This week’s selection is from Anthony DiMauro. He’s been a bass player for quite a while and decided to share his experiences constructing his own custom jazz bass. Here’s his story:
I have been playing six string basses for the last twenty years and currently have two. I just joined a Motown/R&B group and the band leader asked if I would consider using a Fender bass. He is going for an authentic image and sound. I was agreeable but didn’t really have it in the budget right now to purchase another instrument. I heard about people having success with do it yourself kits so I purchased a Jazz bass style kit.
This was made from a $70 DIY kit. I cut the headstock. I drilled and mocked up the instrument, then disassembled it, sanded it and painted it in the auto shop. I installed EMG active pickups. The bass looks, plays and sounds amazing. Total cost $250. I am pretty handy and manage an Auto Collision Center so I figured I had the resources to build one for myself.
The kit comes with a blank headstock that can be cut into whatever shape you want (I went with a Jazz bass template). The neck and bridge required drilling and mounting. I did some research and watched YouTube videos for the correct procedure. The tuner pegs, switch control plate, nut, pickups and strap pins required mounting. I cut, drilled, and assembled the entire bass, then disassembled it for paint.
There was a lot of sanding and coats of urethane clear coat to seal the wood. I showed my painter a photo of a Stratocaster with honey burst paint and asked if he could go a little darker with more of a gradual fade. He nailed it. I upgraded the electronics to active EMG pickups, etc. The bass turned out really well. It looks, plays and sounds awesome.
Here are the specs on this custom guitar.
Body: Basswood
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Electronics: EMG
The bass was built by Anthony DiMauro and painted by Michael Bourne.
See Pictures here:
SWEET! BEAUTY!!!
That’s a beautiful instrument! Superb work.
Beautiful job, nice finish.
Outstanding!
Damn that is a “BAD” Bass!
Great work!
What kit did you buy?
Excellent job! Where did you buy the kit? I’d like to get one!
Thank you. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/172518034020
This is a very nice Jazz style bass, but putting Fender water slide decals on the headstock represents it as something it isn’t.
That’s a killer looking bass! Great job!
That’s a beauty! It’s great to have a body shop handy!
Nice job!! Love the authentic decals on the headstock.
Very nicely done! I disagree with putting a Fender decal on somethings that’s not really a fender instrument but I guess that’s just a personal conviction. BBG may want to consider changing the title of this selection as well so they don’t get in some kinda of Gibson like lawsuit
Yeah I disagree too… apart from making it a counterfeit, why give Fender the credit for something they didn’t do? I’d put my own signature if possible.
I was just trying to make a reproduction of an iconic, historic instrument, not offend anyone.
Beautiful work! I just made a template for a Carl Thompson style bass.. Love what you did!
It’s a very nice finish, but with that said I am disappointed with best bass gear opting for a DIY Indonesian body and neck to feature on this site when there are many builders of custom basses starting with raw materials and building beautifull basses . Again you did a nice finish but you didn’t build this bass , you assembled it
Hey Dennis! Good to hear from you. I couldn’t agree more. That being said, I don’t think we promoted it as a custom build, did we? It seems like we tried to show it for what it is, a DIY project. I think Anthony did an good job on this one. I haven’t spoken to him about it but just from talking with others, starting with a DIY project is what gave them the confidence to do their first complete build.
Very nice!
How do I place an order for your next build?
Very nice work, and you sure can’t beat the price! Just curious though, why you chose not to use Jazz Bass knobs? Also, a Jazz Bass pickguard would finish the look, IMHO. Congratulations!
Love the natural looking period finish . How do I go about getting you to build me one ? Been playing for over 35 years ,mostly 4 string then 5 string in the 90’s through to 2010 and currently back to 4 string. My favourite go to bass is my 79 Fender P bass (custom) that I tweaked back in 1987 fitting a jazz rear pickup and a Schaller Bridge . The sound is unreal . It gets so many comments on its sound everytime I head into a studio. Have never had a Jazz bass in my collection but have always loved its sound . Bernard Edwards being one of my influences growing up . Would be very interested if you could put me one together
Thats A Beauty especially the finish what a great job, And The laminated Basswood body shows through perfectly and looks amazing. You Should be very proud a great job.
Wow, what a beauty! Nice work, Anthony!
Nice Bass, nothing wrong, but i tought this forum is to show original ideas and special basses, i´ve seen very nice instruments that left me somthing. I may sound bitter but i´m sure there are some nice projects that didn´t make it.
I agree. I don’t feel worthy of having my article posted. I see some really nice projects on here that are built from scratch. I just thought I would share my experience because I was happy with the way it turned out.
Excellent work!
I would thought a p bass was the Motown sound . That’s that bass I have to use in studio for that sound
Nice finish
I have a similar DIY kit and I am very happy with its tone and playability its easily one of my go to basses. I read stories of the kind of craftsmanship of some of these kits being exactly what you pay for but I have to say that wasn’t the case with my kit. the first thing I did was check the neck of course and found quality fretwork done and no need for adjusting, I slapped a set of Seymour Duncan passive jazz pick ups in it and its amazing. im thinking about installing a babicz with a preamp but can live with it the way it is. post pics in the future.
Dude! That bass is sweet! Get a decal with your name on it, don’t give Fender the credit 😉
Nice paint job !
Did you have to work the frets to get it more “fun to play” ?
Anthony,
That is really excellent job, unbelievably low cost kit but- hey , hard and good quality work makes all the difference , at the end you turned it out into a high end bass. Your painting buddy is a pro and a half ! Congrats men!
Great job. I bought a P bass kit a few years back. My paint job was real plain compared to the beautful finish on yours.
That looks fantastic! Very nice work. Having that auto collision spot as a resource would make it difficult for me to NOT be doing that all the time! Best of luck with it.
Awesome! Low cost kit but built with passion something that is priceless.
Well I guess the ‘historic look’ could still be there, but with a custom decal – that way it could look close enough to a Fender from a distance but actually be spelled different or whatever. Same font, etc. Sure, this would add cost and time, but avoid the ‘counterfeit’ label. Yes I get this is only for the maker, not to be sold, and of course is an already completed project, but I would think a custom decal is available online for probably not much more than a counterfeit one.
Nice build though with a very cheap starting cost kit.
Outstanding !!! I Love It !!!
Let me just say that I’m not a big fan of sunburst paint jobs on any instrument, but the guy that painted this bass for you had great instinct in how he addressed it and it’s much warmer than a standard sunburst and I like how you can see the laminations in the wood and the grain and such. If I was going to be real nit picky, I might say that since you didn’t use a pick guard with the control plate, that I may have opted to leave the control plate off as well and just route out the back of the instrument for the electronics… but it still looks rather bitchen!
What a beauti. 🙂 This gave me the push to try my self.
Thank’s for sharing.
AWESOME JOB!!!! Dude I think you found a new career!
Anthony, you built a very beautiful bass, I love it! How does it sound?
Nice job! Currently modding a $70 jazz bass shaped object into a nice instrument. About $350 of my labor in at this point and still need to rewire for v b t pot setup. Big fun!?
Maybe Squire next time?
Wow, that is beautiful! Would love to see/hear it in a video! Thanks for sharing.