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My first build- J bass ish


Dan_Q
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Hi All,

Quick introduction- I'm more a lurker on here than a chatter- GREAT forum folks keep up the hard work, it's rare I don't find an answer just on a search! Says a lotĀ šŸ‘

During lockdown, one of my jobs was to go through all my instrument parts. I'll be honest- i'm self taught and in the lower realms of ability, so i'm prob more of a modder / collector than a player!Ā So one of my covid jobs was to build something from all the bits, and sort out / tidy the rest.Ā 

One of the parts I came across on my clearout was a cheap P neck (i think it's from a P style as its a wide-ish nut) which I had bought for my beloved old encore. My encore P was my only bass for many years, until it developed a rod buzz at a jam. First knee jerk was to buy a cheap neck to replace on ebay, but I ended up getting GAS (don't we all!) and treated myself to a fender!

Here is said neck:

EFWykHL.jpg

Wind forward to last week, and I see an ad for a pedal I've been after for a while on this very forum. I'm doing the deal then I spot another part for sale on the sellers other threads- an "ebay" J bass body- thanks to @WarPigĀ on this one :)Ā I've never played a J bass, and I don't have a bass with a neck J pickup, so I thought what the hell- lets try and put together a bass with these parts.

XeSAvL9.jpg

I thought I'd start a thread to recordĀ my progress / parts collecting etc, should be fun!Ā šŸ˜€Ā never done a "new" body before either, so i probably have a lot to learn. Progress is never usually quick on these projects but i'll try and update as I go. Any comments / ideas welcomed, good bad or ugly!Ā šŸ‘

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1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

I love a project Iā€™ve done a few myself , and upgraded many of my jazzes over the years , itā€™s great fun , I look forward to seeing your progress ā˜ļø

Thanks man! and cheers for the encoragement. I think i'll be reading a lot in here to see how other have tackled itĀ šŸ‘

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

That looks awfully like pawlownia.Ā 

It is indeed- that's what it was advertised asĀ šŸ‘Ā is thatĀ a good thing or a bad thing? I honestly don't know! maybe i should have researched first :)Ā 

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Oh fcuk.Ā 
see my ā€œOlympic whiteā€ build thread ....

imagine putting a litre of spirits in front of Oliver Reed, thatā€™s how it drinks grain filler, sanding sealer, primer, paint ...

Ā 

one thing you must do ASAP is check the back pup routing. Mine had the lugĀ routing locations From the front pickupĀ 

Ā 

clicky ...Ā 

Ā 

Edited by Geek99
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6 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Oh fcuk.Ā 
see my ā€œOlympic whiteā€ build thread ....

imagine putting a litre of spirits in front of Oliver Reed, thatā€™s how it drinks grain filler, sanding sealer, primer, paint ...

Ā 

one thing you must do ASAP is check the back pup routing. Mine had the lugĀ routing locations From the front pickupĀ 

Ā 

clicky ...Ā 

Ā 

Most excellent! Just had a good read of that, many thanks for taking the time to share it, I've learned a lot! And i think it looked great at the end fellaĀ šŸ‘Ā if my one ends up remotely as good at that i'll be happy- will take it all on board

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Ok - come around to my house and take a really good look. I strongly suggest you checkĀ your pups in the rear pup cavity. I think nitro paint was a mistake, you need something high-build to counteract the grain and itā€™s thirst, that you can actually sand flatĀ 

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12 hours ago, Geek99 said:

Ok - come around to my house and take a really good look. I strongly suggest you checkĀ your pups in the rear pup cavity. I think nitro paint was a mistake, you need something high-build to counteract the grain and itā€™s thirst, that you can actually sand flatĀ 

That I shall do sir- thanks again for the tips. I have a couple of ideas about finish, but i'l very far away from that yet! I do have plenty of car paint to try with hi-build primers etc, and some lovely old shades of british leyland I think i could rock on an instrument, It'll be a fun (if not frustrating!) experiment! And I do appreciate the guidance chap :)Ā 

I did find a control plate on another forum, but alas,Ā missed out by a few hours. That's kinda sh!tt!n before my knickers are down anyways, first thing I need to do is open up the neck pocket to accept the neck I guess.

Is it advisable to do this with pickup, even if it's just a cover, aĀ bridge, and high and low strings on, to ensure good alignment?

Anyone know what a stock heel width is for a fender bass?Ā šŸ¤”Ā Cheers!

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I donā€™t know what parts youā€™ve got yet Dan,Ā but Iā€™ve got a bridge you can have for free that came off a mim fender jazz, the D screw head has a bit of rust but it works fine, Ā Ā if itā€™s any good to you .

66F0EDB9-87EA-4F23-9408-84515FE2F5E4.jpeg

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8 hours ago, Dan_Q said:

That I shall do sir- thanks again for the tips. I have a couple of ideas about finish, but i'l very far away from that yet! I do have plenty of car paint to try with hi-build primers etc, and some lovely old shades of british leyland I think i could rock on an instrument, It'll be a fun (if not frustrating!) experiment! And I do appreciate the guidance chap :)Ā 

I did find a control plate on another forum, but alas,Ā missed out by a few hours. That's kinda sh!tt!n before my knickers are down anyways, first thing I need to do is open up the neck pocket to accept the neck I guess.

Is it advisable to do this with pickup, even if it's just a cover, aĀ bridge, and high and low strings on, to ensure good alignment?

Anyone know what a stock heel width is for a fender bass?Ā šŸ¤”Ā Cheers!

Yes - and fit the screws once youā€™ve got it right, so you can getĀ Ā back to it

I didnā€™t do that and the neck position walkedĀ 

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9 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

I donā€™t know what parts youā€™ve got yet Dan,Ā but Iā€™ve got a bridge you can have for free that came off a mim fender jazz, the D screw head has a bit of rust but it works fine, Ā Ā if itā€™s any good to you .

66F0EDB9-87EA-4F23-9408-84515FE2F5E4.jpeg

Sir, youā€™re a gent- PM incoming šŸ‘

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1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

Yes - and fit the screws once youā€™ve got it right, so you can getĀ Ā back to it

I didnā€™t do that and the neck position walkedĀ 

Great tip thanks man šŸ‘

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not real progress, but progress none the less........ i've picked up a bridge (many thanks @ReggaebassĀ :)Ā ) a pair of pickup covers and some screws, and I've even dug out some old bass strings I should be able to use for alignment etc.

ufxGEos.jpg

First I'll see if the bridge pickup (longer one?) will fit in the route, then tackle opening it up if I need to.

Then it'll be things like openingĀ the neck pocket- quite nervous about that!!! For reference, does anyone know off the top of their heads what a fender p / j bass neck heel width usually is?Ā šŸ¤”Ā 

Thanks for reading,Ā hope to make some progress next week all being well!

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2 hours ago, Dan_Q said:

does anyone know off the top of their heads what a fender p / j bass neck heel width usually is

Hi dan , Iā€™ve measured 4 of my jazzes and they are 64mm but my P is 63mm, the picture is a jazz neck on a p bass šŸ™‚

DD74B6C0-1125-4E8A-9B30-8621C5DB0175.jpeg

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