'72 Warmoth P Bass Build

[Doner Designs]

I have long admired the Warmoth '72 P bass look and am finally building one with a number of features which together probably make it one of a kind...

• 1 pc mahogany body with birdseye maple top (finished with pure tung oil)
• Wenge neck with figured macassar ebony fingerboard (no finish)
• Burly marbled walnut pickguard
• Birdseye maple knobs
• Black hardware
• Babicz bridge
• Hipshot ultralights and drop tuner
• Nordstrand NP4a pickup
• Audere 4 band pro z preamp with active/passive switch and passive tone in 3 stacked pots configuration
• LaBella 1954 strings tuned BEAD

Pictures to follow as she comes together.

This one is not for donation. My first Warmoth, so I'm excited.

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Doner Designs]

Never seen a birdseye top like this. The center looks more like flamed maple.

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[Geekydad]

Gorgeous. Been looking at a Warmoth myself for a while.

 

[Doner Designs]

The pickguard is from Artisan Guitar Creations. Roger Wendover did not have any walnut in stock that was large enough, so he let me pick out the piece from his supplier. That was cool - made it more personal/custom.

 

[Doner Designs]

Thought about alternate PG shapes but stuck with the standard.

 

[Doner Designs]

 

[ubnomnar]

WOW... this is going to be something special.

You've had so many unique builds... it's always a pleasure to see what you create.

Is this one for your personal collection, or another charity event auction?

 

[Doner Designs]

WOW... this is going to be something special.

You've had so many unique builds... it's always a pleasure to see what you create.

Is this one for your personal collection, or another charity event auction?

Thanks for the kind words! I meant to say that in the first post - this one is for me.

 

[Duplo42]

This is really tasty, waiting for completed bass!

 

[GBassNorth]

This is gonna be epic! Subscribed.
When done be sure to post the finished bass on the Warmoth Porn thread.

 

[Doner Designs]

Thanks for the nice comments. Part of the deal with my wife was that this takes care of Christmas for a couple years. As a result, it will not be getting assembled until late December. She agreed I could do the tung oil ahead of time since it takes so long to dry. I oiled her up good (the bass that is) for three weekends in a row (total of 10-15 coats, most of them thinned with citrus solvent) and now it's just hanging in the basement trying to dry. The end grain still sweats out a little oil each day. Once the pickguard arrives next week I'll post a picture of all the parts and that will be it until late December.

Assembly should be a snap. The only scary thing is drilling the pickguard. The guy who made the guard forgot to drill for the pots and also missed one screw hole. It always makes me nervous drilling into wood that has a clear coat - so easy to chip.

 

[eadg98005]

Thanks for the nice comments. Part of the deal with my wife was that this takes care of Christmas for a couple years. As a result, it will not be getting assembled until late December. She agreed I could do the tung oil ahead of time since it takes so long to dry. I oiled her up good (the bass that is) for three weekends in a row (total of 10-15 coats, most of them thinned with citrus solvent) and now it's just hanging in the basement trying to dry. The end grain still sweats out a little oil each day. Once the pickguard arrives next week I'll post a picture of all the parts and that will be it until late December.

Assembly should be a snap. The only scary thing is drilling the pickguard. The guy who made the guard forgot to drill for the pots and also missed one screw hole. It always makes me nervous drilling into wood that has a clear coat - so easy to chip.

Subcribed.

 

[Doner Designs]

Gorgeous. Been looking at a Warmoth myself for a while.

The quality is superb and, if you do your own finish work (or buy something that doesn't require a finish) the prices are not too bad either. The showcase items are a little less than a custom order too.