Woods and P basses.

[jlrush]

I'd like to turn my project P bass into a P Special and add a J pickup at the bridge. Rather than risk chipping the black paint while routing my current body, I want to buy another body. I think I'll finish it stained or natural, and try to find a slab so the finish will be nice and even.

 

I went to www.usaguitars.com and read about the different woods they use. I'm leaning toward using alder after reading their descriptions. However, Mighty Mite sells maple bodies on eBay for $50, and that's tempting even though it might not be as warm as I'd like. I don't want a muddy low end.

 

1. Has anyone used maple for a project body? If so, how warm were the lows?

2. Would I be better off throwing for the more expensive alder?

 

Thanks in advance. Jim

[jlrush]

PS.

The pups I will use are Basslines SPB-3's, 250K pots and a Quan BAII bridge.

 

Thanks again.

[Rocky McDougall]

Jim, do you plan to have it routed professionally or do you have a router and able to do this yourself. The reason I ask is that if the routing is not perfect it really shows. If this is your first project, you may want to gain experience on the less expensive body. The difference in tone between woods is very hard to hear. I would be more concerned with wood grain if you are going to finish it natural.

Rocky

[kenfxj]

You might consider one of these - Alder PJ Bass from Rondo Music. IMO they're worth the price for the body alone.

[jlrush]

Rocky,

If I can't find a body that is P/J style I will have a professional woodworker friend do the routing for me. I'd like to get a slab body.

Do you know where I could get a template?

 

Ken,

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

Besides McCartney and J. Jackson, who are the other two guys in your new avatar? Entwistle and Jaco? Didn't know Jesse played bass.

[jlrush]

Rocky, the template I asked about is for the J pup, not the body.

 

I saw some bodies made of Brazilian Aracuria, a nicely grained wood, but it looked a little orange. I may go with the cheaper maple if the tone isn't much different. Finding a one piece body will be the hard part.

[Rocky McDougall]

Jim, I would have the template made off of the exact J pickup you plan on using, as not all pickups are the same deminsions. Also, make sure the bridge pickup's pins align with your string spacing.

 

Also a nicely grained one piece body will be much more expensive than a nicely grained veneer topped body.

Rocky

[Rocky McDougall]

Another thought ! Mount the neck and get the bridge perfectly placed and install the strings. Then, place the pickups under the strings and align and outline them to aid in the routing being done in the right position. This is all pre-assembly prior to the final finishing.

Rocky

[jlrush]

by Rocky3840:

 

Another thought ! Mount the neck and get the bridge perfectly placed and install the strings. Then, place the pickups under the strings and align and outline them to aid in the routing being done in the right position. This is all pre-assembly prior to the final finishing.

 

Yeah, I definitely had thought of all these things. I may use string instead of the bass strings to align the pups though. It might make it easier to work with since the pups will be higher than the strings at the time of alignment. I can align the bridge at the same time, too.

 

And thanks for the heads up about pups being different size. I've had dealings with this before when installing new pups, it just slipped my mind. Maybe I'll get one with a nice flame maple top.

 

I wrote to USA Custom Gutiars, which was one of many places I found out about from an earlier thread in this forum. They seemed to be pretty good and can do custom orders. If I can get one that's already done then all I'll have to do is finish it.

 

Thanks.