Kit bass build for my son's Christmas gift

JC BASS 91

JC BASS 91

Oct 22, 2021
1,157
3,500
1,886
SW Missouri
#1
I know it isn't a scratch build, but I wanted to share. I built this bass for my son for his Christmas gift this year. It's just a cheap kit and I used all the stock components (except strings...it got a set of Rotosound 66s on it that I had laying around). I had built another one of these kits for my wife back in June and when my son saw it he thought her's looked, sounded and played pretty well. I had purchased the first kit for my wife, but when I saw how good the kit was, I got 4 more of them. I still have three left to do up and have plans for them.

Anyway, for the build, I had to do a lot of fretwork, but the action is really good on there now. Body was done with Rit fabric dyes and Tru Oil. Neck has Tru Oil on the back of the neck and the headstock is finished with satin clear poly.

I am by no means a pro at this, but I do enjoy building these kits and it is rather therapeutic to do them as well. My job can be more than a little stressful at times, and these allow me to shut off that part of my brain and do something different. The picture at the bottom is the one I did for my wife after she told me she wanted to learn how to play bass.

31 - Completed Front.jpg
32 - Completed Headstock Front.jpg
33 - Completed Headstock Back.jpg
34 - Completed Neck.jpg
35 - Completed Body Front.jpg
36 - Completed Body Front Detail.jpg
37 - Completed Body Back Detail.jpg
38 - Comleted Pickups and Bridge Detail.jpg
39 - Completed Control Cavity Cover and Jack.jpg
41 - Completed Bass Glamour Shot.jpg


My wife's:

26 - Completed Bass Glamour Shot.jpg
 
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#3
they both look great! :thumbsup: and i love that they're two-octave PJs. :bassist:

nice work. i'm all in on the therapeutic value of assembling your own ax, and i'm really into the therapeutic value of saving some money: get a great playing ax for cheap!

your wife should be happy with her ax and i'm sure your son will dig his, too! congrats to all! :thumbsup:
 
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#7
Gilmourisgod said:
Nice job of it! Some cool grain going on in tha fingerboard. Of course, no you are screwed. This hobby is addictive!
Click to expand...

Yeah...so....these aren't the first kits I've built over the years. I have done a total of 7 kits so far, and a parts bass build where I mixed and matched parts from eBay. This is actually the second kit that has been done for my son. The first was a Carvin 5-string kit we did as a Christmas/Birthday/Graduation gift for him 6 years ago. We did that one as a father/son project and it was such a fun experience.

02 - Neck finishing.jpg
12 - Assembly.jpg
21 - First time playing.jpg
24 - First Performance.jpg
 
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#9
Gilmourisgod said:
The grin says it all! Involving him in the build makes it HIS in a way no store bought bass ever will be. I built this Ric clone for my son's graduation from Mass Maritime. It was a surprise gift, so he didn't work on it, but I love seeing him play it.
uvUEWRw.jpg
Click to expand...

YES!!!!! I love it!! There's just something amazing about having a kid that loves playing bass, too. I will definitely have my wife take pictures of my son receiving the bass at Christmas so that I can share them here.

That is a GREAT looking bass! I love my Ric (middle), Ric-kit build (top), and my custom built Rickenfaker from a builder in the UK (bottom).

The Ric-ish Family.jpg
 
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#10
  1. There is nothing wrong with a kit build. One of my favorite guitars in my entire arsenal is a kit-build, and is in fact what hooked me into the whole luthier thing in the first place.
  2. I love the photos. All of them, from everyone. What matters is what the family takes from the experience, not whether the instrument itself would compare itself to the 5-figure retail products made by the major manufacturers. The smiles on the boys' faces transcend "this is a cool instrument" and into "this is an instrument with memories built in that nobody can ever take away." In the words of the Firefly theme song, "you can't take the sky from me."
  3. I would give anything in the world to be able to pick up an instrument and think to myself, "my dad made this for me" every single time. In my life, that equivalent is "my dad made this special meal for me." He was a chef, so I don't have tangible products to remember him by, just memories. So whenever I see stories of memories being made like this, it hits a special spot in my heart and I love it.
 
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#11
NedRyerson said:
  1. There is nothing wrong with a kit build. One of my favorite guitars in my entire arsenal is a kit-build, and is in fact what hooked me into the whole luthier thing in the first place.
  2. I love the photos. All of them, from everyone. What matters is what the family takes from the experience, not whether the instrument itself would compare itself to the 5-figure retail products made by the major manufacturers. The smiles on the boys' faces transcend "this is a cool instrument" and into "this is an instrument with memories built in that nobody can ever take away." In the words of the Firefly theme song, "you can't take the sky from me."
  3. I would give anything in the world to be able to pick up an instrument and think to myself, "my dad made this for me" every single time. In my life, that equivalent is "my dad made this special meal for me." He was a chef, so I don't have tangible products to remember him by, just memories. So whenever I see stories of memories being made like this, it hits a special spot in my heart and I love it.
Click to expand...

Well said!
 
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