Jackroadkill Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 The lure of the bitsa has reared its ugly head again. The last time this happened I built a Telecaster, and this time it has to be a bass. I'm going to do this a bit at a time, as and when money and time allow. I know it's cheaper to buy a complete bass but I enjoy the process and I can get exactly what I want this way. I went to Ebay and sourced a Jazz body for the princely sum of twenty quid and a Precision neck: I'm not sure what the body's parentage is, although it may be a Squier. The neck's from a Classic Vibe. Neither are that posh, let's put it that way. Someone's been at the frets with a file in order to smooth the ends, and hasn't done an amazing job. There are a few things to do in order to bring things up to scratch, let's put it that way, but nothing too dramatic. Right, the first job was to strip the body. Immediately it became apparent that something strange was afoot: I stripped the top coat off with gentle heat to find that the whole thing was covered in some sort of epoxy. Not totally unexpected, as this was similar on the Telecaster mentioned above. What was unexpected was the resin that had been used to fill gaps, presumably during the, ahem, lamination process. Still, I only burned this in two places... I can solve this with some judicious sanding and filling a little further down the line. There was also black goop under the dark parts of the burst, so I sloshed some standard thinners around and got rid. It's a good job I wasn't planning another sunburst or a natural finish, isn't it? I was planning a nitro CAR paint job, but I'll go for CAR in poly now, seeing as the epoxy is staying put. To this end there'll be a white primer, followed by the silver base-coat, transparent red colour coats and gloss top-coats. I'm intending to paint it when the weather is warmer, so don't hold your breath for an update on that front too soon. Plans are: Chrome hardwear A mint or parchment scratchplate Alnico pickups Decent pots and caps. Cheers, JRK 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 How about a single, and a dual coil, i.e. a bright J to the bridge, and a thumpy humbucker to the neck? There seems to be place for a dual, there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Reasonable Scratch and Control plates on Aliexpess if ya not in a rush for low £... just takes 2 - 3 wks These for my Aria Jazz P Modder... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) Those Entwistle pups are astonishingly good bits of kit and laughably inexpensive. I've heard they're no longer being made. They're certainly harder to get hold of these days. Edited January 12 by Bassfinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 A proof-of-life post for this build; I have a scratchplate (cream / manky white), a BBOT bridge (although this may get subbed for a high mass one later), machine heads and a very nice set of high-output Toltec pickups now. The pickups might have too much output, but I'll worry about that later, as they can always be moved on once the build is complete. As the weather is finally starting to show signs of getting above 5 degrees Centigrade I'm planning to buy the paint next month. I'll be using this paint: https://perfectpearlsandpigments.co.uk/products/candy-apple-red/ with the appropriate primer and silver coat. I'm tempted to go for a metal-flake silver coat but this might be a bit much.... What do the BC hive mind think? I'm not saying I'll go with the advice, of course....! If I can summon the enthusiasm I may even paint the front of the headstock, decals permitting. Obviously I won't be spraying it until it's a lot warmer. I think the next jobs are to do a bit of fret work and get a nut blank sorted, and then rub down and possibly fill the two rough patches I created whilst stripping the sunburst off the body. Cheers, JRK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Sand it down some more, then Tru Oil. Then wax applied with a Green same for the back of the neck... feels so warm and organic... Therapy with a beer or glass of wine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 I'm kind of stuck with this one until the weather warms and dries up for any length of time so that I can paint it. I did, however, buy my paint the other day, so have been able to produce this: From left to right we have four bands of colour: grey primer, silver metallic coat and two thin trans red coats; grey primer, sparkle silver metallic coat and two trans red coats; white primer, silver metallic coat and then the TR coats; lastly, white primer, silver sparkle metallic coat and the TR coats. All have a dust coat of clear gloss on top. The photo was taken on a crummy iPhone camera, the board is an old bit of MDF I had kicking around and I didn't do any sanding between coats, so the results are rough and ready but I think I'm going to opt for the last combination (white and silver sparkle). Obviously there'll be much better preparation and flatting between coats, and the clear coat will be a bit thicker and will be properly cut back before polishing, so I'm hoping to get a decent result. Other than that there's not much going on with the build; I have most of the hardware other than the electrics and control plate ready to go, though, so once the paint is finished (hopefully early summer) I might actually have something that resembles a bass. I'm planning to use this one for drop D tunings (which aren't my favourite, but ho-hum). Cheers, JRK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 Two updates in a week?! It must be the solvents going to my head... I managed to get a flash coat of primer on the body tonight. Initial prognosis is good, although there are a few very tiny dings that need filling once the paint is dry. I'll attend to these tomorrow, hopefully, and then get a full primer coat on over the weekend. Cheers, JRK 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted May 30 Author Share Posted May 30 I've put the silver base layer and the first coat of the trans red colour coat on the bass. It took a bit of doing as I don't have a spray booth, but sop far so good, other than some