NBD...My Jeff Ament - Silvertone/Modulus 1443 Replica

[manol]

Hello all, first time poster but I thought that this was something worth sharing, not just because I'm proud and happy with the bass, I've "recently" moved to the UK so wanted to be more part of the community but also because I want to plug the builder as well.

 

I've been a massive Pearl Jam/Jeff Ament fan since I started playing bass and I've always, always, always had an infatuation with his Silvertone 1443 replica that he used to play in the early 2000's/very late 90s.
 

I always thought that it would be possible to get one built, but -
 

• Living in Australia meant there was a very limited amount of luthiers, and a lot wouldn't attempt something like this.
• If I do something, I do it right, and part of building a bass like this means finding a Modulus neck with the Fender shape headstock on it and they're HARD to find.
   

One day while browsing Reverb, I found a 'bitsa' parts bass from Japan that had the Modulus graphite neck on it with the original Fender shape headstock, I paid a ludicrous amount of money for it, but I didn't question it, it was never going to come up again for potentially years. Keep in mind, Modulus Jazz Basses come up all the time, but not with the Fender headstock shapes. It was in Japan, so I had to pay to get it shipped all the way from there to the UK.

 

Secondly, I had to find the period correct Bartolini pickups from that time, I assumed the bridge and neck pickup was a Bartolini 9S set, as it was the original model that Bartolini released, but the neck humbucker was the mystery. I already have another Jeff Ament style bass that Mike Lull built for me about 10+ years ago, that had that humbucker in the same neck position. I emailed Spencer and asked about the model, unfortunately they lost a whole heap of data years ago due to some cyberattack, which meant they didn't have my build sheet for my bass anymore, so he didn't know the model. He suggested I take the pickup out and check for any markings, no luck. Absolutely nothing on the bottom of the pickup.

 

Next step was emailing Bartolini - I emailed Bartolini who at first were a little dismissive at just suggested that the pickup was just a 1CB/1CBC model, I responded with dimensions and said I was confident that it wasn't a 1CB/1CBC model, there was some other email back and forth between me and them, and them also going back to Spencer at Mike Lull and eventually came back to me with this -

 

Quote

 

"This is what we call a "soft shell" in other words there was a mold maded and plastic was vacuformed around it. It was not an injection molded shell.  We do not have any record of a mold this size at that time. This wil not be the first pickup that Bill did not give any ID to and whose records are lost or impossible to find in the many dozens of loose leaf notebooks in various storage sheds....."

 

A few emails later...

 

"So a little more digging and we did find a record of this GB pickup, and some were sold to Lull in 1998 and 2007.  The mold got destoryed and while there's enough info about the windings to recreate this we have to start again from scratch.  Development costs are high and since you are the only person in 25 years to ask for one we do not anticipate future sales.  It will be expensive."

 

 

I'm not going to say how much it was, but it was a bit. but I got 2 out of it, so I have a spare/option to put one into another bass.

 

Once I had the pickup in my hands, I purchased all the hardware and bits and pieces for the build, and the next stop was trying to find a builder in the UK/Europe who could custom CAD/CNC machine design. I did some Googling and digging and emailing, and for the most part there was a lot of builders that weren't interested, didn't get back to me, or only wanted to sell their designs (which is fair enough). I fortunately came across Neil Haynes from Guitar & Bass Build/Haynes Guitars in  (https://guitarandbassbuilds.com / Haynes Guitars) in Shenington.

 

Neil was extremely helpful right from the start, he was open to working on the project, he was up front about pricing and more importantly showed interest and was keen in the project. Communication was a little bit slow/tedious at times over email, and I had to send a few follow ups to make sure my message was received and acknowledged but overall it was good, considering he's essentially a solo operator. I was travelling for work, and when I got back I actually went to visit him and we both sat down in front of his computer and painstakingly went through all the measurements and was very tolerant of my "1mm here, 1mm there, actually no back again". It was a great process and it meant it was EXACTLY what I wanted, and if it wasn't, I only had myself to blame. Neil was an absolute pleasure, and I feel for him only being a solo operator. 

 

Final result is attached at the bottom, it's pretty spot on, unfortunately the red sunburst head stock I couldn't do, and the dimensions of how the body comes up around the neck are a tiny little bit off, but its' damn close.

 

For some reason, the phone has made the colour seem less 'red' and more 'sunburst', but it's definitely more 'red' in person. I love it, I'm so happy with it, and it's a good addition to the existing stock.

 

Sorry for the essay, but I thought some people and fellow Pearl Jam/Jeff Ament fans might find it interesting.

[spyder]

What a fantastic story.  I love the bass.

Welcome to Basschat. 

[Mykesbass]

Lovely looking bass. Congrats on putting the effort in to get what you wanted.

[madshadows]

Terrific story of the bass build, love that body shape, congratulations on the NBD

 

John 😎 

 

[AndyTravis]

That’s mint.

 

Ive always been a huge JA fan - and that bass is very cool.

[cocco]

God damn this is great. Congrats on a really cool build.