The next build….walnut Jazz bass

[Silky999]

Just waiting for @HeadlessBassist graphite neck to come from China so I can put together. It is due imminently.

[HeadlessBassist]

@Silky999 just received the graphite neck today, so now the build starts in earnest. Within a week or two we'll hopefully have a complete instrument.

 

The specs will be:

 

Single piece MGCS Basses Walnut Jazz Body

AUROK Graphite Jazz Neck (courtesy of @Kiwi)

Fender Pure Vintage 66 Single Coil Pickups

Gotoh high mass black vintage bridge

Gotoh black lollipop tuners

Black control plate/hardware with 500k pots

 

Possible additions will be a John East J-Tone control plate/preamp.

 

[Kiwi]

I'm looking forward to hearing some sound clips!

[Silky999]

So some minor levelling, dressing and polishing up of @Kiwi fantastic neck aided by the Frtlzr system. @Kiwi the neck really is a joy to work on.
 

If you haven’t invested in a Frtlzr yet, its well worth it as it makes polishing and spot levelling so much easier!

 

Getting the neck ready to mount on @HeadlessBassist custom walnut body. 
 

 

Edited January 19 by Silky999

[Phaedrus01]

Really lovely neat work. Will be posting the neck I purchased to a build thread soon just waiting for all the parts to arrive. Needless to say very happy! Kiwi did a great job

[Phaedrus01]

Sorry for my ignorance but what is a Frtlyzer system?

[Silky999]

2 hours ago, Phaedrus01 said:

Sorry for my ignorance but what is a Frtlyzer system?

my fault, I should’ve put a link…..

 

https://www.frtlzr.com

[JPJ]

11 hours ago, Phaedrus01 said:

Sorry for my ignorance but what is a Frtlyzer system?

Look up Milehouse Studios on YouTube, but if you are easily offended probably best you don’t 😂

[Silky999]

Neck pocket has had it finally adjustment for @Kiwi graphite neck and cavity channels drilled ready for pickup wires and earths. 
 

@HeadlessBassist bass is starting to look…well….bass-like. 
 

Bum puckering drilling for the neck threaded inserts planned for the weekend😬. 

[Kiwi]

That is a nice bit of walnut. What finish did you use on the body?

[Silky999]

It’s polyurethane sprayed on.

[Silky999]

The bum - puckering drilling done today in @HeadlessBassist graphite neck sourced from @Kiwi.

 

My advice for anyone doing this for their own neck…..pillar drill set at slowest speed, new sharp cobalt drill bit which was 9.5mm to fit the supplied threaded inserts. I did some test holes into scrap wood to get the drill size and technique. Make sure the drill bit doesn’t get hot and clear the swarf regularly during drilling as this can generate heat. Holes are slightly chamfered/countersunk so the inserts are under the neck surface to make the joint completely flat. 
 

The machine screws supplied with the neck are M5 but are torx headed. A couple of these rounded off so I am replacing with M5 x 40mm Philips head. 
 

Tuner mounting screws and tree string screw should also be machine screws and into inserts.

 

 

 

 

[Kiwi]

11 hours ago, Silky999 said:

The machine screws supplied with the neck are M5 but are torx headed. A couple of these rounded off so I am replacing with M5 x 40mm Philips head. 

Noted.  The screws are made from high carbon steel but if parts are misaligned before tightening or the hole is too small, stripping is still a risk.

[Silky999]

It’s nearly done!

[WalMan]

On 31/08/2025 at 19:25, HeadlessBassist said:

 

Ooh, is that for me..? It might go very well with the eventual Kiwi-produced Graphite Neck.

 

Is that cut from one piece (rather than the usual two pieces joined?) If so, it's going to resonate very well!

 

I was just spinning down the thread and thought similar, though I have a P and MM pup to use that I need a body for. Then again I started off thinking all black ‘stealth’ mode

[Silky999]

3 hours ago, WalMan said:

I was just spinning down the thread and thought similar, though I have a P and MM pup to use that I need a body for. Then again I started off thinking all black ‘stealth’ mode

This one’s a customer commission, so the customer is always right… unless it’s truly horrific, at which point we pause, laugh nervously, and then have a sensible conversation about why maybe we shouldn’t do that.

 

I always try to use one-piece bodies where I can — so far, that’s been the case on all my builds — as it forms the main structural backbone of the instrument. I’m perfectly happy with a two-piece drop-top, but I like the core of the bass to be a single slab if possible. Entirely unnecessary? Possibly. Deeply satisfying? Absolutely.

