Metalmoore Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 (edited) Well I’m going to make this thread even though nothing has started. BUT I will tell you my general plan and keep this up to date with pictures. For now I will tell you my plan and a little background. I have always liked the look and sound of a jazz bass and decided that I would make my own at first it was going to be any old piece of wood and gear off of eBay but "if a job is worth doing its worth doing right" so it's going to be done right with a budget in mind. So at the moment I am shopping for a Jazz unfinished body and a maple jazz neck also unfinished. Got my colour sorted it will be either Daphne Blue, Surf Green, Sonic Blue or Foam Green using white primer and Clear Gloss lacquer from [url="http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/lacquer.html"]here[/url]. Depending on the finish I end up using I will use either a green or blue pearlescent from [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Jazz-Bass-scratch-plate-pick-guard_W0QQitemZ130294614217QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Guitar_Accessories?hash=item130294614217&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1688|66%3A4|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A200"]here[/url] i.e. Blue finish/Green pick guard or Green finish/Blue pick guard as I think it would cool. Pups will be Jazz EMG Selects since they are pretty cheap (£30), thought I might as well get strap locks too and all hardware will be chrome. Unsure on a bridge, knobs on the control plate, if I should use a bridge and pickup cover and was curious about shielding the electronics and making the jack come from the bottom right of the bass instead of the front and maybe use the space left from the jack slot to take a chance and put in a preamp. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated especially tips. EDIT: Changed title description Edited November 7, 2009 by Metalmoore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 if money isn't a huge concern for you, warmoth do some great stuff in the way of unfinished necks and bodies, also allparts do some cool stuff. Mighty mite could also be the way to go for a cheap neck. Get on ebay for that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 [quote name='budget bassist' post='492042' date='May 19 2009, 12:36 AM']if money isn't a huge concern for you, warmoth do some great stuff in the way of unfinished necks and bodies, also allparts do some cool stuff. Mighty mite could also be the way to go for a cheap neck. Get on ebay for that one.[/quote] Wish money wasnt a huge concern, but so far i have priced everything apart from the body and neck to between 160-180 quid inc P&P (which is still kind of a guesstimate) dont wanna spend 250+ really, 300 at a push but i need to know it will sound/play superior to squier and the likes of jazz basses in that price range available in a shop. Of course if i could comfortably afford allparts or warmoth custom body and neck i would get them since i know they are top quality parts. One day when i finish Uni i will get a big bad 6 string made for me that will shake the foundations of my house with sheer power but that day is at least 2+ years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 fair enough! like i say, be on the lookout for mighty mite necks (can be about £60 or so off ebay), or squier necks, in particular the classic vibe or vintage modified ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I picked up an Allparts Jazz neck on the forum here for £60 a couple of years ago! And generally the unfinished ones are cheaper, albeit rarer second hand! Saw an unfinished body in Denmark street the other day (in Hanks I think), routed, £95. Not sure what wood, possibly Alder Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 Well i got my body off of Dangerboy now, so its on the way through the post. So just gotta buy the finish for it and THEN i can start worrying about everything else. Still looking for an unfinished Jazz Maple neck for now as the rest i have located Let the bass building commence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Think you could do better on the pickups for £30, on here or on ebay, if you have plenty of time to have an eye out. Only tried EMG select Jazz bass pickup, but it was uninspiring compared to the Kent Armstrongs and Dimarzios I've used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 I see alot of kents on eBay, most at £30 a peice. But i will most likely be shopping around as the body and finish has not yet arrived and according to the guy who sold the paint it takes 2-3 weeks for the clear coat to set ([url="http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/kitclear.html"]HERE[/url]). Any recommended sites for pups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tut Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I'd def go for the jack socket in the control plate rather than the body side. If ur playing sitting down - it saves the lead getting snagged on the sofa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Just got a Mighty mite maple jazz neck off of eBay, £70 might be a bit much but i really wanted a maple neck. So just gotta get a decent bridge and i can get that marked on the wood and a hole drilled for the earth for the strings to the control cavity. Any recomendations for a good bridge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Got my maple neck and I gotta say she’s great looking and got what I believe to be a Schaller 3D-4 bridge off of a fellow BC'r. Will be buying a set of hipshot ultralite machine heads and also a hipshot ultralite string retainer too after I find out if they will defo fit my neck machine head holes BUT this is gonna cost £70 off of eBay... So maybe a little more thought into it and some looking around for a better deal. Gonna be buying