Luthier assistance with assembling a kit bass.

[Barfy]

Years ago I mentioned to a semi-pro guitarist friend of mine that I would love to put together a bass out of Warmoth parts.

He said "I've seen too many kit basses where it just wasn't right. I'd say, do the electronics yourself because that's the easy part. Have a luthier attach the neck and set everything up for you."

Well, in the interest of minimizing expense--but not at the expense of end-result quality--what's the best way to go? I'm all thumbs when it comes to anything resembling craftsmanship, btw, so I would only want to mess with stuff that's the least likely to get fubarred.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Welcome to TalkBass Barfy.

Thanks for filling out Your personal profile, it makes it considerably easier for people to help You.

As for Your question, there are all sorts of "kit" instruments out there, and IMLE Warmoth kits and individual components are among the best.

I highly doubt that You would have any problems assembling a Warmoth parts bass. From ground up, without any other assistance than what You will recieve over the internet. It's not that hard.

I have no personal experience about Warmoth CS, but from what I've read, it's exellent. You can choose any imaginable combination of parts and if it's possible, they will pre-route everything so there's minimum of hassle.
All that obviously cost's dearly, but everything worthwile does, doesn't it?


You mention cheap crap in your gear list. Is there any one instrument that You can use to experiment on?

Take it completely apart and re-assemble and then do a full setup before burying Yourself into more expensive project.
That's what I'd do if I was just starting out.

Regards
Sam

[bassgod76]

I've done some projects recently, and if this is your first project, I would mod one of my existing, lower cost basses. Maybe you don't want that answer, but it is a fun avenue, and you learn a lot. I made a ton of mistakes on my Joan Rivers P Bass project, but it helped me in subsequent builds.

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[Barfy]

Thanks for the input, guys.

Well, I have a specific "dream bass" in mind with somewhat specific specs, so to speak. (say that five times fast).

Pickups: one, maybe two Darkstar pickups. (Mr. Hammon is still making them, I hope.) I don't even want to attempt that kind of major surgery (routing) on a stock bass. Warmoth would do the custom routs for about 40 bucks a pop, I think.

Neck: as close to a Geddy/Ric as possible. If there aren't any aftermarket necks that fit those specs, I guess it'd have to be a custom job. Warmoth says their necks fit the "62 Jazz" specs, and I wish I had a way of finding out how that would feel in my left hand. As it is, every Fender jazz bass I've ever handed was too chunky for my left hand. Although strangely, the MIM P-bass fits pretty good because of the flat fretboard radius. But I'd prefer something closer to a Geddy because of the tight string spacing.

Everything else would just be run-of-the-mill off-the-shelf parts. Those are the two specific criteria I'm gunning for: Darkstar(s) and the slim Geddy/Ric neck.