NBD ish, started as a 4, now it’s a 5 !!! update.

[wrinkleygit]

Having played a 5 string for many years, my then bass was a SEI headless that I thought was my forever instrument, sadly as time passed my arthritis worsened and I struggled with the neck width and eventually returned to 4 strings. However I never forgot the advantages of having that low B brought.

   Fast forward and this week I had the chance to buy an old Status Eclipse only an hour or so away, it turned out to be in a sorry state and while I was mulling over the prospect he mentioned he had several other interested parties, the subject turned to other basses and the advantages of a 5 string, then said, you might be interested in this, I put it together some time ago, producing a jazz bodied bitsa. The body was nothing special “BUT” it had a Wilkinson 4+1 conversion kit, the most incredible neck and a pair of USA emg’s. 
  24 hours later I had transplanted the neck and hardware onto my Warmoth P that was crying out for a decent neck, and here’s the result 

Edited February 7, 2023 by wrinkleygit
Update

[wrinkleygit]

Here’s some more info, 

Nut width 40mm, string width 32.5mm

String width at bridge 62mm

Std 34” scale, strung with Labella LT flats 

 

As far as I can tell, the Handcrafted company originated from Canada before moving to the USA, before being forced to close by Fender, started by Alex Lifeson and one other, with input from Geddy Lee.

[gafbass02]

Wow, I’ve not seen one of those necks in a while! I custom ordered a signature bass from the infamous eBay seller back in the day, but it didn’t stay.  
Love the way your bass has turned out, very cool.  

[velvetkevorkian]

Nice, how does the 4 string pickup work with 5?

I had a bass with one of those Wilkinson kits, it's a pretty neat idea if you can manage the narrow spacing

[lidl e]

I have a warmoth P that looks similar.  

 

Moses graphite neck though. 

 

 

 

[wrinkleygit]

2 hours ago, velvetkevorkian said:

Nice, how does the 4 string pickup work with 5?

I had a bass with one of those Wilkinson kits, it's a pretty neat idea if you can manage the narrow spacing

The pickup was my concern when putting this together, at the moment the A string sounds a little more prominent than the other four, at home I only have a little ZT Lunchbox to play through, not the best thing to setup a bass, have a rehearsal on Thursday so I can have a better idea then.

  As for the string spacing, that works really well for me, I can only pick with my first finger and use my thumb for damping, the other three aren’t much use these days, the width of the neck and narrow spacing were the main attraction for me.

[wrinkleygit]

Here’s an update, spent some time adjusting pickup height and now the balance across the strings is perfect, also the string width of just under 16mm at the bridge works really well for my aging fingers.

  With regards to the neck, there does seem to be a lot of smoke and mirrors surrounding the “Signature” brand, all I can say is the quality of fretting is excellent, it’s withstood the pressure of coping with 5 strings for 4-5 years or so, without any issues, also it’s 21 frets with finger board overhang, which seems unusual given its supposed age. Whatever the origin the end result works perfectly for me.

[DTB]

As a fellow sufferer I am stoked that this works for you. Long may it continue. 
Happy tunes!!!

[NancyJohnson]

On 29/01/2023 at 16:49, wrinkleygit said:

As far as I can tell, the Handcrafted company originated from Canada before moving to the USA, before being forced to close by Fender, started by Alex Lifeson and one other, with input from Geddy Lee.

 

As soon as I saw 'Signature' in the headstock I thought of the Lee/Lifeson backstory.  Considering the legacy, I'm surprised how little information there is on the brand - there did seem to be a time about 15-20 years ago where there seemed to be just too many Jazz bass clones on clearance with unmolested headstocks sporting the Signature logo.

[Woodinblack]

I still have one of those wilkinson kits, I need to get round to making a 5 string P bass with that spacing

[wrinkleygit]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

I still have one of those wilkinson kits, I need to get round to making a 5 string P bass with that spacing

If you can wait until the next bash it will be there to try out or if you’re close to M5 junc 28 anytime, call in and have a play.

[Paulhauser]

@wrinkleygit sorry for my lack of knowledge but what is that lever (?)  protruding from the saddle of the D string on the bridge?

 

edit: ok, 4+1, I got it. Never seen such before though. 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Paulhauser

[ezbass]

2 minutes ago, Paulhauser said:

@wrinkleygit sorry for my lack of knowledge but what is that lever (?)  protruding from the saddle of the D string on the bridge?

That had me wondering for a bit, but then the penny dropped. It’s the tuner for that string, there are only 4 tuners at the headstock end.

[ezbass]

On 29/01/2023 at 16:42, wrinkleygit said:

Having played a 5 string for many years, my then bass was a SEI headless that I thought was my forever instrument, sadly as time passed my arthritis worsened and I struggled with the neck width and eventually returned to 4 strings. However I never forgot the advantages of having that low B brought.

   Fast forward and this week I had the chance to buy an old Status Eclipse only an hour or so away, it turned out to be in a sorry state and while I was mulling over the prospect he mentioned he had several other interested parties, the subject turned to other basses and the advantages of a 5 string, then said, you might be interested in this, I put it together some time ago, producing a jazz bodied bitsa. The body was nothing special “BUT” it had a Wilkinson 4+1 conversion kit, the most incredible neck and a pair of USA emg’s. 
  24 hours later I had transplanted the neck and hardware onto my Warmoth P that was crying out for a decent neck, and here’s the result 

Bloody clever that is. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

This is so cool! 

 

I've actually considered for quite a while buying a Harley Benton short scale P bass and then moding it into a five string, since that one got a 42mm nut width, which is not too common on short scale basses, for tuning E to C.

 

Is this 4 to 5 string conversion set still available, and if, where would I be able to buy one (preferably from a EU located shop, so I don't have to pay import fee)?

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Is this 4 to 5 string conversion set still available, and if, where would I be able to buy one (preferably from a EU located shop, so I don't have to pay import fee)?

 

I don't think they make them any more, but there are still some around on ebay and reverb

[wrinkleygit]

It’s a really well engineered setup, one of Trevor Wilkinson’s early great ideas and sadly discontinued many years ago. I haven’t seen a kit for sale anywhere for quite some time, which is why I bought a complete bass to aquire the necessary parts to fit to my Warmoth P body.

   The main advantage for me, aside from the string spacing, is that in the trio we play a lot in F and Bflat so I now play mainly around the 6th fret to avoid longer stretches at the first.

   The only downside is, from the leftovers I’ve now assembled a four string jazz bass that I don’t need !!! 

[Woodinblack]

I don't know when they stopped making them but judging by the packaging, I am guessing it must have been some time in the 80s!