Stratocaster Micro Bass 1 (1/3) ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Stratocaster Micro Bass 1 (1/3)

Eden paddle-head guitar neck converted to bass. Strings are lower four of 5-string set, unwound to fit 25" scale.

A few build details:

On the left:

Probably a Squier body, buffed and polished
Eden paddlehead Strat neck, cut to a slightly enlarged guitar headstock profile
laser-printed decals, poly finish
Chinese zinc-cast bridge, 18mm string spacing to match the neck - eBay
GFS Jazz neck pickup
Fender Japan P pickup, mounted narrow to match the neck
4-way blade switch - series/parallel
passive electronics - bass & treble cut
Chinese fake Fender 125-50 roundwound strings ( pretty bad )

I haven't decided what I want to do about the strings yet, but other than that I am quite happy with it. Really fun to play, nice tone - anywhere from P to J, and crazy roar in series mode. Weighs around seven pounds. To mount the bridge and pickups, I filled the tremolo hole and spring cavity with plywood. The bass pickups required some routing. The pickguard is obviously totally custom, and pretty crowded.

To make these strings, start with a 5-string set, and unwind the B down to the necessary length to fit the tuner. That becomes your E. You may also have to do the same for the E/A, the rest should fit.

1 2 3

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As everyone should know, the Stratocaster guitar is actually the guitar version of the Precision Bass, which came first. The big innovation on both was the extended upper horn, a necessity on a long-necked bass for balance and to bring the low frets within reach when the instrument is hanging on a strap. Not strictly needed on a guitar, but looks great, and back in the 1950s nothing had ever been seen like it. It was an instant hit.

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Conversion Necks

A conversion neck is one that can convert an instrument from one scale length to another with no other modification. A common conversion is 34" to 32". By overhanging the 20th fret, or leaving it off, you can use the stock bridge location on the body, just adjust for intonation. Such a neck will work on any standard bass body. A conversion from 34" to 30" requires overhanging two frets, or losing one or both.

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Unwinding Strings

I like to build short-scale basses, Unfortunately, the manufacturers don't like to make short-scale strings, and stores don't like to stock them. And some lengths, like 25" 'pico', simply don't exist. However, you can make your own from readily available long-scale sets.

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Guitar-Scale Basses

Basses built with the scale length of a guitar, typically 25.5 inches.

Stratocaster Micro Bass 1

Stratocaster Micro Bass 2

Guitar-Scale Basses

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Building Necks

My take on necks

When you play a guitar, are you tightly clutching the neck, or are you holding mostly air? Even if you tightly clutch the neck, does the actual shape really matter? As long as it does not present any obstacles to movement, the answer is NO. So what is all this fussing over neck profiles? MARKETING, that's what. The actual curve around the back of the neck is fairly irrelevant, apart from the overall thickness.

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