custom bass guitar build — dale reince photography

Scroll down for photos below!

Being a musician, I’ve played both guitar and bass guitar over the years in many different bands in the Milwaukee area. Near the end of 2019 I was asked by a good friend of mine if I would be interested in playing bass in a new project called Arrow. Without hesitation I said yes.

As a bass player, I’ve only played a Squier Precision Bass, which I had since 2001 or so. Even though the Squier bass has worked out nicely over the years, having this new band project in mind, I thought it was time for a well deserved upgrade.

After weeks of searching the local area music stores I kept striking out on finding an instrument that felt right and had the features I wanted, plus buying an instrument can be so nerve racking, like shopping for a new car. I finally decided I would build my own. Yup, build my own!

The bass I wanted to build was modeled after a classic old school Fender P Bass, inspired by the sounds of the sixties and seventies. I started watching as many YouTube videos I could regarding building guitars and basses (shout out to Dave’s World of Fun). I talked to other friends who built their own guitars and I researched high and low for the custom parts and features I wanted. The entire process took a while but was well worth every moment.

It is my belief that this instrument is an extension of me. Learning how to assemble and fine tune this high end instrument, piece by piece, has been an exciting experience. I’m so happy I decided to build this bass. What I ended up with is a one of a kind, custom instrument that is handcrafted and tailored for me, something I could never find hanging in a store.

I have to admit, there were some scary times with this build. Drilling into the custom body and neck was terrifying. Setting the tuner bushings was a nightmare. At the end of the day, thankfully, the build turned out beautiful and I couldn’t be more pleased and proud.

Naturally, as a photographer, I wanted to photograph the parts I used for the build. I did plan on documenting the process during the build, but fell short with the execution. Maybe on my next custom guitar build (it’s addicting)!

Here’s a list of the parts I used.

Warmoth (Puyallup, Washington. USA).

Custom P-Bass Body. Right Handed. Made of Roasted Swamp Ash with satin finish.

Custom Jazz Bass Neck. Right Handed Reversed. Made of Roasted Maple, Indian Rosewood Fingerboard with SS6150 Stainless Frets, Mother Of Pearl Dot Inlays, GraphTech Black TUSQ XL- Standard Nut. No finish on the neck.

Standard Strap Buttons. Chrome. (Not Pictured Below)

Obsidian Wire (Christchurch New Zealand)

Traditional Vintage Plus for Precision Bass Pro Wired Wiring Harness.

Babicz Full Contact Hardware (Wappingers Falls, New York. USA)

Babicz FCH 4 Bass Bridge, Original Series with chrome finish.

Fender USA (Scottsdale, Arizona. USA)

Fender Precision Bass Pickup set, Original 1962 split-coil Humbucker Vintage Design.

StewMac (Athens, Ohio. USA)

Pickup Height Foam w/ Internal Spring. Short/Wide Set.

Hipshot (Interlaken, New York. USA)

HB7 Bass Tuning Machine. Nickel, Clover Key, Treble SIde.

Bass String Retainer. Chrome, 3 String.

WD Music Product, Inc. (North Fort Myers, Florida. USA)

Fender Precision Bass Knobs. Chrome.

Custom Pickguard. American Standard Precision Bass, Black-Cream-Black.

Pickguard Screws. Stainless Steel, Phillips Head.

Proline (Guitar Center, anyware USA)

4 Screw Neck Plate. Chrome.

GHS Strings (Battle Creek, Michigan. USA)

Precision Flats. 45-105 Medium. (Not Pictured Below)

All photographs below were photographed by me, Dale Reince Photography. You may NOT use on any platform (Social media, personal or company website) without my written permission. Contact me for usage rights. Thank you!

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