Would there be a demand for this Bass??

[L. L. Elwood]

Hello! Like many other musicians, I've basically played Legos with Fender instruments for decades.. quite by accident I've put together a really fantastic Frankenstein P bass that has taken the place of my beloved '71 P for gigging.

Neck is the Made in Mexico '51 (baseball bat) replacement neck, Alder Vintera Jazz body, Lollar Precision split coil, and the Warmoth J pickguard with the p pickup routed in the correct "P" position. The second vol pot is not connected. So it's just Vol/Tone, like a P.

The main reasoning behind all these specific parts is tone and a little bit cosmetic but mostly tone. The '71 P I have has "that" P tone that has a woodiness warmth and clarity upper mid punch to it. (also I should note that it has a '68 Tele Bass Neck that is like a baseball bat). The only neck fender is making now that comes close is this '51 replacement neck.

The combo of that Lollar Pickup and the super chunkiness of this '51 P Neck really brings out that woody tone I was looking for.

I've just started to wonder why no one makes anything like this?? The last thing was the Mark Hoppus - at least visually. I'm wondering if there'd be a small market for a single pickup P bass with a Jazz body and a super chunky old school P neck that sounds like the 70s..? A fellow TB'er made this one a while back.. Done properly this is what it would look like. I'd probably do Black/maple, 3 color burst/maple and Oly white/ rosewood. Probably not do the ash tray... And I'd source quality US made components.. Thoughts?

 

[2cooltoolz]

You "accidently" square routed the neck pocket?

JK. That looks great!! It's not my particular choice, but that is the beauty of "lego" basses, you do it your way! I could definitely see some custom builder offering this as an option. I think you'd have to get someone famous to back it as a "sig" model before Fender would get on board..

Congrats on a beatifully executed bass!

 

[HelpImaRock]

Another, third option. No, there's no demand. It's not weird tho.

 

[L. L. Elwood]

I did have to do a little routing to accommodate the square neck. Went ahead and routed truss access while I was at it

Another, third option. No, there's no demand. It's not weird tho.

Which very well could be why no one is doing it...

 

[NorthTexasBass]

This is exactly the bass I want to build. I love P Basses and chunky necks, but prefer the offset body of a jazz. Great job.

 

[punkwithflats]

Make it medium scale and I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I love chunky necks and split coils, and Jazz basses look sexy as hell.

 

[sylvanbass]

I think that is hot!!!

 

[REV]

I like it. Another possibility might be a Jaguar body, Tele neck and P bass pickup. Maybe even rear routed so there is no pick guard or use a Tele bass control plate?

 

[Grinderman]

The only Jazz bass variant build that has crossed my mind is one with a single Fralin split-coil Jazz pickup in the neck position, no bridge pickup, with a three-hole VTVT control plate loaded with a volume, tone, and output jack configuration like a P bass.

I take that back... I've had two ideas. The second one is to build a reproduction '59 prototype Jazz bass with custom replicas of the prototype pickups.

 

[mikewalker]

Make it medium scale and I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I love chunky necks and split coils, and Jazz basses look sexy as hell.

Heck, shrink the body down 7/8th and make it a 30 inch scale... I'd be in! (especially with a P-Bass TV-logo...)

 

[johnnynitro]

I love The Look. I have an All Parts Tele Bass Neck on My Pbass. Love The Feel. Want a Reverse Head Stock now.

 

[MrAB4003]

Hello! Like many other musicians, I've basically played Legos with Fender instruments for decades.. quite by accident I've put together a really fantastic Frankenstein P bass that has taken the place of my beloved '71 P for gigging.

View attachment 5444346
Neck is the Made in Mexico '51 (baseball bat) replacement neck, Alder Vintera Jazz body, Lollar Precision split coil, and the Warmoth J pickguard with the p pickup routed in the correct "P" position. The second vol pot is not connected. So it's just Vol/Tone, like a P.

The main reasoning behind all these specific parts is tone and a little bit cosmetic but mostly tone. The '71 P I have has "that" P tone that has a woodiness warmth and clarity upper mid punch to it. (also I should note that it has a '68 Tele Bass Neck that is like a baseball bat). The only neck fender is making now that comes close is this '51 replacement neck.

The combo of that Lollar Pickup and the super chunkiness of this '51 P Neck really brings out that woody tone I was looking for.

