NBD: Look Ma, No Knobs (Except the Player)

[N4860]

Congrats, that looks awesome! Reminds me of a mix of the Joe Dart (which you noted) and the BFR Slugger basses (minus the block inlays):

 

[MVE]

Great job!
I love it.
I rarely feel a need to adjust things too much during a show.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

Nice! I've always wanted to build a P bass like this.

 

[perfektspace6]

Sorry but a bass must have knobs. This produces no amplified sound.

 

[J Posega]

I'm pretty sure all the epoxy block Barts are shielded so you don't have to shield the cavities.

That could be, but I had the copper tape and the time. The Bart does have a big copper plate on the bottom, so you’re probably right. Better safe than sorry though.

Talk about keeping it simple!

Would you mind sharing the finished weight and budget? Thanks!

Final cost was right around $850, I think. All the hardware and pickup were bought used.

The Puyallup to Portland express! Looking good!

What (if any) finishing did you do to the neck?

Just a single application of Howard’s Feed n Wax. The grain is incredibly tight so I’m not worried about it getting really dirty.

 

[AncientNoob]

Very cool build, I dig it!

 

[TeeSee]

This is my latest Warmoth project

Minimalist and beautiful.
I wonder what a guitar like this would look like with a fretless neck?

 

[neil|lien]

This is my latest Warmoth project, now my 4th using both a body and neck from them. I love putting things together but don't have the practice or tools or space to do scratch building, so project basses are a lot like Lego to me, just more practical!

View attachment 5245018

View attachment 5245016
(Don't worry, the bass doesn't live on this window sill)

Background
I got an SBMM Ray24 in trade a year or so ago. It's my first 4 string 'Ray style bass and I liked it, but didn't love it. So, I took out the preamp, put in passive volume, tone, and series/single/parallel switch and a Nordstrand MM4.4 pickup. Then, I leveled the frets. Finally, I arrived at a good playing, great sounding bass, but even after installing Hipshot Ultralite tuners, it's still neck heavy and I've never been in love with the neck. I decided I enjoyed the passive Ray and wanted a bass I enjoyed the feel of more.

I took inspiration from the Joe Dart EBMM signature basses and smooshed features together to arrive at something that's fun to play and sounds great to my ears.

Specs

• Warmoth G4 lightweight one-piece swamp ash body weighing 4.13 lbs, routed for 1 MM in the sweet spot (from the Showcase)
• Warmoth roasted maple neck and fretboard, 1.5" nut, steel reinforcement rods, small frets, black Tusq nut, black dots (from the Showcase)
• Gotoh Resolite tuners. They're lighter than Hipshot Ultralites.
• Hipshot A-style Fender mount bridge. Warmoth forgot to drill for bridge mounting screws but gave me a $50 refund and I drilled them myself. Spacing is setup for even 19mm center to center.
• Bartolini MMC pickup
• Dunlop Strap Lock buttons
• D'addario nickel XL balanced tension strings
• Super secret, extra special, quadruple mojo wiring... I'll let you in on the secret sauce

View attachment 5245019

Pickup wired in series straight to the jack.

Here's the raw body. I applied 5 or 6 coats of Howard's Feed n Wax.

View attachment 5245031

View attachment 5245026

The bass balances great and has all the punch I was expecting. The finish doesn't really protect the body from dings, but I'm pretty careful with my instruments.

I may still try out other pickups just because there's not a lot of sound samples out there of MM pickups in passive configurations. Reverend sells their Split Brick pickup which is a reverse P in an MM shell and might sound really cool in this bass.

I am in love... fantastic looking bass...

 

[Lance Bunyon]

The bass COULD live on that windowsill (unless you have cats)...

 

[tr4252]

That's my idea of a nice bass; a body, a neck, a pickup, and a few strings.

I had an old P special with a dead active circuit, so I gutted it and wired direct to the jack like you did. Perfectly satisfactory.

I really like the simplicity of this bass.

Tom

 

[2saddleslab]

Maximum use of minimalism.

 

[terlewine]

I love it! Makes me want to put together a parts bass like it.

My favorite bass is my Joe Dart model. It has just a volume knob, and I rarely use that. You get a world of tone differences just by where and how you pluck the trings.

By the way, I replaced the clownish original knob that came on the Dart with a Tele-style dome knob of ivoroid:

 

[Nightsprinter]

Love it. Probably plays like a $2000 bass tbh. There are no magicians in the factories- just folks like us!

