Haven’t picked up a new bass in quite a while and wasn’t looking for anything so the fact I’m posting a NBD thread is a surprise for me.
Earlier this week, my brother-in-law called to tell me that he was sending me something and that it should be here by the end of the week. As I don’t like surprises, I pressed him, and he caved. His wood-working neighbor had begun building guitars and he said that if he ever built a bass he knew who he could send it to.
Well, he built one. And it showed up yesterday while I was playing a gig. My wife insisted I open it the moment I got home.
EDIT: I just confirmed this is not an assembled bass but rather completely hand made. Insane.
Now, my expectations were managed as Rich, the neighbor, was giving this to me free of charge because he’s still “apprenticing” and there will be flaws (his words) but I didn’t anticipate seeing this when I opened the case.
Olive green P bass copy with matching headstock, abalone markers on a rosewood board, EMG GZR pickup/harness, and Hipshot hardware. What?!
I first thought he just assembled some parts but upon inspection, the placement of the fret markers indicate that that was not the case. And feeling a small amount of waviness in the Poly on the back of the neck also implied he did more to this than just put parts together. Dang!
It needs a setup but intonation was perfect and it sounded really good acoustically. Always a good litmus test as I know what the GZRs sound like but appreciate whether sound pops off the bass without amplification.
Did I mention this was free?! I know this because I called my bro-in-law to thank him for sending it and Rich happened to be there and offered to pay him for this as it was WAY more than I expected, even if for just the parts and the stellar case! He said there are a ton of flaws that he’d be happy to point out if I wanted him to. Screw that! It’s amazing! He did say that the frets needs polishing and probably some leveling and it did need a setup to my specs but all he wants is feedback. I’m happy to oblige.
The name comes from the initials of each person in his family.
I’ll dig into getting it setup and tweaking some things but overall I’m completely blown away by the gesture.
Earlier this week, my brother-in-law called to tell me that he was sending me something and that it should be here by the end of the week. As I don’t like surprises, I pressed him, and he caved. His wood-working neighbor had begun building guitars and he said that if he ever built a bass he knew who he could send it to.
Well, he built one. And it showed up yesterday while I was playing a gig. My wife insisted I open it the moment I got home.
EDIT: I just confirmed this is not an assembled bass but rather completely hand made. Insane.
Now, my expectations were managed as Rich, the neighbor, was giving this to me free of charge because he’s still “apprenticing” and there will be flaws (his words) but I didn’t anticipate seeing this when I opened the case.
Olive green P bass copy with matching headstock, abalone markers on a rosewood board, EMG GZR pickup/harness, and Hipshot hardware. What?!
I first thought he just assembled some parts but upon inspection, the placement of the fret markers indicate that that was not the case. And feeling a small amount of waviness in the Poly on the back of the neck also implied he did more to this than just put parts together. Dang!
It needs a setup but intonation was perfect and it sounded really good acoustically. Always a good litmus test as I know what the GZRs sound like but appreciate whether sound pops off the bass without amplification.
Did I mention this was free?! I know this because I called my bro-in-law to thank him for sending it and Rich happened to be there and offered to pay him for this as it was WAY more than I expected, even if for just the parts and the stellar case! He said there are a ton of flaws that he’d be happy to point out if I wanted him to. Screw that! It’s amazing! He did say that the frets needs polishing and probably some leveling and it did need a setup to my specs but all he wants is feedback. I’m happy to oblige.
The name comes from the initials of each person in his family.
I’ll dig into getting it setup and tweaking some things but overall I’m completely blown away by the gesture.
Last edited:
