FINISHED!! 32" Jazz Bass

deejaysham

Newbie
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22
I just placed the first major part of my order for the new build I'm starting. It will be my first parts instrument of any kind and I'm just a tad excited.  :party07: :guitarplayer2: :headbang1: :hello2: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7:

It all started a few weeks ago when I decided to get a Jazz Bass and spent an evening playing around with Fender's American Design Experience website. I came up with the design concept of what I wanted but the Fender stuff fell short for me in a few key ways. For one, Fender doesn't let you order nitro finishes. Also I wanted a chambered body, having seen Roger Sadowsky speak about the advantages of that in both weight and resonance. I really liked what Bill Nash was doing but they are literally parts basses that he assembles, relics, and sets up well. I couldn't shake the feeling that I could completely customize my parts bass, get it finished professionally, set up professionally, and end up with something I love even more.

Then I played my friend's short scale 6 string bass and it was all over. As a guitarist, I loved the scale length. So tonight I've started my build. I'll update this thread as it comes together but so far here's the plan.

Body: SSB J-Bass, Alder core, swamp ash top, Top rout, J-Bass pickups with 70s position, Badass III string-thru body, contoured heel, plus side jack and battery box routing (for Sadowsky Preamp installation). Finished in Lake Placid Blue nitro with light reclic

Neck: 32" SSB Warhead, Maple/Maple with white binding and pearloid block inlays.

Electronics: Lollar J-Bass pickups, Sadowsky pre-wired onboard preamp

Bridge: Leo Quan Badass III bridge in aged chrome (to match relic finish). I also ordered an aged chrome control plate on Ebay for the same reason.

This weekend I picked up the bridge + pickups and now I've ordered the body. I've promised myself I'll wait on ordering the neck until my budget allows but I'll probably order it in 10 days when I get my next paycheck and eat Ramen all month instead. Once my parts arrive I'll send them off for finishing. I think I'm going to use MJT Finishing because their stuff looks really top notch.

Below is my starting inspiration image from the first night on the Fender website. I think the end result will be even prettier.

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Welcome to the forum,  and wish you success with your project.

If you are getting an MJT finish, are you planning on something slightly worn or relic looking, or just a finish ?
 
I'm going to go for light relic. Tasteful wear around the arm rest and ever-so-slight checking, not the "i just dragged this behind a jeep cross country" heavy relic style I've seen.
 
Well my patience lasted a whopping 4 days before I went ahead and ordered some more parts. Thankfully the big expenses are out of the now, with the body and neck both ordered. I also ordered the Sadowsky onboard preamp unit.

Today the relic'd control plate I ordered arrived and next to my relic'd Badass III, the two match nicely. The picture is a little higher contrast from the sunlight. Now I play the waiting game for Warmoth and then the finishing process. Maybe i should learn how to really play bass in the meantime (guitarist)!  ???

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deejaysham said:
I'm going to go for light relic. Tasteful wear around the arm rest and ever-so-slight checking, not the "i just dragged this behind a jeep cross country" heavy relic style I've seen.

Subtle and unassuming "wear" looks the best. Always under-do it, and think about how real deterioration occurs and try to imitate that. NEVER use power tools if you want your distressing to look like the real deal. And the up-side-down-canned-spray-air trick to frost it and get the checking only works on thin nitro; poly is just gonna laugh at you, and if the lacquer is too thick, the cracks won't stay tight and spider-webbed like I'm assuming you are hoping for, they'll just sprawl out with big curling lines, so proceed at your own risk!

Welcome to the forum!
 
Day-mun said:
Subtle and unassuming "wear" looks the best.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the tips and the welcome! Glad to be here.

Progress update: the only things that have been bugging me about the SSB Warhead neck is the headstock and the pre-drilled elements.

As for the first one, I played around in Illustrator tonight reshaping the headstock and it doesn't take much for the headstock to look much nicer IMO. Just a little rounding is all, so I'm going to reshape the neck when I get it.

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And the only other thing is that I'd really like to have Hipshot ultralites on the bass instead of the BML holes that it comes pre-drilled with. I'll be looking into wood filler options for that which I can hopefully do before the neck is finished (I'm ordering it unfinished from Warmoth and finishing it afterwards).
 
I hope you meant filler in a generic sense and not putty. That's a big hole. Did you ask about getting a neck undrilled?  If the hole is just a smidge too big I think a bushing is your best bet
 
"Yeah" to the bushing. I dunno 'bout for basses, but I do know that stewmac sells conversion bushings for guitars to revert from more modern machines to the Kluson-style tuners... there's gotta be something out there.

But I don't get why the desire for the Hipshot product; nearly identical in apperance to the Schallers, they are a tad heavier than the BML lites W carries, and a bit more expensive (-about $25 plus whatever will hafta be paid for shipping), -Think I'd just tack on four BML lites to my W order if it were me.
 
swarfrat said:
I hope you meant filler in a generic sense and not putty. That's a big hole. Did you ask about getting a neck undrilled?  If the hole is just a smidge too big I think a bushing is your best bet

I don't mean the main 17mm holes for the tuning pegs. I mean the little pin setting holes that are on the side of the main hole. The BML bass tuners have these little pegs that are used for stability and drop-in setup. But if I'd like to put some other pegs on there, like the Hipshots I've ordered, I would have 8 little holes on the back of my headstock that aren't covered by the tuners. See below.

