Pat Wilkins Club

[dinodino]

Hi All,
I've seen a lot of small threads here and there about Pat's handiwork, whether it be his refinishes or custom basses. I wanted one place where we can all show off our beautiful basses! I have no idea why Pat's customs fly under the radar, but here is my submission!

Early VRB in a reverse PJ configuration with a heavily figured Birdseye neck. It's also chambered and comes in under 8.2 lbs! Lightweight but sounds massive! I might send it in for a refin for a metallic color soon once I decide what I want. I'm excited to see your custom Wilkins and refinishes and give Pat the props he deserves!

 

[Mr_O'B]

Your Wilken's bass is smoking hot!
I know he uses a variety of preamps and pickups. Which electronics are in your bass?

 

[dinodino]

Your Wilken's bass is smoking hot!
I know he uses a variety of preamps and pickups. Which electronics are in your bass?

Bartolini preamp and unknown pickups- most likely SDs or Pat Wilkins pickups. The reverse p singled out is what I usually use with the j pickup mixed in sparingly to taste depending on my need to get more middy.

 

[Mr_O'B]

Bartolini preamp and unknown pickups- most likely SDs or Pat Wilkins pickups. The reverse p singled out is what I usually use with the j pickup mixed in sparingly to taste depending on my need to get more middy.

Thanks! I see that much thought went into selecting your gear down to the matching strap!

 

[dinodino]

Thanks! I see that much thought went into selecting your gear down to the matching strap!

Hah I would've selected the PUS to personal specs if I had it built, but I bought it second (or third....or fourth hand). All I know is that it sounds sweet!

 

[KohanMike]

Can I be in the club being that I've had two basses painted by him and will have two more done in the next few weeks?

next in line

 

[dinodino]

Can I be in the club being that I've had two basses painted by him and will have two more done in the next few weeks?

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next in line
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Your shorties are so cool. You're in!

 

[fretno]

Pat is wizard . Super nice guy with a long history in building , finishing and playing instruments . His early days at Schecter were instrumental and working along side of some legendary builders that are still making amazing instruments today . I'm lucky enough to shoot over to his shop now and then and you will most likely find a a famous player or 2 in there and at the very least a room full of amazing instruments . I highly recommend Pat's strings made for him to his specs by La Bella they are out standing and very nicely priced . Pat keeps detailed build sheets as well so if you have an old bass of his he may be able to dig up the build sheet which is cool to have. I have had several basses finished or refinished by him . I still have the U.S. Schecter he refin'd for me and I have one of his Road tested basses which is pure magic . I do have another Wilkins in route as we speak \m/\m/ Without Pat the boutique instrument world would be much less colorful . Cheers

 

[diamondsplit]

Pat is a real nice guy I have a 1992 Wilkins Namm show bass he is doing some little odds and ends on it. He seems real happy to see it he made 10 that year and sold them out at a price of 3,850. This bass is a top notch bass Pat is well known in refinishing and building and i have played some high end boutique basses and this is tops. He told me he put a lot of time and effort in this bass and you can see he went above and beyond it is my best bass. It will be super sweet and special once he is done

 

[G On Bass]

Here are the 2 basses that killed my GAS totally. After years of trying and selling basses I have not purchased any other basses since getting these.

Fun Fact: Did you know that Pat also has his own line of bass strings? That's what the first bass wears....

The first I bought: Roadtested PJ5 (WRTPJ 5)

Specs:
Chambered J-Bass body
Body Wood: Alder
Fretboard: Birdseye maple
Neck: Hard rock maple (from ancient stock)
Color: Matte Marooned
34" scale 12" radius
Neck Pickup: Wilkins 60's P5
Bridge Pickuped: Nordstrand J (matched)
Elkectronics: Aguilar OBP-3 V/Bl/Bass/Pp HiMid/LoMid/Treble (9V)
Tuners: Hipshot ultralite 1/2
Bridge: Hipshot C vintage
Bone Nut
18.5mm spacing
9.0 pounds
NBD: Wilkins Roadtested PJ5 (WRTPJ 5)

Which led to: Wilkins 'Cayenne' (Roasted) PJ5

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
Originally made for Tully Kennedy...
NBD: Wilkins 'Cayenne' (Roasted) PJ5

He painted this Carvin for me in an amazing Burgundy Mist:

Pat is incredibly talented and one of the truly nicest people I have ever met.

 

[KohanMike]

I'm so happy I took the recommendation of others here on TB to check out Pat, I'm about 35 minutes driving distance so I never have to worry about shipping costs or damage, and what makes it even better, Eric's Guitar, who I now use for doing mods, is about 10 minutes away from Pat. They're both great guys, extremely conscientious and work fast, within a few weeks, where the last two people I used took close to a year for the same kind of work.

 

[pudge]

One I picked up here.

 

[Joebone]

Major Praise for a superb craftsman. Visited his shop once, and my Carl Pedigo build was finished by him. He's a great guy, and the work speaks for itself. I'm thinking of taking a project bass to him, and have no doubt that his own builds are first-rate.

 

[dinodino]

Pat is wizard . Super nice guy with a long history in building , finishing and playing instruments . His early days at Schecter were instrumental and working along side of some legendary builders that are still making amazing instruments today . I'm lucky enough to shoot over to his shop now and then and you will most likely find a a famous player or 2 in there and at the very least a room full of amazing instruments . I highly recommend Pat's strings made for him to his specs by La Bella they are out standing and very nicely priced . Pat keeps detailed build sheets as well so if you have an old bass of his he may be able to dig up the build sheet which is cool to have. I have had several basses finished or refinished by him . I still have the U.S. Schecter he refin'd for me and I have one of his Road tested basses which is pure magic . I do have another Wilkins in route as we speak \m/\m/ Without Pat the boutique instrument world would be much less colorful . Cheers

Beautiful basses! Is that schecter finished in lake placid blue?

 

[dinodino]

Pat is a real nice guy I have a 1992 Wilkins Namm show bass he is doing some little odds and ends on it. He seems real happy to see it he made 10 that year and sold them out at a price of 3,850. This bass is a top notch bass Pat is well known in refinishing and building and i have played some high end boutique basses and this is tops. He told me he put a lot of time and effort in this bass and you can see he went above and beyond it is my best bass. It will be super sweet and special once he is done

Very cool finish! I reached out to Pat and he said my bass was made shortly after NAMM around the same timeframe as yours. These are really something special.

 

[fretno]

Beautiful basses! Is that schecter finished in lake placid blue?

Thanks ! Yes it is

 

[danomite64]

Pat finished this neck for me:

It looks great, and it never gets sticky, no matter how humid a gig gets here in Florida.

 

[JIO]

sign me up - Pat's the man

Firemist Metallic Gold

 

[bassstation]

Yes

He Refinished a 8 string I had. It was a silver-sparkle eye sore and he Refinished it in limo black, it looked like a black mirror. This was 10 years ago, I have to see if I can find some pics. Pat was friendly and easy to work with, his price was reasonable, I think he deserves some recognition.

 

[Bergerman]

Pat busted out some Candy Apple Orange for my Sadowsky Modern!