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Covid Stuck-at-home P-Bass build.


kevin_lindsay
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I was bored, so I bought a body and neck, plus the hardware, to create a new P-Bass for my collection. 

P-Bass body and neck (with a fantastic neck pocket join. 

Gotoh "lollipop" tuners

EMG active P-Bass pickup. 

Gotoh battery box 

Fender '58 True Vintage bridge

Off-white pickguard

Nitrocellulose lacquer: white primer, Seafoam Green colour coat, clear gloss topcoat for body and neck. 

I spent an evening sanding the neck to a super smooth finish, scraped the fingerboard to get it really smooth to the touch, rolled the fingerboard edges, and smoothed off the fret ends so that the neck feels really comfortable in my hand when playing. 

Grain filling the body wood was a real pain, but it's worth it to ensure that the colour finish is super smooth. 

EMG active pickups - did you know that they don't utilise an earth wire from the bridge as happens with passive pickups? I installed an earth wire anyhow, but just left the wire in the control cavity (so that it's there if I ever decide to change the pickup). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by kevin_lindsay
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As an aside, I spent hours doing the fretwork on the neck. When the neck arrived, the fret ends were filed at a 45 degree angle, with sharp edges. 

I did a light fretstone to level the playing surface. I then smoothed off the fret ends, and got rid of all the sharp points. I also rolled the fingerboard edges. 

The fingerboard was the nourishes with lemon oil, and left overnight. It was then buffed to a smooth feel. 

The end result is a really comfortable neck to play. 

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Thanks. It sounds really cool. And, it's very light so it'll be comfortable over a gig length set. 

In regards to the sound: when I assembled the bass and plugged in to my amp for the first time, I turned the volume and tone up full, and hit a note....... Silence!! 

Aaagh!! I was preparing myself for the inevitable disassembling, and troubleshooting. Then I realised that I hadn't put the 9v battery into the battery compartment on the rear of the Bass! I corrected this, and the bass rang out loud and clear. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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