NBD: Wilkins 'Cayenne' (Roasted) PJ5

[MasterMonkeyMan]

I have one of Pat's tightly spaced P/J's. It is actually the one from Grandma's in NM. This one has a 3 way switch - P, P+J, J.
I think the classic P bass tone is fully preserved when selecting the P as opposed to having a blend knob.
Slightly less flexible but the tone is fantastic. Having said that, I find the middle position to be extremely satisfying and is the one I use primarily.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Very interested if Mr. @Wilkins could build a Left Handed roasted ash P body with a roasted neck as shown in this thread, one Bartolini pickup and Vol/Tone controls, passive. What a beautiful neck on the bass! I think a roasted ash body with satin finish would look nice but I've never seen one.

@G On Bass are you still loving your Wilkins bass, and how much do you use the roasted one? Thanks.

 

[JIO]

Very interested if Mr. @Wilkins could build a Left Handed roasted ash P body with a roasted neck as shown in this thread, one Bartolini pickup and Vol/Tone controls, passive. What a beautiful neck on the bass! I think a roasted ash body with satin finish would look nice but I've never seen one.

@G On Bass are you still loving your Wilkins bass, and how much do you use the roasted one? Thanks.

You're an email/phone-call away from confirmation of your inquiry - Pat's a very helpful, receptive guy and I'm sure he could line you up with exactly what you want. He shot a satin finish on a roasted body I sent him and it looks & feels great.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

You're an email/phone-call away from confirmation of your inquiry - Pat's a very helpful, receptive guy and I'm sure he could line you up with exactly what you want. He shot a satin finish on a roasted body I sent him and it looks & feels great.

Thanks @JIO ! Have a great rest of the week!

Will

 

[Wilkins]

Very interested if Mr. @Wilkins could build a Left Handed roasted ash P body with a roasted neck as shown in this thread, one Bartolini pickup and Vol/Tone controls, passive. What a beautiful neck on the bass! I think a roasted ash body with satin finish would look nice but I've never seen one.

@G On Bass are you still loving your Wilkins bass, and how much do you use the roasted one? Thanks.

Hi alaskaleftybass I can absolutely build you a bass just like you want it in a left handed version. You can pm me from Talkbass or contact me directly at my email which is [email protected]. Let me know if I can put together a great LH bass for you. Thanks for asking Pat

 

[sigterm]

I was fortunate enough, via months of trading and selling off basses that aren't getting played, to finally snag the bass I have wanted since Pat first showed me his prototypes as unfinished bodies and necks.

Specs:

Roasted Body - Pearl White Satin finish
Fingerboard - Dark Roasted Flamed Maple - Natural Satin Finish
Neck - Quarter Sawn Honey Roasted Flamed Maple - Natural Satin Finish
34" Scale, 10" Radius
Nut Width 1.75
Frets 6230
Nordstrand NP5
Nordstrand J5
Sadowsky Preamp
Hipshot Ultralite tuners
Hipshot Vintage C bridge, 18.5mm
7.8 pounds

This is a perfect companion to my chambered Wilkins Roadtested/ancient-wood-neck PJ5 that has been my main player since buying that one a couple of years back. Somehow I seem to end up with his NAMM basses. No complaints....

Full review to follow once I get to play it at a rehearsal through my own rig. Lovin' it at home.

Pics:
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Wow honey roasted maple, delicious!

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Hi alaskaleftybass I can absolutely build you a bass just like you want it in a left handed version. You can pm me from Talkbass or contact me directly at my email which is [email protected]. Let me know if I can put together a great LH bass for you. Thanks for asking Pat

Thank you sir!

 

[bholder]

Amazing looking bass. The neck is amazing.

I have seen the question asked "why roast the body if it is being painted?", but haven't seen it answered. Is it to dry the wood further? Any other reason?

Weight and tone...

 

[JIO]

Weight and tone...

And hardness, but maybe that depends on what you start with - I recently made a very lightweight roasted swamp ash body that was also very soft. It probably started off light and soft to begin or had way more moisture in it as compared to an old growth slab of ash that is inherently heavier with more, tighter lines. I also just sent Pat a body of roasted ash to be finished that doesn't 'look' roasted. It's light in colour and reasonably light in weight, and ash hard. Anyway, there is a full explanation of the roasting advantages by Pat in post #20 page 1.

Both roasted - the one on the right was much lighter in weight and soft. Maybe it came down to how long it was roasted.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I was fortunate enough, via months of trading and selling off basses that aren't getting played, to finally snag the bass I have wanted since Pat first showed me his prototypes as unfinished bodies and necks.