 

A P/MM in full stealth black is still whispering bad ideas in my ear though…I found this matt black nitro paint from a paint brand I’ve used before and think it might make an amazing finish on a bass;

 

https://ebay.us/m/3sJlTs

 

Paired with either a full matt or satin nitro clearcoat🤔
 

You know where I am if you feel the need to. 😄

Edited Wednesday at 19:54 by Silky999

[Silky999]

Final update – walnut body / graphite neck Jazz bass

 

Thought I’d close this thread off as the bass is now finished and heading home to @HeadlessBassist

 

Solid walnut body, finished simply to let the wood speak for itself, paired with a full graphite neck for stability and consistency. Classic Jazz layout, clean hardware fit, and set up to play properly straight out of the case.

 

This one’s been a good reminder that while graphite necks are brilliant, they come with their own rules. No compression, no forgiveness, and no tolerance for “that’ll probably be fine”. Everything from drilling to mounting hardware needs thinking through properly. Do that, and the reward is a neck that just doesn’t move and quietly gets on with the job.

 

There were a few moments along the way where it tried to turn into a learning experience, but it all came back together in the end. Structurally solid, cosmetically clean, and exactly what the customer was after. The tuners are on upside down but @HeadlessBassist decided that returning them to swap for the correct orientation was a faff so we made it work! Just the bridge pickup screws to swap for black ones when they arrive tomorrow.

 

Why the strings don’t run between the pickup poles when i used a template to route is annoying but it doesn’t affect the sound and the bass sounds phenomenal especially with the tone rolled off. Very clear and quite a lot of mids and highs. 

 

Thanks to those who followed along and chipped in — always appreciated.

On to the next build.

[HeadlessBassist]

Many thanks to both @Silky999 & @Kiwi for all their hard work on this - it's the culmination of about a year of developing ideas which started off with my reserving one of Kiwi's first batch of Jazz necks, and originally planning to put it on Silky999's Nitro Prototype Daphne Blue Jazz, and then I happened to spot his Walnut Jazz body thread. What followed was a long haul wait for the neck to be developed and shipped, followed by lots of shopping for parts. I decided not to cheap out, so we've got Fender Pure Vintage 66 Pickups, Gotoh Lollipop Tuners and a high mass Gotoh Bridge, amongst lots of other nice bits. The last stage will be to decide whether to put a John East J-Tone preamp plate into it.

 

Thanks again both of you for all your amazing hard work!

 

@HeadlessBassist

[Kiwi]

Ermighad!  That's a stunner and it came together pretty quickly.   

How does it SOUND though?!  Do you have any video clips?

[JPJ]

Now if ever there was a bass deserving of a see-thru Perspex pickguard, it’s this one. That walnut is simply stunning. Congratulations on a fantastic job. 

[BassTool]

2 hours ago, JPJ said:

Now if ever there was a bass deserving of a see-thru Perspex pickguard, it’s this one. That walnut is simply stunning. Congratulations on a fantastic job. 

Agree, I couldn't cover up that beautiful grain either 👍🏼

[Silky999]

Great day in the workshop today.

 

@HeadlessBassist popped over to collect his bass and we finally got to hear it properly through my Blackstar Unity 500 combo.

 

Up to now I’d only heard it through headphones and already thought it sounded sublime… but through the combo? Superb. Genuinely one of those moments where you stop playing and just look at each other.

 

For a passive Jazz it sounded almost active — but there isn’t a battery anywhere near it. Big, thumpy low end, proper growl when you dig in, and a clarity that just sits right.

 

Soloing the rear pickup was a bit of a revelation too — loads of honk and that almost-slap snap even when played fingerstyle. Properly responsive and alive.

 

Hopefully @headlessbassist will add some sound clips at some point, as he’s much better at that stuff than I am 😄

 

I honestly think it shocked both of us how good it was — always a nice surprise when a build exceeds expectations, even when you’re hoping it will.

 

Cracking way to end the day.

[BassTool]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 great result! 👍🏼

[HeadlessBassist]

9 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Ermighad!  That's a stunner and it came together pretty quickly.   

How does it SOUND though?!  Do you have any video clips?

 

Coming soon (probably tomorrow) to a Kiwi near you - I'll just say that you're going to be mightily impressed! (PM coming this evening too...)