Bass VI

[astro]

About three years ago, I decided that I really needed a Bass VI in my life. At the time there were no reissues that were affordable to me, and vintage was of course out of my price range as well. So I concluded that I had to put one together myself.

I started by buying a Bass VI bridge copy from MotelAzimov over on offset.com. I got a modified mustang bridge from warmoth and harvested the saddles for the project. Then I got a switch plate and a control plate from Stereordinary also at offset. Next came a set of three jaguar pickups taken from a cyclone II that someone here at Shortscale sold to me (please forgive me, I forgot who it was!). Soon after, I ordered all the other hardware and electronic bits that I would need for a bass VI. I had everything but a body and a neck.

Then I went back to university to get my bachelor's in nursing. Short on both cash and time, I had to put the project on hold. I finished school not long ago, and at about that time the Pawnshop VI came to market. At first I was psyched, I figured I would buy one and put on the metal plates, the proper bridge, and a jaguar bridge pickup. I already had everything that I would need to make it to my liking. I really liked the fact that the neck has a 9.5" radius and the truss rod adjustment at the headstock. But I didn't care for the lame colour choices. And I would be left with a bunch of unneeded parts that I had already bought for my project. So I went back to my original plan of putting one together from parts.

Recently shortscaler Cooterfinger agreed to make me a Bass VI body. I'm glad he did, the body is perfect! By chance he managed to score a featherweight piece of alder. It's a two piece body, but he did such a great job lining up the grain that it looks like a one piece to me. If I had the skills I would be very tempted to do a transparent finish. I'm a hack, so it will have to be an opaque finish. Cooterfinger also made me a perfect mint green pickguard. I am extremely pleased with Cooterfinger's work. This fellow has mad skillz and is an asset to guys like me who like to put guitar parts together but have no woodworking ability.

All I need now is a neck. Ideally I'd like to find a pawnshop VI neck, since I like the specs and using one would just be a question of screwing it on and setting it up. I've been scouring eBay for a while, but unfortunately none of the usual suspects who part out new Fenders have put one up for sale. I'll keep looking, but if I don't find one in the next few months, I'll most likely end up ordering one from USA Custom Guitars. As far as I know, they're the only place where I can order a proper Bass VI neck. If I go that route, I might get a neck with a maple fingerboard.

As far as finish is concerned, I'd like to do it in Seafoam Green. Since I'm in Canada, I am unable to get Reranch paint. The only Seafoam Green spray paint I've been able to find locally is Liquitex graffiti paint at the local art supply store. It's a great colour match, but I am concerned that it might lack durability since it's meant to be used on walls and canvases as opposed to something that gets a lot of handling. I will of course use a clear coat but since it's not auto paint there could be compatibility issues. So far I've had no luck finding an auto paint shop that can custom mix me a spray can from a colour sample. My second choice is Sherwood Green, which I've been able to find as a Duplicolor aerosol at my local Canadian Tire. I've never done a metallic finish though, so I'm worried I might do a terrible job. And I'm pretty sure that Seafoam > Sherwood in my opinion.

[James]

Do you mind breaking down the cost so far? I'm very tempted to build something similar.

[astro]

Do you mind breaking down the cost so far? I'm very tempted to build something similar.

I bought most of the stuff a few years ago, my recollection is a bit hazy price wise, so consider these more of a ballpark estimate than precise prices. None of these prices include shipping.

Bass VI specific parts:
1" wide bass VI bridge from MotelAzimov: around $50 (does not include saddles)
4 switch plate from Stereordinary: around $45
Control plate from Stereordinary: around $45
Bass VI body and mint pickguard from Cooterfinger: $150 (actual price)
Bass VI neck: not yet found, but check on http://www.usacustomguitars.com to see their build-to-order price lists.

That's about $300 for the above listed parts minus the neck, plus shipping. If I can score a neck for around $300, that would be about $600 for all the parts that are unique to the VI.

The rest of the parts are not specific to the Bass VI, mostly they are standard jag parts. I don't remember what I paid for them, and prices will of course vary depending on who you buy them from, and if you get used parts instead of new. So I won't include prices for the following items, but I'll list them anyway so you know what you'll need:

6 Bridge saddles and intonation screws and springs
3 jaguar pickups with covers and claws
6 tuning pegs
4 two-position slide switches
Jaguar tremolo and arm
Input jack, wire, volume and tone potentiometers, and capacitors for the tone and strangle controls
2 knobs for the pots
Neck plate and 4 bolts to mount the neck
A bunch of different sized screws to mount the trem, pickguard, plates and pickups
A nut, if the neck you find doesn't have one
A set of Bass VI strings (I think these cost me $35, can't remember. I don't think Fender makes them anymore but d'addario makes a set for cheap)
Paint

Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything in that list. The rest of the parts could be had for cheap if you're patient and scour the Internet for deals. You might already have some of these in a parts bin since they're relatively common parts, saving you some extra coin. You could also save about $50 if you choose to omit the strangle switch. This way you could use a dirt cheap 3 switch plate from a jag, plus you'd save on the cost of an extra switch and capacitor. Same goes for the trem if you choose to use a cheaper Squier type unit (although I'm not sure if the strings fit through anything other than an AVRI trem). And of course you could use cheaper strat type pickups since they're a dime a dozen and can be much cheaper than Jag pickups.

If you like the neck specs on the Pawnshop VI and don't mind the colour selection, it might be cheaper to buy a pawnshop model and add the proper bridge, plates, and bridge pickup, plus a new pickguard. It might not be much cheaper though if you buy a new Pawnshop VI and can't find a used one, and if you are able to get the non-VI parts for cheap it might be the same or even a bit more costly to go this route. It would definitely be a lot less work, though.

[James]

Great stuff, cheers.

Yours looks fantastic. The more I look at it the closer I am to making a VI myself.

[Awstin]

Richards the best. The only guy I will go to when it comes to guitar bodies.