building a mid 50's p bass- a work in progress......

[johnk_10]

just thought that i'd share a build that i'm currently working on, a '55 type precision bass.

i started with a very lightweight slab of swamp ash (one piece). after tracing a genuine '52 precision bass for the template and routes i cut it out on my band saw and routed the necessary routes, the body ended up looking like this. at this point, the body (a slab bodied p bass) weighed 4lbs 7.2 oz

next, i added the 7/16" roundover to the edges. in this pic you can see the dowel that i made and inserted into the side jack hole so that the roundover bit's bearing would properly trace the perimeter in that area.

then i cut the tummy cut and arm relief on it. at this point, ready for sealer, the body weighed 4 lbs .7 oz::

then i test fit the neck to it, getting a very snug fitting neck pocket, but with just enough room to allow the nitro lacquer finish on the neck:

on this one, i used an Allparts tele bass neck, which i find to be very light, stiff and resonant. they come really chunky so reshaped it's profile to more of a modern C for comfort:

i also dished the area behind the nut with a tighter radius as fender did on the early-mid 50's maple necks.

next, the swamp ash had to be sealed. the large grain areas really soak up the sealer like a sponge, so i shot it with Fullerplast (the same sealer that fender used), and sanded almost all of it off (so it would it would remain thin and not add a bunch of weight). i had to seal and sand it 5 times until i was happy with it. (sorry, i should have taken some pics of that that step).

next, i shot it with 'telecaster blonde' nitro which is almost opaque, but just slightly allows some of the grain to show thru. here's a pic straight off of the buffer:

then i installed the large rear string ferrules in the back of the body, and the vintage nickel fender strap buttons:

on this one, i used a RI fender bridge base plate, but went with Wilkinson brass saddles that swivel to allow the tow saddle bridge tobe completely 'intonate-able':

then the side jack system was installed with a switchcraft #11 jack:

i mounted the neck, which i shot with a slightly amber tinted nitro to the body and made this pickguard template out of a sheet of a .080" thick white vinyl pickguard blank:

the final pickguard will actually be an .060" (thin) white guard and i'm also making a black genuine bakelite one for it too.


these basses had a wood (maple) tug bar that had a single screw mount (they spun around on the guards), but i made it that way to be 'period correct' for this bass. it will eventually be sealed and shot with black nito.

that's all for this first 'installment', but i'll post more pics as the build progresses.................

best,

 

[Vincent P]

Very nice.

 

[gitlvr]

Yeah! More Yummy P bass goodness! Sweet looking bass!

 

[bassingeorge]

super nice!

 

[dmk]

Just Beautiful!

 

[Spectrum]

Beautiful! I love watching your build threads.

Have you thought of putting a hidden peg under the tug bar that would fit into a hole in the pickguard to prevent rotation? Or is that too un-period?

 

[adam.beauchene]

Killer! I aspire to paint like that one day.

 

[johnk_10]

that's not a bad idea, but i genreally run them without a tug bar anyway, so i just mount them for when i'm taking pictures, and remove them when playing it.

 

[iamlowsound]

You are one of the most talented guys out there and it is always a treat to see your builds. One quick question, do you find it easier and more consistent to buy necks, rather than build them yourself?

lowsound

 

[mellowinman]

That is really something.

Wow!

 

[johnk_10]

You are one of the most talented guys out there and it is always a treat to see your builds. One quick question, do you find it easier and more consistent to buy necks, rather than build them yourself?

lowsound

thanks. i really appreciate the kind words.
as far as necks go, i find that when i make them, i have more control over every aspect of them (i.e fretboard radius, side dots and fingerboard dot spacing, fretwire size etc), however, it's much more time consuming and labor intensive, and when Allparts already makes a very nice one piece maple neck, it's kind of a no brainer for me. i reshape them, replace the side dots with larger 3/32" ones, then seal and nitro them. for specialty vintage necks, like a dot/bound j bass neck, and all of the brazilian rosewood ones , i just make them myself. every neck that i've either made or used on my builds has been very consistent (staightness, playability and weight-wise).

 

[pbass888]

wonderful John. Great work and thank you for sharing.
best
Sri

 

[johnk_10]

BTW, i just finished monting the tuning keys (gotoh res-o-lite reverse tuners), mounted the control plate and made the two pickguards for it. here's the thin single ply white one (.060"):

and here's the black bakelite one:

if everything goes according to plan, the bass should be finished by this wednesday evening.

 

[blindrabbit]

Looks fantastic, lovely job as always.

 

[gitlvr]

thanks. i really appreciate the kind words.
as far as necks go, i find that when i make them, i have more control over every aspect of them (i.e fretboard radius, side dots and fingerboard dot spacing, fretwire size etc), however, it's much more time consuming and labor intensive, and when Allparts already makes a very nice one piece maple neck, it's kind of a no brainer for me. i reshape them, replace the side dots with larger 3/32" ones, then seal and nitro them. for specialty vintage necks, like a dot/bound j bass neck, and all of the brazilian rosewood ones , i just make them myself. every neck that i've either made or used on my builds has been very consistent (staightness, playability and weight-wise).

One of the things I really love about building is actually building the neck. It's probably my favorite part of the build process. My absolute favorite is hammering the frets home. I wouldn't say that I'd never purchase a neck, but it would take a lot of the joy out of it for me. Of course, you're not just buying 'em and slapping them on, so in effect you still get to enjoy a part of that(assuming you're into that. And with the quality of your work, you'd have to be. At least a little bit).
And this is a beautiful build. That's one SEXY P there.

 

[johnk_10]

i too enjoy building a neck. i use a fret press instead of hammering them in, and for me, it's easier and i get better (and more consistent) results with one.

i actually like cutting the fret slots too.
for me, probably the most one of the most tedious parts of the whole process is routing for the truss rod and radiusing the fingerboard.

 

[gitlvr]

That's a beautiful neck.
Yeah I like cutting the slots. I don't mind radiusing the board, either, most times. But it can get tedious sometimes. And I'm with you on the truss rod slot. A lot of it for me is the feel of the wood under my fingertips, and looking at the finished product and knowing it came from my hands,

 

[johnk_10]

i agree. there's nothing quite like building an entire bass from raw lumber, but in this particular one's case, building the body, the pickguards and completely reworking the neck was still very gratifying and i'm very happy with the result.

 

[gitlvr]

i agree. there's nothing quite like building an entire bass from raw lumber, but in this particular one's case, building the body, the pickguards and completely reworking the neck was still very gratifying and i'm very happy with the result.

You should be. That's a gorgeous P bass! Of course, I've not seen a dog from your stable yet, lol.
As to building the pickguards, I have never done that. But I have a build planned for late spring/early summer that will require it. I'm looking forward to it. If it works out well (and I believe it will) that's one more step to add to building in the future.

 

[johnk_10]

i just completed the bass today, and she's a sweet one.
here's a few more pics of her:

without the cover, showing the Fralin split coil (hum cancelling) single coil pickup. these pickup's bobbins have to be trimmed down to fit in the stock routes since they are oversized):

the Wilkinson swivel saddles mounted on the Fender base palte (allowing a 2 saddle bridge to be perfectly intonated):

completed (strung with TI flats):

rear view:

its total weight is 7lbs 13.4 oz so it's pretty much a featherweight.