Thinking about the dark side - building a bass...

[Greplington]

So I've built two Guitars and two electric ukes now, and while the plan was to stop for a while, I'm getting itchy building fingers and my mind is wandering to new projects.

I want to make something a bit different to what I've already done, and at the moment I'm thinking of a bass. I have a few ideas for materials, body design etc, but when it comes to pickups and "types" of bass guitars I don't really know what I'm looking at. What is the difference in practical terms between a J bass and a P bass? Which would be more versatile in terms of playing styles? I actually want to keep it and learn to play it when I'm finished, so I don't want to get to the end and wish I'd done something differently.

Any words of advice (other than "forget the bass and build another Tele instead" )

 

[Crafty Fox]

I call it ......The Telecision Bass!
I have only built the one bass so far:
A friend of mine went to work overseas for a few months and left his '69 Telecaster Bass ('51 Precision Reissue) with me, so I pulled it apart and sort-of cloned it.
Except that I built a PJ bass instead using the late 50's split Precision pickup and a Jazz at the bridge. Both pups are Fender along with other Fender parts.
I am very happy with the results although I don't play it much.

 

[Jef]

A classic P-bass is great for blues, soul, rock, punk, country... I use it with flatwounds for that signature P-bass thump.
A jazz bass can really growl. But when playing a J, I find myself smiling from ear to ear and playing disco basslines all the time
I have an Ibanez P-J model as well, but I find the J part a bit disappointing. You really need those two Jazz-Bass pickups in humbucking configuration in order to get that mid scooped growl.

 

[RickyRicardo]

I've built 3 P-basses and 2 P/J basses for various friends. I really like the P/J's as they offer a great variety in sound. I'm not a bass player but want one so for me it'll be a P/J in a Jazz body when the time comes.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Doesn't a J-bass have a slightly narrower neck...which for some, make it more playable?

 

[WingedWords]

Here's a fairly decent comparison of the P and J Basses. The J Bass is maybe more versatile, but only the P Bass does what P Basses do! I'm sure you'll find either of them a good bass to start with. (Before you feel the need for the other one!)

 

[crazydave911]

I for one suggest a short scale (30") P/J bass. Versatile, and easier for the guitar player to play .
I've built two 30", one 27" and a 26.5", all through a compressor pedal to my Fender Rumble amp thump just fine thank you
I'm planning a Teisco EB-100 at some point but that may be TOO short

 

[Steve Holt]

Basses are fun to build! I've built two and I'm plotting a third. Not too much different than building any other fender style.

 

[RickyRicardo]

Doesn't a J-bass have a slightly narrower neck...which for some, make it more playable?

Some P bass players use a J bass neck as they prefer them.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Thanks for the validation RR. The knockoff J-bass I owned for quite a few years did indeed seem to be more comfortable that any of the P-bases I got to touch. And I sold that to a young lady who was the bass player for her middle school jazz band...she found it comfortable with her small hands.

 

[WalthamMoosical]

I for one suggest a short scale (30") P/J bass. Versatile, and easier for the guitar player to play

Yup, that's what I did and why.

 

[Greplington]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

So, based on comments, I'm thinking either J or P/J pickups, with a short scale, P-style neck and a custom body. It'll be a laminated neck, and I'm tossing up if I should try a neck through construction as well...

Next question - does anyone know where I can find plans for a 30" scale J-bass?

 

[RickyRicardo]

Here is a neck drawing from a post from 2009 I found here on TDPRI. I don't know if it's actual size or not.

 

[crazydave911]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

So, based on comments, I'm thinking either J or P/J pickups, with a short scale, P-style neck and a custom body. It'll be a laminated neck, and I'm tossing up if I should try a neck through construction as well...

Next question - does anyone know where I can find plans for a 30" scale J-bass?

You don't need 'em, do a P Bass body and print a 30" scale from fret2find.com. you can customize your nut and heel widths and I transfer them to oak batten sticks. Very stable and you're only building one right?
If you can borrow a P Bass neck and have your scale printed simply measure 30" from your treble bridge saddle and that's where your nut will be

 

[Greplington]

Here's a fairly decent comparison of the P and J Basses. The J Bass is maybe more versatile, but only the P Bass does what P Basses do! I'm sure you'll find either of them a good bass to start with. (Before you feel the need for the other one!)

Ok, so after looking at this video and a couple of others comparing various configurations, I'm going to go with a PJ pickup set, and I meant a J neck in my earlier post as I like the idea of a slightly slimmer profile.

So - I can find a ton of J-bass plans, but not a PJ. Can I just use a J-bass plan and position the P-bass pickup where the neck pickup would go for the J? If so, do I position it so that the "split" between the two sections lines up with where the normal pickup would go?

 

[RickyRicardo]

I've made 3 P/J's. 2 were P bass and one I'm finishing up is a J bass. Here's the J bass with P/J routs. If you're using a P bass body you can overlay this onto a P bass plan. That's what I did.

 

[epizootics]

So - I can find a ton of J-bass plans, but not a PJ. Can I just use a J-bass plan and position the P-bass pickup where the neck pickup would go for the J? If so, do I position it so that the "split" between the two sections lines up with where the normal pickup would go?

The reason you'd want to place the pickups in the same spot as on a P or a J is that said location gives them their distinctive sounds, from the corresponding harmonic nodes in a given portion of the strings. But if you are going short scale, those pickups won't sound the same as they would on a 34", because scale length is a reasonably large factor in the voicing of string instruments. You can, however, get as close as you can by placing your pickups in the relative location they would be on a longer-scale instrument, ie. by calculating the ratios of their location on a PJ bass and multiplying that by 30".

A P-bass pickup has the pole pieces of its forwardmost bobbin located 28" away from the nut. The ratio would then be 28/34. Multiply that by 30 and you get 24.71, so you'd want to place that pickup 24.71" away from the nut. This is not an exact science since the size of the pickup doesn't change with the scale reduction - my method will have the second bobbin relatively closer to the bridge - but a 1/8" difference in location won't make a huge difference. At least nowhere near as big as the tonal difference from altering the scale.

I don't have J-bass plans at hand, but I'm sure someone can help you with the J pickup.

And don't think about this stuff to much, either - it'll be a great bass. Basses are fun to build

 

[peterg]

Here’s the placement for MIM Jazz Bass pickups.