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Fender P-Bass build (No Pino)

cjet

cjet

Jul 21, 2014
30
7
NJ
#1
Hi all. I wanted to follow up on an earlier thread in which I asked whether putting a Jazz neck on a Pino bass was "reasonable":

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/pino-palladino-sig-with-a-jazz-neck.1091392/

Essentially, I was looking for a light, high-quality, easy-to-play instrument. My old P-bass, a '62 reissue, is very heavy. And, having been blessed with smallish hands, the neck was always a fight.

Following the advice of a number of responders, I decided to go the mixed-AVRI route as opposed to purchasing a Pino and swapping the neck (though I did purchase a Pino) or opt for a Custom Shop bass. So:

I found the lightest P-bass on Sweetwater - a BEAUTIFUL white blonde 7.8# '58 reissue. I swapped out the stock neck for a '64 Jazz neck I had purchased previously. In addition, after playing and not loving the '58 pups, I installed a set of new Fender '63s (much deeper, "rounder" IMHO) as well as a '63 pickguard (the anodized was really, really nice but just not me). The final step, made for the sake of playability, was a move to TI Jazz flats from the LaBellas I had been using for decades. What I now have is this:


Bass 1.jpg
Bass 3.jpg


Final weight is a lovely 7.6#. The string switch has made a huge difference in playability (though I'm guessing it'll take a few months of play for them to mellow). And the neck is great. Gigged with it last Saturday night and it was (literally) just what the doctor ordered. I rarely use a pick, btw, but needed it for the gig.

Other thoughts: the white blonde would not have been my first choice (or the '58) but for the weight. The anodized pick guard + white blonde + maple neck gives an elegant appearance - gorgeous, said my wife - but it just wan't for me. I'm more of a 60's guy :)

The finish is very thin and if you look carefully in the pic you can see the grain - easy to see in person. Slightly more yellow than an Oly White. Also, the finish is extremely delicate. It's clear the bass will "relic" quickly if not handled very carefully.

Thanks again for all of your help. Would love to hear your thoughts!
 

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#5
7.6lbs? You must have a helium-filled body, because that is a remarkable number. Once you get below 8lbs on a P bass, does it dive at all? I have experienced light P basses not exactly diving but wanting to "level out" rather than stay where I put them. Regardless, you've done a good thing here.

I probably would have done the guard in parchment, but what you did looks better to me - by far - than the stock maple and gold.
 
#7
Cool but what happened to the J body and P neck and additionally why didnt you use Fender American Designer experience? You could get a '58 body and '64 J neck combo and could have had the '63 pickups put in it and also the J neck would be able to have a precision logo if you wanted it. Just curious seems like a lot of work for the same outcome.
 
#9
That's a great looking bass. I wanted that exact same color story (white, rosewood board, tort guard). I have a '57 reissue which I'm guessing has similar sounding pups to the '58. So did you find that the '58s were more growly, bright than the '63s?
 
#10
wvbass said:
7.6lbs? You must have a helium-filled body, because that is a remarkable number. Once you get below 8lbs on a P bass, does it dive at all? I have experienced light P basses not exactly diving but wanting to "level out" rather than stay where I put them. Regardless, you've done a good thing here.

I probably would have done the guard in parchment, but what you did looks better to me - by far - than the stock maple and gold.
Click to expand...

The body is very, very light but I never bothered to weigh it separately. There is some neck dive/leveling with a smooth strap. I used a suede-backed strap so it wasn't an issue while playing live. Bass stayed where i wanted it. Thanks!
 
#11
A-Step-Towards said:
Cool but what happened to the J body and P neck and additionally why didnt you use Fender American Designer experience? You could get a '58 body and '64 J neck combo and could have had the '63 pickups put in it and also the J neck would be able to have a precision logo if you wanted it. Just curious seems like a lot of work for the same outcome.
Click to expand...

I bought the J-neck off ebay. I'vew got the P-neck and will probably sell it - it's very nice and very light and I'm tempted to keep it. But I think mt P-neck days are over. Re the FADE - very tempting. But weight was the primary issue and I've heard that they can be hit and miss weight-wise. I'm also (probably foolishly) partial to nitro, and the AVRI series seem to have consistently good build quality. So with Sweetwater I could pick the weight of the bass - not so with FADE. It was a bit of work, a little more expensive and some additional work, but I came away with just what I was after (except for the P logo - oh well..). With FADE, cosmetically that would be so - but the weight would be a crap-shoot.
 
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#12
Alexis Duntov said:
That's a great looking bass. I wanted that exact same color story (white, rosewood board, tort guard). I have a '57 reissue which I'm guessing has similar sounding pups to the '58. So did you find that the '58s were more growly, bright than the '63s?
Click to expand...

58 was nice,
Alexis Duntov said:
That's a great looking bass. I wanted that exact same color story (white, rosewood board, tort guard). I have a '57 reissue which I'm guessing has similar sounding pups to the '58. So did you find that the '58s were more growly, bright than the '63s?
Click to expand...


Thanks. They felt pretty similar to me at the top end. The bottoms on the 63 - with the tone rolled off completely - were softer, rounder, bigger than the 58. Both had a nice, woody feel at about 25%.
 
#18
Just a quick update. The body of this bass project is a very light white blonde '58 AVRI with flash coat nitro finish. The finish is beautiful BUT not at all resilient - very easily dinged.

The super-thin skin is nice in theory (e.g., greater resonance, graceful but accelerated aging, etc.), but I will tell you that the first big ding - one that my '82 poly-armor-plated Jazz would still laugh off - hurts. A lot. Ouch.

Beautiful, light, great sounding instrument. But AVRI nitro flash coat purchasers ('63 & '58 Ps, '64 Js): know what your are buying.
 
#19
I think your build is superb. Light weight is important to me so I get it. Your TI strings should break in nicely soon.
How does the pickups sound compared to the Pino? I ask because I am doing a P bass build right now and am searching for pups. I love the deep, round sound of my Road Worn Ps pups but was considering the '58 AVs or the '63. I really don't want to dupe my RW P so I wanted to avoid Road Worn pups in the new build.

Either way I liked you color choices. Can't beat the tort/white look. Especially when that finish starts to yellow a bit more. As far as that nitro, yes those first dings do hurt. That is what I like about the Road Worns...dings go pretty much unoticed! Good luck with it.
 
#20
wvbass said:
7.6lbs? You must have a helium-filled body, because that is a remarkable number. Once you get below 8lbs on a P bass, does it dive at all? I have experienced light P basses not exactly diving but wanting to "level out" rather than stay where I put them. Regardless, you've done a good thing here.

I probably would have done the guard in parchment, but what you did looks better to me - by far - than the stock maple and gold.
Click to expand...

Had the same issue on an 8 lb '64P. It wasn't diving but it was headstock heavy so i installed res-o-lite Gotohs. Did the job perfect.

Davo
 
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