Reputable Bass Neck/body Builders?

[SLushe]

I am curious to find good bass body and neck builders (professional ones)

I have work being done with Christopher Woods, but hes just super hard to contact and I don't wanna bug him for another project just yet, and I emailed Doeringer and no response back.

I dont really have any tools to do it myself (nor experiance, and living in a small place for college, I wouldnt have anywhere to do the work) and I dont really play much bass, just abit

I am looking for a short scale bass neck, like 30 to 32" scale.. 5 string is preferred if possible. With a maple fretboard, and hopefully something other than the fender headstock. And possibly a body in like a Jackson Kelly/explorer shape, but I might be able to do that on my own if I can get a neck, but would prefer that to be made professionally.

Any info is helpful, Thanks

[fryovanni]

I am curious to find good bass body and neck builders (professional ones)

I have work being done with Christopher Woods, but hes just super hard to contact and I don't wanna bug him for another project just yet, and I emailed Doeringer and no response back.

I dont really have any tools to do it myself (nor experiance, and living in a small place for college, I wouldnt have anywhere to do the work) and I dont really play much bass, just abit

I am looking for a short scale bass neck, like 30 to 32" scale.. 5 string is preferred if possible. With a maple fretboard, and hopefully something other than the fender headstock. And possibly a body in like a Jackson Kelly/explorer shape, but I might be able to do that on my own if I can get a neck, but would prefer that to be made professionally.

Any info is helpful, Thanks

Warmoth, Stew Mac, Carvin. If you are looking for basic parts they have been doing this for a while. If you are willing to pay more for something less off the rack Doug with Soulmate Guitars-Link. The more custom you get the more expensive, if you are really wanting something fully custom neck and body. You would be wise to just commision the full build with a builder who's work appeals to you.

Peace,Rich

[SLushe]

Thanks for the reply,

Warmoth/stewmac or Carvin unfortunately does not do short scale bases, from what I remember (maybe warmoth does).. I have had long lengths of conversation with Doug and well I appreciate his work, I don't think for this situation it would be best, as he (least from our last emails) charges $75 upcharge for Maple fretboards, which is what I am requiring.

And I guess I'd like to be able to get a neck and body at the same place if possible, just for reasoning of not making a mistake on the routing of the neck pocket/bridge. So trying to avoid doing it myself.

[erikbojerik]

.. I have had long lengths of conversation with Doug and well I appreciate his work, I don't think for this situation it would be best, as he (least from our last emails) charges $75 upcharge for Maple fretboards, which is what I am requiring.

And I guess I'd like to be able to get a neck and body at the same place if possible, just for reasoning of not making a mistake on the routing of the neck pocket/bridge. So trying to avoid doing it myself.

Upcharges like that are common when it comes to specifics in a custom build....get used to it. Doug does high-quality work, he's been doing it for years, and has the customer base that proves his bona fides.

I am hoping that you're not expecting to get a custom job done for less (or even equal) cost as an off-the-shelf bass, that won't happen unless you throw your hat in with a rookie builder with no street cred. Then you're rolling the dice when it comes to build quality...might be great, might be a hack job.

Its been said many times....when it comes to custom instruments, you can have them good, fast or cheap....pick any two.

[fryovanni]

Thanks for the reply,

Warmoth/stewmac or Carvin unfortunately does not do short scale bases, from what I remember (maybe warmoth does).. I have had long lengths of conversation with Doug and well I appreciate his work, I don't think for this situation it would be best, as he (least from our last emails) charges $75 upcharge for Maple fretboards, which is what I am requiring.

And I guess I'd like to be able to get a neck and body at the same place if possible, just for reasoning of not making a mistake on the routing of the neck pocket/bridge. So trying to avoid doing it myself.

Now here is a quick question for you.... Why do you think he is going to charge that much extra over a more expensive wood such as Rosewood or many other "stock" options(I am assuming you are not asking for a highly figured maple fretboard). I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I am betting it has to do with finishing. You have to apply a finish to a Maple fretboard where as most boards that are more common require only oil or other quick finish. Now if you are compairing his price to an unfinished neck it is not the same. Believe it or not finishing amounts to a good 30% of the cost of a guitar (that is not material cost as much as labor). If it takes an extra hour you are going to have to pay for that, and a professional shop is not a $10 hr. billable business. Count on $60+ hr. min. for custom requests from a decent shop, and I wouldn't hesitate to say $120+ for a very busy overbooked shop that commands $3000+ per. standard model.

Off the rack unfinished necks are just a step up from a neck blank, and can be machined in mass. That is why the price is cheap. As soon as it has to be made by a real person the price goes up fast. If you want that person to be experienced, you will pay for that experience. This is why I mentioned you would probably be better off finding a shop that builds the full instrument or a very close version as a stock model. Then you could buy the instrument built, and have all the parts fit and set up correctly. If you want to save buy from a large manufacturers line of stock models. I suspect that if a $75 upcharge on a neck that is made buy a guy who builds necks extreamly well, and charges very reasonable prices to begin with seems high. You are probably better off looking away from custom parts and look more at "off the rack" parts.

