Pulling the Trigger

[whyachi]

How on earth do yall ever make up your minds? I don't have money for multiple builds, and I'm barely scraping together one, so it has to be perfect.

I'm down to all four-strings, so that helps. Either a P with double P pickups (passive or active, no idea), a J with double Twinjazz (same on EQ), a Fenderbird, a G4 with a Warhead headstock... or a Dinky J with a Warhead...


I'm losing sleep over this. I've got my money, but I don't know what to put it on.

What I know:
Passive Duncan pickups
All passive or a active/passive with a 2 band EQ
1 11/16" nut, black tusq
Neck that does not require a finish
Versatile on sound, but leaning towards the Rise Against end of the spectrum

 

[mullyman]

That first build is the toughest because you just don't know which way to go. Don't sweat it though, man, you'll make the right decision. You just need to ask yourself, am I going to want to be playing this guitar when I'm 40? If the answer is "no" then get what you think you will want to be playing when you're 40.
MULLY

 

[Schlieren]

My first build is the one I'm on right now, and it has been the easiest, because I had a narrative to fit the concept: 10 years ago I had bought a $300 guitar that was easily a $900 guitar, but since it was all custom with no provenance, Moonlight Music couldn't sell it that way.  I loved that guitar, I remember hearing an old cassette demo of it years after it got stolen and was still surprised at how great it sounded.

So I took the idea of replacing my Stolen Beauty, which was a completely plain guitar in its own right (I don't even think the pine body had been finished) and combined that idea with making it like my acoustic: so, mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, alder instead of spruce.  It was a Tele, so this would be too.  At first it was going to be a normal tortoise pickguard like an acoustic, but after looking at that I decided the tortoise was too monochromatic, so I adapted it and went with a different Tor-tis finish than "50's vintage".

Basically, if you start with a concept first, even if it is mostly an aesthetic concept, then the rest of the decisions seem to fall naturally.  Another example, in deciding how I would have this build sound: my old stolen Tele never sounded much like a Tele, so my concept for this first build's sound was "sort of a Tele sound, but keeping it very unique as well."  So that guided the specific choices for its sound.



And now, of course, even while still building this guitar, I have started the concept for the next one: since this first build is sort of an anti-Tele Tele, so why not make the next one just as Tele as can be?  So there, the concept is its sound rather than anything aesthetic.  Throw in the idea of a baritone neck, and then I'm off and running on the next project.  After that, some sort of bass guitar, but so far the concept for the bass guitar is only "bass guitar". :toothy11:

tl;dr: start by thinking conceptually, then let the conceptual ideas filter all future decisions.  I think you'd find that your subsequent decisions would flow much more organically from your mind if you were to follow that sort of more specific rubric, rather than something more general like "THE BEST GUITAR I CAN THINK OF", which is impossible, because there are so many "best guitars" in the imagination of any gear-head, that it would be impossible to settle on one.

I had a story which helped me, so maybe you should think of a story yourself.  It'd give the build a deeper meaning to you, as well.

 

[bbl4ck]

That first build is the toughest because you just don't know which way to go. Don't sweat it though, man, you'll make the right decision.

Wise words of wisdom; the first is the hardest without a doubt.  However, don't worry because if you build one, you will build another...
:rock-on:

 

[whyachi]

That first build is the toughest because you just don't know which way to go. Don't sweat it though, man, you'll make the right decision.

Wise words of wisdom; the first is the hardest without a doubt.  However, don't worry because if you build one, you will build another...
:rock-on:

I don't worry about that, but my wife does.

The sound that made me fall in love with bass is that old nasty P-bass through some 15's tone. Its simple, its dirty and it works. Alder - maple - rosewood, all passive, one P pickup. The only reason I didn't grab a Mexi P and just be done with it is that, 1) I like building things myself, and 2) I have been to a lot of concerts and I see a Squier or Fender P at every single one of them. Nothing wrong with it, I just want mine different.

