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.

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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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