Peace,Rich

[SLushe]

Not going to argue with you guys, but just a quick point..

I never understand why people always assume someone asking a question on here is a complete moron, I understand what I will have to pay for something, I will gladly pay whatever Carvin's normal prices are, whatever Chris Woods or Doeringer and maybe builders around the world charges (HANDMADE anyone?), whatever Warmoth or Stew Mac or anyone would charge, if they could do my options. I just have no interest in dealing with Doug at this moment as I am looking for more specifics, and a BODY, which he does not make seperate, Is that too hard to understand? If I need it badly enough and cant find someone to make a body with it, I will email him, but at this point, I am trying to avoid doing the body myself at all costs, especially for any kind of bolt on/neck pocket routing.

But whatever, Thanks for the help *sarcasm*.

Edited November 7, 2007 by SLushe

[Maiden69]

Why everytime someone gives legitimate responses that the poster don't like the "I never understand why people always assume someone asking a question on here is a complete moron" response comes out??? As far as I know, most of his board upgrades are $15 with the exception of exotic woods.

I guess, (by reading between the lines) that you want to pay a cheap price (Warmoth and others charge cheap because they make volumes) vs paying a one off (which is actually what you want) pricing. Doug's necks are not cheap, but his work is well beyond what Carvin, Warmoth, or any other prefab neck that I have used have. If you want, you can buy the body from any place online and once you get it all you need to do is email the neck pocket specs to any neck builder and have the tenon build to your needs... But if you want a short scale bass, or anything out of the normal scales... well, you need to be ready to pay the price.

BUT, I do understand the reason of having both made from the same person. Basically all you want is a custom short scale bass kit, where all you need to do is finish and put the hardware on... it is going to be hard to find, but maybe some one can help you here, just wait and see.................

[fryovanni]

Not going to argue with you guys, but just a quick point..

I never understand why people always assume someone asking a question on here is a complete moron, I understand what I will have to pay for something, I will gladly pay whatever Carvin's normal prices are, whatever Chris Woods or Doeringer and maybe builders around the world charges (HANDMADE anyone?), whatever Warmoth or Stew Mac or anyone would charge, if they could do my options. I just have no interest in dealing with Doug at this moment as I am looking for more specifics, and a BODY, which he does not make seperate, Is that too hard to understand? If I need it badly enough and cant find someone to make a body with it, I will email him, but at this point, I am trying to avoid doing the body myself at all costs, especially for any kind of bolt on/neck pocket routing.

But whatever, Thanks for the help *sarcasm*.

Sorry for responding, I can't say I thought you were a complete moron (actually the thought never crossed my mind). I will avoid responding, and change my thinking from here on out.

Rich

[jmrentis]

I have had long lengths of conversation with Doug and well I appreciate his work, I don't think for this situation it would be best, as he (least from our last emails) charges $75 upcharge for Maple fretboards, which is what I am requiring.

I just have no interest in dealing with Doug at this moment as I am looking for more specifics, and a BODY, which he does not make seperate, Is that too hard to understand?

There is no reason to get upset at everyone and actually I think the lack of communication was on your behalf. You initially stated you did not want to go with Doug because he upcharges $75 for a maple fretboard. Then when some people tried to enlighten you on the subject you got upset. You did not seem to understand the differences in maple and other woods when it comes to fretboards, otherwise that $75 upcharge would have be expected, not a surprise or discouragement from purchasing. Inlaying into maple is tough and dangerous enough, then you have to finish and fret which is no simple task and quite a bit more expensive to do (finishing is expensive as stated), hence the charge.

To be honest, people are probably trying to explain it to you because your post comes off slightly insulting to Doug. Doug does top notch work at a very fair price and he doesn't just throw on a random up charge when he feels like it, there is a good reason for it. In stating that you won't do business with him because of this charge you are making it sound like he is trying to rip you off, which I think is why everyone wanted to explain it because you did not seem to understand this. Whether you did or didn't, your post made it sound as if you didn't. Instead saying Doug can only do a neck for me and I would prefer a neck and body from the same place, if you had said that in the first place, not one person would have said anything as this is perfectly cool and understandable, even saying he is just out of my price range is fine. So, before getting all upset realize that you might have misrepresented what you meant to say in your post and what you did say sounded uninformed and slightly insulting toward Doug. So the people were just trying to help someone who sounded like they needed some help. No one here is going to treat you like a moron unless you give them a reason to, I promise. The guys answering your questions are some of the nicest guys around here and are only trying to help you out. I wish you the best of luck in search of your guitar. J

[erikbojerik]

Dude....if your last post is any indication, you don't want to build the neck and you don't want to build the body....OK, so what you're really looking for someone to build you a complete custom guitar. There are lots of pro luthiers out there who could do this job, Google will pull up a bit list for you a lot more quickly than a bunch of PG posts.