[Bass of the Week] Vern ‘Blue’ Green 1603

See the business listing for this bass builder here

The feature bass for this week is a Fender-inspired 35-inch scale with some nice select woods to it.

Builder Vern Green writes:

This five string Fender Jazz inspired bass was the second guitar I ever built. This bass is inspired by two Fender instruments. The Fender Jazz body styling and sound has been something I have been interested in for some time. I have never owned a Jazz bass but have loved the sound. Additionally, I have always liked the pick guard designs on the ’72 precision so I decided to put these two inspirations together.

I started with a piece of Swamp Ash for the body. I picked up a couple of nice pieces Swamp Ash from a friend of mine who was tired of them cluttering his garage. He had owned them for over 30 years and he claimed that they had been cut 70 years ago. I was also able to find a couple of pieces of birdseye maple for the neck and fretboard. I chose to not have inlays on the fretboard to avoid marring the visuals of the birdseye maple fretboard.

The color is a Merlot color that I thought looked outstanding on the Swamp Ash body. I finished the body and neck with lacquer and hand rubbed it into a satin finish. I chose not to fill the pores of the wood opting for a more woodsy sort of look and feel. This type of finish was based on a finish Fender was doing a few years ago.

With all of this Fender inspiration, one might ask why even go to this trouble? Well the key difference between this bass and what you might get from Fender is the 35 inch scale that I used. I have a couple of 34 inch scale basses and a couple of 35 inch scale and the 35 inch is my favorite. One may be able to get a 35 inch scale from Fender, but it is also fun to build your own.

I wanted to try and get a ’62 Jazz bass tone with this instrument. The electronics are all passive. I used Seymour Duncan SJ5S 67/70 pickups in this bass and I love the sound they produce and Best Bass Gear provided the pre-wired controls.

I used Hipshot Ultralite tuners with the clover style tuning keys. I am partial to Schaller roller bass bridges, so I used that particular bridge along with Schaller strap locks.

I have been playing it a couple of weeks now and aside from a couple of adjustments in the set up I do not think there is much I would change about it. The guitar weighs in at just over 9 pounds. For some that might be a bit much, but for me, I really like heavy basses as they just feel more solid.

Well done!

Want YOUR bass to be featured for Bass of the Week?
Submit yours now using our easy web form