I have some really grainy, dense, and heavy northern or black ash. I want to build a bass with it but I can't decide what to do. Would you build a p, a j, a pj, a musicman, or a tele bass, and why? It should be make for a really growly bass and I would like to make an ash neck with a rosewood board on any of the above basses. Curious to hear your reasoning behind your choices. I already have a hard ash bodied jazz bass that sounds phenomenal (HUGE low end with serious growl) and I will have an East Indian rosewood precision bass completed soon, if that influences your choice at all. I'm leaning towards making something I don't have, such as a musicman or a tele, but having another nice p or j never hurts either I suppose. Thanks in advance.
I would build a chambered Musicman bass. I say Musicman because I like the body style and the pickup design. Chambered because anything heavier than 10 lbs is too heavy to heavy for me to gig with. Just my opinion.
You realize that there are so many more choices out there, right? Including a design of your own? If it were me, and it will be again in a year or so, I would make a slender, ergonomic body, somewhat akin to a Ritter or a Pagelli. Slender, with lots of carving and contouring, to keep the weight down. Most of the tone is in your choice of electronics, anyway. Chambering is also a really good idea, but that would require a drop top of some sort, or maybe a pickguard large enough to cover it. But whatever you choose, post pics!
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