a question for custom bass owners

[BlueTalon]

Basslines all the way. A hot stack jazz with a series and single coil switch (to act like a humbucker of sorts) at the pridge a precision pickup centerband another J pickup at the neck. Aguilar obp-3 pre amp with 3 band eq and a push pull for active passive.

I think you're going to love having three pickups! When it's finished, be sure to post pictures and details here.

 

[PortlandBass77]

I cheated. I got the body and neck from Warmoth (not at the same time), and the component parts from different sources, and then I had a luthier put it together, set it up, and PLEK it. That allowed me to spread out the expense of a custom instrument over most of a year. There was some risk involved -- the neck I got was bubinga with a wenge fretboard, and I didn't have any experience with either of those woods, but I love the feel of them.

Just throwing it out there as an option.

THIS! Best option if you must go custom. Though of course I have never had any desire for a custom bass.

 

[dblbass]

I have a couple customs that I don't use anymore, but because my tastes have changed, not because they're not any good. However, I've seen folks order customs only to hate them. Seen them order them and love them as well. But sometimes, folks have ideas for custom basses that either they think they want it and really don't, or the luthier misinterprets, or whatever. The story of Anthony Jackson's custom Carl Thompson 6-string is a great one. He wanted a certain string spacing at the nut, and Carl made it with that string spacing all the way down the neck and the strings ended up super narrow by the bridge.

Resurrecting this sorta old thread to clear something up (not being an a$$hole!). The strings were super narrow at the bridge because of the pickup width. Since it was the first 6er made that we know of, Carl had to make some sacrifices and compromises. He spoke to a few pickup makers, including bill bartolini, and they all told him that the wider you made the coil, the more low end you'd lose (at the time!!). So he had a friend make him the widest pickup he thought would work. He also included a very early preamp to help boost the bass a little. Was the bass perfect? Hell no, and Carl is the first one to admit it. But it started something.

Finding parts to make something that doesn't exist can be a pain in the ass. Carl had a hell of a time getting a low B for it too. Him and john d'addario finally settled on a .120 for the B. So, in this case it wasn't miscommunication from the player to the builder, but rather the unavailability of parts.

 

[JimmyM]

Good to hear Carl's side of that story. To read Anthony's side of it in Bass Player mag, it sounded like Carl didn't even want to build it and made the string spacing that way because Anthony specified it for the nut but forgot to specify it for the bridge. Yeah, definitely couldn't have been easy to source parts back then being the first one. Stuff like that we take for granted now, but it was a whole different ballgame back then.