See the business listing for this bass builder here
When you go really wide with a neck, sometimes that ends up being really good, and it was for builder Matt Thiessen (teasonbass@gmail.com).
Matt writes,
I’ve got an old Warmoth wide-5 P-bass that I restored. I really wanted a J counterpart for it. So, I got busy designing a J-style body that still looked right with a really wide neck. When you start messing with those great Fender curves, you quickly find out that they are really well designed.
Keeping the flow was a challenge. Then, I got some wood together and hired someone else to make a neck.
Long story short, the neck was not up to what I had envisioned. So, I decided to learn how to make a neck…
It’s a Honduran Mahogany body with 5/8″ figured maple top, finished with a brown burst and nitrocellulose lacquer.
The neck is quartersawn maple with a Macassar ebony fretboard and figured sycamore lines. It is attached to the body with machine screws and inserts.
With a 2 1/8″ nut and 20″ radius it’s pretty wide, and while I don’t have large hands I still find it quite comfortable to play.
String spacing at the bridge is 20mm.
Hipshot makes the bridge and I ordered a custom set of Nordstrand Big Splits through BestBassGear.
Other than the expense it was painless! As you can see the pickups are dead on with the 20mm string spacing. I’m officially a Nordstrand Pickups fanboy (their 5-string P pickup is in my other wide-5).
Electronics are wired passive: Vol/Blend/Tone.
Tuners are Hipshot Ultralights.
Strings are TI Jazz Flats.
The bass came together really well and is a joy to play.
Wide never looked so good – thanks for showing us your bass, Matt. Job well done!
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Very nice and clean build. Very clean finish work and the neck joint to body looks very nice. Top Notch Work!
Nice looking bass, but the article doesn’t explain why a wide neck is a good thing?
That is a sweet Bass
For those of us with bigger hands that were trained on 19mm 4 stringers, a wide neck is just about the only thing we can properly use without a massive retraining of the muscle memory. It also helps when switching back and forth between 4 and 5 strings during a set— seamless transition!
Looks great nice job. I really like a Wide 5.
Thanks for the compliments. A wide neck is purely a personal preference. It feels like a P bass with an extra string. And a little less radius.
Love Broad Necks ! Lovely bass mate ! Must be a balst to play .
just gorgeous! very nice work.
great job TEASON!!!,one of the best I’ve seen,must be a joy to play.
Outstanding, classy looking instrument!
Beautiful bass! I know how difficult it is to find an instrument with these dimensions. Fantastic! 😀
Apparently there’s a little confusion on my wording above regarding the neck. Initially I had a neck made for this bass, but it was not up to my standards. So, I tooled up and started researching building necks. This neck was built by me and thus, this bass is my first complete build.
Clean, simple and nicely finished. I like it!