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Too many spare parts = NBD

fourlow

fourlow

Sep 25, 2016
164
818
Vancouver, BC
www.jmreidbamboo.com
#1
I had enough bits lying around to put together a reasonable P-bass, just needed to find a body(I have this strange condition where I just can't leave bass parts alone, they have to be assembled into something!). I don't have a fender-type bass currently strung with rounds so this fills that need and scratches the parts itch . Mostly assembled from leftover Squire parts, a nice playing Affinty J neck, Affinty P guts, some random 10.6k good sounding/low price pup's, some funky walnut tophat style knobs and other various stuff from the parts bin. I've been looking on CL and TB for a dirt cheap P body for a while found nothing so I went to Guitar Fetish and purchased this el-cheapo body in a cool looking color of surf green. Wanting to do something a little bit out of the ordinary with the look of the bass I grabbed a parchment pickguard blank and figured I would combine some aspects of the older tele-P and standard P pickguards. It came out a little bit 50's futuristic/George Jetson-y looking, which is kinda growing on me. A few hours work this morning and this is the result. These bodies are crazy light so the bass has a healthy does of neck dive tho the whole shebang weighs only 6lb 10oz so it is manageable (some light weight tuners would do a world of good... but that would kill the budget ;). Strung with some fresh EB Cobalts, the bass sounds surprisingly good. Punchy & bright, pretty neutral midrange and reasonable lows with a very low playing action. Slap sounds great on this one and the absent section of the PG at the bass of the neck opens that area up for your fingers to easily get under the strings (an unplanned bonus). Apart from the neck dive, things turned out pretty good with this mutt..... I think I will call him Elroy.

zvyB2l.jpg

a4GQHT.jpg
 
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#13
Bill Whitehurst said:
Very Jetsons and a good use of parts.
A matching headstock with a gold Fender script decal that says Elroy
would be the final touch. :D
Click to expand...

A matching headstock would look great, I dunno how close a match to this color I would be able to find tho! But ya never know.... If I end up finding a budget maple J neck with black dot inlays.... I could paint that headstock gloss black and slap an Elroy on there. Have to give this bass a little time and see if she sticks in the rotation. At the moment tho I am digging the sounds.
 
#15
Ahh that sea foam green is giving me beach blanket flashbacks. Toss on a Hawaiian shirt, a straw hat and Pooka beads then head for the shore. Summer's coming and that bass fits right in with suntan lotion, over-sized cocktails and bikinis. That bass probably has it's own surfboard. :thumbsup:
 
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#16
fourlow said:
I had enough bits lying around to put together a reasonable P-bass, just needed to find a body(I have this strange condition where I just can't leave bass parts alone, they have to be assembled into something!). I don't have a fender-type bass currently strung with rounds so this fills that need and scratches the parts itch . Mostly assembled from leftover Squire parts, a nice playing Affinty J neck, Affinty P guts, some random 10.6k good sounding/low price pup's, some funky walnut tophat style knobs and other various stuff from the parts bin. I've been looking on CL and TB for a dirt cheap P body for a while found nothing so I went to Guitar Fetish and purchased this el-cheapo body in a cool looking color of surf green. Wanting to do something a little bit out of the ordinary with the look of the bass I grabbed a parchment pickguard blank and figured I would combine some aspects of the older tele-P and standard P pickguards. It came out a little bit 50's futuristic/George Jetson-y looking, which is kinda growing on me. A few hours work this morning and this is the result. These bodies are crazy light so the bass has a healthy does of neck dive tho the whole shebang weighs only 6lb 10oz so it is manageable (some light weight tuners would do a world of good... but that would kill the budget ;). Strung with some fresh EB Cobalts, the bass sounds surprisingly good. Punchy & bright, pretty neutral midrange and reasonable lows with a very low playing action. Slap sounds great on this one and the absent section of the PG at the bass of the neck opens that area up for your fingers to easily get under the strings (an unplanned bonus). Apart from the neck dive, things turned out pretty good with this mutt..... I think I will call him Elroy.

zvyB2l.jpg

a4GQHT.jpg
Click to expand...
Nice.
 
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#17
fourlow said:
A matching headstock would look great, I dunno how close a match to this color I would be able to find tho! But ya never know.... If I end up finding a budget maple J neck with black dot inlays.... I could paint that headstock gloss black and slap an Elroy on there. Have to give this bass a little time and see if she sticks in the rotation. At the moment tho I am digging the sounds.
Click to expand...

I'll bet if you take the body to a local paint shop, you'll be surprised how closely they can match that color, especially if there's some raw paint in the neck pocket. I had to match some "Heathkit green" a few years ago, and my local guys had the paint equivalent of a Plek machine for doing that. :woot:
 
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