Are there any luthiers who build replacement bodies?

[wdinc01]

I hope I'm not breaking any rules, although I'm not really asking people to name their price, just want some names to check out.

Anyway, I plan on getting my first six string bass soon. It's a used US made Washburn at my local Guitar Center, and at a very low price! Of course, there must be something wrong with it, which there is. According to them, the truss rod is stripped, so it's not very possible to set it or anything. I'm a little surprised about how upfront they were about this, but I guess it's a good thing!

As far as I can tell, it's still very playable, and from what I want, a very good bass! But should the bass decide it just doesn't want to live up anymore, are there any luthiers I'd be able to turn to to get a replacement neck and body? Probably a custom design. I don't really want to try my hand at making basses with this, although it'd just be a matter of moving over all the hardware and electronics (the pick ups on this thing sound great!). Any people I should check out? Someone close to Jacksonville, maybe, or one of our fellow TalkBassers?

Thanks in advance for any/all help!

P.S. If there is someone on here who'd be willing to offer a service, please shoot me a PM and we can discuss it.

[SDB Guitars]

Many builders will allow you to supply hardware and electronics with the understanding that they won't cover that part under their warranty. I recall living in Oklahoma City, and having "Honest" Ron Lira (an AMAZING guy...) make a new body for use with a neck/electronics that I had... he did great work.

So, I guess the answer is, yes, there are some builders who will do it. Will *all* of them? Probably not. I've done it a couple of times. Not as much profit in it, but it was for a friend in need... so profit wasn't an issue.

[tjclem]

Is Deland close enough?

[wdinc01]

Definitely! I think my high school plays Deland in football.

[wdinc01]

I'm giving this a bump. It seems that I could actually just replace the neck, because at the time of posting, I thought it was set neck.

And is there anything that can be done neck wise to make the B-string tighter?

[SDB Guitars]

um... increase scale length, although that means moving your bridge, too...

Alternately, you could use higher gauge strings. That will increase the tension similarly to increasing scale length.

To maintain vibrational equal frequency but increase tension, you must either increase string diameter or scale length.