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30" scale Telecaster/ Esquire bass build (pics)

#41
Getting the pickup set right was more involved than I expected.

I made a little spacer from scrap and will use a small layer of open cell foam for height adjustment.

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Once test fit I can shield the pocket. I started with one piece as the floor and added strips to the sides to finish it off.
I did tie the ground to the control cavity with a short bit of wire through an extra wiring hole. The Humbucking Fralin split coil pick up will not need the extra shielding but I am doing it as practice because I have never shielded a guitar before.
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Now that it’s shielded I can finalize the PU. I used black dye to dye the wooden spacer so it darkens any reflections off the foil in the pocket. It’s just an esthetic but hell, this whole bass is esthetic.

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Here's the teaser.
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Almost there. More to come.


JR
 
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#43
I did almost the same 1 year ago:

first i bought a cheap Jazz bass(for the Neck) and a Telecaster DIY pakket(for the body).

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Sold the body and the bridge pickup and used the neck pickup in a other bass.

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The Neck on the body.
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then painting:
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and making a twin for my friend so he could build a guitar:
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bought a pickgaurd and cutted it and this is how it looks now:

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but it has a very bad neck dive that the only problem thats why there are Grolsch bottle rings on it(that red thing so you strap does go of)

*Telecaster guitar body
Jazz Bass neck
guitarfetish tort pickgaurd
EMG MMTW pickup
:bassist::hyper:
 
#46
Dadagoboi said:
Not that much. There's a reason Fender didn't make a Tele/Esquire bass in '51 and hasn't since. Neck dive can be made manageable on the 30" scale but not a 34" IMO.
Click to expand...
Didn't say it would cure it, but it will help it. It cures it on a P-bass. Traditional large Fender "elephant ear" tuners weigh @ 4 ounces each, so there's an entire pound of hardware up there. The Hipshot ultralights weigh only @ 2 ounces each (I measured them myself). Now, I'll take a full half-pound of weight savings any day, regardless of the scale length. My shoulder thanks me every time I strap it on.
 
#47
iiipopes said:
Didn't say it would cure it, but it will help it. It cures it on a P-bass. Traditional large Fender "elephant ear" tuners weigh @ 4 ounces each, so there's an entire pound of hardware up there. The Hipshot ultralights weigh only @ 2 ounces each (I measured them myself). Now, I'll take a full half-pound of weight savings any day, regardless of the scale length. My shoulder thanks me every time I strap it on.
Click to expand...

P basses don't neck dive, even with a swamp ash body. The strap button is at the twelfth fret, that's the ultimate cure for dive. Weight is another story. I use both Ultralites and Resolites on my builds as well as traditional Kluson style tuners.

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#49
R0T0R said:
Cool project. Did you paint over a double bound body?

JR
Click to expand...

Yes, if you look close to where it was(not on the picture) you can see that there is something under it. First i wanted the double bound body with this color, but i didnt know or it looked goid with the tort pickgaurd.
i still have the black pickgaurd but it doesnt look so good, wrong cutted but with black it will look nice i think.
 
#50
Dadagoboi said:
...The strap button is at the twelfth fret, that's the ultimate cure for dive. Weight is another story....
Click to expand...
Indeed. That was a main reason that Leo developed the offset double cutaway body in the first place, first on the P-bass, then on the Strat. But those Ultralights do help and also look good. If they had been available sixty years ago, I'm sure Leo would have used them. Also remember that the first tuners were modified double bass tuners, so going from mounting them on a peg box with the key facing the rear to mounting them on a headstock with the key facing the side, for the first few years, before demand was such that the company making them could justify re-tooling, the worms had the opposite helix, and you turned them "backwards" to tune up.
 
#51
OK it's been done for a while but I have finally got around to Taking pics..


I outsourced the wiring ( 250 K CTS pots and a Angela’s .047 Paper in oil
capacitor if you care ) to a great local tech. I wanted him to backstop me on the set up as well. He adjusted the placement of my shim and made the action even better. He said the Fender rep had stopped by while it was in the shop and he thought it was a pretty cool idea ( My phone has not started ringing on that yet).

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It's so light that bathroom scale won’t even pick it up. 7 lbs max. Probably lighter. No neck dive. The sound does not suffer for the short scale. The split coil pick up from Lindy Fralin makes it sound like Operation Rolling Thunder. It a one trick pony but it's a hell of a trick.


Here next my trusty Franken Jazz bass put together in 1990.

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It was a super fun project and a great learning experience. Thanks to Tim Armstrong and Rhomco for the inspitation. I’m already thinking about the next project ( 1959 EB-0 replica, double cutaway LP jr style body).

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One thing is bugging me. I really wanted to find a plain brass string retainer. The chrome one just does not do it for me and gold is way to much “Trump” for this guitar. I looked and looked but no dice.

JR
 
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#54
I had Landing build me a tele shorty bass, but found the body just didnt fit me right and there was some neck dive. I have a strong feeling the strap button really does need to be at the 12th fret. Rotor, no neck dive on yours whatsoever?

I don't own this anymore, but she is a beauty.
LandingTeleComplete.jpg
 
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#55
::::BASSIST:::: said:
Rotor, no neck dive on yours whatsoever? QUOTE]

I pushed the neck a couple inches deeper into the body to combat that. That pushed the bridge as far as it could go south. I skinned every cat I could to get the nut as close to the body as possible. Add the ultralight tuners and no neck dive. I was not sure that would be the outcome. I just worked out. Neck dive would not be deal breaker for me anyway.

I suppose I could try it with a slipery nylon strap and see if I can get it to dive.

Now, I will tell you which one of these has more neck dive.

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JR
Click to expand...
 
#56
Nice bass. My Wilkins Short Scale does not neck dive a bit. Love the feel and scale for me, since I am a guitar player who sometimes plays bass.

Mike Gardner
 

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#57
R0T0R said:
OK it's been done for a while but I have finally got around to Taking pics..

I outsourced the wiring ( 250 K CTS pots and a Angela’s .047 Paper in oil
capacitor if you care ) to a great local tech. I wanted him to backstop me on the set up as well. He adjusted the placement of my shim and made the action even better. He said the Fender rep had stopped by while it was in the shop and he thought it was a pretty cool idea ( My phone has not started ringing on that yet).

It's so light that bathroom scale won’t even pick it up. 7 lbs max. Probably lighter. No neck dive. The sound does not suffer for the short scale. The split coil pick up from Lindy Fralin makes it sound like Operation Rolling Thunder. It a one trick pony but it's a hell of a trick.

Here next my trusty Franken Jazz bass put together in 1990.

It was a super fun project and a great learning experience. Thanks to Tim Armstrong and Rhomco for the inspitation. I’m already thinking about the next project ( 1959 EB-0 replica, double cutaway LP jr style body).

One thing is bugging me. I really wanted to find a plain brass string retainer. The chrome one just does not do it for me and gold is way to much “Trump” for this guitar. I looked and looked but no dice.

JR
Click to expand...

This thing is beautiful. I love tele basses and this is killer!
 
#58
R0T0R said:
I outsourced the wiring ( 250 K CTS pots and a Angela’s .047 Paper in oil
capacitor if you care ) to a great local tech. I wanted him to backstop me on the set up as well. He adjusted the placement of my shim and made the action even better. He said the Fender rep had stopped by while it was in the shop and he thought it was a pretty cool idea ( My phone has not started ringing on that yet).
Click to expand...

Looks like they really took your idea and ran with it!

Squier-Vintage-Modified-Telecaster-Bass-Blonde.jpg
 
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