Projects with custom-built necks.
This bass is a 21" scale, with a piezo saddle mounted in an adjustable bridge. The soundhole is just for looks. The strings are metal-wound Kalas. The fretboard is cut out of the ugliest piece of wood I ever received. For such a small neck, I managed to cut around most of the ugly, and the result isn't half bad.
More: Audiovox Uke Bass ...
This started as a stock Squier Jaguar bass body. This 32" conversion neck was my first bass neck build. Stock pickups ( which are pretty decent ) with cream-colored covers and upgraded electronics. I used a MusicMan bridge to evoke the round Jazzmaster tailpiece, and likewise cream Strat knobs. I think it is a vast improvement over the Jaguar it started out as. The Cowbell inherited some of the Jaguar electronics.
More: Jazzmaster Bass 2 ...
I was so pleased with the bass that I thought I'd try a guitar. This is a little more complicated, as there are six tuners rather than four, but it worked out well. The battery is for an Artec tone control that I wanted to try. More later ...
More: Kubicki Factor Guitar ...
This one went through a long and torturous build process over almost two years. All I can say is don't believe the "advice" you find on talk_ass. However, in the end, it turned out to be a pretty nice instrument.
More: Mosrite Bass ...
These were my first two tries at a 325 bass. Both are plywood over pine hollow-bodies. The one on the left - #1 - used an experimental neck mounting that I didn't like. The one on the right - #2 - suffered a router mishap. I took all the good parts and built the solid-body, and both of these spent years on the scrap heap.
More: Rickenbacker 325 Bass 1 ...
These were my first two tries at a 325 bass. Both are plywood over pine hollow-bodies. The one on the left - #1 - used an experimental neck mounting that I didn't like. The one on the right - #2 - suffered a router mishap. I took all the good parts and built the solid-body, and both of these bodies spent years on the scrap heap.
More: Rickenbacker 325 Bass 2 ...
This was my third go at a 325 bass. The first one was unbalanced with this long neck, and the second suffered a router mishap. Eventually, I salvaged both of those, but first I took all the good parts and did this. Fender-type alder body with 3-tone sunburst, single binding. Surface-mounted pickups, active electronics. Finished entirely in polyurethane.
More: Rickenbacker 325 Bass 3 ...
A faithful reproduction of John Lennon's Rickenbacker, but built as a Danelectro. Masonite over hollow plywood body. Poplar neck. Passive electronics with active distortion on the fifth knob.
More: Rickenbacker 325 Guitar ...
This is what I've settled on for the neck. The main part is plain maple from Home Depot. The headstock wings are leftover floorboard from the upright project, Brazilian Cherry. The fretboard is also Brazilian Cherry. The truss rod is 540mm, which will require a 21 fret neck. Or I could cut it down a bit and weld the ends back together, but that's more work.
More: Radiatabacker Part IIb ...
