GreeneKing

When I last spoke to John (quite recently) he was trying to source re-chargeable batteries for the P Retro so they aren't not made, just not available at the moment.

The beauty of the East Uni Pre is that a passive tone can be included giving all the benefits of active/passive with a decent blend.

Just imagine the fun if there was more than one pickup The rear of the neck is stunning.

And for the next instalment. The grain on the top is lovely and very closely matches the body grain as it was made from the same blank and carefully aligned by Mike.

I’m having a 32” scale P bass built at the moment. It has a chambered swamp ash body. The process is labour intensive. That’s the cost implication. The body will weigh a little over 2lbs compared to the typical Warmoth body at 4+ to 6+ lbs. There’s a build thread if anyone is interested.

I've been looking on Warmouth at P bass bodies (full sized) and weights. They don't make the lightest bodies in my experience but for comparison purposes they quote 4+ lbs to over 6. So this body is a half to a third of that weight.

It's body meets top inside a vacuum bag time: Thank you again Mike for enabling me to share the process.

I think the big issue is that a one piece neck such as a Fender rarely if ever needs relief forcing into it. A double action trussed of course is designed to do just this if it is needed. If a neck is made very stiff (laminated construction with perhaps stiffer woods used) with extra support added by way of carbon or steel rods etc then the act of adding the frets can cause a slight back bow that stringing up alone doesn't counter.

I certainly agree with respect to appearance. Thinks neck thru Warwick Thumb circa 1989 and drools...... I'm a little amazed at how the BBPH manages to achieve this 'sing'. In a large part I suspect due to the 3 piece body sandwich with maple at it's core. The attention to fixing the neck to body is a part of this too I'm sure. I did see a photo that hinted at an additional location 'tang' on the neck. Not sure about this though and I don't want to remove my neck to find out.

Here are the latest updates from Mike yesterday. As an update to the spec I have added a zero fret. I've had a zero fret on at least 3 basses and I firmly approve. I've also asked Mike to make a 2nd pickguard in white (the original is tort). Better to get this done at the time rather than down the line methinks..

Here's some more progress with photos supplied by Mike and annotated to show the stages of his work: It's great to see so much progress in two days. Peter

Hello Mark All good here thanks. I hope that the same goes for you

I'm leaving the finish details until later into the build. Peter

I hope that some of you fine people may enjoy this build diary nearly as much as me. My bass journey has been quite long, 30 years or so and it's gone 'all around the houses'. I've owned more basses than most I guess, certainly well over 100 with a maximum at any one time of 27. I've played 4, 5 and 6 string basses, I used to consider myself a 5 string player. I even had a couple of years away from playing with basses gathering dust in my practice cupboard. I've now retired and on settling in to practicing more often I'm increasingly aware of how much of the basics I have still to learn and how much this is a good thing When the Covid thing allows I get together with 3 other fellas and we play covers, rock and blues in the main. A gig may happen one day. Then again it probably won't. As 70 homes in I'm increasingly aware of weight and I also have occasional fretting hand issues. I'm also aware that a good P bass covers all my needs. My Lakland P/J was my go to bass, always soloing the P pickup and always too damn heavy. I saw Mike's Birch's beautiful Funkmeister P 32" scale and I got to thinking..... Being an Essex lad and having met Mike Walsh and had some great service from him in the past I bit the bullet and commissioned a new build. The specs have evolved a little due in part to John East's P-Retro still not being available. I want the active option with passive tone control. So, to start: Body: Zoot Funkmiester 32" from swamp ash, chambered Neck: 32" Canadian 3 piece maple neck with ebony veneers and a Bi-flex two way truss rod with modern 'C' profile. Finger board: Ebony, compounded 16" radius and medium heavy fret wire side dots only Pickup: Haussel P pickup Bridge: Hipshot "Kickass" in chrome Machine heads: Hipshot "Ultralite" with Fender clover leaf buttons in chrome. String retainer: Hipshot "Ultralight" quick change E.Q. Noll B2059 2 band EQ with 18v supply and passive tone Top nut size: 40mm Bridge saddle spacing: 19mm Neck finish: Hi-gloss to front and back of headstock with smooth satin to rear of neck (playing area) Hardware: All other hardware in chrome finish. Other details such as finish to follow. Here's some photos from Mike showing the start of the build Peter

At the time it seemed a good idea......

TRB4P. Neck through, Piezo. 34" scale.

I know it's not a BB but why, oh why did I sell this (and so many others).

I'm awaiting some nut slot files and I'll be doing a little bit of fine tuning to my BBPH. It's not unusual for mass produced basses but the nut slots are slightly shallow, particularly on the E and A strings. I need much more pressure to fret the first fret than I should. Just a wee bit of filing and I'll take it VERY slowly. I said in my initial review that the fret ends weren't sharp and they aren't as in cut your fingers sharp but they do feel rough edged to the extent that I notice when playing. So I'll do that at the same time. I've already got a file for this. I've been playing my BBPH exclusively since I bought it and a couple of days back I picked up my modified 2008 MIM Jazz. I love this bass which, after owning well over 100 basses is why I have it. I used it with the same amp settings and it sounded lacklustre and lo-fi. That's with identical strings. The notes seems damped, quickly fading. I then went back to the BBPH and hi-fi and sustain was restored. I did a double check, it was in passive with the tone rolled half off. Such is the nature of the BBPH. Peter

I fitted the Dunlop Flats today. Here is a photo of the break angle of the 'old' D'Addario E string. It is much less than I thought and I've fitted through body. If they fail then on my head be it

Just got in from nearly 3 hours of socially distanced band practice. The BBPH was superb. Run through a EBS Microbass 3 and a hp filter into an EBS Fafner and an 8 ohm Accugroove 112 with a horn and 2 tweeters. It cut through the mix very well. Lovely tone and sustain like you’d hardly believe. I played it passive with the tone rolled down for the more bluesy numbers and active with a slight mid boost and treble cut for the more rocky stuff. It’s a great bass and I’m well pleased. Hopefully fitting Dunlop flats tomorrow. Peter

A question for BB owners that have the bevelled through body stringing, as opposed to the through body through the rear of the bass. Given that flats can get damaged if they are run through too great an angle, is it okay to use flats on the lesser angled through body stringing? I’ve been pondering string choice. My favourite strings are Dunlop flats. They aren’t at all dull or muddy and I’ve ordered some for my BBPH. I’ve also been experimenting with fretboard darkening using black leather dye, a popular choice. I practiced on my Mexican Jazz and it worked well. It did however leave the side dots sort of half and half tinted. I’ve decided not to risk it on my new BBPH

They do settle in. They are D’Addario nickels and I like nickels and D’ Addario. They stop making your fingers grimy after a bit and get less abrasive. I do have some Dunlop nickels 45 - 105. I might try them. Maybe DRs? Sunbeams? It’s getting expensive. My favourite go to string is Dunlop flats that are quite bright for flats but I’m not sure they’re the right strings for this bass.

Getting the chance to exercise the BBPH at war volume tomorrow night. I'll report back