Prairie Custom Guitars

Custom Made Tele® Style Guitars

The SP-Bass

 This is going to be a very special build

Not only is it for a special person,the circumstances of this build

are very special.A long,long,long,long,long time ago

SP was the proud owner of a 1963 Precision Bass.Because of

some unfortunate circumstances,he had to sell his baby.

Over the years he has acquired other basses,but has always

regretted having to sell his 63

I was contacted by SP's loving wife to see if I could build him a

bass.On their anniversary,she presented SP with a voucher for

him to have his new bass built.

He has decided that he would like a reproduction of his 63

We have been going over some details and the time has come

to get this thing on production.

 

 

I found out that in 63,the Precision could have been either

Ash or Alder.SP believes his was Adler.He also likes

the less pronounced grain of alder so that is what we will be using

Since the board was 10" wide I picked the straightest grain

However doing this,the joint will not be in the center

Still it looks much better and I am sure you wont see the joint

The guard will also be covering most of it

 

Time to glue this thing up 

After the clamps come off I draw around the template

and then rough cut it on the band saw

 


  
 

 
 
It's starting to look like a bass
 
Next the template goes on and it's off to the router
 
 
Anyone need any Alder shavings?
 
 
First pass done,no incidents
 
Now the template comes off and we use the pass we just
 
routed as a template and make the second pass
 
We have a SP-Bass body
 
 
 
That joint matched up pretty well
 
 
 
You can see it just a bit from this angle
 
I'm sure after it is sealed,you will have a hard time even finding it
 
 
OK,lets get some round edges on this thing.According
 
to the Fender Bass book,the p-bass has a 1/2 round over
 
 
I don't have anything here to go by so I downloaded a pic
 
of a 60's bass for reference and you can see I marked the
 
forearm contour to where I think it should go.
 
Out with the rasp to remove the majority of the wood
 
 
After that it was the belt sander and the random orbital to smooth
 
it out.I decided to leave it not rounded until I do the tummy cut
 
 
Using my picture as a reference I marked out the tummy cut
 
 
Back to the rasp 
 
 
Still rasping.Thats a big tummy
 
 
 
 
 Once I finally got it all hogged out I touched it
 
up with the sanders.Then it was time to start rounding the edges
 
 
 
 
 
I thought I was finished but I see in the pics I have a slight hump
 
in the edge of the tummy cut
 
 
 
 
 
It all needs more light shaping so I will even that out.
 
Got back at shaping some more tonight
 
Took some more off the forearm contour
 
 
 
 
 
 I found that a cabinet scraper worked much better than
 
 
  sanding block for straightening out the lines on the tummy cut.
 
 
Looks much better now
 
 Time to get some sealer on this
 
Just to protect it while I do the rest of the routing
 
 
 
After a sanding and another coat of sealer,its time to route
 
We have a Musikraft neck on the way for this
 
One thing I noticed on my Musikraft neck is that it is just a
 
hair narrower at the heel than a factory Fender neck.Not 
 
surprising,every company is a bit different on their tele necks
 
so why would this be any different.To make sure I am going to
 
get a nice snug fit in the neck pocket,I decided to make a new
 
template for using Musikraft necks.I will shim up the bearing on
 
the router for the first pass in the pocket and then finish it by
 
hand to get a nice fit.
 
Once I had the template finished,I screwed it to the body
 
 
I used two buffing wheels from the Dremel with 1/8" shanks
 
inserted into the bridge mounting holes to make sure the
 
template is lined up on the body and then screw it down.
 
Then using a template bit I made the first couple passes in
 
each cavity and take a measurement.Not deep enough yet
 
 
So I lower the bit and take some more,still not enough
 
 
 
I like the way this template is set up.All your cavities
 
and the neck pocket on one.It makes it nice for fine tuning
 
your router to get the exact depth for the neck pocket.
 
My tele templates have a separate neck pocket template.
 
I may have to make one with pickup routes in it
 
Anyway,after a bit of fine tuning I did the last pass
 
on the neck pocket.It is suppose to be 5/8",the same as
 
tele.Guess this is close enough
 
 
As for the depths on the other routes,I could not find any
 
exact measurements.They are not as critical as the neck pocket.
 
