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FINISHED-ish : Budget P Bass Bitsa Build


PaulThePlug
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After enjoying a bit of faffing with the Harley B Acoustic that came out nice, gonna go up a level.

Budget P Build... so searching the 'bay of eastern dreams' - P'Bay... machine heads, string tree, neck plate, bridge, strap buttons, jack knobs all in the basket and through the check out, strings are gonna be Adagio Flats again, I've PM'd @KiOgon about pots n wire... and even sorted a decal...

Got to finalise the body details, and choose a cheapish neck... Style will be simple... Finish is gonna be plain Danish... Chrome won the Hardware coin toss over Black...

Oh lord what have i done... gonna be back here for advice, but promise to use the search first... Gonna Stand me in more than a Harley B, but will be what i want and some fun, and hopefully not to much pain and frustration to do... Wish me luck...

Edited by PaulThePlug
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...and just 'won' a Jazz Bass 38mm nut, 20 fret, slim maple neck with a flattish radius fretboard in light Vietnamese Rosewood, (make a nice change from the usual darker rosewood, and pair nicely with a light coloured natural body...) Gonna get Lemon Oil on the fretboard and Danish Oil on neck n head...

Fingers crossed they are a nice fit at the neck heel...JBassNeckFront.jpg.af96d6fba6dff4f34d22315dff6f1772.jpgJBassNeckRear.jpg.419edb252dc9ddc24ea0fe9ee49bfce3.jpg

Edited by PaulThePlug
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On 19/07/2021 at 17:43, PaulThePlug said:

light Vietnamese Rosewood,

 

When I was umming and ahhing over an order I didn't complete, I was thinking that these lighter rosewood fretboards would go very nicely with cream or parchment pgs.

 

Not that a pg seems to be the menu here.....oops

 

Edited by Ricky Rioli
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With the emphasis on Budget for the build...

 

Body... ended up with a dink corner on the pickup route, between the two split halves about the D string run... you can just see in the pic, but i didn't notice till it arrived, so got a bit of a discount as a 'seconds' body.

 

Neck... one was on the bay with bids, rather than BIN, you can see a small slight knot on the back [Edit: Total Smooth]... So worked out about half price! Still waiting on delivery... Twas due Thurs-ish... Bloody Herpes!

 

And waiting for all the Chinese Chrome... Gotoh-a-like 201B Bridge, Sandberg-a-like Angled 3 String Tree,  Usual-look "Petal' Machineheads, -gonna give em a twist 'n go with coppa slip to try and smooth the mating surface 'tween cog 'n worm, then clean and dab with vaseline to hopefully get a smooth feel... Also Jackplate 'n Neckplate and Strap Buttons, along Split P pickup with a plain flat, sealed-look cover to arrive...

 

Stands me in about £150ish... So Squier Monies when done... hopefully it plays 'n sounds as good... otherwise i should of just bought a Harley B, Std Black or the 51 and tele'd the head.

Edited by PaulThePlug
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Yep twin--cam... Neck Arrived and it looks good, I like the light Rosewood, given the fretboard a quick lemon oiling, neck an headstock finish is really smooth and i'd say ready for the Danish Oil... Frets shiny and ends good...

Neck / Body join needs a look... Body was listed as 63mm, Neck at 63.8mm, so a knats over... better than under and baggy i spose... When trying to check, my digi verniers keep sliding and giving false readings... But the neck heel profile fit to the body should be quite close.

NeckBody.thumb.jpg.15ec634e2316296bfb378fa4e117e706.jpg

 

Any Luthier or Woodworking Types in the SE / BR6 vacinity? - please shout!

 

Edited by PaulThePlug
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  • 2 weeks later...

Neck join sorted thanks to a local cabinet maker... Looks good at the heel...

Heel.thumb.jpg.cd2ba96df9560dc2f73c9e45afedca21.jpg

I drilled the neck and screwed together...

NeckPlate.thumb.jpg.c71720bb3023805e885ab251a310aeb5.jpg

Fitted the 19mm spacing bridge to the marked holes... String run looks OK, E should be better under proper tension...

StringRun.thumb.jpg.420b263f174dda29921c5d6487ca3c1e.jpg

Getting there... Machine heads next...

Edited by PaulThePlug
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Machine Heads, String-a-like Strings, Sandberg-a-like String Tree and Fender-a-like Decal...

Head.thumb.jpg.8cc05ce1066644d94b95a2d8832755f2.jpg

Dimarzio-a-like Cream Pickup Covers and Gotoh-a-like Bridge...

Body.thumb.jpg.ac97dec7da50d37c1e4efa32528deb88.jpg

Sanding, oiling and/or waxing of the body and neck next...

 

What ya think?.. Any comments, advice, guidance and pointers would be most welcome...

I'm thinking of a Thumb Rest... Cream or Matching Wood?..

Edited by PaulThePlug
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8 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Nice strings 👍 you could call it the Postman Bass ;)

It all arrived by post via the 'bay...

String-Run looks alright-ish... although I might swap the string for elastic for a bit more twang...

Edited by PaulThePlug
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  • 3 weeks later...

Sanded neck n body from 400 to 3000

Still a bit of cutter burn and the Danish Oil dirtyed up the end grain...

Oil.thumb.jpg.947ccc75ee84d6d3d9296138419cc163.jpg

After oiling gave body n neck some Warwick Finishing Wax...

OilWax.thumb.jpg.3eaabcf9ade36e6577f13cfc1c3de57d.jpg

End result is a little warmer finish but still natural rather than a tint or stain, and less anemic looking than when unfinished.

 

Next... Decal 'n String Tree and Machine Heads... Pickups 'n Electrics... Then Neck On, (bit of a 'Neck Screw' issue...) Bridge On (Left the strings in the bridge...)

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  • PaulThePlug changed the title to FINISHED-ish : Budget P Bass Bitsa Build

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