Owen Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 My first proper bass was (and is) a 66J which I kind of lucked out on. I bought it because it looked cool (all beaten up like Jaco's) not realising that I was buying something collectable in the process. It has kind of spoilt things for me afterwards cos nothing else really does it for me in the same way (and believe me, I have tried). There have been lots of others, some of which have brought a different flavour to the table which have stayed and others which have been and gone. What can I say? I am a sucker for the Fender aesthetic. It is what I like to see when I pick up a bass. I have discussed the idea of a mid 60's J thing with an extra B string with a few luthiers over the years, but I never actually pulled the trigger. I played an Alleva Coppolo 5 last year and it said "welcome home" to me. However, I do not have that kind of £ lying around so have had to go DIY. When I say DIY, what I mean is get other people to build bits of it for me. Some time ago I bought a body and neck on here and gradually turned it into a working bass by buying bits here and there and eventually bolting all together. I cannot even put shelves up so the idea of actual DIY from scratch is never going to happen. Our very own Henry Norton is going to build a 35" scale neck and body (alder) and I am going to put a pair or Aaron Armstrong custom wound J pick ups in it. These will have two coils rather than one so that I can have series/parallel within the ............. ummmm......... I don't actually really understand this bit so I will let Aaron cover this "Basically I would take one of our off the shelf 5 string poled pickups chop the wire off and then chop the bobbin in two. wind two coils one for 2 strings and one for 3 strings, I would then glue the bobbin back together and assemble the pickup in the cover." The theory (in my head) is that I can have a kind of P-ish sound from the neck pickup should I want one. Mr Norton will finish the woodwork in a Nitro Oly White (inc matching headstock) and ship it up to me. I will then attack it with a belt sander and a drill. Joking! I will then lightly bash it around because it will be mine and I can do what I like with it We are aiming for a sub 9lb finished instrument - Mr Norton is muttering about chambering if the right weight body blank does not appear. Pretty excited I am! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 sounds great- really great...but, really really reliced? why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I'll be following this build with glee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Lawrence (Henry Norton) built me a lovely Jazz 5 neck a couple of years ago for a bass I was putting together and he's now making me a complete fretless 4 string PJ bass. This sounds like a very interesting project, I like the idea of a lightweight 5 string Jazz bass, out of interest is there any reason why you are not getting Lawrence to put the whole thing together for you? Can't wait to see some pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1353802895' post='1878679'] sounds great- really great...but, really really reliced? why? [/quote] Because I want to [quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1353816862' post='1878719'] I'll be following this build with glee! [/quote] It looks like you got there before me! [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1353843327' post='1878844'] Lawrence (Henry Norton) built me a lovely Jazz 5 neck a couple of years ago for a bass I was putting together and he's now making me a complete fretless 4 string PJ bass. This sounds like a very interesting project, I like the idea of a lightweight 5 string Jazz bass, out of interest is there any reason why you are not getting Lawrence to put the whole thing together for you? Can't wait to see some pics [/quote] It was you who put Lawrence on my radar. I will bolt it together myself because it will give me some sort of ownership (however tenuous) of the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Sounds great. Needs to be relic'd!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 That makes sense to me, I didn't actually do anything on my build apart from come up with the ideas, buy the parts and decide who did what but it still felt good to have a little input, putting it together yourself will be even better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 [IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/peredur/P1010032.jpg[/IMG] So far, so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Not entirely sure what the bunny bass next to it is. But I'm sure it will be very fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 [quote name='owen' timestamp='1355775452' post='1902659'] Not entirely sure what the bunny bass next to it is. But I'm sure it will be very fine [/quote] Is that an early development sketch for the MM Bongo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 P#ss Takers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 [attachment=133736:J5.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 if this doesn't work out I'm looking to sell my Overwater which is pretty much the same spec ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 I would feel slightly awkward about trashing an Overwater! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 The woodwork is done, including some heavy chambering. It is now going to Paul Nield (retro169 on Facebook) for an Oly White reliced finish, including matching headstock. I am getting a decal made which will read something along the lines of Ffendar Jass in a Fender script. This will be absolutely hilarious if you are a Welsh speaking musician from North Wales, but probably less so if you are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njr911 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 updates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Astoundingly it is actually landing with the painter this week so I should have all the bits within 3 weeks-ish and then the magic might happen. Thanks for caring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njr911 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I just want to see the paint job as thinking about doing my own project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 I also want to see the paint job! But if you cannot wait, here are some he prepared earlier....... https://www.facebook.com/Retro169/photos_stream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) [URL=http://s8.photobucket.com/user/peredur/media/IMG_8184_zps52902271.jpg.html][IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/peredur/IMG_8184_zps52902271.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Edited June 10, 2014 by owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizontalste Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Such a tease :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Keeping it fresh! It is not in one piece yet or in my hands yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 [URL=http://s8.photobucket.com/user/peredur/media/DSC_7750_zps945cb46c.jpg.html][IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/peredur/DSC_7750_zps945cb46c.jpg[/IMG][/URL] As yet not reliced. But still exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 All the bits are arriving today. This is going to have a drastic effect on my efficiency at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Lets be honest it's probably all you have been thinking about anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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