I built a Leland Sklar Recreation Bass

[VegasCustom]

Here is my first attempt at a Leland Sklar bass.
2 piece alder body
Maple neck
Indian Rosewood fretboard
Mandolin frets
D Tuna thingy majig
Aged clay dots
Brass nut
Fender hi mass bridge (cheaper than the bad ass)
EMG original P pickups
2 band bass/treble boost he uses from EMG
GHS steel light gauge (what I found he uses)
Hand cut brass control plate
Hand cut alder battery area cover
….best sounding bass I’ve ever played. It’s shocking. Not perfect construction, some obvious flaws. But wow this is making me smile

 

[BadB]

Nice job!! You'd think that a Double-P would be really common. They sound really good.

 

[VegasCustom]

Nice job!! You'd think that a Double-P would be really common. They sound really good.

Thank you! Yea I agree it’s a great sound. Very happy with this. Also just added the string tree and strap buttons I forgot haha

 

[Gunga Din]

Here is my first attempt at a Leland Sklar bass.
2 piece alder body
Maple neck
Indian Rosewood fretboard
Mandolin frets
D Tuna thingy majig
Aged clay dots
Brass nut
Fender hi mass bridge (cheaper than the bad ass)
EMG original P pickups
2 band bass/treble boost he uses from EMG
GHS steel light gauge (what I found he uses)
Hand cut brass control plate
Hand cut alder battery area cover
….best sounding bass I’ve ever played. It’s shocking. Not perfect construction, some obvious flaws. But wow this is making me smile

Well done, lad!

 

[lowendblues]

Very nice.

 

[Naigewron]

Very cool!

Now you just need to hunt down a few dozen celebrities and musicians to write stuff all over it

 

[VegasCustom]

Well done, lad!

Thank you!

 

[VegasCustom]

Very cool!

Now you just need to hunt down a few dozen celebrities and musicians to write stuff all over it

Haha thank you!!

 

[VegasCustom]

Very nice.

Thank you!

 

[JRA]

nice! that ax looks like it'll deliver. very cool!

i've always accepted the leo version of the split-coil layout, but the reverse position seems obvious --- a no-brainer. i'd change all of mine if i could think of a way to do it.

 

[Charlie Tuna]

Here is my first attempt at a Leland Sklar bass.
2 piece alder body
Maple neck
Indian Rosewood fretboard
Mandolin frets
D Tuna thingy majig
Aged clay dots
Brass nut
Fender hi mass bridge (cheaper than the bad ass)
EMG original P pickups
2 band bass/treble boost he uses from EMG
GHS steel light gauge (what I found he uses)
Hand cut brass control plate
Hand cut alder battery area cover
….best sounding bass I’ve ever played. It’s shocking. Not perfect construction, some obvious flaws. But wow this is making me smile

Very cool but where’s the Producer Switch?

 

[40Hz]

Awesome build!

Just curious, where did you find the pickup placement measurements?

 

[VegasCustom]

Awesome build!

Just curious, where did you find the pickup placement measurements?

I used a typical template from Stewmac, aligned on the center line (somewhat imperfectly). First I built a P Bass. Then I aligned the pickup template on the sides of the original pickup cavity to help keep it flush with the what became the battery compartment under the assumption that’s exactly what Lee did

 

[VegasCustom]

Very cool but where’s the Producer Switch?

It’s a push pull haha

 

[VegasCustom]

nice! that ax looks like it'll deliver. very cool!

i've always accepted the leo version of the split-coil layout, but the reverse position seems obvious --- a no-brainer. i'd change all of mine if i could think of a way to do it.

Yea I was really surprised with the sound. It’s just magical and very versatile. Sweet too. And do if the mandolin frets are doing much but there does appear to be some limited fretless like growl. Not intensely pronounced tho.
Maybe a typical p bass could just have its cavity re routed to be a square so you can go back and forth depending on your pickguard

 

[Bright Midnight]

Wow!!!! Can you make me one?

 

[Charlie Tuna]

It’s a push pull haha

 

[Snert]

Awesome build!

Just curious, where did you find the pickup placement measurements?

They've been posted here before, where someone has aligned the images and scaled them to match the bridge and F12 vs FSOs. I have it saved on my server at home.

 

[Joebone]

Huzzah on Reverse P and mandolin frets... I do find it possible to summon some fretless growl with smaller frets. You have me thinking... And Sadowsky has periodically made NYC basses that enable reverse-P as an alternative, concealed by the pickguard.

 

[40Hz]

They've been posted here before, where someone has aligned the images and scaled them to match the bridge and F12 vs FSOs. I have it saved on my server at home.

Thx. Guess I’ll have to go look for that.