Summer Build Off 2024 : Bartender Precision Bass

[Gervais Cote]

It looks great

Have you considered maybe tinting the tru-oil (I think you can do that...) for the back and sides of the body? So they blend with the top more. That or airbrush layers on the side and planks on the back so it looks like it's made entirely of vintage liquor crates

I left the back of the body as is and it’s lighter than the top but it doesn’t bother me. I will play in front of people and no audience back stage so who cares ?

I also often see some basses with a laminated quilted maple top with a different color than the body so I’m not alone in that mood.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Pickups and bridge installed. Control plate partially installed to get in idea of the look.

Those Nordstrand pickups have many wires making it difficult to fit in the pocket……………

 

[Gervais Cote]

Controls soldered and neck installed today. Strings are aligned so no tweaking needed.

 

[Gervais Cote]

 

[Gervais Cote]

 

[Gervais Cote]

Strings are parallel to the neck without touching the truss rod so will have to put a shim under the screws that are toward the headstock to give it a lift. The barrels of the bridge are almost already maxed out…………..

And there’s no sound when plugged so I will have to double check my connections…………

Overall though, the look is better than expected so very glad on how it turns out.

 

[Dark Horse]

I feel like I need to give you a big ol’ fist bump on this one…. Great job !

 

[/\/\3phist0]

The neck is a dark roasted maple neck imported from China through EBay.

It was only $75.00 USD, was bare wood and I had to do a bit of rework on it.

The 4 mm Allan bolt of the truss rod at the headstock wasn’t accessible so I had to file the inside of the plastic bushing to allow for an easier access, took me 5 minutes. Truss rod is working fine in both directions.

I also applied 4 layers of Tru Oil on the back of the neck and 6 layers on the headstock and top of the neck to give it a shiny finish and get rid of the burned wood smell.

The neck is pretty straight, just a very little bump in the middle but it might work fine anyway as I will tighten the truss rod. Worst case, I will bring it to my luthier for a fret work but verifying with a fret rocker, there is no fret higher than the others.

The neck is very light and resonant so sound wise, it looks promising to me. Mo body is only 4.5 pounds so I will end up with a light weight p bass just like I like to play with.

Those Chinese necks are not that bad after all but they quite often require a bit of work to make them fine.

The “Roasting” (torrification) process of these Chinese necks is questionable, I like a good cheap neck, and they DO need work to complete.

Another alternative that I’ve had good luck with is Freestone, on EBay. Usually about 140 bucks plus shipping.

Alternate method to achieve the roasted aged look is Aqua Fortis (look up long rifles on YouTube)
Apply and heat:
You get this:

Started looking very much like this: BOTH Freestone necks.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

The “Roasting” (torrification) process of these Chinese necks is questionable, I like a good cheap neck, and they DO need work to complete.

Another alternative that I’ve had good luck with is Freestone, on EBay. Usually about 140 bucks plus shipping.

Alternate method to achieve the roasted aged look is Aqua Fortis (look up long rifles on YouTube)
Apply and heat:
You get this:
View attachment 7010658
View attachment 7010658View attachment 7010659View attachment 7010660View attachment 7010661
Started looking very much like this: BOTH Freestone necks.
View attachment 7010662

A little video showing the effect and process

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Strings are parallel to the neck without touching the truss rod so will have to put a shim under the screws that are toward the headstock to give it a lift. The barrels of the bridge are almost already maxed out…………..

And there’s no sound when plugged so I will have to double check my connections…………

Overall though, the look is better than expected so very glad on how it turns out.

Alternately you could sand a bit off of the neck heel to achieve the reduction in thickness needed to “right” the saddle height.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I feel like I need to give you a big ol’ fist bump on this one…. Great job !

Installed a 0.030" shim under the outside screws and problem solved. Height of strings is now bang on.

 

[Reedt2000]

Clever shim material, eh?

 

[Gervais Cote]

The “Roasting” (torrification) process of these Chinese necks is questionable, I like a good cheap neck, and they DO need work to complete.

Another alternative that I’ve had good luck with is Freestone, on EBay. Usually about 140 bucks plus shipping.

Alternate method to achieve the roasted aged look is Aqua Fortis (look up long rifles on YouTube)
Apply and heat:
You get this:
View attachment 7010658
View attachment 7010658View attachment 7010659View attachment 7010660View attachment 7010661
Started looking very much like this: BOTH Freestone necks.
View attachment 7010662

Very nice necks indeed !

 

[Gervais Cote]

Alternately you could sand a bit off of the neck heel to achieve the reduction in thickness needed to “right” the saddle height.

Yep but I know for a fact the body being from Japan is near perfect in every way. Can’t pretend the Chinese neck is perfect as well………..

Worst case, if the neck isn’t good enough for me, I will replace it with something better either from Fender, Warmoth or Freestone.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Clever shim material, eh?

This bass is all about junk art/up cycling and as I no longer fly as often as I used to……………..

 

[Gervais Cote]

A little video showing the effect and process

In fact, I quite like the roasted maple for its stability much more than anything else.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Next step : bring it to my luthier for :


-Fret leveling (I identified 4 frets that are a tad high)

-Replace the nut with Tusk material

-And maybe change the side dots. The actual ones are black and I almost can’t see them on this dark brown neck. White or cream should work.


And I found the problem with my wiring : a positive wire and connector was touching the control cavity onto which I applied some conductive paint. I just enlarged the cavity a bit and covered the exposed portion of the wire with electrical tape. And now that bass barks and burp in a nice way, definitely a bass for rock ! Smooth jazz fans will be scared !

 

[Gervais Cote]

Okay so the Bartender p bass is back from the luthier with a more than perfect fret work, new white side dots and a black Tusk nut.

I just added the pickup ring and the decals on the headstock and the project is now completed.

 

[Gervais Cote]

 

[Gervais Cote]