Homemade slab body P-bass

[avalancheMM]

'Venting'!!!!! Baaahaaaahaaaahaaaw!! Reminds of my '72 Chev, when I replaced the muffler bearings and upgrade to high tensile piston return springs- you know, for the additional speed in attaining high RPM..... 'venting', I think I peed a little, you made my day!

Regards

 

[REMBO]

i'd like to pay you to build be a body just like that!! awesome job

 

[REMBO]

i'd like to pay you to build be a body just like that!! awesome job

 

[Bear From Delaware]

I've been after somebody for ages to make me a body like that.
Whenever I ask the builder what I want, I get a blank look.

 

[craigie]

Sounds like you've got a business in the works....
Great job! Wish I had those tools and skills instead of just being a tool

Now you can create a bass with stickers club . Very exclusive by the sounds of it.

 

[prowla]

I quite like it; the body & neck colours go well!

Except, and it could be the camera angle, the pickguard looks the wrong shape along its bottom edge near the controls and the neck plate looks off-true.

(The sticker adds a touch of real class & authenticity!)

 

[Oddly]

Beautifully done job.
If you do go into business I'll be sending you a neck I want done exactly like that, it looks amazing.
I'd never have chosen a blue finish but it sure looks sweet, well done on thinking of that.
As for the sticker, keep it...it's your bass...although maybe relic it a little too?

I do hope it sounds as great as it looks!

 

[Nickweissmusic]

I don't give a poopie about the sticker, I think the thing looks great, and the mistake on the back is known as a "tone hole." Well done!

 

[Ophiothrix]

With regard to the sticker, isn't that the one McCartney had on his Hofner? If you think our friend kleptomarek has a tacky taste in accessories, I'd say he's certainly in good company there...

Fantastic bass though! Great work on crafting the body, but that neck stain came out brilliantly. I've seen people try that on maple necks before and it's come out looking like they slathered the thing with barbecue sauce; yours actually looks appropriately 'vintage', and it really suits the instrument!

 

[M-rek]

Absolutely gorgeous color. I'm dripping with envy.

Wait, no, that's saliva.

Envious saliva.

--^@

as long as it's not blue saliva...

Not my style but overall, nicely done. Hard to tell but is that a knot or crack in the top of the neck by the G-tuner? While my woodworking skills end at quarter round molding, seems like glue or wood-fill might help. Anyway, the blue came out nice.

You're right, the wood chipped there, I think it happened while sanding (like I said, it came with a cheap p bass, so it didn't have the fender shape - I reshaped the headstock a while ago and the grinder was pretty aggressive). But I thought it looks kinda cool, not too destroyed or "reliced", just adds a little to the oldschool feel. Thanks for the feedback!

Klepto, please put *more* stickers on there! Just to hear the crying.... lol.

hehe, sounds like a plan people with torches will chase me out of town, towards the old mill...

Now you can create a bass with stickers club . Very exclusive by the sounds of it.

Wait, are you saying there is no "bass with stickers"-club around already?

Except, and it could be the camera angle, the pickguard looks the wrong shape along its bottom edge near the controls and the neck plate looks off-true.

(The sticker adds a touch of real class & authenticity!)

I'm not sure about the pickguard. It might be a little off, it's a cheap one I grabbed on ebay - I was going to make a wooden pickguard too, but it got too thin and warped during shaping and just broke into pieces
The neck plate indeed is off, I'll see if I get it fixed later. If not, well... nobody will ever notice while I play

With regard to the sticker, isn't that the one McCartney had on his Hofner? If you think our friend kleptomarek has a tacky taste in accessories, I'd say he's certainly in good company there...

Fantastic bass though! Great work on crafting the body, but that neck stain came out brilliantly. I've seen people try that on maple necks before and it's come out looking like they slathered the thing with barbecue sauce; yours actually looks appropriately 'vintage', and it really suits the instrument!

yep, you're right with the sticker

mhh, barbecue sauce on a neck, sounds... interesting?


thanks for the feedback everyone! Seems like my crafting skills aren't too shabby after all. But I don't think I will start selling these, I already have a full-time job, this is just for compensation and for fun during the weekend.

 

[Oddly]

Awww, well, if you're not gonna go into business with this, would you mind detailing the neck staining process?
I think quite a few of us might be tempted to try it.

 

[M-rek]

Awww, well, if you're not gonna go into business with this, would you mind detailing the neck staining process?
I think quite a few of us might be tempted to try it.

