Ok, I have a few irons in the fire at the moment with a mandocello conversion and a workshop build, but this one is official school business. Sort of.
Last year, I finished up a dual 51 p-bass scratch build with a student (I teach middle and high school orchestra). Long story short, we started the build when she was a junior before the pandemic and finished it the week she graduated during the pandemic.
It was a big deal for us, kind of a physical symbol of the importance of perseverance. For me personally, it forced me to follow through and finally finish a project. I am easily distracted, but as a teacher I’ll never let a student down if I can help it. She’s at college now and wrote me the other day:
“I know I mentioned this in the first email but I’m going to reiterate the sentiment: you’ve gotta try to keep the instrument building going it’s seriously one of if not the best things I’ve ever done, mostly because I have a bass that is my own that I made but also because the way other people react,,,, Like this is Cornell, oh you’re smart? Whatever so’s everyone else. You did robotics? So did like 4 dozen other people. YOU BUILT YOUR OWN INSTRUMENT????? It’s great!”
That’s awesome.
So as that was winding up another bass player in my high school orchestra approached me at the end of last year and requested a Joe Dart build.
I know there are some strong feelings on that bass here.
But he worships the guy and I get it, I had the same feeling as a teen about my musical idols. Plus, he doesn’t have $2k to throw around. So we are going to build a Joe Dart, and my twin will be a classic 70s Stringray. Never played one, but looking forward to it.
So if anyone has some inside info to share please do! Here are some specifics I am trolling for:
-the knob. I researched it and see it is a copy of a vintage RCA Viz knob, but I can’t find a white one in the states. Found some in England though!
-the bridge. This one is for me. I want the real bridge, but they seem to be like hen’s teeth. Anyone have a stash of 70s stingray bridges?
-the wiring. For the Dart, I don’t know if anyone has seen the cavity on this. Seems awful big since it is only housing a single pot. Now I am assuming the pickup goes straight to the volume and to the jack with no caps, but if anyone knows otherwise please chime in.
-the pickup. For the Dart, I see it is a specific passive music man pickup. I am wondering if anyone has experience with a similar off-brand pickup. I see Aguilar and a few other companies make stingray pickups, didn’t know if anyone had insight as to whether this was a ceramic or alnico pickup, etc.
Will start posting our progress tomorrow, templates coming, stay tuned!
Last year, I finished up a dual 51 p-bass scratch build with a student (I teach middle and high school orchestra). Long story short, we started the build when she was a junior before the pandemic and finished it the week she graduated during the pandemic.
It was a big deal for us, kind of a physical symbol of the importance of perseverance. For me personally, it forced me to follow through and finally finish a project. I am easily distracted, but as a teacher I’ll never let a student down if I can help it. She’s at college now and wrote me the other day:
“I know I mentioned this in the first email but I’m going to reiterate the sentiment: you’ve gotta try to keep the instrument building going it’s seriously one of if not the best things I’ve ever done, mostly because I have a bass that is my own that I made but also because the way other people react,,,, Like this is Cornell, oh you’re smart? Whatever so’s everyone else. You did robotics? So did like 4 dozen other people. YOU BUILT YOUR OWN INSTRUMENT????? It’s great!”
That’s awesome.
So as that was winding up another bass player in my high school orchestra approached me at the end of last year and requested a Joe Dart build.
I know there are some strong feelings on that bass here.
But he worships the guy and I get it, I had the same feeling as a teen about my musical idols. Plus, he doesn’t have $2k to throw around. So we are going to build a Joe Dart, and my twin will be a classic 70s Stringray. Never played one, but looking forward to it.
So if anyone has some inside info to share please do! Here are some specifics I am trolling for:
-the knob. I researched it and see it is a copy of a vintage RCA Viz knob, but I can’t find a white one in the states. Found some in England though!
-the bridge. This one is for me. I want the real bridge, but they seem to be like hen’s teeth. Anyone have a stash of 70s stingray bridges?
-the wiring. For the Dart, I don’t know if anyone has seen the cavity on this. Seems awful big since it is only housing a single pot. Now I am assuming the pickup goes straight to the volume and to the jack with no caps, but if anyone knows otherwise please chime in.
-the pickup. For the Dart, I see it is a specific passive music man pickup. I am wondering if anyone has experience with a similar off-brand pickup. I see Aguilar and a few other companies make stingray pickups, didn’t know if anyone had insight as to whether this was a ceramic or alnico pickup, etc.
Will start posting our progress tomorrow, templates coming, stay tuned!
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