'51 P project

[GlennW]

It'll get a matte black pickguard and a translucent white acrylic lacquer finish after the grain is filled darker.

 

[flakeh]

It'll get a matte black pickguard and a translucent white acrylic lacquer finish after the grain is filled darker.

Looks nice! can't wait to see this progressing!

 

[Scott in Dallas]

I'll be doing two of these starting in January, but both of mine will have splits instead of the single coil. What neck pocket are you putting in it?

 

[Rumblin' Man]

Cool, I've done a few '54-'57 P style and even a couple using J shaped bodies with one single coil pickup.

Here's one:

Link Removed

I see the pickguard has a square neck pocket. What neck are you planning on using?

 

[GlennW]

The neck pocket is one of the main reasons for making the body. It'll get the neck from an Ibanez TR 50. It has a couple more frets and is thinner at the heel; I'll have to make the pickguard too. The headstock is marked where it'll be trimmed. I'm probably going to put two Strat sized single coils. It can be squeezed in, and the cover will hide the weird looking stuff.

 

[GlennW]

The white pickguard is from a Jay Turser '54 copy. I had it on there to help get an idea of how the grain looks in different spots.

Yours looks very nice, I like the finish.

 

[Rumblin' Man]

Thanks. The finish is just Minwax Limed Oak stain a bit worn over several years of use and abuse.

I've had several necks on it, a Mighty Mite, Warmoth, and in that picture it sports a Genuine Fender Replacement Neck (so branded on the back of the headstock) that came to me with a Precision Bass decal but it's actually a J width nut...go figure.

 

[GlennW]

I'm hooked on the Indonesian Ibby TR necks for 34" scale. About 1 5/8" at the nut, a little less than 2 7/16" at the heel. It feels sort of like a slim P with less shoulder, but not like a J neck. The face of the headstock will probably be white too.

I'm going for something like this without the bridge cover.

 

[ibanezcollector]

going for a mary kay finish? there so awesome stain it black and sand it back then do the mary kay white. That grain will pop like no other.

Like So..

 

[Scott in Dallas]

going for a mary kay finish? there so awesome stain it black and sand it back then do the mary kay white. That grain will pop like no other.

Like So..

I love that. I'm going to do that with black epoxy and burst the edges. I just need to find the right body wood to do it with.

 

[GlennW]

Thanks, that's exactly what I'd like to end up with. I tried something similar before, but used a butterscotch tinted clear over it and it turned out well...looked sort of like Keith's Tele. I'm pretty sure I used Pratt & Lambert paste filler with Minwax ebony stain, then shot some tinted clear, then some clearcoats to rub out. I'll test different ways on the scraps after the body is cut.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Nice looking basses. Anybody build one with rear-routed controls and no pickguard?

 

[Scott in Dallas]

Nice looking basses. Anybody build one with rear-routed controls and no pickguard?

Yep. See Rumblin Man's bass above.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Yep. See Rumblin Man's bass above.

D'oh!

But it needs a maple fingerboard...

 

[Rumblin' Man]

D'oh!

But it needs a maple fingerboard...

It's had a maple neck in the past and the "look" was there but I think it sounds better with the neck now has on it and I think it still works looks-wise.

 

[GlennW]

I like the rosewood 'board. I usually prefer maple with a black pickguard, rosewood with a white pickguard.

 

[GlennW]

Here's the JT '54 P. The tape is marking where a Muy Grande J pickup will go. The neck pickup will get rewound to work with the J. I think the pickup cover adds something.

 

[Rumblin' Man]

Here's another SCPB I put together, this one with a maple neck.

Link Removed

 

[lpdeluxe]

Very pretty!

 

[GlennW]

That's a fine looking bass. The 1st generation P's have become my favorite body style. There's beauty in the simplicity. Is that also finished in Minwax?