Latest Hamfist workshop fun (Westone, precision and Jazz interest)

[hamfist]

As requested elsewhere, here are the latest bitsas I've been working on. I think they are both my best work yet, and both play fantastically (and complement each other sonically very well too).
First up is the trusty Westone Thunder 1a v3 body which has been through many guises in my hands. I almost sold it a short while ago but I'm so glad it didn't sell because it works so well as a .... Jazz bass !

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Noah the Siamese getting into everything as usual !

THere's a large rout under that pickguard and I have tried so many pickup configurations with this body I know it very well now. Its a walnut and maple spine with ash wings and always accentuates the low mids heavily and is very resonant, but with not a particularly harsh or sparkly top end.
With P and MM pickups I've always struggled to get exactly the tone I've wanted with this body, but with these Tonerider Jazz pickups (excellent, excellent pickups BTW !) it's a perfect match. Not "modern" in tone but full bodied and definitely "jazz" in flavour. I'll use it with a band on sunday for the first time, but I expect it to fit in the mix really well.
It's got a Probass STinger preamp in it. I love these preamps. So long as you have alternative mids control in your rig they are very musical IMO.
The neck is one of the Dutch ones from ebay (seller cwgp2010). A lovely finish and slightly higher than Mighty Mite standards of build. Has a Graphtech nut. The only negative is that the peg holes don't line up exactly with the nut slots so there is not quite a straight run of the strings through the nut to the tuners. In use I do not find it an issue at all though as the Graphtech nut is nicely slippery and the string still slides very well through it. A warning ..... the nuts come cut VERY high on these from the seller. You WILL need to cut the slots to make a good action. I'd far rather have that than too low slots or a poor nut though. I would definitely consider getting another neck from this seller. The rosewood board is of a very high quality (really smooth and tight grain and an attractive longitudinal striping along the board too) and the general fit and finish is excellent.

Next up is a Precision build. It's an Ash body from tmgpickupguitars in Germany (on ebay). The bosy itself was beautiful but the neck slot was cut about a cm too short, so I had to extend it to get Fender proportions and positioning. Quite a cock up by the seller really. Also it did not have a bridge earthing wire hole so I had to buy some long drill bits and do my own, which was a first. Ultimately it was not difficult in the end though. Stained with COlron "antique pine" stain (B&Q) and finished in my usual Colron Danish oil and Briwax. The stain pops the grain out beautifully. I am very happy with the finish.
I have routed for the extra P pickup (in the Stingray sweetspot). Cut a brown tort pickguard, fitted another Probass stinger preamp (required the enlargement of the control cavity and addition of a battery compartment on the rear). The bridge is a Matsumoku Westone one, Tuners are Wilkinson and the neck is a Mighty Mite J neck.
Neck pickup is an SPB-3 and the bridge pickup is a Wilkinson ceramic magnet P, which I find lighter in the mids and perfect for this, mid-heavy, pickup position. 2 x mini-toggles for pickup switching and power on/off.
This bass is my ultimate P bass. I love it. It's not light but I prefer a bass with a bit of inertia to it. When I leap around on stage I find a light bass flies around a bit too much and I have less control.
Ok, pics.
Strings on both basses are my standard Legacy nickel roundwounds 105-45, which I find excellent, reliable and cheap, cheap cheap !

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Edited April 9, 2014 by hamfist

[Captain Codpiece]

Omnomnomnomnom very nice. Loving the vibe off the P.. And the J looks like a proper MONSTER!

I have a one of those Wilkinson Ps (5) in my Yamaha bbg5a but its more towards the neck very thumpy in that position and there is a MM at bridge on that one so its in good company
I really like those Wilkinson pickups though.. I have a vintage tele set in my squire tele and they are ace

Edited April 9, 2014 by Captain Codpiece

[Paul S]

Some interesting stuff there! Does the Fender neck fit straight in?

[namefail]

Thanks for making this thread hamfist. Those look like to fine basses.

[hamfist]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1397031453' post='2419821']
Does the Fender neck fit straight in?
[/quote]

20 fret, 63mm heel width, Fender necks fit straight into the Westone body, although they don't fit in as far (towards the bridge)as on a Fender as the neck slots on Thunders are a little shallower than Fenders. THis allows Westone bodies to be slightly shorter than the equivalent Fender body. So, Westone and Thunder necks are the same scale length and heel width, but Westone fit them into a slightly shorter slot than Fenders do. I hope that makes sense.
So .... a brand new Fender spec neck will fit into a Thunder body no probs although a used Fender neck might just show the ends of a couple of the screw holes poking out the end of the heel slot.

The neck I used was almost 64mm wide though, so I had to widen the heel slot on the body a tiny bit.