They're looking into whether the neck could be undrilled. Ironically drilling fewer holes would cost a small fee extra - but that actually makes sense since it requires some kind of human attention to make sure it doesn't go through that part of the build process. They said they offer undrilled necks on most models but since the SSB stuff is still new, they'd have to check with the shop directly.

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I put a thread in the DIY Finishing section but I'll update my build journal here too. Last night I designed a Warmoth headstock decal that keeps the Fender aesthetic of the headstock largely intact, correctly identifies it as a Warmoth build (not trying to pass off a forgery), and still honors Leo Fender's contribution to the design. It's based on the mid-sixties Jazz Bass headstock. I considered calling it a JAZZ BASED, as in based on a Jazz design but it was weird.

I'll head to the art supply store today and play around with making a waterslide/metallic print out of this and applying it to some Maple wood blanks.

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EDIT: Here it is on a real piece of wood and with gold paint filling in the back side.

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WHAA?!?! Only two weeks after ordering my body, I just got a UPS Shipment Notification for it!!

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The neck is still on its way but still...
 
Wow. Two weeks? That's gotta be some kind of record. Me, I'm going for the other record... the longest time from initial contact to delivery. Don't even ask.

Your build is really shaping up, I'm sure it'll be great. Make sure to give us some OOBE pics! We want pictures!
 
2 weeks?!?!? With a finish on it?  Or are you finishing it yourself?  Two weeks for a finished body is insane, unless they already had the exact body you wanted & finished it from there.
 
No this is for an unfinished body. I'm having Matt Jenny at MJT do a nitro relic finish on it once it arrives. So that part will take several more weeks but I was expecting 4-5 weeks to get the body and neck and THEN sending it off for finishing. This puts me ahead of schedule and ahead of schedule puts me closer to playing my bass and that makes me happy.
 
UPS arrived!! Unboxing picture porn to follow!!

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Well packed as expected.

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Swamp-ash top. It's getting finished anyway but some might poke through the relic

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She's light!

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I couldn't help but cramming my parts in for a mockup.

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Even with the Sadowsky preamp and Badass bridge, it's still pretty light. I'm hoping to come in under 8lbs. We'll see.
 
Mail day! Mail day! My neck has arrived and I'm in love. I asked for a very subtle flame from Warmoth and they definitely delivered. I requested (and paid extra) for the headstock to be blank so that I can mount a set of Hipshot Ultralites in there instead of the BML that come pre-drilled.

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The only second-guessing I had when ordering was whether I should go for white binding, cream binding, or ivoroid binding. White felt too white. Cream felt too beige. And I had an acoustic guitar with ivoroid neck binding that I liked so I went with it. It's perfect! Here's some closeups of the neck, the ivoroid binding, and a comparison between the medium scale neck and a full scale Fender I have laying around.

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That's cool!  I'd want to find some way to hide the tuners & keep that blank headstock - it looks amazing!

Are there not Hipshot ultralites in the BML lite size?  Also, could Warmoth not simply drill for the right size (since you're already paying an upcharge for them not to drill)?
 
This weekend I was down in the Los Angeles area so I dropped off my Warhead neck with the one and only John Kallas of John Kallas Vintage Basses (http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/ for him to help me with my headstock reshape. Originally I was only wanting to fix the tip of the headstock which I think Warmoth has (perhaps for patent reasons) made too pointy and disfigured for the proportions of the bass. It almost feels like they just took their Warhead guitar neck and just stretched it but doing that leaves about 4 millimeters that shouldn't be at the end of the headstock making it more of a cone-head shape. So I wanted John to shave that down and round one pointy tip of the headstock that would make the headstock more of a jazz/tele hybrid shape and much classier in my opinion than the Warhead stock shape.

Well BOY DID JOHN DELIVER! He got the contour on the tip perfect but he also improved other elements of the headstock. The one corner up by the nut was a sharper right angle (less rounded) and he smoothed that out to be more Fend'ish :)

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He also smoothed the other hard edges on the back of the headstock too. Here's an original warhead (not mine) showing the angular edges.

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And here's my neck after he smoothed it down. The difference in look and feel is huge. It's got much more of a polished and hand-crafted feel to it - because it is, I guess. :)

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And another angle...

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And if all that amazing stuff wasn't enough, John drilled the hipshot tuner holes with a rare german bit and drilled the setting pin holes so I'm set up for hipshot ultralites with no BML setting pin scars on my headstock. I can't recommend his work enough. Not just for these woodworking jobs but his basses are all top notch too. Now this neck is ready for finishing and then... ASSEMBLY!

Here's just one more showing the ghosted contour that was removed from the front.

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