Looking for a place to start

[CaribooBass]

I have played bass long enough to come to the conclusion that I would like to assemble my own Frankenstein bass.

I have never done this before but I know what I want to end up with.
What is the best way to start the process?
Buy a cheap bass and add what you want for upgrades?
Buy all the parts you want and throw it all together?
Buy an old P or J bass body and neck and replace the pickups in both type and placement until you get the tone you want?

Like I said just a place to start.
Thanks
IQ36ESM

 

[GMC]

Go and get a copy of “Make your own guitar” by Melvyn Hislop, read it several times. That’s your beginning of lutherie wisdom.

 

[MPU]

Melvyn Hiscock I guess.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Any or all of your suggestions can work. You say you know what you want to end up with but your questions sound like you’re still debating hardware and pickups. If that’s the case, it might be a good idea to go with an inexpensive test mule first and when you figure out what you like you can decide if you want to go with more a expensive body and neck from one of the aftermarket suppliers or even build your own. Also, don’t be disappointed if you don’t hit it 100% on the first try. It can be a journey and the getting there part can be fun.

 

[two fingers]

I have played bass long enough to come to the conclusion that I would like to assemble my own Frankenstein bass.

I have never done this before but I know what I want to end up with.
What is the best way to start the process?
Buy a cheap bass and add what you want for upgrades?
Buy all the parts you want and throw it all together?
Buy an old P or J bass body and neck and replace the pickups in both type and placement until you get the tone you want?

Like I said just a place to start.
Thanks
IQ36ESM

Honestly, it depends on what you want to end up with.

Can you describe your goals for us? If what you want doesn't exist, you'll have to start from scratch. If you basically want a modded P bass with a J neck, that would simply be a matter of gathering parts and assembling them. If it doesn't come together perfectly, you simply take it to a good setup guy and he/she adjusts everything so it settles in.

 

[Durham52]

If you're talking about assembling a bass from parts, or adding upgrades to a second hand purchase, a complete schooling in guitar construction is possibly overkill. (Nothing wrong with doing reading a book such as the one mentioned, but if we're talking about a solid body electric bass here, you can certainly scrape by without it.)
There is a wealth of information on here that would allow anyone to assemble and modify parts to construct a bass and set it up. The only limiting factors might be, how far you want to take possible modifications (would it involve say, completely reshaping a neck profile?) and how experienced, or not, you may be in basic woodworking and the use of tools.

You say you know what you want to end up with, so perhaps laying that out would help people provide some useful suggestions on various ways to go about achieving the 'ideal" bass you have in your head. From your post it sounds like you're thinking along the lines of a Fender shaped object with some upgrades to achieve particular feel and sounds, so a reasonable starting point shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

If we aren't talking about unusual scale lengths, unusual numbers of strings, custom body shapes, or other uncommon features, then these days most things can be accommodated by parts suppliers, parted out instruments, or by buying a bass for modification.

 

[dwizum]

I would make a suggestion. Think carefully about why you want to do this, and what it is you want to accomplish. Then, go learn the specific skills you need to get there.

If you have a certain sound, or look, or set of hardware you want, or you have some other specific goal, knowing that upfront will help you narrow down what skills you need, what tools you need, and what you need to focus on to get there.

If you decide you're doing it because you want to do the process - regardless of the end result - that might take you down a slightly different path.

Instrument construction (or even just assembly and setup) can be as complicated or simple as you want it to be. There's a lifetime of skills to learn. You'll have a hard time knowing what to focus on without at least some clarity on direction, and it could be easy to get overwhelmed or frustrated otherwise.

 

[RichterScale]

I know what I want to end up with.

I would start with laying this out in detail and you will receive lots of feedback on all the ways to achieve it.

 

[JRA]

I would like to assemble my own Frankenstein bass.

i assemble parts to get some nice playing instruments, and in a few cases = best players i've ever experienced!

i'm on a "lightweight" kick, so:
- find lightweight bodies (i've been using paulownia bodies from the glarry brand FSOs).
- find a nice neck (they're all over: fender necks, mighty mite, chinese pieces from ebay, etc.).
- hardware: lightweight bridges and tuning machines.
- electronics: i've been using passive systems, but i'm assembling an active ax ATM.

in each case: i spend the money, but the most expensive parts will still yield an instrument that is more affordable than MSRPs. my most expensive pile of parts assembled a P-bass for ~$725, and the least expensive got me a real player for ~$450, and the average of my six parts basses is ~$550 per ax. here's three that i've been posting on various threads:


it's an easy process if you lean towards FSOs = order the parts you like and assemble them! even if you use fender parts (or fender licensed parts) the end cost is substantially below the MSRP for comparable instruments, so there's lots to like about parts basses. my axes are not "frankensteins" --- they're legitimate players that were conceived to be better/cheaper than off-the-rack options. various screwdrivers, a soldering iron, probably some sandpaper, and you're there! if you're 'handy' you can assemble it yourself, and if you're tool-challenged you can pay someone else to do the work...it'll still be cheaper, but the bottom line is that you'll have your own custom piece!

I know what I want to end up with.

well then, describe your vision....

 

[JW56789]

I had that daydream for years, until it finally dawned on me SOMEBODY makes what I thought of . . . before I did.

But for me it shook out two ways:

EITHER I could get something almost like I had in mind, in other words a used bass of the kind I wanted to end up with. Of course, it's already finished in a color I like, neck's done, keys, hardware, etc. already in place, and essentially all I had to do was swap out pickups and/or tone network, or different keys or bridge, and I'm done.

That's obviously cheaper than a 'from-scratch-parts-bass', would get done faster, and had a brand name on it when the time comes to resell it. And IF I bought the donor at the right price and sought deals for the change-out parts, I'd wind up with a total spend about what a good unmodified one would sell for. Great !

