Esoterics of building quality musical instruments

[stollie]

Hagwood: no next build, this will be a one time thing. I have a strat and an acoustic that I'm happy with, especially the strat; I'd be practicing 10 hours a day with that thing but my wife would divorce me. All l need is a single short scale bass. My friend has 34 acoustics and lawd knows how many electrics, but I don't have that malady.

Mine will be alder body with transparent yellow finish. Seems I like that gold look. My strat is a '56 reissue, yellow/black sunburst. Got it at a great price because it had/has 2 tiny pin dot blemishes on the top. Meanwhile some people put $$ and effort into relic-ing. Different strokes.

Aaron: great videos, dude! I've binge watched a number of them. Yes, I'll put together and post a parts list in a day or 2. That REALLY great to know you guys can make sure I get the right goods!

 

[Scott]

Figure I'll get as many parts as I can from Warmoth, but how can I know for sure I'm picking the right stuff? Should I compile a list of SKU numbers and ask a Warmoth customer service rep if these will work together? Suggestions?

I'm going with the Gotoh bridge, and I imagine that stuff like neck bolts, neck plate, jack plate, and jack may be obvious, but perhaps not.

What about the electronic parts, which I know nothing about? What I know about pots is that they cook my food haha.

If you go with the EMG’s you can get a set with the pots and solderless wiring. They even sell a few passive sets if you don’t want to deal with the batteries.

 

[stollie]

My strat and Sire bass, which I'll have to unload as I'm not sure if it's exacerbating a recent right shoulder issue. It weighs 10 pounds and I got it because of the burled poplar top. Not crazy about the flashy gold hardware. I didn't even know about long and short scales until I started googling about my shoulder pain and playing guitar and bass. I don't care much for the Sire headstock, so I'm looking forward to the Warhead, which is way cooler than Fender's imho.

 

[Hodgo]

Soldering is not hard unless you’re using an crappy iron and crappy solder. If you’re taking it to a tech they’ll know how to do it. Active pickups are still a good idea, especially with a short scale, because you can dial in a little more high end that you’ll lose moving down in string tension.

However, anything your active electronics do can be replicated on the floor, at the amp, or in the DAW with passive pickups. The best thing you can do is try them out in person on a similar rig to your own, or otherwise find good quality YouTube clips of them being A/B’d. If all else fails, Fender really doesn’t make a bad J-bass pickup. I’ll personally attest for Arcane pickups as well.

Are you looking for a standard J bass set up (Neck volume, bridge volume, tone) or a blend setup (Master volume, neck/bridge blend, tone)?

 

[Hodgo]

Oh… and if this is truly your one and done, you should take it to a tech. The tools needed to do a proper setup will be a waste of money for you.

 

[stollie]

Are you looking for a standard J bass set up (Neck volume, bridge volume, tone) or a blend setup (Master volume, neck/bridge blend, tone)?

I'm not yet sure about which way to go.

 

[Spud]

I'm not yet sure about which way to go.

 

[stollie]

Is there a way to share my wishlist directly to this thread while maintaining my security?

 

[Scab Pickens]

Is there a way to share my wishlist directly to this thread while maintaining my security?

Use Windows Snipping Tool or something similar (not sure what platform you are using) and attach or copy/paste the image to your post. Be aware, though ... you might need to resize the image if it is too large. I can't remember what the limit is.

 

[stratamania]

I think @rockandroller suggestion on going with EMG makes a lot of sense for a first build.

I concur, as it was myself that made this suggestion.

 

[rockandroller]

Some of the EMG passives are getting rave reviews, I have been eyeing them lately. You still get the benefits of solderless harness...

 

[stollie]

Are you looking for a standard J bass set up (Neck volume, bridge volume, tone) or a blend setup (Master volume, neck/bridge blend, tone)?

How do the two work & differ? Just the short version I like the sound of "blend." Different wiring & additional parts needed?

If I choose to go with blend, is that when I should select the 4th (Input) routing option for the body (Vol 1, Vol 2, Tone, Input)?

 

[stollie]

Are these the EMGs you guys are looking at/recommending? I like what I'm reading about them at Sweetwater's site. Looks like I'd have to modify the body routing options. No sweat. Good enough for Black Sabbath, good enough for me!

 

[Hodgo]

How do the two work & differ? Just the short version I like the sound of "blend." Different wiring & additional parts needed?

If I choose to go with blend, is that when I should select the 4th (Input) routing option for the body (Vol 1, Vol 2, Tone, Input)?

A standard jazz bass has a volume for the neck pickup, a volume for the bridge pickup, and a master tone.

A blend setup uses one master volume, and replaces the second control with a pot that has the neck pickup at one end of the rotation, the bridge pickup at the other end of the rotation, and both pickups on in the middle of the rotation.

You need a special pot called an M/N taper pot to install a blend. It’s not better or worse, but some folks prefer having one master volume instead of having to balance the two volumes.

 

[Hagwood]

Hagwood: no next build, this will be a one time thing.

If this comes to fruition you will be a rare exception. The bug bites hard !!!!!

 

[stollie]

My wish list. As far as I can tell, the only thing missing are tuners, which I may get elsewhere.