Just finished this up for thiSNsucks. Of course everyone wants a Steve Harris P Bass but without Fender making any more, what is a young metalhead to do? You do what SM did and roll yer own - or have a bud roll it for you! 
This was also a chance for me to test an idea that I've had but no subject to try it on. I've wanted to take a standard instrument and build it specifically for "metal" by using threaded inserts for all of the critical connections. Here's where I got my chance. Mostly this would be for sonic coupling but also for strength in the usual week places. End grains are notorious for not holding screws and I've got that solved. The bridge has brass inserts buried deep in the body and is held in place with stainless steel machine screws. Of course the same is true of the neck - like everyone knows I like to do. But I also put the straplocks on with them. They are attached with 1" screws and glued in inserts that will never give up. Try to get that on your standard Fender.
The neck was bought by TS to replace the rosewood that originally came with the SPB-62. Unfortunately, I had to give it a fret leveling and dressing to get it up to par for the optimum setup but it worked out well. TS is going to really dig the fretjob over the usual SX. It's got Gotoh nickel plated tuners and a deep carved phenolic nut. The neck came unfinished so it also entailed a complete poly clearcoat to get it rock ready...
The rest of the hardware is pretty much standard for what you would see on the Fender version - Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder Pup and a Quan BA II bridge. I added the custom knobs to match the pickguard. They are black phenolic with setscrews. The electronics are all high quality parts from Guitar Electronics and the entire cavity is shielded. I also made a brass ground plate like the original Fenders had - just for kicks. The bass is topped off with all stainless steel hardware so there won't be any rusting from the sweat this bad boy is going to generate.
I had a great time working with Henry. He was patient with my delays and worked with me when I had suggestions and bad news. All in all it turned out to be a good project and a superior result.
This bass kicks major Fender booty!!
This was also a chance for me to test an idea that I've had but no subject to try it on. I've wanted to take a standard instrument and build it specifically for "metal" by using threaded inserts for all of the critical connections. Here's where I got my chance. Mostly this would be for sonic coupling but also for strength in the usual week places. End grains are notorious for not holding screws and I've got that solved. The bridge has brass inserts buried deep in the body and is held in place with stainless steel machine screws. Of course the same is true of the neck - like everyone knows I like to do. But I also put the straplocks on with them. They are attached with 1" screws and glued in inserts that will never give up. Try to get that on your standard Fender.
The neck was bought by TS to replace the rosewood that originally came with the SPB-62. Unfortunately, I had to give it a fret leveling and dressing to get it up to par for the optimum setup but it worked out well. TS is going to really dig the fretjob over the usual SX. It's got Gotoh nickel plated tuners and a deep carved phenolic nut. The neck came unfinished so it also entailed a complete poly clearcoat to get it rock ready...
The rest of the hardware is pretty much standard for what you would see on the Fender version - Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder Pup and a Quan BA II bridge. I added the custom knobs to match the pickguard. They are black phenolic with setscrews. The electronics are all high quality parts from Guitar Electronics and the entire cavity is shielded. I also made a brass ground plate like the original Fenders had - just for kicks. The bass is topped off with all stainless steel hardware so there won't be any rusting from the sweat this bad boy is going to generate.
I had a great time working with Henry. He was patient with my delays and worked with me when I had suggestions and bad news. All in all it turned out to be a good project and a superior result.
This bass kicks major Fender booty!!
