SDbass
Junior Member
- Messages
- 37
After working on a fishing boat out of San Diego all summer, I decided that I wanted a reward for working so hard. So I decided to get a new bass, but I couldn't decide if I should get a Stingray 5 or go the Warmoth route. I had to weigh instant gratification and a for sure nice product against something that could take months and a final quality that isn't as assured. Needless to say I took the path less traveled, and for the same price as a stingray 5 I got a bass that eats those things for lunch! It's name is "Pau Hana" which means "work's done" in Hawai'ian.
The lowdown:
BODY
*Swamp ash Deluxe5 Pbass body - I was blessed with an unbelievably cool ash body. Gorgeous!
*Unique choice mango wood top - I was trying to decide between the Imbuia top (also very cool) and the mango, eventually landing on mango because I felt it would go better with my neck. Very glad I made this choice, incredibly cool wood!!!
*TK5 bridge - after ordering I saw on here how much SkuttleFunk hates these, and I've come to trust his judgement. Overall its not a bad bridge, if I could do it again I'd go hipshot A but this bridge doesn't bother me in the least. It's simple, low profile and it does its job. I'm fine with that, if that's the thing I dislike most about my bass I'd say I got off easy for a first time build.
*Nordstrand 5.2 pickup - Incredible. Absolutely awesome sound.
*Aguilar OBP-3 preamp - gives me amazing control over the sound of my instrument.
*Fender style strap buttons. chrome knobs, double battery box, rear routed.
NECK
Birdseye maple with abalone inlays - This is the only thing Warmoth messed up on. I ordered a birdseye maple neck, and the neck they sent me is clearly made of butter. :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: Seriously though, there are similar necks in the showcase, and none of them even come close to the grade of this neck. Especially the fingerboard appears to be a much higher grade than usual. Thanks W!
*Grover tuners, 3 leaf clover style. a little heavy, but not so heavy that there's neck dive. Great tuners!
*SS6105 frets - delightful!
*Finished with TruOil, the feel is amazing. I went light to make the playability comparable to an unfinished neck and what a success!
WIRING
*stacked pot for bass/treble
*push/pull mid adjust pot, when pulled it enables an extra mid boost!
*push/pull volume pot for active/passive
*3 way switch for series, single coil and parallel.
I love this wiring scheme because it makes the bass very versatile, anything but a one-trick-pony! I can get a wide array of sounds from a passive Fender Jazz sound to a smooth bartolini style tone to a growly, funkalicious Stingray sound. Bar none the best sounding bass I've ever played.
OVERALL
*9.2 lbs
*Pretty
*I still need to put a string retainer on. So it's not *quite* done.
*OH! Here's a weird one... I put D'Addario 45-130's on there and the E and B strings aren't long enough! :icon_scratch: When I do string-thru, the string begins to taper BEFORE the nut, so I had to string those through the bridge, then they worked fine. I just thought that was odd...
OK without further ado, some pics! These come with the usual "don't do it justice" disclaimer - I'm a crappy photographer.
That little critter is "piggy," haha he's scruffin' around :glasses9:
Anyway if you guys have any questions or want to see pics of anything in particular just say so, otherwise I'm done. Thanks for reading!
The lowdown:
BODY
*Swamp ash Deluxe5 Pbass body - I was blessed with an unbelievably cool ash body. Gorgeous!
*Unique choice mango wood top - I was trying to decide between the Imbuia top (also very cool) and the mango, eventually landing on mango because I felt it would go better with my neck. Very glad I made this choice, incredibly cool wood!!!
*TK5 bridge - after ordering I saw on here how much SkuttleFunk hates these, and I've come to trust his judgement. Overall its not a bad bridge, if I could do it again I'd go hipshot A but this bridge doesn't bother me in the least. It's simple, low profile and it does its job. I'm fine with that, if that's the thing I dislike most about my bass I'd say I got off easy for a first time build.
*Nordstrand 5.2 pickup - Incredible. Absolutely awesome sound.
*Aguilar OBP-3 preamp - gives me amazing control over the sound of my instrument.
*Fender style strap buttons. chrome knobs, double battery box, rear routed.
NECK
Birdseye maple with abalone inlays - This is the only thing Warmoth messed up on. I ordered a birdseye maple neck, and the neck they sent me is clearly made of butter. :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: Seriously though, there are similar necks in the showcase, and none of them even come close to the grade of this neck. Especially the fingerboard appears to be a much higher grade than usual. Thanks W!
*Grover tuners, 3 leaf clover style. a little heavy, but not so heavy that there's neck dive. Great tuners!
*SS6105 frets - delightful!
*Finished with TruOil, the feel is amazing. I went light to make the playability comparable to an unfinished neck and what a success!
WIRING
*stacked pot for bass/treble
*push/pull mid adjust pot, when pulled it enables an extra mid boost!
*push/pull volume pot for active/passive
*3 way switch for series, single coil and parallel.
I love this wiring scheme because it makes the bass very versatile, anything but a one-trick-pony! I can get a wide array of sounds from a passive Fender Jazz sound to a smooth bartolini style tone to a growly, funkalicious Stingray sound. Bar none the best sounding bass I've ever played.
OVERALL
*9.2 lbs
*Pretty
*I still need to put a string retainer on. So it's not *quite* done.
*OH! Here's a weird one... I put D'Addario 45-130's on there and the E and B strings aren't long enough! :icon_scratch: When I do string-thru, the string begins to taper BEFORE the nut, so I had to string those through the bridge, then they worked fine. I just thought that was odd...
OK without further ado, some pics! These come with the usual "don't do it justice" disclaimer - I'm a crappy photographer.
That little critter is "piggy," haha he's scruffin' around :glasses9:Anyway if you guys have any questions or want to see pics of anything in particular just say so, otherwise I'm done. Thanks for reading!