I have a neck wood, wenge, the P sound and feel, and a natural color scheme in mind. I don't like paint. Wood is nice to look at naked, so why would I cover it up?

Originally I thought P neck, P pickups and J body as the offset shape is super comfy, but I can't hold onto any idea too long.


Only things I've officially ruled out are a J-style neck, gold hardware, extra strings and a Thunderbird body.. I totalled a crotch rocket last year and my shoulders can't swing a 15lb bass anymore.

 

[tfarny]

It's been rare to see anyone come on here, build one and leave done / satisfied. Maybe think through specs and sound first, and not aesthetics - what sound is #1 most important, that you want to make sure and get? How specifically do you want it to play and feel in hand? You can get just about any look you want in the end, and a great sounding and feeling guitar will beat a looker that doesn't quite do what you wanted any day.

 

[whyachi]

That helps a lot, actually. The sound that is most important to me, since I can't describe sounds to save my life, is P bass. I've always owned J's for comfort and they've never been.. Thumpy enough? I play bass, not treble. How far can I deviate from that ash/alder + maple + rosewood setup and get close to that sound?

 

[Jeremiah]

You just need to ask yourself, am I going to want to be playing this guitar when I'm 40? If the answer is "no" then get what you think you will want to be playing when you're 40.
MULLY

If I get a move on I might just get one built before I'm 40.  :icon_thumright:

 

[baskruit]

Being in more or less the same boat, it will be at least another 6-12 months before I'll put in my first Warmoth order. In the meantime I bought myself a used Squier Jazz bass recently for just 125 euros (big dent in the body but that's ok). I'm going to replace the parts one by one as time and money will let me until I have my ultimate 4-string. I'll also need that time to figure out what my ultimate 4-string will be. I'm not even sure if I'm ready to go fretless. I'd really want to give that a try but I'm not sure yet if want to take that step or play it safe and spend the money on a great fretted neck.

So far I've replaced the bridge with a Gotoh 201 (15 euros shipped off ebay). Next step will probably be some Hipshot ultralites.

 

[mullyman]

Being in more or less the same boat, it will be at least another 6-12 months before I'll put in my first Warmoth order. In the meantime I bought myself a used Squier Jazz bass recently for just 125 euros (big dent in the body but that's ok). I'm going to replace the parts one by one as time and money will let me until I have my ultimate 4-string. I'll also need that time to figure out what my ultimate 4-string will be. I'm not even sure if I'm ready to go fretless. I'd really want to give that a try but I'm not sure yet if want to take that step or play it safe and spend the money on a great fretted neck.

So far I've replaced the bridge with a Gotoh 201 (15 euros shipped off ebay). Next step will probably be some Hipshot ultralites.

Yeah, you wouldn't want to do your first Warmoth build as a fretless unless you were ABSOLUTELY sure that that's what you want. Definitely not something to test the waters with.
MULLY

 

[drewfx]

I don't think I'd go active if I were looking for a vintage P-bass sound. And you can save yourself  some $$$ if you just go passive. Though if you have them do a battery box route in the body now (get a double sized one), you can always easily go active later on if you want. And a side jack leaves more room for controls on top.

Also, if you pick standard P or J pickup routes, you'll have much, much more options for tweaking the sound with different pickups down the road. Other pickup routes leave you with far fewer options, so you have to know exactly what you want now if you get them.

Body shape/finish is not a big deal: Just pick wood/finishes you like and don't get a radical shape you might regret, find uncomfortable, or get tired of in a few years - and Fenderbirds/explorers/Z-basses/etc, cool as they are, will be frowned upon in certain bands/genres as well.

drewfx

 

[clearerphish]

How on earth do yall ever make up your minds?

I knew exactly what I wanted for the body, so that part was easy. I must have considered 100 different necks. How did I make up my mind? The design I was hung up on when I was ready (had the cash) to place my order is what i went with. I was very close to a canary neck, but I really wanted an ebony skunk stripe and they wouldn't do it. I eventually went with a birdseye maple showcase neck, and had it finished in clear gloss.

I LOVE IT.