NBD - Telecaster Thinline-Inspired Parts Bass

[FenderP]

I picked up the latest addition to the family from the luthier today. I am pleased with the final result.

It sounds great and is a very different voice than my other basses including a maple 70s fretless P.

Parts;

• Semi-hollow body with cherry top and alder for the rest
• 1971 Fender Precision fretless rosewood neck with brass nut
• Serek B90 single coil (neck position)
• Fralin P-Bass 5% overwound (traditional P position)
• BadAss II bridge
• Hipshot HB2 nickel lollipop tuners
• 2 x chrome concentric knobs (volume/tone, one for each pickup)
• 2 x CTS 250k/250k Concentric Potentiometer - Custom Modded Stacked Dual A250k Audio Taper
• 2 x .047uf Orange Drop capacitors
• 3 way switch (B90 only, both, Fralin only)
• Genuine Fender Tele control plate
• True Custom Shop Chrome '60's Vintage Reissue Strap Buttons
• Mono output jack
• Rotosound RS88EL strings

 

[Pdaddy1978]

That looks outstanding!! Beautiful.
Now, you just need a matching Tele thinline guitar on a stand next to it.

 

[FenderP]

That looks outstanding!! Beautiful.
Now, you just need a matching Tele thinline guitar on a stand next to it.

Thank you.

No plans for a 6 string relative at the moment.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Thank you.

No plans for a 6 string relative at the moment.

Hey,....plans don't cost a dime. They don't always come to fruition.... but they're free!

 

[Lowbrow]

I’d love to hear it! I’m familiar with the excellent Fralin and I’d love to hear that cool Serek pickup.

 

[FenderP]

I’d love to hear it! I’m familiar with the excellent Fralin and I’d love to hear that cool Serek pickup.

I might have time mid-November to try to get some sound clips. The next few weeks I'm pretty flat out with work stuff.

 

[Killing Floor]

Love that. How is the P90 style sounding?

Nice touch not putting the train track things on the neck. Mmmmmwah

 

[FenderP]

Love that. How is the P90 style sounding?

Based on the Gillett bass I have which has a pickup right by the neck, I was hoping I could get a woody, more "upright-y" sound than a typical P fretless (yes, I know you can't get there totally with a bass like this ... not my first rodeo, so don't @ me ha). I primarily play jazz. I love my Gillett, but in general I prefer 34" scale to anything else (the Gillett is 32").

I listened to soundclips of various pickups including the B90, and given how popular P90s are for guitars especially in the neck position, I figured what the heck. It's not the Lazen version nor is mine configured with a dummy coil.

The bass (semi hollow, wood choices, black nylon tapewound strings, high action) impacts any impression, so what I'm hearing may be a bit different on another bass including the pickup in a different position.

That said, I was happy when I plugged it in through my rig, I was able to only get in a few minutes of noodling, I was digging it. If I had to pick a word, it would be "warm". The EQ is definitely different than the Fralin across the spectrum, but isn't so dissimilar that if this was the only pickup, it would still sound kinda like a P (but also not). The low end is great - full, not boomy. The high end isn't "sparkly" (i.e. it's not going to be a high fidelity sound/Jazz-like). None of this was in context of playing with others - just me at home.

I was playing around a little with the pickup selector switch in the middle mixing both pickups. Since I can blend both volume and tone separately for each, in theory it gives me a wide tonal variety. In reality, things are more subtle but again, I liked what I heard. Chances are I will use one pickup or the other more often than not, but it's nice to have the ability to play around with an "inbetween" sound.

Nice touch not putting the train track things on the neck. Mmmmmwah

That's the way it is naturally - all 70s P fretless necks were like that

 

[cymbop]

I picked up the latest addition to the family from the luthier today. I am pleased with the final result.

It sounds great and is a very different voice than my other basses including a maple 70s fretless P.