I've just started to wonder why no one makes anything like this?? The last thing was the Mark Hoppus - at least visually. I'm wondering if there'd be a small market for a single pickup P bass with a Jazz body and a super chunky old school P neck that sounds like the 70s..? A fellow TB'er made this one a while back.. Done properly this is what it would look like. I'd probably do Black/maple, 3 color burst/maple and Oly white/ rosewood. Probably not do the ash tray... And I'd source quality US made components.. Thoughts?View attachment 5444381

This reminds me of the MIM 7ender Gold Foil Jazz Bass with the single pickup, but without the disastrous QC issues. I'm sure there would be huge demand if Squier made something like this,.

 

[Eilif]

I don't think there'd be much demand.

A few Jazz bodied P Basses have been tried but not many have taken off. Also, all things being equal, the Jazz body is bigger and therefore heavier than the P so that's a strike against it as well.

All that said, my Jazz has a neck with a PBass width, and it's model J pickups are basically PBass pups in a Jazz casing. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/its-like-a-nbd-low-down-bass-overhauls-my-jazz.1321267/
So, I do generally get where you're coming from.

 

[Lackey]

...isn't this basically the Mark Hoppus model. I'd see how that did for sales and then divide by the boutique / cost / non Fender factor.

 

[micguy]

I like a wider neck, but in my case, it's not wide enough - being used to 1 7/8 5 string necks, even a "baseball bat" neck feels like a toothpick to me.

Having huge hands, the whole "skinny is fast" thing doesn't rung true for me - cramming my fingers together slows me down; a big neck is a fast neck with my hands.

 

[jid]

Not too weird. I’m not a buyer but I think it is cool.

 

[2saddleslab]

Love those big chunky necks. About 35 years ago I installed my 55 neck on a 69 Jazz when its neck was getting a re-fret.

 

[Clark W]

Hello! Like many other musicians, I've basically played Legos with Fender instruments for decades.. quite by accident I've put together a really fantastic Frankenstein P bass that has taken the place of my beloved '71 P for gigging.

View attachment 5444346

Neck is the Made in Mexico '51 (baseball bat) replacement neck, Alder Vintera Jazz body, Lollar Precision split coil, and the Warmoth J pickguard with the p pickup routed in the correct "P" position. The second vol pot is not connected. So it's just Vol/Tone, like a P.

The main reasoning behind all these specific parts is tone and a little bit cosmetic but mostly tone. The '71 P I have has "that" P tone that has a woodiness warmth and clarity upper mid punch to it. (also I should note that it has a '68 Tele Bass Neck that is like a baseball bat). The only neck fender is making now that comes close is this '51 replacement neck.

The combo of that Lollar Pickup and the super chunkiness of this '51 P Neck really brings out that woody tone I was looking for.

I've just started to wonder why no one makes anything like this?? The last thing was the Mark Hoppus - at least visually. I'm wondering if there'd be a small market for a single pickup P bass with a Jazz body and a super chunky old school P neck that sounds like the 70s..? A fellow TB'er made this one a while back.. Done properly this is what it would look like. I'd probably do Black/maple, 3 color burst/maple and Oly white/ rosewood. Probably not do the ash tray... And I'd source quality US made components.. Thoughts?View attachment 5444381

That's a really cool idea. And kinda unique.

I've always liked the Jazz body over the P body except for when it comes to sitting the bass in a stand. So a P bass with Jazz body styling is a no brainer to me.

The tele style headstock is pretty cool too. Never have liked their looks, but then I've never seen one attached to a Jazz body before either. It looks great.

A Lollar P Pup in proper position, you can't go wrong there either.

The only thing I would do different, add either a Jazz or P pup to the bridge position. Might as well go for a dbl P and VVT controls. But the design with just the single P looks amazing.

I would definitely consider your bass or a variation of it thereof.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I LOVE the p bass body but I HATE the offset jazz body so it’s a no go for me.

In fact, I’m putting together a jazz bass into a p bass body actually :

 

[Aloe]

I've just started to wonder why no one makes anything like this??

some Yamaha BBs back from the 80s and in 2000s were quite a thing, you're describing: a woody sounding P with a chunky neck. they've moved to skinnier necks and smaller bodies since, probably because most customers wanted it that way. Warwick also abandoned their famous log-thick D-shaped necks a few decades ago, also in order to please more customers. there isn't a much mass demand for instruments with log-thick necks nowadays, most people prefer to have lighter instruments with no neck dive.

I don't think, your ideal Frankenstein will be a commercial success to Fender as well, they get much more money selling just Js and Ps to bother with it. once you are into custom shop territory, yeah, you can get a bass for your specs, but the price would be like really much higher.