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‘72 style P Bass Kit Build finally FINISHED!!!


Jimothey

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Hi

i going to do my first kit build, I bought a standard P bass kit but I’m probably going to modify it into either a Mike Dirt ‘51 style P bass or I might do it in a ‘72 P bass style as I’ve already got a standard P bass 

Either one I choose I’ve got to fill the pickup cavity to re-rout them to neaten them up as both pickguards won’t cover 

Because the body shapes are different I can just go and buy a ‘51 or ‘72 style pickguard I’m mocking up them at the moment to see if I can make a decision to which style I prefer 

The body is Basswood so I’ve got some on order to fill the cavities 

Which one does everyone prefer?92F7B38A-C958-4FC1-A467-30B57AE4A1DB.thumb.jpeg.bf169161d005373f841422581ad7de37.jpeg8D8569A2-E413-4574-BAC2-6FEDA3ECA232.thumb.jpeg.f36d9f2a74e9f031bda44aee4b9e1113.jpeg

Edited by Jimothey
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Do you mean the ‘51 style? that’s the one I’m swaying more towards 

It will look a bit like this one when I’m finished but it won’t have a plain white pickguard on it, a different shaped headstock and I might change the dots for MOP blocks instead I haven’t quite decided yet

 

64945254-C591-4AA1-B541-B763428B9B38.thumb.jpeg.84ccffbf5f495ce7c679ca6291420217.jpeg

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4 hours ago, Bigwan said:

Hmmm... Think I'd "do an Andy" and put a top on it... Or buy the body you want. Filling those routes is never going to be pretty...

I was considering that but I was thinking how it was going to look with the neck pocket because I would have to pack the neck up the same thickness as the top veneer but would that make the back look a bit odd? 

But I’m a carpenter/furniture maker by trade so making a good job of filling the cavities won’t be a problem because it’s going to have a painted finish anyway if I was going to leave it natural that would be a different story 

Wheres the fun in just buying a ready made body!?!

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14 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

But I’m a carpenter/furniture maker by trade so making a good job of filling the cavities won’t be a problem because it’s going to have a painted finish anyway if I was going to leave it natural that would be a different story 

Wheres the fun in just buying a ready made body!?!

Ah ha! No problem to a man of your caliber then!

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I'd say the one on the right too - but mainly cos I have several of the later shaped Precisions already! lol
I was going to point out that filling the cavities might prove tricky too - but as you're a carpenter, that'll be no problem for you.
In fact, you may even get some requests from other BC'ers when they see your final result ;)

Was this a kit from a shop on ebay?
I ask because I'm possibly looking for a Jazz body, and they had one I was thinking about getting..... and wouldn't mind knowing what their quality is like?

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14 minutes ago, Marc S said:

I'd say the one on the right too - but mainly cos I have several of the later shaped Precisions already! lol
I was going to point out that filling the cavities might prove tricky too - but as you're a carpenter, that'll be no problem for you.
In fact, you may even get some requests from other BC'ers when they see your final result ;)

Was this a kit from a shop on ebay?
I ask because I'm possibly looking for a Jazz body, and they had one I was thinking about getting..... and wouldn't mind knowing what their quality is like?

At the moment I’m trying to get enough money behind me to do a luthiers course because that’s what I really want to be doing but I thought I’d have a bit of fun with the kit builds 

Yeah this kits off eBay got it for a steal £40 it was listed under “Base guitar kit” so not many people looked at it the neck is straight I will need to sort the frets on it buts it’s all a learning experience but at the end of the day you get what you pay for and you can always upgrade the hardware over time 

I’ve got a Jazz bass kit that I got off eBay that I’m going to do next it only cost me £70 and the body is better (it’s really light) and the neck is nice a straight and surprisingly the frets are ok on it when I checked it with my rocker and it looks like only 2 need filing a bit

If you want a top quality bass then kits aren’t for you but if you just want a bit of fun making your own bass then kits are great 

Once I’ve got my workshop back up and running then I will do a scratch build of my own design 

Edited by Jimothey
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1 hour ago, Jimothey said:

I was considering that but I was thinking how it was going to look with the neck pocket because I would have to pack the neck up the same thickness as the top veneer but would that make the back look a bit odd? 

But I’m a carpenter/furniture maker by trade so making a good job of filling the cavities won’t be a problem because it’s going to have a painted finish anyway if I was going to leave it natural that would be a different story 

Wheres the fun in just buying a ready made body!?!

As you say, you are planning paint finish therefore no real issue.  Having said that, if you did want to veneer the top, it is only adding 0.6mm and therefore you wouldn't need to do anything to the neck pocket at all...

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12 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

As you say, you are planning paint finish therefore no real issue.  Having said that, if you did want to veneer the top, it is only adding 0.6mm and therefore you wouldn't need to do anything to the neck pocket at all...

Sorry I was having a blonde moment I thought Bigwan meant doing more like an overlay (7-10mm thick veneer) then edge binding it rather than just filling the cavities then veneering the top 

Brain is now engaged!?!

