Telecaster Bass (1/2)
Solid ash body, 32" neck, active electronics ( stacked tones. )
The body is a very nice piece of ash. The main difference from a standard Tele body is an extended tongue for the bass neck. And, of course, totally different routs. Unlike a Strat, I could think of no good way to cover up or re-purpose the routs on a Tele body, so for this project, there is no choice but to build it from scratch. The front will retain the Tele slab look, but I will also add a modern contour to the back.
Here, I'm just laying out the cavities, nothing is routed yet. The pickup locations are a pretty good match for a Ric, so the final tone should strongly resemble that, although the humbucker might muddy it up a bit. The humbucker is off a Jaguar I think, the neck pickup is a chrome lipstick, to keep the Telecaster vibe.
I got a Telecaster bass bridge, but it turned out to be too wide for the neck I built, so I substituted an inexpensive Bronco bridge, which also saves me all the string-thru bother.
When I started planning and collecting parts, a bass like this did not exist, but since then Squier has issued a 32" Telecaster bass that is very similar, darn them. Mine will just have to be better than theirs.
Boba':
May 15, 2022 at 4:16 PM
That Tele bass is so good in so many ways! Wood finish You Scored!
Then "contoured back" is So Very helpful compared to the normal squared Tele body (& even a small front conFertCurve for my forarm-wrist would delight me and my playing time). You sir! please keep doing what You do! Bob from Missoula MT
Stephen West:
March 23, 2021 at 3:04 PM
Very interested in one of your telecaster basses!
Beautiful work!!
Stephen West
Michael O'Brien:
June 9, 2020 at 12:32 AM
Hi! Just found your site while googling telecaster bass. It seems great minds think alike as I’ve been thinking of building one myself. If I follow through with this, I’ll be spending a great deal of time poring over your content so I’d like to thank you in advance for documenting everything so well!! Like you, I have an interest in doing things differently and at low cost. I’m considering using an existing neck from a P or J and trimming the headstock to look like a telecaster. For the body I may use osage orange. I cut one down ten years ago, milled it and kiln dried it and it has just been waiting for me to figure out its next mission. I do have a question: how much neck dive do you experience with the Tele bass? If it’s significant I may weigh (pun intended) my options for tuners and bridges to find a balance. Thanks again!!
alder:
June 9, 2020 at 8:10 AM
If you are worried about "neck dive" then don't make it a long scale. Eden sells short and medium scale necks. I have used a few, they are good quality and reasonably priced.