new p bass day/build thread (sort of)

almost a year ago, i bought a fender mim p bass body that had been floating around on my local craigslist for almost a year and a half. it started out as a poorly refinished body that passed hands twice, once thru an auto body guy, and ended up in a poor college students hands, each time having finish work done to it, and each time being resold on craigslist.

i finally scored it for a small sum. it had a nasty charcoal metallic krylon paint job. i could tell the second i picked it up that it had several coats of paint, or something, on it.

here it is the day i got it-



it took me about 6 months to muster the cash, and a game plan for this body so i could get started on it. i started sanding the spray paint off, only to discover it had a ton of filler on it. this is what it looked like after an hour with a da sander-





then i took to hand sanding the edges and contours. heres the result after a furious marathon hand sanding session-





along the way, i discovered carvings made into the filler, im not sure what the point was, the art work appears to be random.



i got it sanded down to the factory sealer coat. i lost my pics of the painting process, unfortunately. i sent the body to my friend steve who finished the prep work, shot the body with a black base coat, then about 4 coats of royal blue medium size metal flake. then he covered it in several coats of clear, and buffed it all out to a smooth, glass like finish.



then, the body just sat in my closet for 4 more months, driving me crazy. i had it all painted up, but i didnt have a single other piece for it. so, i went on a buy/sell/trade rampage, that mostly took place on talkbass. i met a lot of very nice, and very generous people who helped me make sure i got parts i needed to finish this bass. the end result turned out great! i would not have this bass if it werent for the wonderful members of the talkbass community. the only parts of this bass that did not come from talkbass are the body, the strings, and the knobs.

i recently became unemployed, and we are expecting our third child here at home. building this bass has been my pet project that has kinda kept me going here lately when things have been kind of tough at home. theres no way i couldve afforded the expensive items, like the neck, without the help of talkbass. otherwise i probably wouldve ended up just selling the body out of disappointment and moved on.

so, here it is. ill list all the parts that went into it. its nothing special, just a bunch of bolt on parts i acquired since january. theres nothing trick or fancy about it, except maybe the paint job. oh, and the wiring harness i got for it, had the volume and tone knobs backwards, so my volume is next to the jack, which i didnt fix, because i found it somewhat endearing.

-fender mim p body

-warmoth maple neck, pau ferro fretboard, small frets, 21 frets, graphite nut

-schaller tuners, nickel

-squier classic vibe bridge, chrome

-dimarzio model p pickup

-all parts mint green pick guard

-two gold top hat tone knobs from a les paul

-wiring harness from a squier vintage modified something or other, im assuming a p bass, not sure

-black dunlop straplocks

-ernie ball hybrid slinkys, .45-.105





i dont have the action set up perfectly, im still tweaking it. the string spacing on the bridge is a little off so im still playing with it, still trying to get it all adjusted just right. i messed with it all weekend, ive got it close, it plays great, and sounds fantastic! i dont see myself ever changing anything about it, except i may get a custom neck plate for it, to commemorate the build, and i may put a waterslide decal on the headstock.

 

thank you!

 

id love a matching headstock...i may end up seriously regretting it someday

 

i almost went with red. i even had a jar of red metal flake for my g&l because i was going to have it painted after i got my p bass done. i sold the g&l, i think im gonna do a red flake p bass with either a j or mm pickup in the bridge.

 

i just found all my pics of the paint process. not very exciting, but i may add them later today just to have all the pics together.

 

i wish i had a better camera. my phone doesnt adjust to light very well. the mint green pick guard looks awesome against the blue flake, but in all the pictures, the pick guard looks white.

 

i appreciate all the positive comments, it makes me feel like i made the right choices with this bass. i built this one specifically to be a little flashy, it fits the vibe of the band im in.

i spoke with my friend who did the paint job, hes interested in doing some more paint jobs for people. if anyone sees this and is interested in having ANYTHING painted, send me a pm. steve does good work, hes a hell of a nice guy, and he will help you get the paint job youre after.

 

thanks!