long time member, first thread.
a brief history:
i've been playing music since the 5th grade, been working on guitars and basses since i was about 17, studied music in college, have played in bands since about 16, did live sound professionally for about 5 years, then went back to just playing.
i think of myself more as a hotrodder than a luthier. i've built bodies from scratch, and have done most of my own repairs. i just feel there is a distinction, having studied with a true guitar building master, i now know i don't aspire to that. what i do is to make some nice guitars/basses either from acquired parts, or from a select few homemade efforts. i usually mod as opposed to build.
anyways, my current project is called frankenbacker. basically it's a bass with fender ergos, and rickenbacker ethos. i'll be using a maple body cut to a j shape with no contours (homemade). a maple neck (either the g&l i have laying around, or maybe something else). custom pups from vintage vibe guitars. badass 2 bridge. controls will be stack pots like an old j. i'm not really shooting for exact, just essence. i love the old school hifi tone my 73 ricky has.
i just can't play it for very long due to the ergonomics. love the tone, just not the feel.
the pups will be spaced like they are on the ric, but the pups themselves are HB sized, that way i can try some others in there if these aren't doing it for me, we'll see. i did talk to pete at VVG for quite a bit about the materials i'd be using and what i was wanting to achieve. he then wound me up a set of pups. a charlie christian type in the bridge
and what he calls "jack"
here is a dirty mock up shot
i think i'll try to meld the ric guard with the j, but i know for sure i'll use a standard j control plate.
sorry about the bad pics, i'm just not a photographer. i'll post more as things progress.
