Short Scale Telecaster Bass

[funkifiedsoul]

thanks!
here's a quick clip of it (although i may have recorded it a bit on the hot side), recorded with a zoom H4n played thru my fender supertwin head/215 cab.

Thanks for sharing that. It sounds really good but/and "hot" or not that crunchy, farty E string sounds killer! I bet great in a mix.

 

[johnnynitro]

Great Skills !!

 

[Tom F]

Beautiful work - really turned out nice! I have a scpb with that Sting pickup and really dig it. so no surprise that I love the way your bass sounds. Of course looks great too!

Not sure what it is, but I was always convinced I could “hear” a short scale bass, probably the result of too many short scale hollow bodies strung with flats. Your soundclip has turned that idea on its head in the best possible way.

 

[Funky Phantom]

Good show!

 

[Ghastly]

Wow, very inspiring. Great work.

 

[BazzaBass]

i love Tele basses but since i switched to playing short scales about 2 years ago (after playing long scale basses for more than 50 years!), i decided to build a short scale one. below are some pics of the build................

i stated out with a lightweight swamp ash body blank that was almost 2" thick, then planed it to 1.75" and cut the perimeter of the body (that was scaled down to 96%) on a band saw.
View attachment 3948140

then i rounded the edges with a 1/8" roundover bit and cut the neck pocket, pickup route,control route, drilled it for the string thru 2 saddle bridge, drilled the pickup and bridge wire tunnels and bored a 7/8" hole for the side jack cup:

View attachment 3948141

i used a 30" scale one piece maple neck from musikraft, reshaped the profile to my preference (kind of on the chunky side), and mounted the bridge, and a seymour duncan stacked tele bass 'Sting' pickup (for no hum) and control plate:

View attachment 3948146

i used chrome schaller clover leaf keys and strung it up to make sure everything fit and worked properly:
View attachment 3948147

then disassembled it, sealed it and shot it with 4 coats of slightly translucent blonde nitro followed with 6 coats of clear nitro:
View attachment 3948148
gave the neck 6 coats of very slightly amber tinted clear nitro and applied my own logo decal, then buried it under more clear nitro:
View attachment 3948149

once it cured, i blocked the body and wet sanded it with 1000 grit. then i made a pickguard for it, assembled it and strung it up. To save a little more weight (almost 4 oz), i used G&L aluminum posts for the schaller keys. the bass ended up weighing in at a comfortable 7lbs 5 oz.:

View attachment 3948150
View attachment 3948151
View attachment 3948152

the funny thing is, it sounds nearly identical to my full scale tele bass and i couldn't be happier with the way that it came out.

View attachment 3948154

Well Done! It is fantastic! I have had my eyes opened about “home made” Basses after watching Leland Sklar speak about his “frakenbass” that he used on 80+ % of his recordings. It was never a bass that was altered. The bass that was the sound track of much of my life was built from parts! Go out and change the world

 

[ILIA]

That's amazing. On second thought johnk_10, YOU'RE amazing.

 

[bench]

That is really nice...

 

[SJLee]

i love Tele basses but since i switched to playing short scales about 2 years ago (after playing long scale basses for more than 50 years!), i decided to build a short scale one. below are some pics of the build................

i stated out with a lightweight swamp ash body blank that was almost 2" thick, then planed it to 1.75" and cut the perimeter of the body (that was scaled down to 96%) on a band saw.
View attachment 3948140

then i rounded the edges with a 1/8" roundover bit and cut the neck pocket, pickup route,control route, drilled it for the string thru 2 saddle bridge, drilled the pickup and bridge wire tunnels and bored a 7/8" hole for the side jack cup:

View attachment 3948141

i used a 30" scale one piece maple neck from musikraft, reshaped the profile to my preference (kind of on the chunky side), and mounted the bridge, and a seymour duncan stacked tele bass 'Sting' pickup (for no hum) and control plate:

View attachment 3948146

i used chrome schaller clover leaf keys and strung it up to make sure everything fit and worked properly:
View attachment 3948147

then disassembled it, sealed it and shot it with 4 coats of slightly translucent blonde nitro followed with 6 coats of clear nitro:
View attachment 3948148
gave the neck 6 coats of very slightly amber tinted clear nitro and applied my own logo decal, then buried it under more clear nitro:
View attachment 3948149

once it cured, i blocked the body and wet sanded it with 1000 grit. then i made a pickguard for it, assembled it and strung it up. To save a little more weight (almost 4 oz), i used G&L aluminum posts for the schaller keys. the bass ended up weighing in at a comfortable 7lbs 5 oz.:

View attachment 3948150
View attachment 3948151
View attachment 3948152

the funny thing is, it sounds nearly identical to my full scale tele bass and i couldn't be happier with the way that it came out.

View attachment 3948154

Beautiful job!

