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Strat bass

The Wiz

The Wiz

Mar 27, 2013
264
76
Reno
#1
What im wondering is, does anyone have interest in these? How do you feel about these and would you play one? I know there is a few builders who make these but i think they are somewhat off and someone should make a more "fender accurate" version. I am not a builder, but i have always dreamed of being one and i would like to start up a custom based company that specializes in strat basses, but before i do i want to know the demand. So how do you feel about them? Would you play one? How much would you pay etc. thanks
 
#2
I think it can be done with a blank strat body. The size of the body pretty much demands it be a short scale. You would have to enlarge the neck pocket, and then locate the bridge based on how that settled out. And then locate your pickup routs. I toyed with the idea once, an even had a name for it - Stratobasstard. But to try to convert an xsting Strat to a bass is a fool's mission. Too much of the Strat - bridge and pickup locations are wrong for a bass.
 
#3
Everything you say is very true, however im talking more if i were to start from scratch and sell a more bass oriented version where the body was enlarged a bit to be say 32" scale, and better pickup positioning and bridge positioning but still true to fenders original design. I guess i shouldve been more specific
 
#4
As I recall from when I toyed with the idea, that would require lengthening the body by about an inch, to keep the neck pocket in it's familiar position. On an actual strat, with a 30" scale, the bridge would have been near the a$$ of the body, very much like a J.
The Wiz said:
Everything you say is very true, however im talking more if i were to start from scratch and sell a more bass oriented version where the body was enlarged a bit to be say 32" scale, and better pickup positioning and bridge positioning but still true to fenders original design. I guess i shouldve been more specific
Click to expand...
 
#5
Thats the plan. I would go to my local kinkos and have the total shape increased by 5-10% to accomodate for the larger neck to reduce neck dive and increase comfort. Again, i wasnt clear enough in my original post
 
#7
Im no expert so im not positive, but the horns on the strat are smaller, and the bottom of the p seems more rounded. Im no guitarist but i personally think the strat is a much better design than the precision, even though they are similar
 
#17
The Wiz said:
I dont want to buy one. Im interested in starting up my own company of 32" handmade strat basses. I want to know if people would buy them.
Click to expand...

It would be a very VERY small sliver of the market. I look at it this way: Landing already makes what you're thinking about, and they aren't exactly household names. AND by making them 32" scale (my preference) you are alienating most bass players. There's already one post here stating dislike of medium scale basses.

Any time an existing manufacturer comes up with a new bass design that happens to be 32", people here immediately hate it. It's always something like "I really like it, but I wish it came in a 34" scale" or "Everyone knows you can't get the same sound out of a 32" bass" (hooey by the way)- so your target customer is maybe 1 in 999 bassists. The product better be great (because the Landings already are) or they won't sell, even to the 1 in 999.

Power to you. Initiative is hard to come by these days.
 
#19
For a 34" prototype, I'd start with a cheap P bass body and cut off everything that wasn't a Strat. You're going to need the body's length. Maybe one with a J bridge pickup route, then rout a swimming pool under the eventual PG to play with pickup type and placement.
The Wiz said:
Thanks for your input and i agree with the scale issue. Now to come up with a 34 inch prototype...
Click to expand...
 

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