OK, let's see... As I mentioned before, it is a neck I took off from another bass. Therefore, first step for me was to sand the current finish down. I used a battery-powered delta sander for this job. It was my first choice, as I was going to sand the fretboard too. With the edge of the sanding paper, I could get as close as I had to to the frets without damaging them too much...
For the staining itself I used some wood stain from a hardware store around the corner (remember: I live in Germany). I don't know if it's available anywhere else, but I used CLOU Wasserbeize (Beize = wood stain, and it's water-based). It's a little yellow package with some powder in it, so you have to mix it yourself with warm water.
I bought blue and black for the body and yellow and nut/hazel-brown for the neck. I tested the yellow staining on the heel first and decided the tint was too bold, so I diluted it with water (roughly a 1(color):10(water) ratio, if I remember right).
This looked much better and I applied it (with a sponge) to on side of the neck first (because it was lying on a towel, d'oh) to give it a basic yellow-ish tint. Unfortunately, I did not sand too thorough in the first run: in some areas, the color "vanished" again. So I sanded once more and applied another layer of stain (I'm not sure if that's important or if it affects the result in any way, I'll just mention it).
Then I "vintaged" it further in some areas by adding a small amount of the brown stain while the yellow stain is still wet, mixed them a little with the sponge to create a transition and that's basically it. Did the same thing to the other side of the neck and then attached it to a hook in the ceiling with a cable fixer (like in picture no. 6) to let it dry.
All of this work was done in my dad's workshop, which is heated and relatively dust-free (because I cleaned up before starting). Give the neck some time to dry completely, then finish it with what ever suits your needs.
Hope this helps! And I hope I didn't forget about too much...

 

[Oddly]

Thanks. I really appreciate you taking the time for that.

 

[Dbassmon]

I think the belly cut and contoured elbow edge make a world of difference for comfort. Be interested to know if you don't regret not making those contours after playing this bass for an extended period of time. Keep us posted. Nice job.

 

[prowla]

I'm not sure about the pickguard. It might be a little off, it's a cheap one I grabbed on ebay - I was going to make a wooden pickguard too, but it got too thin and warped during shaping and just broke into pieces
The neck plate indeed is off, I'll see if I get it fixed later. If not, well... nobody will ever notice while I play

Shame about the wood one, but I reckon it's worth putting a decent pickguard on (and you get into the 10/12/13-hole question on a P-bass).

I've got a cheap Chinese bass and its neck plate is a bit off, which slightly bugs me.

 

[ukulelelab]

Great project. I also did my own little slab a while ago which was fun to complete. Body is 2-piece swamp ash with trans white nitro finish. Spitfire pickguard. Fender AVRI '63 pickups, harness, ashtrays, pickguard shield, thumbrest and knobs. Fender Roger Waters neck stripped and refinished in nitro. Neckplate and lollipop tuners are genuine mid to late 60's Fender hardware. I love that bass, pretty much the one I always grab these days.

 

[JRA]

kleptomarek , very nice, man! great job! and congrats on your new instrument!

I'll tell them it's for venting purposes

yeah: because it's so damn hot!

 

[Slapthatplank]

It reminds me of the Fender sandblasted finishes, but this looks much better IMO. Love slab precisions! Great work.

 

[jaybones]

Very nice work man!!

Little tip about drilling the body (I'm sure you know). I piece of tape wrapped around the bit will keep you from going deeper than you want.

I'll admit on my first partsbass (almost called it a build), I was drilling the pickup screws (4 2 each for jazz single coils) and I hadn't wrapped enough clear tape around the bit. Or I allowed the tape to rub against the hole, and by the fourth hole it was at least a half inch (centimeter) deeper than I intended.

The screws were pretty long (was using hardware store wood screws) so I went through.

 

[M-rek]

Thanks. I really appreciate you taking the time for that.

You're welcome! Good luck when trying yourself and let me know if there's still something that remained unclear about the process.

Great project. I also did my own little slab a while ago which was fun to complete. Body is 2-piece swamp ash with trans white nitro finish. Spitfire pickguard. Fender AVRI '63 pickups, harness, ashtrays, pickguard shield, thumbrest and knobs. Fender Roger Waters neck stripped and refinished in nitro. Neckplate and lollipop tuners are genuine mid to late 60's Fender hardware. I love that bass, pretty much the one I always grab these days.

wow, that looks fantastic, a really nice bass! I like the ashtray - I was going to add one to my bass too but I thought it wouldn't match the finish and all and kinda forgot about it... I'll try it and see how it looks, maybe I'll attach it after all

Very nice work man!!

Little tip about drilling the body (I'm sure you know). I piece of tape wrapped around the bit will keep you from going deeper than you want.

I'll admit on my first partsbass (almost called it a build), I was drilling the pickup screws (4 2 each for jazz single coils) and I hadn't wrapped enough clear tape around the bit. Or I allowed the tape to rub against the hole, and by the fourth hole it was at least a half inch (centimeter) deeper than I intended.

The screws were pretty long (was using hardware store wood screws) so I went through.

Thanks for the advice! The problem with my drilling was, I didn't get the angle right on the first few millimeters. When looking from the side, it looked good to me, but the drill kept sliding and bending back into that first hole, which had the wrong angle. So I kept drilling until it came out on the back of the bass... I then repositioned the drill (I have two holes underneath the bridge now ) and got it right that time.