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Billy Sheehan “wife” tribute


AndyTravis

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Well, loving the sound of a recently acquired Attitude at band practice last night - really fancy putting together my own version of Billy Sheehan’s “wife” bass.

So tonight I’ve amassed the parts and the shipping will happen over the next week...

70’s Natural Yamaha Pulser Body

Allparts TMBO neck - pre decal’ed with a telecaster bass (68) logo.

70’s Greco Shell Pickguard 

wilkinson black tuners

wilkinson chrome bridge

seymour duncan 1/4lb P pickup 

Artec mudbucker (I bid £80 on a Gibson one but it’s gone off eBay - reviews are good on this one)

and ive messaged @KiOgon about a suitable loom.

it will be mono - not going to scallop the fingerboard as every home grown attempt I’ve seen looks bloody awful.

debating cutting the pickguard and having a black metal end made to nod at the black section BS has all the Washers on.

photos of bits to follow.

 

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Cool! I always wanted to do this when I was younger. The closest I got was hacking a Dimarzio Model One into my Aria SB Elite I, adding a Hipshot D-Tuner and scalloping then end of the fretboard.

 

EDIT: Oh I had the Bones stickers too... :D

EDIT 2: are you going to sand all the edges off the P pickup covers too?

EDIT 3: have you seen this? https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2014/02/20/bass-of-the-week-jon-willis-billy-sheehan-wife-bass-replica/

Edited by bartelby
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5 hours ago, bartelby said:

Cool! I always wanted to do this when I was younger. The closest I got was hacking a Dimarzio Model One into my Aria SB Elite I, adding a Hipshot D-Tuner and scalloping then end of the fretboard.

 

EDIT: Oh I had the Bones stickers too... :D

EDIT 2: are you going to sand all the edges off the P pickup covers too?

EDIT 3: have you seen this? https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2014/02/20/bass-of-the-week-jon-willis-billy-sheehan-wife-bass-replica/

I’m going more for tribute than replica.

I’ve used nice parts without going silly - I think that guy chopped up an original 1960s tort pickguard, I haven’t got that money.

i am outsourcing the routing too - it’s been too long since I used a router, I’m not getting into “having a go”.

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1 minute ago, AndyTravis said:

i am outsourcing the routing too - it’s been too long since I used a router, I’m not getting into “having a go”.

Had it been a replica you wouldn't need a router, just a hammer and chisel... :)

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Just now, bartelby said:

Had it been a replica you wouldn't need a router, just a hammer and chisel... :)

Haha, I know. 

But, I want it to be done nicely - if for whatever reason I’d want to sell it on - I’d like to be able to confidently say it was tidy inside and out.

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The neck is just a spare 21 fret job (21st is an overhang so the heel is Fender width etc - the 68 tele bass neck is delayed - but wanted the strings on for two reasons.

1 - to have the pole pieces under the octave harmonic 

2 - to check spacing, the ebo pickup means it’ll never be spot on perfectly aligned under the strings, but won’t be far off.

7D9A523B-BE41-4557-8637-31C1B5900D1D.thumb.jpeg.61c0a6499c9ec2ff18687f9c24fb3877.jpeg

Edited by AndyTravis
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15 minutes ago, StevieE said:

Cool project, enjoying this build!

Ooo, will the humbucker position not foul the truss rod adjuster? I know the neck usually needs to come off for set up with these, but thinking more for minor tweeks. 

Probably, it’d be a neck off job, I can live with that - once it’s set, it shouldn’t change about much. And I use the same strings on all basses so there won’t be that to adjust for.

 

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