spotting in the red, which may take a bit of fixing, but I'm sure can be done. So far it looks like this: It'll need a bit of cutting back before the next coat goes on, so I'll let it harden off properly and then get some fine wet and dry over it. The rest of the hardware (apart from the nut and the knobs) and the electronics will be arriving in the next few days so I'll be able to dummy things up and see what it's going to look like. Cheers, JRK 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 A quick mock-up; everything is just dumped in place and there's no gloss coat on the body yet, but you can see what it might end up looking like. I've also fitted the string tree and tuners to the neck, rolled the fingerboard edges and tidied up the fret ends. Some of the previous "work" done to the fretboard may or may not be repairable; I'm experimenting to see which is the case. If it doesn't work I won't be too rattled, but it would be nice if I could succeed with it. The next job is to order more bits and bobs; scratchplate screws, a nut, some shielding paint and some knobs being the most important. Cheers, JRK 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 That looks lovely as is in satin! Great colour. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 5 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said: That looks lovely as is in satin! Great colour. Funnily enough, when I put the white primer on I thought "That would look lovely in pure white", then the same with the silver base coat and again with it as it is above. I'll stick to my guns though, and maybe build the next one in satin, or arctic white, or Inca Silver or....! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 I had the same with the varying stages of my (much more, erm, “agricultural” attempt at) refinish. Bodes well that it looks good on all the layers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 It's coming along; the finish isn't as great as it could be but it's pretty good, and the electrics are complete now too. Once the shielding paint is dry I'll align and fit the bridge, fit the pickups and get all the rest of the gubbins fitted. Everything's just mocked-up here, and nothing is permanently attached, but it's starting to look like a bass at last. Cheers, JRK 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted August 4 Author Share Posted August 4 After weeks of no progress, I've managed to get it to this stage today: It's playable but the nut needs cutting properly (which may be a job for a professional) and the neck needs shimming slightly, as the pocket is a little deeper than the neck is intended to be set, but that's okay. The pickups are VERY powerful and will need to be set down further into the body come set-up time, but it sounds pretty good, with a wide range of sounds, all of which sound good so far. The only things I'm not happy with are the body's shape (not much I can do about that) and the quality of the finish (could do something about that if it wasn't a cheap bitsa); the obvious solution is to find a better body, which I may well do further down the line. Cheers, JRK 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted October 12 Author Share Posted October 12 Well, she's done. I changed the pickups for a pair of Limelight units which are 1960's voiced with a lower, more vintage output than the ones I originally had. I bought these from our very own @Spoonman, and they sound superb. The nut has been cut by the fabulous Rob Williams (www.robwilliamsguitars.co.uk) and the action, which was high and stiff, is now lower and slinkier, to the point where it feels like another bass. I have to say that it sounds amazing, even through my PF500, which is a bit farty and clanky for my liking, so when I get it through the big Eden rig I reckon it will be even better. It plays well, too, the added width of the Precision neck giving my clumsy (and injured) fingers a bit more freedom. The wiring loom I bought pre-assembled; normally I would build my own but I found a deal I couldn't say no to, which included a great big green Russian capacitor. What effect it has on the sound I don't know, but the sound is great, so it gets my vote - the combination of CTS pots, that capacitor and those lovely pickups just works. Now all I need is my finger to finish healing (that'll take a while) and a band to play in! Cheers, JRK 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 Looks fabulous! How many cans of primer, base coat, CAR, and clear coat did you use? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted October 12 Author Share Posted October 12 Just now, Richard R said: Looks fabulous! How many cans of primer, base coat, CAR, and clear coat did you use? Essentially one of each, but there was spare in all of them except the trans red, which ran out. A shame really, as I'd have liked one more coat on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 Thanks. At some point I will get round to my project bass. Maybe. Hopefully. ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted October 12 Author Share Posted October 12 1 minute ago, Richard R said: Thanks. At some point I will get round to my project bass. Maybe. Hopefully. ... Get at it, sir!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted November 2 Author Share Posted November 2 I had a jam with an erstwhile bandmate on Tuesday this week, and I took this bass with me; I have to say that it plays well and sounds excellent (cue all of that stuff about butter and grand pianos...!). There's a wide range of tones, but being a find-one-you-like-and-stick-with-it kind of player I'm not sure I'll ever find a use for all of them, but when I make a rare excursion into the clankier sounds this bass, presumably due to those Limelight pickups, retains a sweetness that's quite surprising. There is plenty of bottom end available and it's nice and defined whilst still being big and fat. Suffice to say that I'm really enjoying playing it, and rather than just being a project for a project's sake this one is a keeper. Cheers, JRK 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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