In praise of CWGP necks and guitarbuild bodies

[hamfist]

Just put together what is now my number one bass and I have been very impressed with my first Guitarbuild.co.uk body and my second Custom World guitar Parts neck.

I have bought a few basic unfinished ash Jazz and Precision bodies (from the cheaper end of the market admittedly) and all of them apart from this guitarbuild one have needed tweaking with lining up the neck, or the length of the heel pocket or whatever. The router has been out with every one so far. It's never been quite a simple plug and play build. However, this Guitarbuild body is perfect in dimensions and fitting. The neck pocket, control cavity and bridge screw holes were just spot on, which was much appreciated when putting it together. From their website you can actually pick and choose the exact ready made body that you want, so you get the exact grain pattern that you want. You are not leaving to chance.
It's a lovely resonant body too. Very, very happy with this one. The only negative is that, bizarrely, they don't come with the bridge grounding wire hole drilled. They will do it for an extra £15, which seems extravagant to me. I drilled my own, but I really think they should come with the hole drilled. It's a non-functional body otherwise really IMO.
Edit ..... I've just been contacted by Guitarbuild and all the bodies they sell from now on WILL have the bridge earth wire drilled. Good news for any buyers. You can do it yourself, but it's a costly mistake if you mess it up (I know this because I drilled through the bottom of a body once doing this very thing !

And the neck - well this is my second CWGP Jazz neck and I really like them. The couple of Mighty Mite Jazz necks that I have had have always left a little bit to be desired tonally IMO. I like the MM P necks, which are obviously thicker and sturdier (and this is reflected in the tone), but the MM Jazz necks are I think just a bit wimpy, and the general construction and lack of rigidity of them detracts from the overall tone. I know many folks are very happy with them, but that is my experience.
These CWGP necks have both been excellent and, for me, a higher quality product. They are a tiny bit chunkier than the MM J necks front to back, but are still obviously the std 38mm width nut. The nuts on the CWGP necks are Graphtech and on both necks needed very significant lowering of the nut slots. I'd expect this on any new neck TBH but you do have to take them down a lot with these ones. Not a problem for me, but for some I know it would be. From memory I seem to remember having to take down MM neck nut slots but not to the same extent. The MM ones were actually playable out of the box.
Finish on the CWGP neck is a thick gloss varnish (vintage tinted on mine) and the grain pattern on both necks is beautiful. I have actually used one of these necks for about a year, quite extensively and the fret material is not cheap and soft. Only minimal fret marking so far on that one. Neck heel dimensions are bang on Fender standard (63.5mm width).
Their prices and shipping are very reasonable too. I will buy these again. Thoroughly recommended.
Yes, and I know pics are obligatory so .....

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Edited February 11, 2015 by hamfist

[Lozz196]

That`s a beauty - reckon you may have a few people queueing up for your bass-building services there.

[Annoying Twit]

<mighty boosh>115 Euros</mighty boosh>

[url="http://www.customworldguitarparts.com/default/bass-parts-2/jazz-bass-maple-neck-20-frets-pearl-block-inlay-with-binding.html"]http://www.customwor...th-binding.html[/url]

Nitro finish. Graphtec nut.

One of the things that I'm thinking of doing in the future is to build a kit bass. But, the bass kits that can be bought at a reasonable price tend to be very low end, then there's a big jump to Carvin kits and Warmoth parts. (BTW: This is what I was thinking about when I asked about enhancing the grain of basswood in another thread - Hamfist, you kindly answered this). A jazz bass kit + this neck would still result in a still cheaply priced bass, but with a higher neck quality. I would presume. And the neck is pre-finished, which makes things easier

Hamfist - how would you describe the playability of the neck versus a USA Fender?

Westone neck plate

Edit: A bit disappointing. The nitro finished fretless neck has the side dots in the same position as a fretted neck. Not in the correct positions for a fretless. http://www.customworldguitarparts.com/default/bass-parts-2/jazz-bass-maple-neck-fretless-nitro-finish-top-quality.html Pity, as at 90 Euros, it's quite inexpensive.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Annoying Twit

[hamfist]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1423666779' post='2687685']
Hamfist - how would you describe the playability of the neck versus a USA Fender?
[/quote]

Yes, playability was something I forgot to mention. And the answer is very good. I have not felt the need to do anything to the frets at all. I'm sure I could lower the action a bit with a fret levelling but I'm very happy as it is.
Comparing to a USA Fender neck, that's difficult as I don't think I've played enough USA Fenders to give a valid opiion. Comparing to a MIM neck and I can give you an answer ....... THe CWGP necks have noticeably nicer playability and better fretwork.

[hamfist]

Also, just heard from Phil of Guitarbuild that they will be starting to offer a range of their own bass necks, built themselves. I have no idea of when or how much, but I think there is definitely a place in the market for a British-built medium budget Fender-size necks.

Note - I have no association with Guitarbuild, they have just contacted me because of this thread.

[Annoying Twit]

It would be interesting to know how much they cost. One thing on my radar this year is to build a bass kit. Problem is that there isn't one of the spec and price that I would like. I'm thinking of building a cheap one as is, then replacing bits. When I visualise what I would make it look like, that includes pronounced wood grain under a dark finish with a black pickguard as in the Fender 70's classic walnut strat (or whatever that reissue model name is). None of the kits seem to include a body with pronounced grain or black pick guard. But, I suppose I could build a cheap kit as is, then replace bits on it. I'd prefer a fretless neck as I have two fretted four string basses already, and only an acoustic fretless. So, there's at least some tiny justification for an electric fretless The guitar build bodies are from a choice of woods, and you can select the number of pieces of wood they are made from up to three. So, they seem a good options. The two and three piece bodies seem reasonably priced. And the one piece bodies aren't massively expensive.

If Guitarbuild.co.uk are reading this thread, I'd caution them against using my opinions as evidence as to what they should do from a business perspective. Not many bassists are as stingy as I am!

Back somewhere near the topic of Hamfist's first post: The Custom World Guitar Parts fretless necks are said to have fret dots 'as in the fretted necks'. I interpreted this to mean to say that the fret dots are in the fretted position. Does anyone know what position the fret dots are in?