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Les Paul Bass Build

#61
Well done! I've enjoyed seeing the transformation of a hunk of wood into an instrument.

I think a lot of us would love to see the final tally of how much time and money you spent on this.

I think it looks better proportioned than a Gibson - did you enlarge the body in any dimensions?

Bravo!
 
#62
Rookwood said:
Well done! I've enjoyed seeing the transformation of a hunk of wood into an instrument.

I think a lot of us would love to see the final tally of how much time and money you spent on this.

I think it looks better proportioned than a Gibson - did you enlarge the body in any dimensions?

Bravo!
Click to expand...

For those interested in costs and looking to build a custom bass here's a detail of what I have in materials:
Mahogany Block (Bought locally): about 35$
West African Ebony from luthiers mercantile pre-slotted: 55$
Fretwire wide (stew mac) 10.44$
Grizzly Truss Rod 20.65$
Binding 9.05$
Les Paul Truss Rod Cover with screws 8.99$
Bartolini Mighty Mite Shape 5 string Neck and Bridge Humbuckers 200$
Pickup Screws (8) Black 5.20$
Alpha Brand 500k Pots 12.25$
Switchcraft Input Jack 2.95$
0.47uF sprague orange drop caps 5.90$
Guitar Conductive Shielding Paint 16.90$
3 way Toggle Switch w/ Black Tip (Leds) 8.99$
Battery Box for Led Battery 11.85$
Hipshot 5 string type A bridge, 0.728 spacing, brass covered in black 115$
Hipshot Ultralite Tuner Y key 1/2 black 120$
Schaller Strap Locks 25$
Planet Waves 3 Padded Comfort Guitar Strap - Black (exclusively for this bass and the strap locks) 17.56$
Black Les Paul Speed Knobs 10.95$
Black TUSQ XL Graphtech Nut 5 String 16.65$
Sadowsky BlueLabel Stainless Steel 5 strings 30.50$
Mooradian GigBag (used) 80$

That adds to about 810USD$ without shipping in the USA plus what I had to pay to have it shipped home.

Not included are the costs of paint or the LEDS because I didn't purchase them myself directly.

Its quite an investment in time and money but definitely rewarding and worth it.
 
#63
I bought the wood on july 7th 2010 and my friend started working about a couple of weeks later. He had to relocate his shop which delayed stuff quite a bit. We have to order drills and lots of specific tools online because you can't get them in a regular hardware store which pushes time back. He originally thought the bass was going to be a lot easier to make than it actually ended up being. Lots of things need to be done by hand with lots of attention to detail. Not your regular bolt on jazz build.
 
#69
smo said:
Awesome work.

Was the truss rod hard to install?
Click to expand...

Nope, no problems according to my friend. The toughest was the binding of the body, LEDS on the fretboard, and shaping the headstock.

On a side note I got some rotosound long scale roundwound strings 45 130. I hope they'll fit nicely. Anyone care to comment on the sound and durability of these. How do they play?
 
#72
BassGreaser said:
what color will it be?
Click to expand...

Stained blue to show off the nice grain of the entire instrument and match the LEDS, think blueburst on a gibson les paul money bass.

gibson-les-paul-money-bass.jpg


The headstock (only the front, the back will match the rest of the body) will be black with my last name in mother of pearl on it.
 
#75
Can't wait to see it finished. I own 2 les Paul 5 string basses and I love em. With your own personal touches I'm confident you will love it more than you could possibly love an original. Hehe and now i want one too. Fantastic job and congrats on your new baby!
 
#76
BigHandsOT said:
Can't wait to see it finished. I own 2 les Paul 5 string basses and I love em. With your own personal touches I'm confident you will love it more than you could possibly love an original. Hehe and now i want one too. Fantastic job and congrats on your new baby!
Click to expand...

I had seen a couple of gibson les paul 5 stringers and wasn't liking a couple of things. I actually liked the look of an epiphone 5 string les paul more and the two piece bridge it sported. I disliked the general appearance of the gibsons and to a lesser degree the epiphone (loved the binding on the EPI). There was one gibson that had a flat black or red color, and what appeared to be thunderbird pickups with dot inlays on the fretboard. It didn't look like a quality built instrument. I however did like the quilt maple topped les paul 5 with bartolinis and block inlays. It looked more classy and elegant. Both however had lackluster hardware, and wasn't feeling the nut so there was definite room for improvement in my opinion, that and adding the 35 scale and one piece body idea. The LEDS was just for fun.

Had I gone with a standard gibson, that quilt maple one with barts would have been it, although I would have replaced all the hardware for hipshot which would have set me back a good 250 dollars anyway. Add about 700 to 900 dollars to get one in the first place and it just made more sense and fun to have one built based on my ideas.

I appreciate the suggestions made by TBers in this thread and the beginning and thats why I'll keep posting stuff when I decide to get more projects running. I already have all the hardware and wood for two 5 string headless basses. All I'm missing is electronics and pickups. I'll post that later down the line.
 
#77
I had tons of issues with getting the decals from rothko and frost. In the end they came through. Delivered flawless gretsch logos for other stuff and coupled of other things.

Problem is I loved the design but not the execution of my Armenteros logo. So I went ahead and did it myself with some paper I managed to get a hold of and had my friend use a laser cutter to do it.

ArmenterosHeadstockMOP.jpg


The bass is officially a year in the making but I've been playing it for a while now. Just not painted yet. But that will change soon.
 

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