Some of the sweetest instruments around are parts basses. You chose each part, you spent forever changing things around in your head, eventually dropped your money, waited for it all to arrive, then you made it all work, with every tiny detail being just for you, just the way you like it. It doesn't get more custom than that.
I'll start, with my Jazz bass.
The body is northern ash, it was made by a UK company called Guitarbuild. Shipping was reasonably priced and fast, it came in at a little under $120. What I really liked was that if you choose their "buy from stock" option, you get the exact same item you saw on their website. Very cool. It's a 3 piece body with nice figuring, and is a 1960 pattern, with pre-CBS pickup spacing and it even has a Fullerton hump. All the finish is Tung oil and beeswax.
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The neck is Chinese and is made by Kmise. Mine has carbon reinforcing bars, allegedly. I haven't cut it in half to confirm this. It came with a paddle headstock, and was completely unfinished, which for me was a positive factor. On the downside, the heel was 2mm too thick to fit a body using standard Fender dimensions, so it needed a little work. Otherwise, it ticked all my boxes - maple fretboard, black block inlays, and unbound. I dislike bound necks for many reasons, and it goes nicely with the pre-CBS body for the sake of enthusiasts. It needed fretwork. It needed a LOT of fretwork. But I'm happy with it. After a little work, I got the neck pocket super tight.
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I gave it an early 50s P shape head shape just to be rebellious, and gave it my own fake branding.
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Tuners are Guyker, made in Korea. They are very nice. String retainer is a Hipshot.
Preamp is Guyker, too, and works really nicely whilst still looking stock J unless you look closely. Annoyingly, the stacked tone controls don't have a center detent position. I've become used to it.
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The bridge is a Babicz because I think it's the best Fender bridge going, and the strings go thru the body.
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Pickups are Wilkinson vintage alnico-v, in genuine Fender covers, and although they do sound really good, they are placeholders for something better.
I'm going to be ordering a Geddy Lee set from Tom Brantley very soon, to replace them.
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