I received my Wilkins Classic P bass. This is my first and probably only custom built bass I will ever own as I recently turned 58 so this is a gift to myself. Although I haven't gigged with it yet I'd like to share my initial impressions. All I can say is Holy $#@*...I am absolutely blown away by the maticulous, good old fashioned American craftsmanship. Most people know Pat as an industry leader in guitar finishing but IMO his guitar building skills are as impecable as his finishing skills. This is considered one of his Classic P's modeled after a '65 Fender P bass in almost every way. From Pat..."the body is about 60 year old alder. It's very stable and has amazing resonant qualities. The maple for the neck is at least 60 years old. The fingerboard is old stock Brazilian rosewood. I did all the work on this myself including the finish, fretwork, bone nut cutting, assembly and setup. The pickups were wound on a special CNC machine designed to reproduce the slackness and the tightness of hand winding. I took my original '65 Pbass completely apart and spec-ed it out, taking measurements at the neck pocket, pickup depth, anything that could be measured. We wound pickups so many times that I forget how many so that we made a pickup that sounded just like the one in my '65. We put it in my '65 and went back and forth with the real one until the 2 sounded equal. Then we locked the formula down and run all the P's just like that one."
The capacitor is a vintage high voltage paper wrapped one that just oozes mellow tones. All the pickup magnets are raised poles like a vintage P (similar to Fenders '57 Vintage P raised A pole magnet). The tuners are vintage reverse style and the bridge has threaded saddles. It honestly feels and plays like a vintage P bass and why wouldn't it since the wood is as old. I ordered it with LaBella flats on it. Its like having an old friend back since my first bass was a '68 Fender P that my Dad bought me for Christmas of '68 which I foolishly sold a long time ago. I feel like I'm back in my highschool band again (can anyone say just groovy man).
I can't say enough how fantastic Pat was to work with. He always got back to me quickly, went out of his way to respond to my questions and is one of the most honest, friendliest, down to earth guys I've dealt with in a long time. I highly recommend you talk to Pat if you are considering refinishing your existing bass or having him build you a custom bass whether it be a P, J, PJ or whatever. This was a fraction of the cost of an original '65 Fender P if you could find one today. IMO this far exceeds Fender Customer Shop quality(I ordered one and sent it back) and meets or exceeds other custom shop brands and can be less expensive. I'll post another review after gigging this weekend.
I read this review of a similar Wilkins Classic P by Jake Wolf of Bass Musician Magazine prior to purchasing. I also e-mailed Jake a few times to get his additional impressions and he still raves about this bass (see below).
Jake Wolf review
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Here is also a link to a youtube video of Joe Iaquinto playing his Wilkins basses. The Classic P is near the end (at 4:33).
The capacitor is a vintage high voltage paper wrapped one that just oozes mellow tones. All the pickup magnets are raised poles like a vintage P (similar to Fenders '57 Vintage P raised A pole magnet). The tuners are vintage reverse style and the bridge has threaded saddles. It honestly feels and plays like a vintage P bass and why wouldn't it since the wood is as old. I ordered it with LaBella flats on it. Its like having an old friend back since my first bass was a '68 Fender P that my Dad bought me for Christmas of '68 which I foolishly sold a long time ago. I feel like I'm back in my highschool band again (can anyone say just groovy man).
I can't say enough how fantastic Pat was to work with. He always got back to me quickly, went out of his way to respond to my questions and is one of the most honest, friendliest, down to earth guys I've dealt with in a long time. I highly recommend you talk to Pat if you are considering refinishing your existing bass or having him build you a custom bass whether it be a P, J, PJ or whatever. This was a fraction of the cost of an original '65 Fender P if you could find one today. IMO this far exceeds Fender Customer Shop quality(I ordered one and sent it back) and meets or exceeds other custom shop brands and can be less expensive. I'll post another review after gigging this weekend.
I read this review of a similar Wilkins Classic P by Jake Wolf of Bass Musician Magazine prior to purchasing. I also e-mailed Jake a few times to get his additional impressions and he still raves about this bass (see below).
Jake Wolf review
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Here is also a link to a youtube video of Joe Iaquinto playing his Wilkins basses. The Classic P is near the end (at 4:33).
