Resto mod P bass build (Ice blue metallic)

[cocco]

Evening all, 

 

Having seen a friend build two awesome guitars (a tele and a strat) in a similar vein, I've decided that the time has come for me to build myself a P bass. 

 

It started to come together today. I've been watching MJT P bass bodies on eBay. I missed out on a few, most notably an Aztec gold one, but an ice blue metallic one came up which took my fancy. Less then a week later it arrived (from the USA no less) and here it is in all its glory. It's lightly relic'd, there's some checking that's visible in certain lights, some missing finish and some interesting fading. I'm really happy with the general vibe that it has. 

 

The plan is fairly simple. It's going to get a high quality neck (potentially Shuker, but maybe from Musikraft in the US), probably in roasted maple. A combination of Gotoh and hipshot hardware and an anodised gold scratch plate for that late 50s look. I'm still yet to make up my mind on what to do about a pickup, there are too many really good options. 

 

I thought I'd document the project so here is the first post. 

[cocco]

With any luck. The end result will be something aesthetically close to this, minus the covers.

[Hellzero]

Forget Musikraft it's a lotery and look at Warmoth or Shuker.

 

My Nash PB-63 has a Lollar pickup with a gold anodised pickguard and Gotoh aged hardware including Res-O-Lite tuners: simply put the best P-Bass I've ever owned (and I've owned as many as the years I've been looking for THE P-Bass, so at least 40).

[Aidan63]

Guitar Anatomy keep saying they will make Bass necks in the future, but as yet none have appeared afaik which is a shame as the guitar necks are nice

[cocco]

On 10/08/2024 at 10:55, Hellzero said:

Forget Musikraft it's a lotery and look at Warmoth or Shuker.

 

My Nash PB-63 has a Lollar pickup with a gold anodised pickguard and Gotoh aged hardware including Res-O-Lite tuners: simply put the best P-Bass I've ever owned (and I've owned as many as the years I've been looking for THE P-Bass, so at least 40).

 

Cheers for the info. What's your experience of Musikraft? The reason for looking at them over Warmoth is that I want a flatter radius than Warmoth provide on a bass neck. 

[Hellzero]

I bought a lot of Musikraft's necks some years ago and they were absolutely not made to the higher standards of, say, Warmoth or any luthier.

 

So, with all the import taxes in mind, it would be better to ask Shuker to make you an excellent neck exactly to your specifications.

[cocco]

A brief update on this. Jon Shuker came back to me with a price for building the neck and assembling the bass which was too good to turn down, so that's happening, just waiting on a lead time. The neck is basically the same spec as he puts on the JJ Burnel Zenith bass:

Roasted flamed maple neck and board.

Carbon reinforcement.

Brass nut.

Stainless fret wire (small).

16" radius (I know it's not traditional but I like a flat neck). 

43mm nut width.

Black dot inlays.

Luminlay fret markers.

 

Also, today I ordered the majority of the hardware. Well, everything I could get from Thomann at least. I've gone for: 

Gotoh Resolite tuners in Nickel.

Brass Gotoh 203 Bridge in Nickel.

Large Gotoh strap buttons in nickel. 

An EMG GZR pickup.

 

I'm slightly questioning my pickup choice, but I love the sound of the GZR in all the demos I've heard, and I'm a big Sabbath fan. I may change it in the future but I'm sure it'll do a perfectly decent job. 

 

All that's missing is a neck plate and mounting screws, a scratch plate and mounting screws, and some knobs. 

 

I think I'm going to end up with a pretty amazing P-bass for a relatively reasonable amount of money. 

 

[bloke_zero]

Nice! Nothing like a real luthier made neck.

And I really rate the MJT stuff.
And I also like the GZR - I felt like it had about the right voicing - mid forward without being harsh - classic P tone.

 

Sounds to me like you've all the right stuff lined up!

[cocco]

Another brief update as the first delivery of parts arrived today.

 

Gotoh hardware seems to be a winner. I'm amazed at how light the resolite tuners are, the bridge feels substantial and should do a decent job of being functionally better than the BBOT but without ruining the classic look too much. Really happy with those choices. 

 

The pickup looks to be of a really high standard. It's deeper than I expected but it'll definitely fit without further fettling. Very excited to hear it. 

 

I spoke to Mr Shuker this afternoon, he reckons 8 weeks to build the neck and assemble the thing, so even factoring in Luthier time Vs normal time I should easily have the finished product by Christmas. 

 

Anodised gold alu scratch plate, domed control knobs, and a laser cut "F" decal have been ordered which marks the final pieces of the puzzle. Once they arrive I'll do a test fit on the body and ship the whole lot up to Shuker. 

 

Edited August 22 by cocco

[cocco]

Another update. 

 

The scratch plate arrived today. I couldn't help but put the pieces of the body together to get a feel for how the final product will look. 

 

I'm very much enjoying the combination of anodised scratch plate and metallic finish. Very excited to add the neck.