I did the pickup route the same as a tele bridge.Should be deep 
 
enough.If not,not hard to fix.
 
For the control cavity I did go deeper.
 
I didn't go the full 1 1/2" like a tele because there is no switch.
 
I did some quick adding and come up with a depth that should
 
easily accommodate the pots and the output jack.
 
 
Off comes the template.I guess all that is left is the
 
channel for the pickup wires and ground wire to the bridge
 
 
 
Well it's time to get amber!!
 
I shot the amber for the center of the burst
 
 
Time to do the initial black ring of the burst
 
This just kind of gives me something to go by for the middle ring
 
Once this cures overnight,I will shoot the middle and then 
 
touch up the black
 
 
 
 
Well look what showed up today
 
A beautiful quarter sawn maple neck with Madagascar Rosewood board
 
 
 
 
Hmmm,notice the initials.Wonder what thats about
 
 
OK,now I can fit the neck and carry on with the build
 
I didn't want to go any farther until I had the neck pocket
 
matched to the neck
 
I received the neckplate for this build too
 
Thanks once again for William at FSR for another great job
(You will find a link to him on the links page )
 
 
Before I go any farther with the build I want to fit the neck in the pocket
 
Before I started I could not even get the neck into the pocket,too tight
 
After about a 1/2 hr of sanding,testing,sanding,we have a nice tight fit
 
 
 
 
 
Lookin pretty good 
 
 
Another piece of the puzzle showed up yesterday
 
Because this is going to take a long plane ride when it is complete
 
SP decided on a nice SKB Fender Flight case
 
Very nice
 
 
 
 
 
Just like they were made for each other 
 
Time to get back to work on this girl
 
Got my new supply of lacquer so It is time to get the burst finished
 
I mixed up the red for the middle ring and sprayed it
 
Then it was the black outer ring.
 
The original p-bass outer ring was actually a dark brown,not black so
 
I mixed up some dark brown and shot it over the black 
 
It mellowed out the black and helped the transition from the red
 
 
 
 
Well I hate to say it but.....
 
After this thing cured over night,the red is just too darn red
 
It is almost kind of a cherry red,no good
 
Time to get the gun out and fix it......
 
More to follow
 
OK,I know it does not look a lot different in the pics but.....
 
 
It looks way better now
 
Funny in the pics it almost looks more red,but it isn't
 
 It has more of a browner color than before
 
Also it's weird how the camera defines the rings so much
 
Not nearly that defined in person
 
 
OK,I am happy now,Hope SP is
 
Time to start with the clear topcoat
 
 
 
 
Nice to see the topcoat has helped blend the colors together
 
 
 
Got about 5 coats of clear on it now
 
There are a few bumps so it is time to give it a nice wetsanding to level it out
 
Starting to come together now
 
Good thing,time is becoming short before his arrival 
 
I just hope that it is "KILLER" approved
 
 
 
 
 A pic after I wiped it down after the wetsanding
 
 
The time has come for one of the most stressful parts of the build
 
The channel for the ground wire from the bridge to the pots
 
I should have done this before I started the finishing,however
 
I didn't so I will have to do it now.
 
The problem is not getting too steep with the channel and coming out 
 
the back of the body.NOW THAT WOULD SUCK
 
With the finish on,it is real tough to get the right angle without scuffing the surface
 
I ended up drilling a 1/2" hole under the bridge,used the dremel and ground the side of the hole
 
This give me some extra angle but it still was not enough.
 
I was still too steep and would have come out the back before I hit the cavity
 
I lined up and drilled from the cavity toward the bridge hoping to meet the other hole
 
Thank god it did.Next time this will all be done before.
 
Looks a little crude.I will clean up the hole,dab some black on it
 
It will never be seen anyway as it will be under the bridge
 
 
 
I have to say,not my neatest work 
 
Ok,now that I have recovered from the stress it's time to carry on
 
Lets get a decal on that neck
 
 
Got to get this sprayed so it can cure
 
A few coats,some wet sanding and a few more coats
 
 
Hows the body lookin,time is a tickin.........
 
 
Well I have to say time is up
 
SP will be here in 4 days
 
I have to get this buffed out and assembled