 

[cymbop]

This is a really cool one. Thanks for sharing!

 

[E2942]

Better safe than sorry

It looks like the pickup wires are also shielded.
The reason the controls cavity is shielded is to keep EMI out of the controls & unshielded wires inside.

You don't have that problem.

 

[59jazz]

Do we need to start a minimalist bass club?

 

[micguy]

• Gotoh Resolite tuners. They're lighter than Hipshot Ultralites.

Love the bass. The specs for Gotoh's Resolites say they're lighter than Hipshot Ultralites. However, if you actually weigh them (I have done this many times), the specs for the Gotoh's are a bit optimistic (they come in a few grams heavier than advertised), and the specs for the Hipshots are a bit pessimistic (they come in under their spec for weight). A set of Y key Ultralites (4 or 5) will weigh within a gram (sometimes more, sometimes less) of a set of Resolites - they are absolutely the same weight.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

This is my latest Warmoth project, now my 4th using both a body and neck from them. I love putting things together but don't have the practice or tools or space to do scratch building, so project basses are a lot like Lego to me, just more practical!

View attachment 5245018

View attachment 5245016
(Don't worry, the bass doesn't live on this window sill)

Background
I got an SBMM Ray24 in trade a year or so ago. It's my first 4 string 'Ray style bass and I liked it, but didn't love it. So, I took out the preamp, put in passive volume, tone, and series/single/parallel switch and a Nordstrand MM4.4 pickup. Then, I leveled the frets. Finally, I arrived at a good playing, great sounding bass, but even after installing Hipshot Ultralite tuners, it's still neck heavy and I've never been in love with the neck. I decided I enjoyed the passive Ray and wanted a bass I enjoyed the feel of more.

I took inspiration from the Joe Dart EBMM signature basses and smooshed features together to arrive at something that's fun to play and sounds great to my ears.

Specs

• Warmoth G4 lightweight one-piece swamp ash body weighing 4.13 lbs, routed for 1 MM in the sweet spot (from the Showcase)
• Warmoth roasted maple neck and fretboard, 1.5" nut, steel reinforcement rods, small frets, black Tusq nut, black dots (from the Showcase)
• Gotoh Resolite tuners. They're lighter than Hipshot Ultralites.
• Hipshot A-style Fender mount bridge. Warmoth forgot to drill for bridge mounting screws but gave me a $50 refund and I drilled them myself. Spacing is setup for even 19mm center to center.
• Bartolini MMC pickup
• Dunlop Strap Lock buttons
• D'addario nickel XL balanced tension strings
• Super secret, extra special, quadruple mojo wiring... I'll let you in on the secret sauce

View attachment 5245019

Pickup wired in series straight to the jack.

Here's the raw body. I applied 5 or 6 coats of Howard's Feed n Wax.

View attachment 5245031

View attachment 5245026

The bass balances great and has all the punch I was expecting. The finish doesn't really protect the body from dings, but I'm pretty careful with my instruments.

I may still try out other pickups just because there's not a lot of sound samples out there of MM pickups in passive configurations. Reverend sells their Split Brick pickup which is a reverse P in an MM shell and might sound really cool in this bass.

Cool idea. Great looking bass!

 

[Turnaround]

I'm pretty sure all the epoxy block Barts are shielded so you don't have to shield the cavities.

The leads from the pickup are shielded too. Shielding the cavity is unneccessary.

 

[J Posega]

I am in love... fantastic looking bass...

Thanks!

Love the bass. The specs for Gotoh's Resolites say they're lighter than Hipshot Ultralites. However, if you actually weigh them (I have done this many times), the specs for the Gotoh's are a bit optimistic (they come in a few grams heavier than advertised), and the specs for the Hipshots are a bit pessimistic (they come in under their spec for weight). A set of Y key Ultralites (4 or 5) will weigh within a gram (sometimes more, sometimes less) of a set of Resolites - they are absolutely the same weight.

Interesting. I’ve never compared them side by side, just went with what I’ve read. I have Hipshots on other basses and they’re great too, but it’s also easier to fit the Gotoh set on this headstock at the slight angle because of the footprint of the tuners as well.

Do we need to start a minimalist bass club?

super cool bass!

The bass COULD live on that windowsill (unless you have cats)...

I do have a cat! She prefers the corner window sill so that’s not really an issue, but it’s a little too drafty for me to leave a nice bass up there.