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Custom P Bass Builder — Who?

TL;DR: You have up to $4K for a custom Precision bass. Who would you choose to build it?



I'm at a point in my life where I know what I like and don't like when it comes to basses, have the financial means and the justification (sort of) to get myself a custom bass. What I don't know is who to approach to build it? Fender Custom Shop? Sadowsky? Lull? Sanberg?

More precisely, I'm looking for a 60s Precision and am entertain the idea of a 5 string.

So you have up to $4K for a custom Precision bass. Who would you choose to build it?
I would mention the "guitar doctor" in PA. He handles the legacy of the Philip Kubicki basses and he can build you guitars or basses. I have been to his shop and he is a super nice bloke.

Nino Valenti is on top of my list, as well.

Having said that, I have two G&L LB-100 basses (P-basses from G&L) and I don't see how anything could be improved on them. You could buy two with your budget and have money left over for TI flats.
 
TL;DR: You have up to $4K for a custom Precision bass. Who would you choose to build it?



I'm at a point in my life where I know what I like and don't like when it comes to basses, have the financial means and the justification (sort of) to get myself a custom bass. What I don't know is who to approach to build it? Fender Custom Shop? Sadowsky? Lull? Sanberg?

More precisely, I'm looking for a 60s Precision and am entertain the idea of a 5 string.

So you have up to $4K for a custom Precision bass. Who would you choose to build it?

Your going to get the best quality custom P from Olinto by LaBella out of Brooklyn NY. They build an amazing bass. Its the way you would hope a 60s P would play, with the benefit of being new and reliable.
3F2B71F3-12FF-4941-8506-65A35FEAF244.jpeg
 
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TL;DR: You have up to $4K for a custom Precision bass. Who would you choose to build it?



I'm at a point in my life where I know what I like and don't like when it comes to basses, have the financial means and the justification (sort of) to get myself a custom bass. What I don't know is who to approach to build it? Fender Custom Shop? Sadowsky? Lull? Sanberg?

More precisely, I'm looking for a 60s Precision and am entertain the idea of a 5 string.

So you have up to $4K for a custom Precision bass. Who would you choose to build it?
Fender Custom Shop! Get an original. Good luck in the search
 
I priced just 1 Fender Custom Shop Bass exactly the way I wanted it and it was pushing 6k plus about a year to complete.

$6K? Seriously? Wow!

Gotta love Fender's "Custom" Shop I suppose. Yesteryear's basses at tomorrow's prices.

My SO has a CS Strat. It's a nice guitar. Very nice. But IMO, the price tag isn't commensurate with what it is. Or at least so I think anyway.

I'd rather go with a Lull or Sadowsky if I wanted a top notch Fender style bass from a name boutique. Have yet to play one of either brand that didn't immediately trigger a full scale GAS attack for me. :thumbsup:
 
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$6K? Seriously? Wow!

Gotta love Fender's "Custom" Shop I suppose. Yesteryear's basses at tomorrow's prices.

My SO has a CS Strat. It's a nice guitar. Very nice. But IMO, the price tag isn't commensurate with what it is. Or at least so I think anyway.

I'd rather go with a Lull or Sadowsky if I wanted a top notch Fender style bass from a name boutique. Have yet to play one of either brand that didn't immediately trigger a full scale GAS attack for me. :thumbsup:
Funny, the same guitar or bass you get most of the time from the CS for 4, 5, or 6 thousands dollars today you could get for under $300 all day long back in da day.

:)

1960-Fender-Amp-Price-List.jpg
 
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Funny, the same guitar or bass you get most of the time from the CS for 4, 5, or 6 thousands dollars today you could get for under $300 all day long back in da day.

:)

Yep. I watched a video of Mr. Cruz back when he was still with Fender's Custom Shop showing how a Master Built Strat was made.

Turns out it's with a couple of screwdrivers, an allen key, and a soldering iron. Pretty much the way
most people do it. He did pretty up the wiring. But then he said that was something they don't have the time to do on regular production instruments. Which I found odd. Because if you cracked open any Fender up until the early to mid 70s, they were all done that way.

Guess they had more hours in the day back then. ;)
 
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I agree here, I assembled 2 custom Jazz Basses for less than 4k. The first one I had completed in about a month while the second required extra Luthier work to be done took about 3 months.

I priced just 1 Fender Custom Shop Bass exactly the way I wanted it and it was pushing 6k plus about a year to complete.

Here are my 2 Personal Custom Jazz Basses. For details on these builds see my thread here:

My Custom Build Fender Jazz Basses

View attachment 4485986
View attachment 4485989

I looked as that and agree these are a excellent representation of a Fender bass.

Stop and think for a minute as to what a Fender bass really is...

A bass put together out of parts that come off a shelf and out of a bin, with scew drivers and a soldering iron. The same thing you did, only difference is, you had the parts mailed to you :)