Specs:

Roasted Body - Pearl White Satin finish
Fingerboard - Dark Roasted Flamed Maple - Natural Satin Finish
Neck - Quarter Sawn Honey Roasted Flamed Maple - Natural Satin Finish
34" Scale, 10" Radius
Nut Width 1.75
Frets 6230
Nordstrand NP5
Nordstrand J5
Sadowsky Preamp
Hipshot Ultralite tuners
Hipshot Vintage C bridge, 18.5mm
7.8 pounds

This is a perfect companion to my chambered Wilkins Roadtested/ancient-wood-neck PJ5 that has been my main player since buying that one a couple of years back. Somehow I seem to end up with his NAMM basses. No complaints....

Full review to follow once I get to play it at a rehearsal through my own rig. Lovin' it at home.

Pics:
View attachment 2366816
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View attachment 2366819
View attachment 2366820

How do you like your chambered bass @G On Bass ? Is it light?
What are the controls on your roasted white bass? I like the Ibanez layout-- volume/blend/bass/mid/treble.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful bass. Have you used it live recently?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

And hardness, but maybe that depends on what you start with - I recently made a very lightweight roasted swamp ash body that was also very soft. It probably started off light and soft to begin or had way more moisture in it as compared to an old growth slab of ash that is inherently heavier with more, tighter lines. I also just sent Pat a body of roasted ash to be finished that doesn't 'look' roasted. It's light in colour and reasonably light in weight, and ash hard. Anyway, there is a full explanation of the roasting advantages by Pat in post #20 page 1.

Both roasted - the one on the right was much lighter in weight and soft. Maybe it came down to how long it was roasted.
View attachment 3099703

@JIO are those slabs of wood destined to be bass bodies? Are either of them going to be natural or transparent finish?

 

[G On Bass]

How do you like your chambered bass @G On Bass ? Is it light?
What are the controls on your roasted white bass? I like the Ibanez layout-- volume/blend/bass/mid/treble.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful bass. Have you used it live recently?

The roasted bass is lighter, weighing less than 8 pounds. But The chambered one is not all that much heavier.

The roasted bass (which is now Shoreline Gold in my Avatar) has a Sadowsky preamp in it, so it is Vol/Blend/Tone/stackedTreb-bass
The Red one has an Aguilar OBP3 which is Vol/Blend/bass/mid/treb.

These are really the only 2 basses I've used live for the last several years. That is unlikely to change

 

[alaskaleftybass]

The roasted bass is lighter, weighing less than 8 pounds. But The chambered one is not all that much heavier.

The roasted bass (which is now Shoreline Gold in my Avatar) has a Sadowsky preamp in it, so it is Vol/Blend/Tone/stackedTreb-bass
The Red one has an Aguilar OBP3 which is Vol/Blend/bass/mid/treb.

These are really the only 2 basses I've used live for the last several years. That is unlikely to change

Thank you for sharing. Somehow, I'm very drawn to the brand of bass. I've envisioned a P bass without the pickguard roasted neck and body. I wonder if i could get the body roasted as dark as the neck...?

 

[jeffb28451]

Pat does such nice work. You are very fortunate to have snagged this one. I've had a couple of his refins done and they are perfection. I would love to have one of his "start to finish" pieces.

 

[P. Aaron]

Very nice looking bass. Congrats.

 

[bhoff5150]

Holy WOW!!!! Congrats man that thing is unique and absolutely beautiful!!!

 

[G On Bass]

Pat does such nice work. You are very fortunate to have snagged this one. I've had a couple of his refins done and they are perfection. I would love to have one of his "start to finish" pieces.

I am fortunate. As I've said, Pat's basses are, without a doubt, the most comfortable and easiest playing basses I have ever touched. I knew from the moment I first held a Wilkins bass at NAMM. It's so nice to not even think about buying basses anymore. Though I would love to have a fretless from him

 

[JIO]

@JIO are those slabs of wood destined to be bass bodies? Are either of them going to be natural or transparent finish?

The darker/lighter weight one became the ss 5's I recently built for Chris Kuffner. lightweight short-scale 5'r It was finished in Pelham blue leaving the grain texture of the ash. (not leveled) The completed bass ended up at 7lbs.

The other one became my current Teiscobird build and it is being also finished in Pelham blue & tobacco brown by Pat now. Teiscobird project (starting post #375)

I appreciate the inherent look of wood and Pat has done a couple of my roasted ash bodies in natural satin finishes, which feels and looks great. But I also like painted finishes.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

The darker/lighter weight one became the ss 5's I recently built for Chris Kuffner. lightweight short-scale 5'r It was finished in Pelham blue leaving the grain texture of the ash. (not leveled) The completed bass ended up at 7lbs.

The other one became my current Teiscobird build and it is being also finished in Pelham blue & tobacco brown by Pat now. Teiscobird project (starting post #375)

I appreciate the inherent look of wood and Pat has done a couple of my roasted ash bodies in natural satin finishes, which feels and looks great. But I also like painted finishes.

Thank you. Heading over to look at your basses now...

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Still thinking about the Wilkins roasted neck and body with a transparent blonde finish. Sounds pretty sweet to me!