Dread Bass Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 (edited) Over the last year or so I have been learning how to build basses and guitars. I am three builds in and I am having a blast but I still a lot to learn. I have always liked messing with basses and when I was younger I did get about halfway through building a crude Ritter copy before I lost the place I was working and lost interest. Last year I decided I wanted to give building bases another go so started by doing a week corse with Jon Shuker which was definitely a step learning curve. It was almost as if whenever Jon said "be careful not to do X" I would immediately do X. That said I did manage to walk away with a completed bass at the end of the week. I also walked away with confirmation that I love building and I was more determined than ever. Prior to Covid I joined a community workshop and When Covid hit the workshop closed and I have been working in my utility room. I have been grabbing any opportunity I can to work on some builds and I recently finished builds 2 and 3, a P bass and a J bass. The aim going into the builds was to produce something that was at least playable. I am pleased to say I have exceeded my own expectations and both basses came out really well. Each build has errors and mistakes but I am very proud of them. I remember reading an interview with Alan from ACG and someone asked how he got into building and he said that he built a guitar then when he was finished he felt he could do better so made another one. I find myself in the same place. Ive been looking for a way to chronicle my journey, I have started a Facebook page and was considering starting a blog then I thought about Basschat. I've not posted for a while but I have been around since the Bassworld days. My favourite part of the site has always been the Build diaries section (outside the for sale section :D). I love to watch the progress people make and felt it was a good way to go. So without further ado here is some pictures of my builds so far. First is the natural ash J bass which I built with Jon. It has Seymour Duncan pickups Gotoh and Schaller hardware . Then we have a Salmon pink P bass. The inspiration for this was the Pino signature but also the whole story and mythology of salmon pink. The interesting thing about it is that I used natural paints and oils to make the finish. Its a textured finish and I think it came to great, looking at eco friendly ways of working is important to me. The hardware and pickup on this came from a Westfield P bass, this bass was supposed to be a place to practice techniques before doing them on the J bill but it took on life of its own. Finally we have a blue j bass: Seymour duncan pickups, badass bridge and i did a fade on the neck with stain. I call the finish broken blue biro as it reminded me of the many times i ended covered in ink during my school years. Going forward I have designed my own shape and spec and I am working on getting a prototype together and there will be more on that soon. Thanks for reading. Edited August 27, 2020 by Dread Bass Photo in wrong place 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Elementary mistake... You built them the wrong way round!!😉😉 Just kidding...nice work 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted August 27, 2020 Author Share Posted August 27, 2020 I forgot to mention the left handed thing. I am building a right handed one soon. That’s going to hurt my head! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Waiting for the next one already... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Good work and very well done - it’s so much fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 Sorry for the lack of updates. Been doing the work and life juggling we are all struggling with. Got two major three major updates. I entered the great guitar build off. I’m building a bass kit based on an Ibanez. I’m having lots of fun with that. secondly I’ve started work on my next bass. This one is going to be my original shape and it’s a prototype. My other builds have been fender derivatives this is more modern. Wood wise I’m going with Utile mahogany body, wenge and maple neck and a bubinga fingerboard. Rest of the specs will develop as we go. finally I’ve started a Vlog. I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s very exposing but I think I’m getting better at it. If anyone is interested it’s here: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCT30Cg51-2R2XtdS5phW4UQ/featured 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixingwithtom Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Checked out your youtube! Great stuff - nice one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 8, 2020 Author Share Posted October 8, 2020 9 hours ago, wwcringe said: Checked out your youtube! Great stuff - nice one Thanks wwcringe I am enjoying it and I think it’s worthwhile doing. I’m interested in any feedback anyone has to the short update videos I am doing opposed to longer how to style. My logic is there is already a lot of that online and these are bite sized pieces. I am also still learning so I don’t want to show people how to do things wrong as there is a lot of that as well. I am very fortunate that my friend is a videographer who has been helping me hence the quality of the camera. closing date for the competition is 17th October so lots to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 (edited) Another Pitbull IB5 builder. Nice. Edited October 8, 2020 by SpondonBassed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 9, 2020 Author Share Posted October 9, 2020 (edited) 21 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: Another Pitbull IB5 builder. Nice. I think these have been sold under various names. I didn’t get mine from Pitbull but it is clearly the same kit. I got it here: https://kitbuiltguitars.co.uk/guitar-kits/diy-5-string-bass-left-hand-sr-style-build-your-own-bass-guitar-kit/ Either way it’s pretty good overall. I’ve never done a kit before so I’ve enjoyed the challenge :). Have you built your kit? Edited October 9, 2020 by Dread Bass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acebassmusic Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Basschat quote of the day...."burnt myself..... a lot ......but eventually learned to be like an adult!" Sounds like some of my learning experiences 😁 Enjoyed the videos and although I've modded basses I've never taken the plunge on kit or full build.....yet 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Dread Bass said: Either way it’s pretty good overall. I’ve never done a kit before so I’ve enjoyed the challenge :). Have you built your kit? Yes. It's here. I've also just built a Frankenstein bass I call a YamaCore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 On 09/10/2020 at 16:57, SpondonBassed said: Yes. It's here. I've also just built a Frankenstein bass I call a YamaCore. Yours came out cracking. I love a natural Ash body and i was tempted to go a similar route but i am really enjoying using natural paints at the minute. On 09/10/2020 at 15:38, Acebassmusic said: Basschat quote of the day...."burnt myself..... a lot ......but eventually learned to be like an adult!" Sounds like some of my learning experiences 😁 Enjoyed the videos and although I've modded basses I've never taken the plunge on kit or full build.....yet 🙂 Thanks Acebassmusic glad you enjoyed it. Kits are great as you can go as simple or complex as you like. That said i much prefer building everything from scratch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Ive just released Vlog number 4 if anyone is up for giving it a watch. Ive added LEDs to the neck which i am pretty happy with. you can check it out on my Facebook or instagram or on youtube here 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 Made some progress last night on the kit build. Got to finish it tonight. Just got the wiring left I think. Submission date for Great Guitar build off is today so we are up to the wire! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Well I got the build finished with 30 minutes to spare. I will film the next video this week with a summary but here are a few pictures. Still needs a bit of a set up but getting there. in this build I used blue fret lines which I’m hoping you can see in my bad photos. I’m sure other people have used coloured fretlines but I can’t find any examples. Can anyone point me to some? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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