 

[canuckshort]

i love Tele basses but since i switched to playing short scales about 2 years ago (after playing long scale basses for more than 50 years!), i decided to build a short scale one. below are some pics of the build................

i stated out with a lightweight swamp ash body blank that was almost 2" thick, then planed it to 1.75" and cut the perimeter of the body (that was scaled down to 96%) on a band saw.
View attachment 3948140

then i rounded the edges with a 1/8" roundover bit and cut the neck pocket, pickup route,control route, drilled it for the string thru 2 saddle bridge, drilled the pickup and bridge wire tunnels and bored a 7/8" hole for the side jack cup:

View attachment 3948141

i used a 30" scale one piece maple neck from musikraft, reshaped the profile to my preference (kind of on the chunky side), and mounted the bridge, and a seymour duncan stacked tele bass 'Sting' pickup (for no hum) and control plate:

View attachment 3948146

i used chrome schaller clover leaf keys and strung it up to make sure everything fit and worked properly:
View attachment 3948147

then disassembled it, sealed it and shot it with 4 coats of slightly translucent blonde nitro followed with 6 coats of clear nitro:
View attachment 3948148
gave the neck 6 coats of very slightly amber tinted clear nitro and applied my own logo decal, then buried it under more clear nitro:
View attachment 3948149

once it cured, i blocked the body and wet sanded it with 1000 grit. then i made a pickguard for it, assembled it and strung it up. To save a little more weight (almost 4 oz), i used G&L aluminum posts for the schaller keys. the bass ended up weighing in at a comfortable 7lbs 5 oz.:

View attachment 3948150
View attachment 3948151
View attachment 3948152

the funny thing is, it sounds nearly identical to my full scale tele bass and i couldn't be happier with the way that it came out.

View attachment 3948154

Beautiful. Great job.

 

[mikecd1]

Other than the scale & decal, it's exactly like a Telecaster Bass. The early 50's P basses had black pg's w/ less mounting screws, single screw tug bar, and fiber saddles.

There was a guy on ebay who sells those fiber saddles for the old school dual saddle bridges and I got a set a few years ago for a Sting bass I owned. It seemed like it helped the tone a little bit and took off some of the 5k clank out of the sound.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[2saddleslab]

There was a guy on ebay who sells those fiber saddles for the old school dual saddle bridges and I got a set a few years ago for a Sting bass I owned. It seemed like it helped the tone a little bit and took off some of the 5k clank out of the sound.
View attachment 3949542
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

He's the son of TB member.

 

[Tommy V]

 

[sleddogn]

Hey Johnk,
I'm counting about 15 maybe 20 peeps that would be interested in buying one. Would you consider maybe knocking out 20 of these bad boys and give us a go at'em?

 

[lightstrum]

I would be in on this buy. In White Blonde with blackguard to match my Esquire.

 

[PBassPaul]

Really nice job. It is a beauty.

 

[sleddogn]

maybe have a vote and make 2 colors available to make it not so hard, i'm in and ready to slap some cash down, anyone else in, just like when the germans bombed pearl harbor...lol

 

[ac100X]

i love Tele basses but since i switched to playing short scales about 2 years ago (after playing long scale basses for more than 50 years!), i decided to build a short scale one. below are some pics of the build................

i stated out with a lightweight swamp ash body blank that was almost 2" thick, then planed it to 1.75" and cut the perimeter of the body (that was scaled down to 96%) on a band saw.
View attachment 3948140

then i rounded the edges with a 1/8" roundover bit and cut the neck pocket, pickup route,control route, drilled it for the string thru 2 saddle bridge, drilled the pickup and bridge wire tunnels and bored a 7/8" hole for the side jack cup:

View attachment 3948141

i used a 30" scale one piece maple neck from musikraft, reshaped the profile to my preference (kind of on the chunky side), and mounted the bridge, and a seymour duncan stacked tele bass 'Sting' pickup (for no hum) and control plate:

View attachment 3948146

i used chrome schaller clover leaf keys and strung it up to make sure everything fit and worked properly:
View attachment 3948147

then disassembled it, sealed it and shot it with 4 coats of slightly translucent blonde nitro followed with 6 coats of clear nitro:
View attachment 3948148
gave the neck 6 coats of very slightly amber tinted clear nitro and applied my own logo decal, then buried it under more clear nitro:
View attachment 3948149

once it cured, i blocked the body and wet sanded it with 1000 grit. then i made a pickguard for it, assembled it and strung it up. To save a little more weight (almost 4 oz), i used G&L aluminum posts for the schaller keys. the bass ended up weighing in at a comfortable 7lbs 5 oz.:

View attachment 3948150
View attachment 3948151
View attachment 3948152

the funny thing is, it sounds nearly identical to my full scale tele bass and i couldn't be happier with the way that it came out.

View attachment 3948154

How long would it take me to learn how to do that?

 

[lightstrum]

Would that neck work on a regular telecaster guitar body?

 

[/\/\3phist0]

He's the son of TB member.

Which one