I have posted this before, but thought it fit the thread.
My original concept was inspired by a Tele build post by a member, Darkhorse. I was originally going to use a Fender Bronco bass neck on a Tele body, but was concerned about neck dive using that type of body. Then one day, I was looking at the Danelectro basses over on their thread and I noticed that the 24 fret Longhorn bass has about the same distance between the end of the neck and the bridge as a Telecaster guitar. A little bit of internet research showed that the neck pocket on the Fender guitars is about the same as these Danelectro basses. So the idea was hatched, I'm putting the two together.
Next I was drawn to the body of the Fender Pawn Shop '72. My wife had just got one, and I like the styling features that were similar to the early P-bass with the control layout and ameoba-like pick guard. And, it has an extended upper bout to help ward off neck dive. I found the body from one of those groups on e-bay that sell off parts of new guitars and got a replacement neck from All-Parts.
Then my first issue pops up. The hole in the body from the bridge humbucker was wider that I expected. I was planning to use a Telecaster bridge plate to cover the hole. I noticed on the Seymore Duncan site that a Tele bridge pick up (6 pole guitar pick up) is the same size as a early single coil P-bass pick up and would fit a stock Tele bridge. However, the Tele bridge is not wide enough to cover the hole in the body I had to cover, so I made a bigger one! I have no experience in fabrication, but a friend let me use his shop and gave input on how he'd make it. I bought some threaded saddles to mount on the cold rolled steel plate I used.
So for the pick ups, originally I was gonna go with just the single coil Seymore Duncan Antiquity near the bridge, but then I found some Lipstick tube pick ups from Guitar Fetish and went with their reverse wound, reverse magnet 6 ohm model for a Tele-like neck pick up. Controls are super simple, two 250 k volume pots. I don't need a tone knob. On passive basses I leave the tone full up.
At this point I need some help and found a local luthier, Ray Husband, to complete the build. Ray does amazing custom basses and guitars. I was thrilled to have his help. Very easy to work with and he followed exactly what I wanted, vastly exceeding my expectations.
Now I have this little monster! 30 inch scale, strung with D'addario Chromes. It rips! The bridge pick up is a little too hot for balancing well with the lipstick tube. I will most likely try replacing the current 6 ohm lipstick tube in the neck position with a hotter 8 ohm version. So, I am setting the neck pick up to full volume and the bridge pick up rolled to add the bite I'd like hear. It's got a bright, gritty bark, very classic old school sounding. It's very responsive to plucking the strings closer to the neck or bridge to modify tone. (that's why I don't use the tone control much, I just move my right hand to where the tone is right). I also found that a palm mute adds a great sound deep tone that my long scales basses just can't produce.
I made this for my wife to match her pawn shop guitars and I think it fits well with them! I hope you enjoy my adventure! It's been a great experience to produce my Frankenbass!
Mike Dirnt Road Worn body, Cabronita Neck, "Vintage" reverse tuning machines, "Vintage" bent bridge, Fender Road Worn P pickup, CTS, Switchcraft.