Parts;

• Semi-hollow body with cherry top and alder for the rest
• 1971 Fender Precision fretless rosewood neck with brass nut
• Serek B90 single coil (neck position)
• Fralin P-Bass 5% overwound (traditional P position)
• BadAss II bridge
• Hipshot HB2 nickel lollipop tuners
• 2 x chrome concentric knobs (volume/tone, one for each pickup)
• 2 x CTS 250k/250k Concentric Potentiometer - Custom Modded Stacked Dual A250k Audio Taper
• 2 x .047uf Orange Drop capacitors
• 3 way switch (B90 only, both, Fralin only)
• Genuine Fender Tele control plate
• True Custom Shop Chrome '60's Vintage Reissue Strap Buttons
• Mono output jack
• Rotosound RS88EL strings

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View attachment 7060417

That is f’n cool.

 

[JRA]

beautiful! it's the way god intended --- congratulations on your new instrument!

 

[Topkat13]

I picked up the latest addition to the family from the luthier today. I am pleased with the final result.

It sounds great and is a very different voice than my other basses including a maple 70s fretless P.

Parts;

• Semi-hollow body with cherry top and alder for the rest
• 1971 Fender Precision fretless rosewood neck with brass nut
• Serek B90 single coil (neck position)
• Fralin P-Bass 5% overwound (traditional P position)
• BadAss II bridge
• Hipshot HB2 nickel lollipop tuners
• 2 x chrome concentric knobs (volume/tone, one for each pickup)
• 2 x CTS 250k/250k Concentric Potentiometer - Custom Modded Stacked Dual A250k Audio Taper
• 2 x .047uf Orange Drop capacitors
• 3 way switch (B90 only, both, Fralin only)
• Genuine Fender Tele control plate
• True Custom Shop Chrome '60's Vintage Reissue Strap Buttons
• Mono output jack
• Rotosound RS88EL strings

View attachment 7060416


View attachment 7060417

Great looking piece of ash!

 

[FenderP]

Great looking piece of ash!

Alder with cherry top. No ash was harmed in the making of this bass

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Love the Tele style body look. Very nice.

 

[Andy Marshman]

In a now defunct forum, I met a fellow Tele bass enthusiast (we became digital pen pals). He saw that I had created a Tele style short scale bass out of a Telecaster guitar (Hwy 1 model). The fellow, Robert, made the one pictured. I think the body was Warmoth but he was looking for a short scale neck. I surprised him by mailing to him my short scale neck which was a Bronco neck (re-worked by a skilled person) with repositioned tuning machine holes and better tuners. Robert liked his final project but personal illness ended his playing. He was going to keep it for family or donate it to a school. As for my Tele bass, I never found a pickup that I liked the sound of. After removing the neck, I sold the body. The buyer converted it to a Bass VI.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Congrats man! Rock it in good health!

 

[woodyng2]

In a now defunct forum, I met a fellow Tele bass enthusiast (we became digital pen pals). He saw that I had created a Tele style short scale bass out of a Telecaster guitar (Hwy 1 model). The fellow, Robert, made the one pictured. I think the body was Warmoth but he was looking for a short scale neck. I surprised him by mailing to him my short scale neck which was a Bronco neck (re-worked by a skilled person) with repositioned tuning machine holes and better tuners. Robert liked his final project but personal illness ended his playing. He was going to keep it for family or donate it to a school. As for my Tele bass, I never found a pickup that I liked the sound of. After removing the neck, I sold the body. The buyer converted it to a Bass VI.
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Is that a Starz Rickenbacker bridge?

 

[Andy Marshman]

That's an original 60s Mustang bass bridge (like the photo - not my instrument)

 

[Andy Marshman]

The Squier Classic Vibe Mustang has the same bridge.

 

[FenderP]

I decided to bring the bass to a big band rehearsal tonight. I was mainly playing it using the Serek B90. I was really pleased with how the B90 sounded.

Here's an unedited video clip recorded with the front camera of my iPhone with no edits - warts and all.
Tele Bass B90 Demo Video

 

[Chrome Dome]

Here is my 2013 Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster got couple weeks ago.