P has a string-through bridge I really like - a kind of Gotoh knock-off - so I picked up a couple via Northwest Guitars on eBay along with some ferrules and set to drilling the body. The jury is out on whether through-body stringing makes any real difference but, for me at least, is does seem to add a certain something and quite honestly I just like the look of it. I have a rudimentary drill press of sorts so should be able to drill reasonably accurate vertical holes. Time to give it a try! The bridges are a direct Fender BBOT replacement, so once I’d banged the ferrules in there was no further drilling required. I also started shielding the cavities but then ran out of copper tape *sigh* Edited August 4, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 I really like the yellow one!! I've just done a bright orange Jazz but was considering bright yellow but I might do that on a 5 string Jazz I've got planned Watching with interest to how these turn out 😀 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Looks good, the yellow one needs the 'browned' aged cream pickguard (I have a Tele guitar that has gone custard yellow from ivory when new, I am partial to these). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Jimothey said: I really like the yellow one!! I've just done a bright orange Jazz but was considering bright yellow but I might do that on a 5 string Jazz I've got planned Watching with interest to how these turn out 😀 I based my initial refin decision on the eBay photo where it looks a lot more washed-out. In the flesh it’s a nice bright banana yellow. As I said earlier, how many yellow basses have you seen? Not many for sure. Found a yellow Jazz on google images with a sort of “aged” white pearloid guard (example below) so think I’m gonna go down that route. Funny you about mention orange - I lusted after a metallic orange Jazz in my local music shop many moons ago (it sold before I could save up enough cash) so orange is definitely high up my list when it comes to another bitsa! Edited August 4, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 The black pickguard looks ok too 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: The black pickguard looks ok too That I like! I did think about black but wasn’t sure - thanks 👍🏻 I haven’t checked, but if the black guard that came with the blue bass fits the yellow one ok that’d be a huge bonus! I’m going red tortoiseshell on the blue bass, no question. Edited August 4, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Here's mine I went for a bit brighter orange That yellow one would look awesome with black hardware! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 Tort with the yellow one, mint green with the blue one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 5, 2018 Author Share Posted August 5, 2018 5 minutes ago, songofthewind said: Tort with the yellow one, mint green with the blue one. Ooooh no! 😝 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 12 minutes ago, songofthewind said: Tort with the yellow one, mint green with the blue one. Sorry but I just threw up a bit reading this!! 🤮 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted August 5, 2018 Share Posted August 5, 2018 Cmon guys, picture it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 6, 2018 Author Share Posted August 6, 2018 8 hours ago, songofthewind said: Cmon guys, picture it! We are, that’s the problem! 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 11, 2018 Author Share Posted August 11, 2018 I think my postman is starting to dislike me. Not a huge fan of the vintage tint but at £29 for a neck with block markers I can deal with it. Still waiting for shielding tape to show up so I can continue work on the bodies. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 I had a similar vintage tint neck. I used a heat gun judiciously to get the poly finish off, and then refinished it with a couple of coats of Liberon Finishing Oil. Looks much better and feels great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 And now I’ve just noticed your neck have got maple boards with plastic blocks. Best not to take a heat gun to those.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 12, 2018 Author Share Posted August 12, 2018 (edited) 6 minutes ago, songofthewind said: And now I’ve just noticed your neck have got maple boards with plastic blocks. Best not to take a heat gun to those.. They’re painted, actually. And the necks aren’t lacquered (yet). Edited August 12, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 So, tinted but not lacquered? I see. Mine was tinted poly finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 12, 2018 Author Share Posted August 12, 2018 It seems so, yes. Very thin satin lacquer if anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Shielding done. Now for a slight modification to the heel shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Having now played my P bitsa at a few rehearsals, it’s become apparent my Warwick was spoiling me in terms of access to the upper frets. I can just about get around it by shifting my fretting arm position, but frankly why should I? I’ve picked up a couple of these neck plates (which I think are similar to the ones fitted to US Fenders) and plan to just round off the bottom corner with a jigsaw, sand it smooth and re-drill for the missing screw hole. I doubt I’ll repaint as (a) you won’t really see it from the front (b) matching the colours will be a pain in the backside, and (c) these are purely workhorse instrumentals and I kind of feel like leaving it unfinished reflects that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Good idea they did that to the jazz bass elite 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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