Schaller strap locks too then I believe after that all I need is the electronics and a pick guard, but if anyone can think of anything else I forgot let me know Any thoughts or suggestions would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 (edited) The Hipshot ultralite tuners come in two different sizes, the standard peg-hole size, and the smaller size. If you're buying the standard size, they'll fit into any generic peg-hole size on a neck. If you were cutting the holes yourself from a blank headstock, then you could go for the smaller ones! Si p.s. I used the standard sized Ultralites on my Jazz project and they're fantastic Edited June 19, 2009 by Sibob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 Well i bought everything else i needed last night which was my pickguard, Audere JZ3 preamp, wizard 84's and schaller strap locks. I bought the hipshots and the bushings that came with it are like 1-2mm too small but once they are properly fitted clamped down they will be fine. So hopefully by the end of the week i will have all i need for a great Jazz bass. So far i have sanded the body with 120->240->320->very fine wire wool and used grain filler but unsure if i have filled all the grain so i will be trying to fill the grain again in a few days just to make sure, is there any technique that i can use to make sure i do it properly and/or can see it's filled properly? Gotta get the 4 holes in the neck drilled so i can work out where the bridge goes and get the bridge->cavity ground hole drilled then. But do i drill ALL my holes before i paint it or after? i.e. pickguard, control plate, strap locks holes drilled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 Any advice on drilling ALL my holes before the paintjob? I will be doing the bridge holes tonight to make sure the pups and strings all align properly. still no paintjob yet BUT i do have everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 FWIW I drilled control plate, & strap lock holes after I had done the paint job and don't have a pickguard anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share Posted July 4, 2009 thanks yorks5stringer. next im gonna do all my paint job , its a real pain because i really do hate grainfilling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Latest pics of the body waiting to be wet sanded with 600 and 1000 grade and then polished up. Made a post inquiring about what polish i should use. Looking for it to be as shiny as possible [attachment=35126:DSC00029.JPG] [attachment=35125:DSC00028.JPG] PS Sorry about the quality of the pictures, but i used my phone to take the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 looks great, what colour is that you've used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Daphne blue from manchester guitar tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 is the photo representative of the colour in real life? it looks like a really nice shade - I'm thinking of something like that or possibly sonic blue for mine, but I've seen some examples of daphne blue that were considerably stronger shades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 I think the picture's are the same as real life. On steve's (manchester guitar tech) website iirc there is an example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Well i have got all my wet and dry sandpaper (a bit too much if i must admit : 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grade all at least 4 A4 sheets) and just waiting for my Autoglym and some copper tape and the body should be ready to pop everything in. Got through the 600 and 800 today and will get the rest done tomorrow morning and hopefully the Royal mail bring me my tape and Autoglym so i can get this thing finished by friday. Only one problem... the finish is not perfect, i think i may have taken bits of the gloss off and at one bit a tiny bit of primer can be seem. At this moment i dont care as i have ran out of paint and money to redo it. But instead if it annoys me in 6 months time after uni i will redo the finish and make sure i get it perfect. Apart from this everything is great. Thing that annoys me the most about this project is i started it way back in the middle of may... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted November 7, 2009 Author Share Posted November 7, 2009 After 6 months of on and off work and a week of powering through it (was up til 2am this morning sorting out all the electronics and making sure everything was the way it should be inc. a slight setup) its done now and i gotta say im very happy with it. Finish might not be perfect with some primer showing at some bits on the side, the string retainer might not be perfectly horizontal, the pickguard is also not in the prime location but all these things i can live with. [attachment=35911:Jazz_Bass.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightball Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 [quote name='Metalmoore' post='647906' date='Nov 7 2009, 10:16 AM']After 6 months of on and off work and a week of powering through it (was up til 2am this morning sorting out all the electronics and making sure everything was the way it should be inc. a slight setup) its done now and i gotta say im very happy with it. Finish might not be perfect with some primer showing at some bits on the side, the string retainer might not be perfectly horizontal, the pickguard is also not in the prime location but all these things i can live with. [attachment=35911:Jazz_Bass.jpg][/quote] looks great moore! gotta love the custom colours on a jazz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 [quote name='eightball' post='648028' date='Nov 7 2009, 12:58 PM']looks great moore! gotta love the custom colours on a jazz![/quote] +1, good work mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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