What you DON'T want to do in this scenario is wind up with what I call the 'thousand-dollar-Squier': I have a Squier Jazz I modded at a very modest spend, so I'm in line with what it would sell for used in primo shape. But . . . often on Reverb you'll see an ad for a 'modded Squier' where the guy but on a full Bartolini setup, Schaller keys, and a much better bridge, and he's asking 800 or 900 bucks for it. Nobody expects a Squier to sell for that much (yeah I know, I see those prices on the 80's MIJ ones, and that's crazy) and you see that axe for sale . . . for months.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I got all excited to just buy everything one-piece-at-a-time to build my 'dream bass' . . . only to realize by the time I bought a Warmoth body and neck (or from any of the other suppliers), had them finished, then the bridge, then the keys, then other hardware, then the pickups and tone network . . . . that you can build a mighty expensive bass BUYING EVERYTHING RETAIL. That has no brand-name on the headstock afterwards. Breaking even on something like that when the time to sell off comes is going to be a real hill to climb. For me, that ended that idea.

I may look at this differently than some, but I never, ever buy a bass without considering where I'd be re-sale wise. If I buy smart, usually I can break even, sometimes make a little money, sometimes lose just a little. So over time, most anything I bought after I smartened up about these things I essentially owned for free.

I like that.

 

[Fender_Bender]

There’s a big difference between assembling and actually making. Assembling has the highest likelihood of success if you stick with the same brand making the neck and the body. That way you don’t run into issues with the number of frets, and how that effects the body/neck/intonation relationship. Make sure you have a neck and body both from the same scale.

 

[CaribooBass]

There are a lot of wisdom in these replies and I thank all of you for your responses.

To start with it might be smarter in getting a test mule and starting from there or at least with parts that are made to be together.
I do not disappoint easily as to what the results will be at first only if I do nothing on this will be the most disappointing
I do not really care as to what the body looks like yet only that it will be a natural stained .
Yes I do know what I want in tone but I have noticed it seems to my choice and my choice alone.

The best way to describe it is a mixture of the depth and richness of my Warwick and as subtle as my Jazz bass. It is this I will search for by testing pickups and there placements and so fourth.

The main thing I desire is the neck to be a 2 octave fret less with both the neck and finger board to be maple.
The main goal is to have a bass that is not locked into a pre-conceived sonic location only and can be much more textured.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Honestly, it depends on what you want to end up with

I would make a suggestion. Think carefully about why you want to do this, and what it is you want to accomplish. Then, go learn the specific skills you need to get there.

Exactly. These ^^^
The human machine can do whatever it's motivated to do.
For example.
I decided I wanted to build *neckthrough* basses.
...In the style of Alembic... (hippy sammich).
...period.
Not Fender clones... not Franken-anything.
I studied at the Institute of YouTube/& books... for about a YEAR before making any "instrumental" sawdust. (Obsessed... learning is fun)
I really dig this series by Randall Fullmer... for one.

I was soaking up info like a sponge.
And... lurking like a fly on the wall. In these hallowed halls of The LC.
Given the focused studies I've done... I now build a fairly decent high end neckthrough bass.
...BUT...
Don't ask me to build a bolty .
Sure...I could... but I would have to go back to "school" for the required elevations.
... but no doubt.
The talented individuals here in this beloved guild... have all the info needed. And are happy to share.

 

[dwizum]

fairly decent

Understatement of the century from the humblest among us!

 

[Arie X]

buy a cheapo bass and upgrade it?

buy a kit and figure it out?

of course i didn't start that way. i just had to scratch build a guitar in junior high with no help and haven't stopped.

one word of advice though: choose your masters carefully. lots of bozos out there in YT land.

 

[Videojunkie]

When I was in high school, I wanted to learn how to play guitar. Being broke, I had access to a library and my dad's woodworking tools, and borrowed Melvyn Hiscock's excellent book. I made my first guitar out of a 2x4, some scrap 2x6 and a thin piece of oak. (A friends brother is responsible for the craptastic stain job... ) The hardware was the cheapest stuff I could order from StewMac (at the time, the only resource I was aware of..this was pre-internet of course)



That served as the prototype for the guitar I wanted to build that I spent money on: good tuners, EMG pickups, and a tremolo bridge! It was also made out of finer woods, maple, mahogany, and zebrano.



The second guitar is still one of my favorite playing guitars (I now own many), it has a super low action, thin and fast neck, and a unique sound.

If I were you, build a scrap guitar. you will learn quickly if
A, you have the inclination to build a better instrument
B, you have the tools to build any instrument
C, how much fun and reward exists in standing back and saying, "I made that!"

 

[Videojunkie]

Another thing to consider, there is many lifetimes of experience available through this community to support whatever path you try.

 

[Slidlow]

I'll say try it the way you find most comfortable given your budget and skill. I remember my grade 10 shop class where I mentioned to the teacher I wanted to try making a guitar. He promptly proclaimed "you can't do that they are made in factories" shooting down my enthusiasm in front of everybody. Well I promptly went home and tried my first, then second, then third and then built this:

Shoot ahead 30+ years and I build things like this:

You can do it!

 

[RichterScale]

He promptly proclaimed "you can't do that they are made in factories"

Between my time in school as a young'n and the 18+ yrs that I've worked at a school,.... I can still count on one hand, the number of teachers I've met who had any business being a teacher.

 

[MPU]

Between my time in school as a young'n and the 18+ yrs that I've worked at a school,.... I can still count on one hand, the number of teachers I've met who had any business being a teacher.

Luckily I have met many, many highly competent and professional teachers as colleaques, especially at elementary school. Five years of university studies may have something to do with that.