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Show us your "parts basses"
- Thread starter ChickWithaRic
- Start date
My two, both 30” short scales with roasted maple necks, one P and one J. Still in planning stages (means I can’t settle on what color body) for a mooncaster.
I saw Phil and the band play at Rainbow Theater London...in about 1981ish
He used the mirror to zoom a spotlight on the audience....what a show!!!
My other parts bass: Warmoth body, Fender neck, EMG pickups; other pieces from various sources
These are my primary club gig basses.
This one has a Highway One v2 neck on a relatively ancient (1988) Warmoth ash body. I’ve had maybe 6 different necks on this body over the years; but, I like this neck. I call it the Bass of Clubs; ergo the sticker on the headstock.
This is my five, which I am using most of the time due to transpositions to accommodate aging vocal cords. It has a 2006 neck on a 2012 body; which required Pat Wilkins to rout the neck pocket another 1/2” into the body. I call it the Albatross; because a) it is the longest bass I own and b) it sat disassembled in my closet for nearly two years as I tried to figure out what to do with the mismatched body and neck (my stupidity).Went from failed experiment to main bass in a hurry. The body is actually Mary Kaye trans white with nice ash grain reveal. I keep thinking I’ll get it repainted black; but just can’t bring myself to do it.
I use the Delano JMVC pickups and Sadowsky preamp as a standard.
I’d love to replace the five with a boutique build, but literally can’t find a builder who can touch these specs. So, I suppose those two are going to the grave with me. At least they punch my curmudgeon card.
This one has a Highway One v2 neck on a relatively ancient (1988) Warmoth ash body. I’ve had maybe 6 different necks on this body over the years; but, I like this neck. I call it the Bass of Clubs; ergo the sticker on the headstock.
This is my five, which I am using most of the time due to transpositions to accommodate aging vocal cords. It has a 2006 neck on a 2012 body; which required Pat Wilkins to rout the neck pocket another 1/2” into the body. I call it the Albatross; because a) it is the longest bass I own and b) it sat disassembled in my closet for nearly two years as I tried to figure out what to do with the mismatched body and neck (my stupidity).Went from failed experiment to main bass in a hurry. The body is actually Mary Kaye trans white with nice ash grain reveal. I keep thinking I’ll get it repainted black; but just can’t bring myself to do it.
I use the Delano JMVC pickups and Sadowsky preamp as a standard.
I’d love to replace the five with a boutique build, but literally can’t find a builder who can touch these specs. So, I suppose those two are going to the grave with me. At least they punch my curmudgeon card.
warmoth 1 piece black limba body with Robot Graves aluminum neck, lace sensor alumitone pickup and hipshot kickass bridge hotwired straight to the jack. sounds massive.
This was not premeditated/intentional, but when the COVID lockdown first happened and rehearsals were put on hold for a few months, I decided to make a project out of making my presumably unfittable miscellaneous parts fit... the hodge-podge of parts I didn't previously have a plan for: 32" scale Ibanez neck, lightweight Squier hardtail Strat body with custom solo-neck-minibucker pickguard, vintage MIJ minibucker, and a 90's Guild reissue bridge.
Currently tuned to D standard, but have a 5-string set of nickel rounds en route with plans to tune it BEAD. All of my other basses are short-scales in standard tuning with flatwounds, so this will create a nice contrast and a fun tool to stoke some outside of the box creativity.
Surprisingly cool little bass! Very light, balances perfectly, plays very well, and has a nice chunky/aggressive tone with that hot minibucker in the neck position.
Currently tuned to D standard, but have a 5-string set of nickel rounds en route with plans to tune it BEAD. All of my other basses are short-scales in standard tuning with flatwounds, so this will create a nice contrast and a fun tool to stoke some outside of the box creativity.
Surprisingly cool little bass! Very light, balances perfectly, plays very well, and has a nice chunky/aggressive tone with that hot minibucker in the neck position.
I love the challenge of a budget parts build. I’ve done a few that I’ve parted with, but this is my newest. I bought the loaded body and loaded neck right here in the classifieds, and am in under $300 total for an awesome sounding bass. Body is unidentified origin, but it has a gotoh bridge, rio grande muy grande pickup, CTS pots and switch craft jack. The neck is a mighty mite.
My Main bass : Carvin neck , Warmoth body , Graphtech Ghost GK kit.
Vintera Body mated to a 2013 American Standard Precision neck. Fully shielded and routed for heel access. Original '62 pup and CTS/Orange Drop. Strat style knobs from a '90s MIM P-Bass. About 8.6 lbs.
‘72 Fender Jazz body, refin
Allparts neck w/ vanity decal
‘74 neck p’up rewound by Mas Hino
‘75 bridge p’up
‘70s reissue Fender bridge & tuners
I ended up liking this bass more than I expected to and it’s become one of my main players.
I’ve had these two wonderful ESP necks from the late ’80s on an assortment of bodies over the past 30 years. The ebony one with the extended fingerboard lived on the ‘72 Jazz body shown above for a long time before I decided to return it to a ‘72-ish state.
Top:
ESP neck
El Cheapo no-name body
BA II bridge
Gotoh tuners
Shaller active p’ups (from the’80s)
Bottom:
ESP neck
Signal body (Korean, early ‘90s, actually pretty good)
El Cheapo no-name p’ups
Modern Fender string-through bridge
Schaller tuners
I have future plans for both of the ESP necks so their current configurations are really just place-holders, more or less. They’ll both be put to better use at some point.
Allparts neck w/ vanity decal
‘74 neck p’up rewound by Mas Hino
‘75 bridge p’up
‘70s reissue Fender bridge & tuners
I ended up liking this bass more than I expected to and it’s become one of my main players.
I’ve had these two wonderful ESP necks from the late ’80s on an assortment of bodies over the past 30 years. The ebony one with the extended fingerboard lived on the ‘72 Jazz body shown above for a long time before I decided to return it to a ‘72-ish state.
Top:
ESP neck
El Cheapo no-name body
BA II bridge
Gotoh tuners
Shaller active p’ups (from the’80s)
Bottom:
ESP neck
Signal body (Korean, early ‘90s, actually pretty good)
El Cheapo no-name p’ups
Modern Fender string-through bridge
Schaller tuners
I have future plans for both of the ESP necks so their current configurations are really just place-holders, more or less. They’ll both be put to better use at some point.
This has been like a VIP tour of the TB custom shop. Thank you everybody for sharing.
The Fender bass is the Lotus 7 of music. You can build one in your garage from easily available parts, and it will go like stink.Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve become convinced that if you want a FSO, going with a parts bass is your best option most times. Not saying there’s anything wrong with factory assembled. But doing up your own FSO is usually the quickest and often least expensive way to get exactly the bass you want.
Bless Leo Fender for his modular design concept that makes it so easy for us to modify and/or assemble “a Fender.”
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Outstanding. Love the reverse 1960 relic with the brass earth strip.
I built a car from 6-7 other donor cars. I guess that's similar to my parts basses and guitars.
