DK's PBH build

It was white, then black and now brindle

My first proper bass back in 1965 was a white L Series P Bass and I had decided I wanted to try and replicate that but was never happy with the finish so I stripped it back and hit the body with a Black Japan stain that unfortunately also looked sheite.

The current and final body finish is Black Japan on the edges, maple gloss stain and then clear with a heap of sanding and carnauba wax, the neck simply has citrus oil, wax and polish

Pups and high mass bridge are from GFS

Running a long drill bit through a bass guitar body I am building for the bridge earth I seem to have found daylight at the back of the body rather than the copper tape shielded darkness of the control cavity.

Hole is now filled and the back will now be a solid colour, probably Black Japan

Pics tomorrow, I'm too pissed off at the moment and the phone may go into orbit

Bad luck Dave. You've made some great guitars, I'm sure that you can rescue it and come up trumps.

rob

The bad luck continues for the PBG forumites.

Sorry to hear this mate. Should still look great with the woody top as a feature though :)

Mr Grumpy has settled down ( after some beers ) so here is an update.

It was coming along rather nicely but I felt uncomfortable for no reason and should have stopped then rather than press on, the damage is nowhere near as bad as Bargy's so I won't throw all of the toys out of the pram.

Here's the top view ( eagle eyes may spot that the strings are offset 1mm to the top )

it doesn't look that bad mate.

keep it for 'mojo' ;)

Dave - sorry to hear that! I've done it myself - what it it with basses?! Mine was a Jazz bass - luckily not too much damage and only about a 3.25mm hole.

Where the pre drilled hole is a bit small, I've taken to enlarging it a touch, but have learnt the hard way to do it by hand - without a drill at all - too easy for it to keep going out the back...

Dave - sorry to hear that! I've done it myself - what it it with basses?! Mine was a Jazz bass - luckily not too much damage and only about a 3.25mm hole.

Where the pre drilled hole is a bit small, I've taken to enlarging it a touch, but have learnt the hard way to do it by hand - without a drill at all - too easy for it to keep going out the back...

BTW - have you thought of changing to a black pickguard?

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Originally Posted by Brendan

BTW - have you thought of changing to a black pickguard?

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This one's going to be a working dog not a show pony, I'm more interested in the playability and tone than how it looks to the punters.

Having said that there's half a chance I'll do a refin down track

Bad luck dave. Unfortunately this kind of thing happens to us all at one time or another. In a couple more kits, the refinish might start to look a bit more palatable. On the other hand, it's on the back and you may well forget about it completely! :)

cheers,
Gav.

Dave sure your fix for the drill hole on the back will barely be noticeable so wouldn't worry too much. Its coming along nicely I like the look.
As Bman suggested a black pickguard could look cool with the black edges

I remember my first build - P Bass - thought the pup would sound weak and dead in comparison to my Ibanez with active pups - was blown away to the point I now have 2 P Basses. Seriously thinking a PBH, but would have to get a special order ash - loving ash at the moment.

The standard basswood body is very soft, I may look to replacing it with Ash down track or do a body out of the pile of spotted gum I have in the shed.

If using the gum I suspect it would have to be chambered because it's bl00dy heavy

I have just finished one of these kits....awesome to build and loving your finish....my bridge earth hole was already drilled. I had to measure and place the bridge though.

The bridge earth hole appeared to go nowhere

thats strange Dave. Did you prod the hole and try and clear it ? what I've done in the past is got a 3 or 4mm long drill bit and turn it by hand to get any muck out of the way

I'll have to get some fine piano wire to push down it to see what happens, with my recent luck it will go to where it's supposed to be

so is there a visible hole in the control cavity Dave, try pushing wire from that end. Maybe an old bass string may work, or poke one of the bass strings from the kit, as you normally have to trim the length off anyway. Good luck!

There was a vestigal hole in the top but nothing in the control cavity unless they somehow merged it into the hole for the rear pup wiring.

While sitting here typing I'm looking at a couple of Teles sitting in the rack beside the desk and thinking an A string might just do the trick

Dave what was the drill bit that went through the bottom ?
if its a long drill bit about 3-4mm diameter push that in and rotate by hand. Its possible the factory didn't drill the hole all the way through to the control cavity, in that case grab a hand drill if you have one or a power drill on very low speed

It was the drill bit so it's an oblique 6mm hole.

It's not the end of the earth I'll sort it in the end

Well I have put it together and strung it up, things to do.

1. intonate and set neck, will let it settle under tension first.
2. rewire, I don't like the standard setup so it will be 2 x vol and 2 x tone
3. bone nut

After I have played it for a bit and get a feel for it's character I will do a refin and replace the scratch plate, I need to know it so I can decide on colours.

Sorry, can't upload pics at the moment but will when the function is restored

Pic of the PBH as it currently stands

looking very sexy DK, well done, they are a great bass hey, I got one in my collection too in a red stain

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

looking very sexy DK, well done, they are a great bass hey, I got one in my collection too in a red stain

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The overall feel of it reminds me a bit of my L Series ( pic taken in 1968 ) and originally I was planning a white body with a brown tort scratch plate.

I paid $180 for the L Series and sold it for $360 in about 1970 to fund my VI

After much faffing around sorting the pups I finally dragged it along to a jam this afternoon and to be honest was very surprised with the sound I got out of it.

With the hi mass bridge and the GFS pups it really does sound like the bottom end of a grand piano, which is my preferred sound.

PBass pup up full and around 75% on the tone pot with the amp bass on 10 and the treble on 7 it sounds wonderful, roll in a bit of the MM pup and it gets a definite edge but still has that big Steinway sound.

Pleased with the result is an understatement and now can't wait to get the heavy round wound d'dario's on in place of the supplied set, should be huge