NBD: A collection of P-bass parts.

[MrFingers]

A while back, I found a hodgepodge with a Fender Roger Waters Precision Bass neck ‘deep in Wallonia’ for a véry good price, and I was already toying with the idea of adding a second P for a while. After some very intense searching, I stumbled on a dusty Italian webshop, where I found an Allparts PBF-CAR body (a colour that has been out of the range for a while). Then I started gathering some parts left & right, with the aim of creating a '64-'66 hybrid without breaking the back.

 

A day with an assortment of screwdrivers, measuring devices and a soldering iron later, this is what came out. It's quite a fierce one. Where my white one with flatwounds sounds very warm and fat, this one sounds diametrically opposite: angry, fierce, raunchy and punchy. I'm happy with it... although I'm still itching for a neck with a veneer rosewood fingerboard, and that neck on a Slab66 body. With flatwounds on this one, and rounds on the '66.

 

- Neck: Fender Roger Waters (44.5mm nut width, maple cap, vintage frets)
- Tuners: Gotoh FB-30-LP (the full-size tuners with the large mounting plate)
- Body: Allparts PBF-CAR (Alder. CAR with a silver-coloured undercoat)
- Pickguard: Fender '62RI (stark white, not mint green)
- Pickup: Fender Vintera II '60 (I was very surprised at how good those Vintera '60 P-basses sounded. The intention is to bake in a greybobbin in the future, but this pickup is also extremely good, much better than the Vintera '50)
- Covers: Fender ‘Pure Vintage’ (I wouldn't be me if I didn't install measures to restrict playing freedom on my instrument, I just removed them for the photo-opp)
- Bridge: Fender ‘Pure Vintage’

- Wiring: Homemade with CTS, clothwire, Orangedrop,...

 

 

[Beedster]

That's a very high quality bass 👍

[Magister Ludi]

That I like very much (Punchy)......'Deep in Wallonia' LOL

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Those RW necks are maple cap, which in my experience gives a very distinctive top-end aggression to the tone. Fender used maple cap necks on the UK Slab basses in the 60s, if you weren't already aware!

 

That's one killer bass you have there, give me a shout if you feel like moving it on 😆

[MrFingers]

Given they have the same neckpocket-interface, I tested it via a neck swap. That maple cap makes it way more raunchy, even on the warm PV-pickup.