Edited by Jimothey
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1 hour ago, Jimothey said:

Sorry I was having a blonde moment I thought Bigwan meant doing more like an overlay (7-10mm thick veneer) then edge binding it rather than just filling the cavities then veneering the top 

Brain is now engaged!?!

I'm glad yours is...mine disengaged a decade ago and hasn't re-engaged since xD

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  • 1 month later...

I’ve finally started it now, I’ve cut the headstock and I decided to stain the neck to a walnut-ish colour so I’ve just done that got a few more coats to get on it so it darkens a bit more then flatten it and then clear coat it

9AB28F9C-BEB7-46E4-A968-2D634DE7E808.thumb.jpeg.51165893790c84b3542eb5adb5099fc8.jpegFD2BB65C-0088-4989-A2D7-2AF878CBFDB5.thumb.jpeg.bf1ad9da8c4753d6233a1ae2fda68762.jpeg

Hopefully after Christmas I’ll get started on the body filling and re routing the cavities!?! But I’m going away from the Black body and I’m swaying more towards either Dakota Red (with Cream pickguard) or Aged Vintage White (with Black pickguard) I do like Butterscotch but I’ve seen lots of them done that colour recently?

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11 hours ago, Jimothey said:

I’ve finally started it now, I’ve cut the headstock and I decided to stain the neck to a walnut-ish colour so I’ve just done that got a few more coats to get on it so it darkens a bit more then flatten it and then clear coat it

9AB28F9C-BEB7-46E4-A968-2D634DE7E808.thumb.jpeg.51165893790c84b3542eb5adb5099fc8.jpegFD2BB65C-0088-4989-A2D7-2AF878CBFDB5.thumb.jpeg.bf1ad9da8c4753d6233a1ae2fda68762.jpeg

Hopefully after Christmas I’ll get started on the body filling and re routing the cavities!?! But I’m going away from the Black body and I’m swaying more towards either Dakota Red (with Cream pickguard) or Aged Vintage White (with Black pickguard) I do like Butterscotch but I’ve seen lots of them done that colour recently?

Ooooooooh...Dakota red and Cream.  We'd be into little red corvette territory....sounds perfect :)

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That’s the template done for filling in the cavities 

BF734375-EAD2-4369-97FA-8DC5EF4F6173.thumb.jpeg.8ff9dbe603794206d0b12fb6de1bcc80.jpeg

Now just to transfer it on to some timber and get it glued up, sanded and filled then I can re-rout the pickup and control plate cavities get it all sanded lovely and smooth then think about spraying the body

Ive decided on a Pearlescent Diablo Red finish, I’ve ordered a Cream pickguard blank (well polypropylene sheet virtually the same thing and a damn site cheaper) so as soon as that turns up I’ll cut the pickguard and start trying to get it together 

Then on to the Jazz Bass!!!!! 

Edited by Jimothey
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4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Excellent!

I’ve seen a few pics of 51/55 p basses without a pickguard and I think it looks quite good

5058CD0D-C39E-40DE-B282-53B6EE230819.jpeg.705d090c7f86049164f33f7af84e5fd4.jpeg

I don’t know how it will look red with walnut-ish neck and chrome control plate whether it will look a bit bland?

Edited by Jimothey
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10 hours ago, Jimothey said:

I’ve seen a few pics of 51/55 p basses without a pickguard and I think it looks quite good

5058CD0D-C39E-40DE-B282-53B6EE230819.jpeg.705d090c7f86049164f33f7af84e5fd4.jpeg

I don’t know how it will look red with walnut-ish neck and chrome control plate whether it will look a bit bland?

Not at all bland to my eye.  Both options would work well IMHO...

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2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Not at all bland to my eye.  Both options would work well IMHO...

I’m just thinking that it’s slightly different but I would want to recess the control plate so it’s flush with the body but I spose I can just screw it on top to start with and decide once I’ve painted it whether or not to put the pickguard on

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  • 2 weeks later...

Managed to get a bit more done today, cut out the timber to fill the cavity

 3AFE8455-28A7-48EB-9E68-8291DF60836E.thumb.jpeg.448cc3a45ea2394b78434d3e18d71a01.jpeg

Then glued it up and filled it I’ve decided to do a ‘72ish style so I’ve left part of the cavity not filled to make my life a bit easier

6CA75E18-33D0-42E3-ACD7-023F64C791AC.thumb.jpeg.3dd371121ca991452b88fd0164dd55cc.jpeg

I cut the out the pickguard out of some 2mm MDF I had kicking about which I’m going to paint cream 

 

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And I’ve now done 4 coats on the neck so now I’ve got to flatten it then give it a polish

 6FF12997-CB47-4C0A-8B65-8BF6D4F46EE4.thumb.jpeg.d1f73d30a23f0a077c10ba1f4444c1ad.jpeg

It’s getting there just got to re-rout the pickup cavity then paint the body 

Edited by Jimothey
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